No Hope

XV - Piece of Bread

"two glasses of scotch whiskey," Cain said as we took our seats in this pub. it was a decent pub, but I never liked these places.

"so, what are you doing here?" Cain asked, I looked at him and I started studying his face carefully. he grew up fast, he has a beard, he is tall. he is now a man, not a kid anymore.

"you will have to wait for me to answer this one, explain everything Cain," I said as I took a long sip from that hard liquor. I felt my throat burn as it went down, making its way to my empty stomach.

"when father passed away, I got some information," Cain said, he stopped to take a sip from his whiskey then he kept going.

"I can't tell you anything, but the only thing that I am sure about, I will kill Richard," he said, and somehow I still don't understand anything.

"what does that have to do with him wanting to kill you?" I asked and he took a big sip as if he is trying to stay calm.

"The information that I received is nothing easy when Richard found out that someone told me everything, he knew that his life is in danger and he will no longer be the king, so he tried to kill me but I managed to escape," Cain said. I couldn't help but raise my brow at him.

"Cain that doesn't explain why you left me, it's been years Cain, you never came back for me. what if he killed me, Cain?" I said in an angry tone, I didn't realize that my voice is loud until I felt everyone's gaze burning into my soul.

"he won't dare Cece, he is scared of me. he knows that if he does anything to you I will end him and his life with one single letter to the Russian empire" Cain said and I couldn't help but laugh, he didn't touch me. that is called sarcasm.

"Did I say something funny?" Cain said, I stopped laughing as I remembered every dark memory, with Richard being the main character in those bloody memories.

"if you can end him that easily Cain, why haven't you done it already ?" I asked, avoiding the fact that he knows that something is up from the way I laughed.

"Good things take time," Cain said. I felt anger instantly building inside me. 

"What good things, if you can kill him with a letter you would have done it a long time ago Cain, I can sense some lying," I said and he angrily smacked the table. he never liked being called a liar.

"I don't give a bloody damn about lying to you Cecile, you can think however you like, but when I say that I will end this son of a b***h I mean it," he said with his finger raised in my face. I slowly rubbed my face, trying to calm myself down before I lose it in public.

"and what's that thing that will magically end Richard, and what do the Russians have to do with him?" I asked. trying to change the subject before we both end up killing each other in the middle of this pub.

"it's a lot of information, but the one that includes Russia is that Richard killed the Russian Ambassador, and he accused some ambassadors from the empire of France. he also planned a bargain with the empire of Russia and he ended up stealing money and weapons. I still don't know how these Russians didn't figure it out" Cain said and I wasn't even surprised. Richard is a mastermind. but who would steal something from Russia? he doesn't even have the balls to do it.

"But how do you know that, and how will you prove that this happened?" I asked and Cain laughed as if I just said something dumb.

"for the first question that is how did I know, that private information, well let's just say that I threatened a person or two maybe three, and the second question which is how can I prove it, well darling I have my ways and you know that," Cain said and I couldn't help but think, is he walking in the wrong direction? I know that I lost my innocent Cain and I know that he is no longer a kid, but what has he been up to these past few years?.

"what are you doing here Cecile, this place is not for people like you, not when they know that you are the princess," Cain said. he changed the subject because he saw the look on my face. he knows me more than anyone.

"well, since I was sick of Richard and his games, I ran away and some old man told me to go with some people, and here I am, traveling the seven seas with some strangers," I said, and as soon as I realized what I just said, Cain smacked the table with his fist.

"strangers Cecile? or do you mean pirates?" Cain said and I couldn't help but chuckle, not because he said something funny, it's because I am laughing to hide my pain, the pain of how we were and how we became, the prince and the princess, and now a pirate and god knows what Cain has been doing with his life. life does change in a blink of an eye.

"When I escaped from Richard, an old man grabbed me and told me that the pirates launched an attack and I should go with them so I can escape, but the old me told me-" I said but Cain cut me off.

"but he told you not to tell anyone that you are a princess," Cain said and I choked on my saliva, Cain knows him, he knows.

"you know him?" I slowly asked he nodded. how?

"he told me not to tell everyone my real name and that I am a prince, so I am Arthur," he said and I chuckled, he always like that name. something about this name made him happy.

"well, I am Claiborne, but you can call me Clay, nice to meet you," I said and we both chuckled, painful chuckles not happy ones.

"But how did it work? Pirates aren't easy to sail with, especially when you are a girl" Cain said and I rubbed my eyes as I started to remember how it went when I first when to the pirates.

"it didn't go well the first few days, but now we somehow get along, well everyone hates me but at least they don't want to kill me anymore," I said and he laughed but that laugh sounded weird.

"and how did you get inside the ship? I think that you sneaked in because that is something that you would do" Cain said and I giggled, I am going to pretend like that didn't come up to my mind when I saw the ship.

"the old man gave me some pirate clothes and he told me that I can threaten them by telling them that I know that they are the ones who launched the attack on the kingdom, also the old man told me not to say that I am a princess because they do hate us," I said and Cain nodded in my direction.

"but what is your plan Cece, you can't keep traveling with them for the rest of your life and you know that there is a kingdom that needs you, a kingdom that needs the both of us, they need their future king or queen, you know that Richard's son will end Britain if he became the king," Cain said and I was waiting for him to ask me what is my plan because I could use his help.

"these Pirates want to kill the king, and we have a bargain. a bargain that will help me win my kingdom back" I said and Cain raised his brow in my direction.

"what does that mean? what bargain?" Cain asked, I always hated his curiosity.

"well let's just say that I am giving them some information in return they will let me sail with them without hurting me until they get enough information and when they are ready, they will happily go and kill the king, and when they kill him they will kill his son, which makes it the two of us, it's either you or me brother," I said while making straight eye contact with Cain, I always feared the day when it's either him or me to rule the kingdom.

"you always had that smart brain, didn't you?" Cain said and I laughed.

"come with me," I said out of nowhere and he choked and started coughing. typical stupid Cain.

"I beg your pardon?" Cain said and I rolled my eyes, I hate it when he acts like he doesn't know what I mean.

"pirates life isn't the best, but it's also nice, traveling the seas while being a free bird," I said and he took a deep breath.

"what's the name of the Captain?" Cain asked and I felt happy because he might agree. that was fast, I thought that I will spend the day trying to convince him.

"Captain Elias," I said and he chuckled, then he took the last sip from his drink then smacked it on the table.

"take me to him," he said and I opened my mouth wide open in shock, he agreed. he agreed to this.

"well let's-" I started but I cut myself off by covering my mouth with my palm, I just realized that I forgot something.

"what's wrong Clay?" Cain asked and I started breathing heavily because I don't know what to do.

"the captain went to make a bargain and you know what bargain means to pirates, it means robbery, and I wanted to follow them but I got so busy with you, and now they are probably searching for me," I said, stressed and scared.

"don't worry about it," Cain said and I am mad at the fact that he thinks it's something normal. because it's not.

"Cain, he knows me by the name Clay and he thinks that I worked as a maid in the kingdom, that's how the bargain works, he can't know anything else because if he did, he will kill me and then I will have zero chances to save my kingdom,  this is something to worry about Cain, it's not as easy as you think it is because he already knows that something is wrong about me because showing up at their ship without any warning and telling them that I worked as a maid is weird and unusual" I didn't realize that I was talking so fast until I finished talking in two seconds. and the thing that annoys me the most is that Cain is calmer than ever, looks like he doesn't know Elias.

"Look behind you," Cain said, I looked behind me and I found Elias, looking around as if he is searching for someone and that someone is me.

"your name is Arthur, you worked as a guard in the castle, don't forget about the maid part" I whisper screamed, the problem is that Cain didn't even look at me, his eyes were focused behind me, I was about to turn around but I felt some presence behind me, I closed my eyes slowly.

"Captain Elias," Cain said. then I felt Elias's hands on my shoulder. I started breathing heavily.

"Arthur? it's been a long time mate" Elias said from behind me. I opened my eyes in shock, they know each other?.

"come sit with us mate," Cain said, I glared at Cain but it was too late, Elias sat down next to me, and I didn't dare to look at him so I kept my eyes focused on Cain, and he avoided my death glare.

"so, I see that you met my beloved Clay," Elias said and I rolled my eyes, I feel like I am a bag of rice.

"Yes mate, I met her, and I met her a very long time ago," Cain said and I glared at him, Cain is going to ruin everything. now I regret telling him to come along.

"and when did that happen?" Elias said and I felt him look at me and I acted like I am looking away.

"since mother gave birth to us," Cain said and I felt Elias tense up next to me, this won't end well.

"oh, does this mean that she's your sister?" Elias said, and I felt his hand snake to my thigh, I slightly pushed it away.

"twins, can't you see that we look alike so much?" Cain said and Elias laughed, he moved his face closer to mine then he grabbed my hair and placed it behind my ear, I closed my eyes. hoping that this will end soon.

"now I see it, you both have the same eyes and hair, you have so much in common" Elias said, and I felt his hot breath brush against my face. why isn't Cain doing anything about this?

"because she is your sister, I assume that you will like to come along?" Elias said as he turned around to face Cain. this ended faster than I expected.

"you have always been smart Elias," Cain said and Elias smirked. how long have they known each other?

"so Clay, where have you been? I thought that you are on the ship?" Elias said. for a moment I thought that he won't do this in front of Cain, but he sadly did and I am not surprised.

"I went out to get some fresh air and I found c-Arthur, I found Arthur and I missed him so I wanted to see what he has been up to and time flew by fast," I said and Elias hummed in response. he didn't buy the lie, bloody hell. he can't know that I am lying because it won't end up good for me.

"she is right Elias, we haven't seen each other for a very long time and you know, time flies by fast when you see someone that you haven't seen for a long while," Cain said and I let out a breath that I didn't know that I was holding, nice save Cain, nice save.

"we will continue this later, let's get going before we get caught, I will meet you at the shore, Captain Arthur" Elias said as he stood up and I choked on my saliva.

"Did he just say, captain?" I asked Cain out loud, ignoring the fact that Elias is still next to me. Cain sent me a look.

"yes Clay, it's been a few years since we last talked, you don't know much about me. we need to talk more next time" Cain said then he stood up but I couldn't let him go that easily.

"are you a p-pirate?" I slowly asked, I was angry and ashamed of him. he glanced at Elias then he looked back at me.

"I am not just their captain and they are not just my crew, they are my family, the family I never had," Cain said and I felt my heart drop. and just by that, he left as I stayed in place shocked trying to comprehend what just happened, I know that he is trying to show Elias his rough side, but I know it when he says something from the bottom of his heart.

"Clay," Elias said but I ignored him, my eyes were focused on Cain who just opened the door and walked away, without even looking at me. so this is what he has been up to for the past years.

"Clay the thing is that I don't give a bloody damn about your brother or that you just realized that he is a pirate, when I f*****g say let's go, you stand the f**k up and you follow me to my ship like the good girl you are," Elias said and before I had the chance to answer him, he grabbed my hair and yanked me closer to him, I closed my eyes and I started breathing heavily. his hot breath attacked my face for the second time in the past few minutes.

"Clay, he doesn't care about you, he never did. because if he cared about you then why did you leave you with me alone? your brother knows me and knows that I don't mind torturing you in front of him for fun" Elias whispered in my face and I tried to push him away but his grab was so tight and he is much stronger than I am.

"People are looking at us, Captain" that's the only thing I said. he took a deep breath before he pushed me down on the ground and walked away. I quickly stood up and followed behind him, ignoring the burning back in my back.

"you are going to stay with my Clay" Elias said as we walked to the ship, pretending that nothing just happened. I huffed, loud enough for him to hear. but he ignored me.

"I am staying with Arthur, I need to stay with him," I said and I saw the smirk on his face. 

"you are not, end of the discussion," Elias said, then he looked behind me and opened his eyes wide. I was about to argue with him but out of nowhere he grabbed me by my wrist and started walking faster. I started running with him but I was barely catching up with him.

"Clay hurry up" Elias screamed and I tried running faster but I couldn't catch up with him. I looked behind me to see what's wrong and I found three men chasing us, and I could tell that these are the men that Elias made the bargain with. because the look on their faces said everything.

"YOU HAVE TALL LEGS ELIAS, MINE ARE SHORT AND I CAN'T KEEP UP" I screamed. he turned around and threw me over his shoulder, I screamed as he threw me like I am a piece of bread. I looked up and I found the men getting closer.

"you might want to hurry up," I said as Elias started running faster than ever.

"try not to fall," he said as he jumped over a barrel. I screamed in fear as I felt like I went flying to the sky, and when he landed on the ground I felt a tiny crack in my ribs from his shoulder. and I can hear him laughing over the wind. I guess this day holds many surprises.