Free Web NovelChapter 83: I Have a Proposal
Marix struggled to lift the heavy net, his attempts to escape futile. The more he moved, the more he fought to get free, the more the net tangled him up in its web.
Eilownia reached her hand out through one of the openings and gently placed it on his wrist as she shook her head.
He closed his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows and gave up the struggle.
They both knew it was useless now; there was no way out.
Marix grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight as the ox carried them to Captain Deka’s manor where their fate would be sealed.
The rattling of the wooden wheels ascending the rocky road served as a building pressure, much like a ticking time bomb.
The pirates who escorted them laughed about how Marix had left a trail right to him and that the two of them were trapped like animals. They bragged about how much reward they would probably receive for the capture of Marix and Eilownia as well.
"I’ll have enough gold and jewels to propose to Indy. Who would’ve thought today would be such a great day?"
"I’m going to save mine to have my own crew one day. I want to be a Captain too eventually."
Eilownia looked between the two, listening intently as they talked about what they would do with the money as well as their dreams and aspirations.
Finally, they arrived at the manor and were lifted out of the cart.
The front doors swung open and the two were carried inside, tossed on the marble floor of the foyer like rolled up rugs.
"OOF!" Marix grunted as his weakened body hit the hard floor.
"NN!" Eilownia winced as her arm smacked against it painfully.
They clacking of boots grew louder as Captain Deka approached from the top of the stairs.
A deep chuckle emitted from the depths of Captain Deka’s throat as he held his arms out beside him in the air.
"Well, well, well! If it isn’t my new crew mate and my future bride? I see you’ve finally decided to return on your own accord. It would be far too embarrassing for you to go through all of that effort to escape only to fail, don’t you think?"
He nudged Marix’s side with the point of his boot.
"Although, I have no use for insubordination from my crew members. You had better wise up and learn your place. I’d hate for you to fall overboard one day."
Marix laughed, "Insubordination? From me? You don’t know the half of it."
"We’ll see about that. Besides," He crouched down between the two of them and shifted his gaze from Marix to Eilownia and back, "You have something that belongs to one of my men."
"What are you talking about?" Marix hissed.
"Wouldn’t you know it, the scream of a woman," He smiled towards Eilownia, "scared one of my men’s workers. He was so scared he left the safe open," He turned his head to stare at Marix, "suddenly, there was money missing later in the day and an open window. Isn’t that odd?"
Marix scoffed, "Very."
"Just hand it over. You can’t expect me to believe that on our pleasant little island where there have been no crimes, all of a sudden we have two newcomers and a robbery.....that it was one of MY people that did it?"
He pointed at himself and looked between them with his eyebrows raised.
Eilownia reached into her pocket and pulled out a pouch full of money before holding it up to him.
Captain Deka smiled, "Good girl."
"Whin! What are you doing?!" Marix hissed as he tried to fight against the net again.
"He asked for it-" She said with a frown as she stared at Marix.
"She’s being wise. Much wiser than you, good sir. I have no use for a crew member I can’t trust. One that tries to deceive and run away. You’re going to be a hard one to break, or maybe I’ll decide you just aren’t worth the trouble."
He nodded towards his men who grabbed the net and flung it off of Marix before they sat on his back and pulled his arms behind him, handcuffing him with crude, heavy iron handcuffs.
His chin was forced into the marble floor below him, shooting pain through his jaw.
"Let him go! Stop it! Let go of him!" Eilownia pleaded frantically as Captain Deka grabbed her by the arm and hauled her up.
"You don’t want to see your precious ’Whin’ so sad do you? At least if you obey me, she’ll know you’re alive. Or would you rather her mourn your death? I’d hate for you to do that to my bride."
Marix gritted his teeth as he was hauled to his feet by the pirates, both holding onto his arms.
"She’s MY bride. I will fight you every step of the way for my wife and my child. I’ll never hand them over!" He snarled as he continued fighting against the pirates who held him.
Captain Deka turned to Eilownia and shook his head with a solemn look on his face, "I’m sorry, dear. I can’t keep a man who threatens me around."
Eilownia’s eyes widened as he turned to his men, "Toss him off the cliff."
"N-No!" Eilownia gasped and lunged for him as they began to drag him away, but Captain Deka grabbed her waist and held her back.
"WAIT! I HAVE A PROPOSITION!" She screamed.
Captain Deka raised his eyebrow and lifted his hand, indicating for them to stop.
"Whin. You don’t need to do anything. I’ll take care of this. We’ll be okay." Marix stared, worry filling his face as his heart raced. He had no idea what she was planning, but he had a feeling it wasn’t going to be good.
"You guys like money right? That’s what you do? Steal supplies, food, money? The farmland on this island can’t be very good. I know you stole the farm animals too. You can’t grow enough crops here to sustain yourselves without stealing, right?"
Captain Deka smiled and cooed, "What a smart girl~"
"So, if someone were to offer you more money than you could imagine, that would be of interest to you, right?"
The pirates looked at Captain Deka with interest as he burst into laughter.
"Why yes it would. But do you have any idea what that amount might be? It’s certainly not what you’re imagining."
She looked up at him, "The estate of a high-ranking noble. The King’s former best friend. Full of expensive paintings, statues, furniture, books. A stable full of high-quality horses. You can have everything in there. All of it. The estate, the land, anything within its walls. That should be enough, right? You can sell it all or keep it."
Captain Deka’s eyebrows raised as he let out a low whistle. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
"That sounds like quite the offer. Too good to be true, in fact. You expect me to believe you have such a thing to offer?" He gritted his teeth.
She nodded, "that was my father’s property before he died. I’m the only heir, but I choose to live with Marix instead. I have no use for that estate or anything in it. It’s all yours to do what you want with."
Captain Deka grabbed her tighter and yanked her towards him as he leaned down and got in her face.
"I don’t like being lied to."
Eilownia shook her head, "I’m not lying. You can have it, but there are things I want in exchange."
Captain Deka eyed her suspiciously.
"Name your demands."
"I want Marix and I to be free. I want some of your supplies. I want you to take us back to our ship and I’d like it if you helped us in our quest to restore the Viraaz crown."
"WHIN!" Marix hissed out as she let out the last bit of information.
Captain Deka stared at Marix out of the corner of his eye before looking back at Eilownia.
"And if you’re lying? I spend my manpower, my supplies and free my two prisoners for nothing."
She shook her head, "I swear it’s not a lie. If we are, then you can recapture us, take everyone else on our ship and take our ship itself. I’ll become your bride, Marix will become your crew. You’ll have more crew members, another ship, whatever supplies we have on board....isn’t that a good deal?"
Captain Deka slid his tongue over his teeth before he let her go and nodded at his men.
"Deal. But if you’re lying, I’ll kill half of your people, maybe more, in addition to what you’ve offered."
His men unlocked Marix’s handcuffs as Eilownia nodded.
"It’s a deal then!"
Marix rubbed his wrists.
Captain Deka waved his hand towards the upstairs.
"We’ll leave tomorrow morning. Until then, rest. I’ll have dinner prepared." freewebnσvel.cѳm
Marix began heading up the stairs without another word, while Eilownia smiled wide.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
