The Sea Rat

Princess Kathea heaved a long sigh of relief as the harbor finally slipped out of sight. She put an arm around Izlyn, who sagged gratefully against her.

No sign of pursuers, Izlyn thought, her heart still thudding. With any luck, it would be a while yet before anyone figured out the fugitive Princess and her lady-in-waiting had made it onto a ship.

Some of the awful tension finally left her shoulders.

"Thank you," Kathea said to Captain Ghelect, who was watching her with a curious expression. The low late-afternoon light shot long blue shadows across his sharp features.

This man -- dubbed 'The Sea Rat' by his many enemies -- was a pirate and a killer, Izlyn reminded herself. This was no time for them to let their guard down.

"Don't thank me yet," Ghelect said, arching an eyebrow. "There's still the matter of payment."

"Quite right," Kathea said, that delightful blush of herse spreading around her determined pout. "Your men will have their reward, as promised."

The Captain acknowledged these bold words only with a wry, skeptical little hmm, making no move to interrupt Izlyn as she took Kathea by the hand and led her charge to the cabin Ghelect had set aside for them.

"You're quite sure?" Izlyn murmured. "It's not too late to...to think of something else," she finished, unconvincingly.

"I'd rather not strain my purse-strings any further than necessary," the Princess said as they stepped into the little room. "I don't really even know how much coin I'll have to work with when we get there."

They were paying half up front, half on delivery. The half on delivery was money. The half up front was -- well, Kathea.

They had promised the pirates 2,000 silver decams on the safe and happy departure of their passengers. Izlyn really, really hoped Aquelae was good for it.

Princess Kathea was Duchess of Aquelae in her own right, but she had never managed the duchy's affairs herself. She had left it all in the hands of family retainers. This was beginning to look like a mistake.

As for the first half of the payment...

"You did say it was a fair rate," Kathea insisted. Trying to convince herself?

Mathematically speaking, this was true. An ordinary whore would have to work far, far longer than the length of this journey to earn 2,000 decams. The Princess, of course, was no ordinary whore.

One might argue that 4,000 decams was an outrageous price for overseas passage for two. Izlyn had, at length. But, as the Sea Rat had pointed out coolly, his was no passenger liner. This entire journey was for the two ladies' benefit, and he would be putting his ship and crew in danger to see them safely along.

In the privacy of the cabin, they sat on the little bed and took stock of their few possessions:

Kathea's awful, frilly wedding dress, in a flutter of pink and white that the Princess had complained made her look like a dessert. Since the escape it had become mud-stained and tattered in a way that at least lent it a bit of dramatic gravitas.

A parasol, also pink.

Lady Izlyn's more restrained courtly gown, a pale yellow thing that she fancied set off her brown complexion strikingly -- alas, now equally mud-stained and tattered.

A few coins, their value more sentimental than monetary. Each was minted with a little image of Kathea's father or mother -- not her brother's smarmy face like all the new ones. The Princess spun one in her fingers like a memento.

A ruby ring, the one piece of jewelry they had left to barter with, though it wouldn't get them far. Kathea had held onto it because it was supposed to have a bit of protective magic in it. The rest had gone to pay for her first, abortive escape attempt. It turned out the one guardsman Kathea knew was loyal to her, wasn't. Izlyn held her peace on that well-worn argument.

A small travel bag packed with feminine items, soaps and oils, and two warm hats they'd knitted during the interminable wait for this plan to come to fruition -- in case they got cold on the high seas.

And, finally, a dog-eared romance novel -- The Pirate's Bride. Devoured many times, beginning long before they were old enough to realize just how inappropriate it had been. And, the inspiration for this last desperate, stupid ploy.

Lady Izlyn pinned a loose lock of golden hair back among the wilting pink flowers at the Princess's brow.

As Kathea's Woman of the Bedchamber, Izlyn's main job was to attend on her lady, to bustle her around the palace, to supervise her servants, to help her bathe and dress and undress, and so forth. Izlyn liked her job. As the third daughter of an impoverished Baron, it had been this or a nunnery, and Islyn didn't care much for prayer.

But a Princess needed more than just someone who could reach the ties at the small of her back. She needed a companion, a co-conspirator against all the vipers at court. Someone to share all the gossip with. Someone to read aloud to her from tawdry books. Someone to practice kisses and caresses on. And when she misbehaved, someone to run and catch her, gasping and shrieking, and sit on her.

Izlyn liked her job very, very much.

Lady Izlyn had been mere moments away from losing Kathea. It made her blood boil to think of it. The new King had meant to give his sister to that dull, mean little clod of a Count, as if she were nothing.

And it had been plain that the Count intended to choose his wife's new lady companions himself.

Then, the carriage bearing them to the grand cathedral had been stopped. Burly, tattooed men with wicked, curved swords had ripped open the doors and dragged them away -- just in time.

Izlyn was quite proud of herself for the idea of making inquiries at the dock-side brothels. She'd returned with an extensive dossier of pirate captains -- their crews ranked in such important matters as personal hygeine, and how honest and respectful the girls had found them.

The Sea Rat's crew was known to be the preferred source of work among the dock girls.

"Ghelect's lads are alright," one of them had told her. "Even the ones with unusual tastes. They say the ol' Captain is real protective of his reputation. When he ain't puttin' the sword to his enemies, that is."

"I think I met the man, once," Kathea murmured from the bed. "I was very young. I don't believe he recognizes me. But he used to be a privateer for my father. Charming. Like many vicious animals."

"Do you trust him?" Izlyn said.

"No choice now."

True enough.

"Are you quite sure you don't want me to," Izlyn said softly, sitting down beside her, "Er, take on at least some of this labor?"

Kathea sighed, her eyes drooping. She gave a sleepy smile, blinking slowly.

"You know I couldn't ask that of you," the Princess said. "This is my responsibility... my foolish fancy."

Izlyn picked up The Pirate's Bride and leafed through it. It was about a marchioness who gets kidnapped on the high seas, and eventually escapes with the first mate, marries him, and becomes commander of her own pirate ship.

But the part the Princess had made Izlyn read to her over and over, with much blushing and giggling and throwing of pillows, was the section where the heroine refuses the evil Captain's advances, and is punished by being tied to a mast for any passing sailor to have his way with her.

Izlyn's fingertips prickled with horrified anticipation.

Kathea was snoring softly. Slowly, quietly, Izlyn set the book aside and lay down next to her liege-lady.

* * *

The Captain invited them to dine in the wardroom that evening, but Kathea decided she wanted to eat with the men.

They were rowdy, but sturdy and pleasant and full of good cheer despite their too-brief shore leave.

They toasted Kathea, breaking out into impromptu, whisky-aided poetry about her pale arms and plump breasts. It appeared word had gotten around about Kathea's offer to make amends for all the time they hadn't had to visit the brothels.

The sailors didn't seem to know that she was a Princess, though. Good. It would be well if they could somehow make it to Aquelae without any rumors about the events of this journey being attached to Princess Kathea's name.

The pirates knew only that she and Kathea were a pair of high-born travellers, but not how high-born. And there was, it emerged, some doubt among them even on that score.

"Surely she's just a pretty little whore dressed up like a fine lady," Izlyn heard one young man say to his friend. "It's another of the old man's scams."

"Cover, ye think?" said the man's friend, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "Some new secret mission for the crown?"

"The Captain's got ways you and I ain't never thought of, right 'nough."

Izlyn glanced back into Kathea's eyes, shining with excitement in the flickering laplight. She grinned, and they each tipped back a wallop of a drink.

"Do you feel a bit like you're being circled by sharks?" Izlyn whispered to Kathea.

"At least these men make no secret of wanting to devour me," Kathea said. "I like them."

"So, milady," said a tall, muscular man with a leaping dolphin tattooed on his bare chest. "Think you got what it takes to satisfy us?"

"I've got plenty!" Kathea smiled back. Izlyn could tell from long acquaintance that the Princess was projecting more confidence than she felt. But Kathea punctuated her claim by twitching her bodice down to spill her breasts out into the dim cabin.

A hearty cheer rose up.

"I have asked Izzy here to be my madam during this journey," Kathea said, covering herself again.

"That's right," Izlyn said, intercepting a hand reaching out for Kathea, grasping the man by the wrist. Fortunately, he did not try to break her grip. "This sweet, innocent little tart belongs to me, and you will be allowed to use her when I say so, and only then."

"Yes, Madam Izzy," one of the men said. Izlyn tried not to let her frosty smile of command go manic.

"Good," she said. "We shall begin tomorrow."

* * *

It was a bright day, and a steady breeze sang in the sails as Izlyn secured her liege-lady's wrists to the main-mast.

The harder part was fixing the pink parasol in place so as to give the poor Princess some shade during her efforts. Izlyn swore, but in a cultivated way, as she tried to get it steady -- until finally a passing sailor helped her.

"You're quite sure about that ring?" Izlyn hissed, glancing around at the keen eyes gleaming from between spars and ropes.

Kathea craned her neck back to look at the supposedly magical item.

"Mother said it really worked for her," the Princess sighed. "She said she had quite a few dalliances before she met father, and she never got sick or with child. She made me swear to wear it until I was married. And maybe after, if necessary."

"I really, truly," Izlyn shook her head, "Can't picture your dear, departed mother doing any of that."

"I simply prefer not to," Kathea said flatly.

"I'll keep an eye on you. If you need anything, signal me."

"You don't have to watch, if it's...too much."

"Hush," Izlyn grinned. "I wouldn't miss this for the world."

Izlyn turned to the watching faces, and announced in a loud voice that her lady was ready to begin paying for her passage.

She drove the message home by rucking Kathea's skirts up around her waist, and giving the girl's bottom a good, ringing slap.

At first, the pirates were tentative, almost shy. They had work to do, even on a pleasant spring day, and the Captain had made clear that keeping the ship on course was their first priority, and any man found to be slacking off would be punished.

Izlyn settled down nearby to observe as sailors went this way and that, pausing to give Kathea a kiss, or a pinch of the nipple, or a little feel between her legs.

Kathea squirmed. She looked so pretty, so vulnerable, kneeling there with her hands bound above her head, bare from the waist down except her slippers and her silk stockings. A trickle could be seen running down her thigh.

Izlyn's belly fluttered.

A pair of off-duty sailors peeked out from below deck as word began to spread.

"Ain't anybody fuck you yet, honey?" said one of them, kneeling behind the Princess.

"No."

"Is this what all the fine noble ladies get up to at the palace when us regular folks ain't around to see?" said the other, sitting down beside her, touching a hand lightly to her cheek.

"No," said Kathea sweetly. "It's all so boring there."

The first man was rubbing his prick against her backside, slicking himself on her juices. Izlyn watched her buck her hips against him, gasping softly when she found just the spot.

"So you're here for a taste of the real world, are you?" he said, wrapping his hands around her waist and angling his cock to enter her. She shuddered as he took her. Izlyn watched Kathea slowly scrape her teeth along her lower lip.

The other man's hand drifted from her cheek to her throat, and then still further. He loosened her bodice, and her breasts swung free, heavy and pink-tipped, moving in time with the man fucking her.

Izlyn wanted badly to suck on them, and feel the Princess wriggle under her touch.

She caught her own hand drifting between her legs, and swung it behind her back instead.

"I don't know," admitted Kathea, breath hitching, jerking back and forth in the man's grip. "Please, just....just f-fuck me!"

The request was, Izlyn thought, redundant. The man was, from his unfocused expression, close to spending already. When, shortly, he ground his way to a satisfied halt with a rumbling sigh, his friend quickly took his place.

A queue was beginning to form. Several men were crowding around Kathea now, touching and kisser her all over.

"One at a time," Izlyn said, making a warding gesture. "Give the lady her space."

"Oughtn't someone to give 'er a good frigging while she works?" said an older man, his hair streaked with silver. "The poor girl's hands are tied."

"Very well," Izlyn allowed, and he stepped forward to dip his fingers between her thighs. Spend was beginning to runnel down her legs and pool on the deck.

"What should we call you, lady?" said another man, peering around his fellows.

Kathea's voice had dissolved into a stuttering wail. Izlyn couldn't tell if she was trying to respond.

"Whore will do," Izlyn grinned crookedly. "Or Lady Whore, if you wish to be polite."

Kathea made an aggrieved sound, but it was swept away by a climax that stretched her like a bowstring.

Izlyn throbbed. She shifted restlessly, and her thighs rubbed together, hot and slippery. She ached to wrap them around her Princess and never let go. But she had a very important duty to attend to here.

"Ain't no one gonna sample her other holes?" asked a man with long dark hair in a tumble of ribboned braids. The next lad in line clapped him on the back by way of nomination.

"Take your pick, man!"

"Just..." Izlyn said hurriedly, as the dark-haired man settled behind Kathea. "Not dry!"

"No problem there, madam," he chuckled, along with a few of his mates.

He thrust his prick easily into her now well-used cunt, and when he drew back, it was dripping with spend.

Kathea's eyes went wide when he re-entered her by the next way. Izlyn watched closely for the hand-signal they had arranged, in case it was time to put a stop to things. But the Princess locked eyes with her, and her gaze went steely.

Then another man stepped up to touch her cunt and sprinkle her lips and breasts with kisses while she got her ass fucked, and she melted into what looked something like pained bliss -- if that wasn't a contradiction.

Another man had the idea to put his prick in Kathea's mouth, and she took on a look of curious concentration as she wrapped her lips around him, feeling him grow harder against her tongue -- until he spun her round and guided her cunt down onto his length to complete the affair.

But the next man to try his cock on her mouth went further, thrusting until she was left couging and spluttering, and then Kathea did finally give the hand signal Lady Izlyn had been looking for nervously.

Izlyn clapped her hands.

"That's it for today, boys! Come back tomorrow!"

"Sorry," Kathea murmured hoarsely to the disappointed final customer. Izlyn bustled past him to untie her.

Quick as she could, she led Kathea stumbling back to their cabin, letting her drink from a skin. There was a fresh basin of warm water there, and a clean cloth, and a platter of fruits and cheeses.

The Sea Rat rose in her estimation.

She helped the Princess wash up, and they sank gratefully into the bed together. Kathea buried her face in Izlyn's chest, and they embraced silently for a time. Izlyn guiltily tried to rub some sensation back into Kathea's wrists, which looked rather rope-bitten.

"How do you feel, Kath?" Izlyn said, her heart hammering in her chest. She should have never let this happen. She should have protected Kathea. She should have --

"Tired. Wonderful. Alive. Dead." Kathea was silent again for a time. "I don't know. But...thank you."

Tears were dampening Izlyn's dress where Kathea's face pressed into her.

"Thank you," Kathea said again. She drew back and looked up at Izlyn, her eyes like great blue pools. "How did I look?"

"Brave," Izlyn said. "Beautiful. Positively indecent."

Kathea laughed and pressed her face against Izlyn again.

"Are you sure you are...happy, your highness?" Happy with me? she thought.

"Yes," Kathea breathed. "I liked it. And I want...more."

They nibbled at the food, and she and Kathea settled into a study of the morning's events, for all the world as if they'd just attended a fancy ball and had to dissect all the worst-dressed baronesses and anatomically questionable butter sculptures.

Izlyn had asked the captain to provide Kathea with any extra clothing that could be scrounged up, and they set to tailoring a shirt and trousers to the Princess's fit.

It wasn't exactly going to be fashionable -- but the mud trodden into the wedding dress had been joined by new and even more disreputable stains. Better that Aquelae should receive its Duchess looking like a sailor than...

"Tomorrow, I want to go further," Kathea fixed Izlyn with her most commanding glare. "Don't hold back. None of this 'One at a time, boys' nonsense. None of this Princess treatment. I want to be so well fucked that I forget my own name. I want to be just a...a helpless thing for their pleasure....and yours."

"My...?" Izlyn wavered. "This is not about my pleasure, surely."

"Of course it is," Kathea said. "I saw the way you watched me today. You enjoy making me suffer, don't deny it. I drew strength from it. Let me be strong for you."

"I will still put a stop to things," Izlyn said. "At your signal."

"Of course," Kathea said. "You'd better. But I don't intend to give that signal unless I have to."

"How do I know," Izlyn said slowly, "That you won't regret this later, and damn me for agreeing to such foolishness?"

"I trust you, Izzy. I will always trust you. And I will never regret that."

Then, very softly, their lips touched, and for a time there was nothing else but that electric contact.

* * *

The pirates toasted Kathea at dinner again, and there was much jovial discussion of her exploits. The men who'd been on watch all morning seemed much excited to have their first chance with her tomorrow.

In her new nautical costume, she looked like a runaway making a rather inept attempt to disguise herself as a cabin boy. To be sure, as soft and amply proportioned as she was, Kathea was not well built for such concealment.

Afterwards, Kathea slipped away, and returned towing the man who had gone away disappointed at the close of business that morning.