The smirk widened as crimson blazed across her face once she finally understood. He liked to see that layer of innocence whisked off, like a cloak now too small. She wouldn’t need it anymore. Things once known could hardly be unknown without difficulty. The faster she grew up, the better. Though her “Stab you?” could have been perceived as touching, he thought it was merely shock. The shock of one person wanting to stab another and if she had a respectable enough opinion of him at the moment (and there was no real reason why she shouldn’t...for the time being), then of course she might be concerned as to any activity that might lead to a stabbing.

“Sometimes.” Having been on this ship since he was eight years old, there were any number of violent things that had befallen him. He’d been locked in trunks when he was small enough to fit into them, whipped when he was old enough to take it and when his captain decided that punishment was appropriate. Slaves, too, had hit him, bit him, spit on him, slapped him, cursed him..but in this moment, none of those things stood out as vividly as the two times he’d been stabbed in this very room and the third time as a close encounter with it.

The first time was when he had just taken over the ship and was still getting used to this room being his own. The chains had existed, of course, but the waif of a girl he’d brought in here to keep secure hadn’t struck him as the type to have any sort of will of her own. She’d huddled in the corner, all wide blue eyes and pale hair, silently watching. He, in turn, had left her alone. He’d spent the day on the benches in the middle of the ship, taking his turn for hours at the oar, the drum beat to keep the men in time still ringing in his ears. He’d been wet, bone tired, and wanted nothing more than to sleep. There were no weapons in this room but he hadn’t considered the sailing instruments that he used for his charting maps. But she had. As soon as he’d taken his first soft breaths of true sleep, she’d crept catlike across the floor and plunged the point of the compass into his chest. Unfortunately for her, she’d hit his sternum and done nothing but surface damage.

Bearing that in mind ever since, Lukos had made sure to keep his room fairly clear of anything at all while he had girls like her in here. The second situation was much like the first: a meek girl with dark hair and darker eyes, utterly entrancing. He’d seen so much money potential in her it’d almost made him giddy. She hadn’t waited until the ship left her village. She didn’t wait until he was asleep. Somehow, she’d smuggled a boning knife with her and used it the second his back was turned. That had hurt. But she had fixed his rule to an unbreakable one: every slave, no matter what, had to be chained. A hard lesson, to be sure, but one he’d learned well. Don’t trust the innocent appearances.

Ten years on, Lukos was far less trusting now than he had been then.

“Quite a creative solution you’ve found. I can see how such security must be a relief to you.” Essa finally managed and Lukos shrugged but didn’t dispute that. How creative it was, he’d let her be the judge. But he had looked beyond her and out the window. They’d been gone awhile.

“Speaking of security,” he said, extending an arm towards her but not actually touching her, he side stepped until he could reach the door. Opening it, he herded her out into the short, narrow corridor and firmly shut the door behind them. “I think your family might be wondering where you’ve gotten off to. I have things to take care of-” read: money to count. “And so I’m going to have old Catos here escort you home.”

Catos was the one to do it because he happened to be the one to appear at the top of the stairs. He was a tall, thin man with grizzled gray hair and a sparse beard. His face was sunweathered and any youth and beauty he might have had at one time was thoroughly hidden by deep lines in his face now. ”Ah,” Catos looked at Essa, not having the slightest idea who she was or why she was even here, or where ‘home’ might be. But that didn’t matter. He’d heard the order and that was that. What he did know was that was a veiled ‘get her off my ship’ order. Knowing his captain as he did, Catos understood that whatever Lukos had needed from this girl, or else wanted from her, was at an end and now the captain was onto some other pursuit.

”This way, my lady,” Catos bowed, guessing at Essa’s status by her clothes. Lukos didn’t watch them go. He smiled at Essa, gave her a parting bow, and then turned immediately back into his room. He wanted to know exactly how many coins she’d parted with. Her generosity wouldn’t go unremembered.