Little Do You Know

[Erika Smith]

Erika had asked for the younger Miss. Orland to be moved to her own chambers. She figured keeping the girl alone down in the laundry room wasn't exactly the best plan of action. Instead, having her close by would offer Erika the chance to keep an eye on the girl herself. Sadly, that also meant having to listen to the girl talk.

The door opened and the girl was brought inside. For safety measures, they'd kept a hood over her head to keep her from seeing any of the crew members. She didn't need to see them. Having her lay her eyes on the captain was bad enough.

The crew departed and the hood was removed.

"Good morning, Miss. Orland," Erika greeted the young lady. "I've put clean change of clothes for you on the bed; you can have your pick between dresses or pants; I highly suggest the pants, but it's your choice." Thankfully, Erika had a rather good taste in clothes and some of them were actually rather expensive, so she was sure the blonde would at least find some of them suitable for a noble.

"You'll have your own bedroom, but it seems we'll have to share the bathroom. Your meals will be shared with me - but don't worry, you'll be offered much nicer food here than down in the laundry room, so you'll be well fed and won't have to worry about using a bucket." She looked up from her desk then. "And I suggest you be on your best behavior less you want to go back down from which you came."

[Ellen Orland]

Ellen would complain about her treatment,here but after she was forced to live in a laundry room,left to lay there in her own filth, she was beginning to very seriously doubt GOD knows what she looked like at this moment maybe she really didn’t want to know she looked like, she wasn’t exactly the best at dealing with dirt at the best of times, if she saw herself now she’d probably just throw over the side of the boat already, a quick death seemed like a deliriously more attractive course of action then standing on this crusty old ship any longer. If Ellen thought she could sink any lower than the last few days she had spent on this ship. She was confined in a dirty smelly room living off breath and water and trying her hardest to ignore the family of rats that were living in the corner -She had to block offf that side of the room as much as she could-


Really, it was almost a relief when she was dragged out of the room


“Now come on, Is this hood really necessary?!” Ellen shouted out as she was lead to…..where ever it was they were taking her, true that maybe this was a bad time to be talking considering what happened the last time she spoke out of turn but despite efforts a warm wave of fear was settling over her and she felt if she spoke it took her mind off where they were going “It doesn’t matter if I see you or not. Pretty soon an entire fleet is going to arrest every single one on this boat but by all means if I intimidate you so much” She said her faith in her father was unyielding, it had to be the idea of him not coming to save her was all that was keeping her going. When she sat there in her cage, her stomach rumbling and feeling particularly humiliated, the thought of everyone that put her through this nightmare begging for their lives brought a smile to her .


...But for now, she was forced into some room -Even though for all she knew she was standing on the side of the ship about to be pushed head first in the watery abyss -Even though Ellen tried to stray away from thoughts like that. Her hooded head jerked up rapidly once she heard….HER voice, that ignorant, spiteful little welp that sent her to that hellhole in the laundry room, a petty thief masquerading as someone of actual importance “Good morning?! Good morning is that re-”


Ellen words died in her mouth when the captain began to speak At first she couldn’t tell if she was actually hearing this or her delirium had now peaked….was...no she couldn’t be….serious could she? The girl that happily put her in a cell with a rat’s nest now was giving her her own private bed room?.


Ellen didn’t trust this for one second….


“..You’ll forgive me if I don’t take you at your word captain”

[Erika Smith]

Shrugging, the brunette looked down at the papers on her desk, paying the blonde little mind. "Whether you opt to believe me or not isn't really any of my concern, Miss. Orland." She looked up briefly, a small smile forming on her lips as she saw the state the younger girl was in. "Oh dear," she said, attempting to hide the amusement from her voice, though failing miserably. "Looks like you better behave and take a leap of faith."

She wanted to show the young girl who was in charge here and she truly believed that after the girl's stay in the laundry room, she had. At least, hopefully to some degree. She didn't expect any miracles, but she supposed the noble had learned her lesson. If she treated others with respect, she would be shown the same amount of respect.

"No harm will fall upon you in here," Erika then promised, her face growing somber and serious. "Once we set sail, you'll be free to roam the ship as you see fit, but until then, you'll be staying in here." She gestured towards the room. Then she pointed towards some doors at the end of the room. "Your bedroom and the bathroom is over there. Feel free to take a bath before the birds get a sniff of you and attempt to break in in hopes of finding a dying animal." Again, Erika was amused. She couldn't quite help finding pleasure in seeing one of the wealthier citizen see how the commoners lived.

[Ellen Orland]

With a grimish Ellen shielded her eyes, as they slowly began to acclimatize to the bright light in the room, she had spent the last few days locked up in a dark room without any natural light available so to have her hood ripped off and exposed to the harsh light of day it took her a few moments for her eyes to fully adjust to the brightness of the room but once it did..she was surprised to find how nice these quarters truly were, ok true that it was nothing on anything that could be found in her father’s home but it was a lot more accommodating than what sh had seen of the ship so far..and she was actually stunned how nice everything was…


...and..was she writing something?! This whole scene was really rather bizarre to say the very least. When she thought of a pirates place she thought of dirt, she thought of swords, she thought of discarded rum. What she didn’t think of was a neat writing desk held by a girl that looked like she went to school with….


To say that Ellen was taken on the back foot was certainly an understanding out of everything she was expecting. This ranked very low on the list...and she had to say after what felt like a week wearing the same kind of what was now turning into rags...and a BATH, yes that was a very seductive offer, Ellen’s eyes flickered to the clothes on the bed...Pants, Dress. As long as it was clean Ellen didn’t care what it was and there was a lot inside Ellen that wanted to run to the bathroom the instant she was given permission to….but then again the rest of her was still reeling from her comments….She didn’t smell that bad.


…..Right?


Still she couldn’t help but let out a smirk once she assured her that no harm could possibly come to her “Says the kidnapper” She said pointing out the obvious irony of the situation before she was forced to ask the obvious question “Why are you doing this? If it’s for a thank you prepare to be disappointed…”

[Erika Smith]

Shaking her head, the brunette had to force herself not to roll her eyes. "Kidnapping does not mean harming," she pointed out with another shake of her head. "And I'm not expecting a thank you. Quite frankly, I care very little for your opinions and for all I care, you could have lost your voice." Which, to be honest, wouldn't have been such a bad thing, considering all the vile that seemed to come out from the blonde's mouth.

"Now, you can either accept this and keep your mouth shut, or you can go back down into the hole whence you came from. Your choice," she shrugged as she gestured towards the door, then at the clean captain's lounge they found themselves inside. She figured the blonde was smart enough to pick her battles and if not, then well... It wasn't Erika's pride that would get hurt from it.

"I've already had them fill the bath for you. It should be ready soon." The water was cooked in the kitchen, then brought up here to cool off. It was a hassle, but a luxury they couldn't very well skip. 

[Ellen Orland]

Ellen was in something of a pickle at the moment. On the one hand, she simply couldn’t believe that this….criminal dared to justify her actions to Ellen and try and toss herself in a positive light….but after a few weeks locked in the single most dilapidated and disgusting room she has ever seen, Ellen began to realize that whoever this woman was, she certainly didn’t like to be challenged. Or at the very least called out on her less than agreeable viewpoints….And yes these rooms were doing their job and were seducing Ellen, the longer he looked around the more, heavily a real bed and an actual bath seemed to be and annoying her would just send her back to that rat nest she put her in.


So what choice did Ellen really have but to hold her tongue? Father always did tell her that what separates the weak from the strong wasn’t strength but rather the ability to choose battles to fight.


Ellen was making the conscious choice not to fight this battle.


Even if the captain was making it exceedingly difficult to do just that, she could probably tell how much of an effort it was for Ellen to hold her tongue. Her jaw clenched and unclenched and her tongue frantically stabbed the side of her mouth repeatedly at the gesture Ellen’s eyes drifted to the open door and back to the captain before she pointedly folded her arms over each other standing her ground, her stance making it abundantly clear what she was planning to do,


“I. Have. Questions” Ellen said slowly carefully picking her words just in case some offense was caused

[Erika Smith]

Erika was glad to find out that the girl seemingly seemed to agree to the offer. She could only hope this meant that the girl would continue keeping her mouth shut. Though, that hope would soon seem to be in vain as the girl opened her mouth and once again, spoke up.

Rolling her eyes, Erika had to resist issuing a groan at the blonde's request. "I'm sure you do," she replied blandly. She had a few ideas about what the girl would ask, and Erika was in no mood to answer. Couldn't the girl simply be happy that her room had been upgraded and that she no longer had to share it with vermin?

"And I'm sure all your questions will be answered in time, but right now, I highly suggest that you go take a bath before your downstairs neighbors decide to make their new home inside here." She offered the blonde a sickeningly sweet smile; she did smell, and Erika couldn't quite help but to be pleased by that fact.

[Ellen Orland]

Yes, it was true, that Ellen had several questions about what exactly was the plan of action, especially when the sword of Damocles was dangling over them all over them. They BOTH knew full well that her father could hunt this ship down and send it down to the bottom of the sea. And yet the captain seemed so confident and sure of herself….Clearly she had a plan, clearly she had a destination in mind that made her so calm in the face of imminent capture and seeing as she ever so kindly brought Ellen along for the ride she felt she had a right to know…


..along with a few other things that Ellen felt she had a right to know…


But it was clear that she wasn’t eager to give anything away


Ellen frowned just a little more than a little annoyed that Erika was still insisting on keeping his cards close to her chest and seemed content to let Ellen wait a little longer...Ellen would push the issue if the offer for a bath wasn’t there….


She didn’t say a word but slowly let her eyes linger against the bathroom door and found herself slowly wandering through the door as she did so, until she opened up and with one hand outstretched “This is not me dropping it…”