A Minoan Adventure ( closed for DeathsKnight)

After the crash and sound of broken pieces falling to the floor, the man stood outside the door and listened, there was no further sound and just as his hand reached for the bolt,

"Kaspar!"

He jerked and looked at the stairs where another crew member stood,

"What?"

"Get your ass topside, captain's looking for you."

With a grumble Kaspar turned from the door and headed up onto the deck, where he bumped in Tertius. He quickly shifted away and hurried over to the captain, very concious of Tertius' eyes on him. He found himself feeling guilty, but that moment passed quickly and he siddled up to the captain.

Moments later the rowboats was roped to the deck, anchors pulled up and the rising tide used to get them from the beach, the ship turned ponderously and then the sails caught wind and away they went. Tertius made sure that everything was in order, before he headed back to his cabin. He opened the door and stepped inside. He glanced at the broken cup, gave a little sigh and moved over to Tierra, untieing her feet and then her hands. He stepped back and closed the door, leaning against it.

While still struggling with the knots on the ropes Tierra stopped, something was happening
with the ship, she could hear dim voices from above but could not make out any words. Suddenly
the ship started to move, feeling her heart jump, she grabbed onto the edge of the bed. She
wished she could have had just one more look at her homeland, ( I'll probably never see my
people or home again. Oh how I wished I had listened to my father now.) She could feel a
lump forming in her throat. She just swallowing it when the door opened and Tertius stepped
inside.

If looks could kill, he would have dropped dead on the spot. It was a good thing he had been
glancing at the broken cup when Tierra gave him “ the look.” By the time he had sighed and
moved to her, she had her emotions under control. She watched as he untied her hands and feet,
saying nothing just watching his every move. She peered at the door judging the distance from
where she now sat, then realized, ( where on earth would I go if I got on deck?) Sighing she
watched as Tertius stepped back and closed the door then leaned up against it.

Tierra now stood up, and folded her arms under her breasts lifted her eyebrow at Tertius and
waited for his next move. Staring at him a full minute, she finally let her arms fall to her sides,
her fingers grasped the bottom edge of his vest. As she lifted it upwards she kept her eyes
full on his. The vest went up her torso over her head , and finally Tierra dropped the vest on
the floor at her feet. Her eyes went back to his for a moment before she glanced at the material
laying on the cot. Turning her back to Tertius she now lifted her top off and over her head, it
joined the vest on the floor. She shook her hair about, finally her hands went to her waist,
and undid the small cord loosening the skirt, it slide down around her ankles.

Naked now, she reached for the material and started to wrap it around her body.

As she pulled off the vest, he kept his eyes level with her face, he had already seen her without it. There was no denying that she despised him, he couuld not blame her, but how would she have felt if he had left her to the mercies of the other two pirates. As she stripped naked and got the Greek cloth, he looked at her naked form. He had two thoughts, the first was that she would most definately get a very good price on the market. The second thought was that he would like to explore that naked body...he grinned to himself, moved forward and picked up the vest, he undid it and slipped it on, he then bent to pick up the pieces of the cup.

He turned to face her, the pieces in one hand, watching as she finished wrapping the dress around herself, pulling the little cord tight. He nodded his approval, she almost looked Greek, closer inspection would reveal her to not be. He held up the pieces,

"Do not do that again."

He spoke slowly and in Greek, he turned and pushed open the door,

"Come"

He led her on deck and threw the shards into the ocean, from where he stood he could see the Minoan coast pull away.

Tierra finished wrapping the dress around herself adjusted it and looked up at Tertius. He had
his vest back on and held the pieces of the cup in his hand. At his nod of approval she couldn't
help but give him a lopsided smile of disdain. Showing her the broken pieces of pottery he said,

“Do not do that again.”

( “Do not do that again”) She sneered to herself when he had turned towards the door.

“Come”

She sighed and followed him up on deck. Tierra quickly ran to the railing watching as her
beloved Minoan coast slowly fade away. A tear formed in her eye, taking a deep breath she
quickly dashed it away with the back of her hand. The wind had picked up and blew her
hair all about her face and shoulders. Catching it Tierra quickly brought it all to one side and
started to braid it. Looking to her side she saw that Tertius was still near, making her frown.
( Where did he think she was going to run now?)

Turning away from him she looked at the various activities on the ship. It seemed to her
untrained eye, that the crew was scurrying about like a pack of rats. There were a few that
glanced her way but soon got back to their tasks, all except one. It was the same man that
she had noticed watching her on the beach. When he gave her an evil grin, she shivered and
looked away.

Glancing at Tertius again, Tierra brought her hands up in a gesture of , “ What now?” Her
face and eyes matching her gesture.

The captain came over, he faced Tierra,

"You are a pretty girl, I would advise you to not to stray from under my, Eldo or Tertius' eyes, these men have been alone for a few months."

He grinned,

"They will take the chance when they get it and you will be that chance."

His Minoan had an accent to it, he turned to Tertius and continued in Greek,

"Make sure she earns her keep, don't overwork her."

He moved away and Tertius turned to Tierra,

"We go sort the food."

He headed back down deck, checking if she followed

From the corner of her eye Tierra noticed what she took as the captain coming over to them.
His clothes were of better material and quality. She turned towards him as he stopped beside
her. When he began to speak, she was surprised but pleased to hear her language spoken
well, even if with an accent. His words both alarmed and angered her. ( If it wasn't for Tertius
I wouldn't be in this position.) She kept her face passive as she listened.

When the Captain turned to Tertius and spoke Greek, she had to hide her little smile of
satisfaction. It was getting easier and easier for her to understand the language. It was
no where near as refined as Minoan but, she was getting the general idea of his comment.

"Make sure she earns her keep, don't overwork her."

( Huhh, now they want me to work like a slave!) she thought sourly.

"We go sort the food."

At Tertius's broken Minoan, Tierra just nodded her head watching as he headed back down
below. She quickly glanced around the ship, never having been on one before. It was a large
ship with sails for when the wind came up, but also oars were attached to either side for calm
seas. There was enough men on board to do whatever was needed. She sighed when
"He" glanced back at her expecting her to follow.

As she followed him, he realized that she wasn't asking names for objects, a sneaky suspicion took hold of him. In the hold his suspicions got confirmed when she encountered numerous objects which she seemed to know already as she gave no indication of wanting to know the names. He silently showed her what to do, how to prepare the food to keep them edible and placing the food that should be dried out to one side so that they could dry it later.

He hardly spoke, only muttered as he counted, making sure to keep a sharp eye on her, she might just decide to spoil some of the food and he had been starving once, he would never wish to go through that again. He watched her as she worked, once again caught up in her beauty and grace, he looked away when she glanced at him or focused his gaze on her work.

Just before Tierra followed Tertius down below, she looked over her shoulder and saw the
same man watching her, he leered and licked his lips. She quickly looked away and hurried
down the steps thinking about what the Captain had said about staying near Tertius. As
she followed him to the food storage area, she kept on thinking about that horrid man and
forgot to ask Tertius to teach her to speak Greek.

She had to concentrate on following his directions, how to prepare the different kinds of food,
some to keep from spoiling immediately, while others were to be set aside for drying. Never
having been taught how to prepare or cook food, she found this very tedious. Every once
in awhile she would look over at Tertius and frown thinking, ( for a barbarian he sure is handsome)
she shook her head then, ( I hate him, I can't forget I hate him!) She frowned at some fruit
that was going bad. Glancing up at Tertius she asked,

“ What should I do with this fruit, it's turning rotten.”

Catching him watching her, she had to wonder what he is thinking. She felt her cheeks redden
then hastily set the fruit to the side and continued to work . All the while thinking, ( I can't
be attracted to him, I hate him, this is not good, not good at all.) She kept her head down
leaning over her task and in time finished sorting all the various kinds of foods.

Finally she looked up at Tertius, her braid fell forward onto her breast.

It was clear that the fruit had been brought on board spoiled, he sighed at the ineptitude of some of the pirates and then he showed her how to peel, dice and finally use salt and vinegar to preserve what was left of the fruit. As they worked his hair kept falling into his face, with a frustrated sigh, he pulled a leather thong from his pants and tied his hair back. When they finished with the sorting, a delicious smell caught his attention, he turned towards her and grinned.

"Midday meal"

He pulled the thong loose, allowing his hair to fall back to his shoulders and stopped on his way to the deck. He turned to face her,

"I am sorry for punching you"

He motioned toward her temple

Tierra watched Tertius as he showed her how to prepare the fruit, wrinkling her nose at the smell of the vinegar. She took the small knife and proceeded to peel and cut up the fruit. Towards the end the knife slipped and cut her finger,

“Ouch , darn it!”

Bringing her finger to her mouth, she sucked it, then had a look at it. It was only superficial cut, and soon stopped bleeding. Looking up at Tertius she watched him as he pushed his hair from his face, then in frustration he reached for a thong and tied his hair back.

Sighing, she continued putting all the cut up fruit into a storage jar, then added the salt and vinegar mixed it up and put a lid on it. That seemed to be the last of it. Just then she could smell food, her stomach rumbled, making her blush. She looked up when he said,

“Midday Meal.”

She watched as he pulled the thong out letting his hair fall around his face and shoulders. His smile brought a warm feeling to her as he got up and started to walk away from her. He stopped turned back towards her motioning to her temple stating,

“I'm sorry for punching you.”

Tierra brought her hand to her very tender temple, nodded her acceptance of his apology and stood up. Straightening her robe, she started to follow, looking forward to having something to eat. It wouldn't be anything like what she was used to, but at this point, she would eat anything. As she followed behind him she watched how the muscles in his back rippled under his vest.

Usually the slaves would get the last scraps of the food, the only time they could get better food, was when they carried a good price on their shoulders...which Tierra did. Tertius handed her a bowl and led her to where the cook was dishing out food. The men parted as Tertius drew near, he got a good portion of the meat stew and looked on as the man dished out stew for Tierra. He noticed that the eyes of the crew was fastened on her body and he didn't have to be a mind reader to know their thoughts.

He led her to a quiet spot and sat down, producing bread, he broke it and offered her a half. Then he started eating, taking in the clean sky, rolling waves and slight spray as their prow plowed through the water. They had the wind at their back and that helped them to make good time. He used the bread to soak up the sauce in his bowl and when he was done, he placed the bowl next to him and sat looking at her.

As Tierra followed Tertius to where the food was being dished out, her mouth watered. She didn't remember when she had been this hungry before. Taking the bowl he handed her she eagerly waited as the cook filled her bowl. When he was done, she looked up at Tertius and noticed him glancing at the crew. She looked at them then, trying to show them how much contempt she felt for each and every one of them. Grabbing a spoon she then followed Tertius to a quiet spot. Sitting down she brought the bowl up to her nose inhaled it, smiled and commenced eating it. After taking a few bites she saw him produce a loaf of bread breaking it in two. She took the piece he handed over to her carrying on with her meal.

Between bites she looked up and noticed him watching the sea, she too glanced at it, taking a deep breath, she nodded her head and said,

“ Yes, it is very beautiful, the sea, I haven't seen it from a ship before.”

Returning to her meal she used her piece of bread to mop up the last of the juices and popped it into her mouth. Sighing she then noticed that Tertius's bowl was already empty, and had been put to the side. His eyes were watching her intently.

Feeling very self conscious she asked,

“What? Do I have some juices on my chin?”

She brought her hand up and started to rub it.

He smiled and shook his head,

"Like captain said...you are beautiful."

He picked up his bowl and went to the barrel set aside for the task of cleaning the utensils, he flicked the dirty water from his bowl overboard and turned to her.

"We go finish the fruit...then we talk."

He waited for her to clean her own bowl, then he led her back to the storage. Gathering the fruit to be prepared in baskets, he led the way up to the deck and showed her how to peel the fruit and cut them to be dried out on linnen cloths,

"This helps us survive, we dry food, then add water to...hmmm...swell them again."

When Tertius smiled and replied,

“ Like the Captain said...you are beautiful.”

Her mouth opened in surprise, as she watched him take his bowl to the barrel and clean it. At his orders to continue with the work she nodded, got up and quickly cleaned her bowl and set it with the others. As she wiped her hands on a rag set on the edge of the barrel, Tierra glanced quickly back at Tertius frowning, ( I wonder what he wants to talk to me about, I have tried to do as he says.)

As she followed him to the storage area, she kept thinking, ( Or maybe he has regrets for taking me as a captive, maybe I am more to him then some coins. I may yet have a chance to escape!) Smiling a secret smile, Tierra helped gather the remaining fruit into baskets and taking one in each hand followed Tertius back up on deck.

Once they were settled on a cleared space besides some linens that had been spread out earlier, Tierra watched as Tertius showed her how to peel and cut the fruit into small pieces for drying. It was not easy work, and her hands became sore, but she didn't let him see of her discomfort. As she set the bits of cut up fruit onto the linen sheets he said,

“This helps us survive, we dry food, and then add water...hmmm...swell them again.”

At this statement she stopped what she was doing and looked up at him with a quizzical look. His tone was odd enough to make her wonder exactly what he was referring to. Biting her lip she uttered,

“Do you want to explain what you are talking about or should I even ask?”

Suddenly she couldn't keep the grin from her face any longer.

The grin brought a slight smile to his own lips,

"When they dry, they become small and hard, water makes them..."

He motioned with his hands, something small expanding,

"Swell? Make it soft again."

He contined to place the last pieces on the cloth, then looked at her, this time he spoke in Greek,

"You understand Greek don't you? You're not fluent, yet you understand it right?"

His eyes sought her face for any sign that she might try and lie to him about it.

At his words Tierra sighed, ( looks like he caught me again.) Frowning she replied, “ Yes I can understand your language, it has a lot of slang in it, but I think it comes from our Minoan language somewhere in the distant past.” She wiped her hands on the corner of the linen sheet leaned back and asked, “ What are you going to do with this knowledge?” Looking down at her hands, “ I wish you wouldn't tell the captain my secret, it is my only defense in this unknown world you have so brutally thrust me into.” As she spoke, her temper started to raise. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself down again, realizing losing her temper hadn't gotten her anywhere with Tertius so far.

After taking another deep breath she looked up at Tertius and waited for his response. Her eyes narrowed, for at that moment she noticed that same leering crew member from earlier. With Tertius near she felt no fear, as she glared at the disgusting man. Her hand reached for the pile of discarded rotting fruit, grabbed a handful and launched it over Tertius' head. It landed with a loud splat on the man's chest and dropped to the deck.

He looked over his shoulder,

"If that knot is not properly made I will fucking gut you right now."

He got to his feet and the sailor quickly made the knot, Tertius stopped in front of him, glowering. Tertius' hand shot out and grabbed a handfull of hair, dragging his head backwards.

"If a gust of wind caught the sail? It would've ripped, we can not afford that thisclose to land."

All the while his voice was calm yet cold, he shoved the man away,

"Tend to your duties dog."

The insult made the man bristle, but he quickly cowed under Tertius' stare and scurried away, Tertius spat after him and turned to face Tierra, he pointed at the mess where it had landed on deck.

"You better pick that up."

Tierra was glad that Tertius put that horrid man in his place but also knew she had just made an enemy as well. She saw him quickly glance at her as he scurried away. It made her blood run cold, but she was distracted when she heard Tertius,

“You better pick that up.”

Turning her head towards him first she looked at the mess on the deck, then his finger, slowly working her way up to his face. ( Did she really want to fight with him now?) Oh she did, she really did, she wanted to scream at all that had happened since she had been so happily searching the sunny shore for pretty shells and stones. Her eyes narrowed as she sneered, “No...I won't pick it up!” She jumped up and ran down below deck before the surprised Tertius could do anything.

As Tierra ran for Tertius' room, she had time to realize that she was probably in for it now. She kept looking back as she ran, finally making it to his room she slammed the door shut. Frantically looking around she saw an old trunk in the corner quickly ran over to it and dragged it to the door pushing it snuggly against it. Sighing she sat on it, thinking, ( OK...that should hold him off for awhile.)

He sighed and went to clean up the mess, it could be potentially lethal, when he was done he went below deck, no words were spoken, but stares were directed towards his cabin. He tried the door and found that an object blocked it, he pushed and the object gave way with a scrape. Taking a step back he slammed his shoulder into the door, it swung open with an explosive force, sending the trunk, it's contents and Tierra spilling into the cabin. He stepped inside and pushed the door close behind him, he tilted his head as he stared at her,

"You really should not have done that."

He stepped closer and grabbed her tunic, blocking most of her hits, shrugging the other off,

"You wish to be wild? Then I will tame you."

He released his grip on her tunic and grabbed an arm, twisting it behind her back,

"Perhaps I should have left you, let the other find and rape you, dragged you back her and used as a real slave, not treated with difference, like now."

He propelled her forward, using the arm behind her back to guide her, back on deck, he flung her to two laughing pirates.

"Tie her to the mast and bring me my rope."

Their grins broadened as they dragged her to the main mast and tied her face-first to the mast. A rope was brought to him, it was braided and looked like it would strip skin. He stood next to her,

"We have rules and when you are given an order, you will obey."

He stepped back, flicking the whip out behind her, lifting his arm, he flicked the whip forward and caught Kaspar around the neck, shock registered on the pirate's face as Tertius jerked the whip, pulling him towards him and with one hard fist to the chin decked him.

"Dereliction of duties will not be tolerated, what should Kaspar be doing?"

His words was met with silence,

"He should be manning the aft rigging, this was his second warning, next man I find eyeing this woman will take a swim. Back to your posts land monkies!"

The small crowd shattered in all directions, he left the downed pirate with the rope around his neck, stopping next to Tierra,

"You stay right there."

Tierra sat on the old trunk gradually calming down. She was starting to get nervous remembering that Tertius could be harsh when provoked. Suddenly the door moved inward a little along with her and the truck. Her eyes widened, “Oh no!” Mere seconds later there was a crash and Tierra and the trunk went flying. Laying on the floor amidst some clothes and such, she looked up at a very angry Tertius. She tried backing away on her hands and knees, when he said,

“ You really should not have done that.”

When he grabbed her, she started to scream, “Let go of me, you barbarian, let go!” She hit him with all she had, trying to get him to loosen his grip. Finally she got tired and just stood, waiting for him to do whatever he was going to do. Instead he uttered,

“You wish to be wild? Then I will tame you.”

Letting go he then grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her, the rest of his words were lost on her as she fought not to cry out in pain. Shoving her before him they soon ended back up on deck where he thrust her at two laughing pirates. Once her arm was loose she struggled against them trying to kick and scratch. Her blood ran cold when she heard Tertius say,

“Tie her to the mast and bring me my rope.”

As they dragged her to the mast Tierra screamed blue murder, fighting with renewed strength. By the time they were done with her, she had worn herself out and could only glare at Tertius breathing heavily as he stood beside her with his deadly looking rope.

“We have rules and when you are given an order, you will obey.”

Tierra thought she knew what was now coming so closed her eyes when she heard the flick of the whip. Her body tensed making ready for the pain to begin. Hearing it hit someone else she opened her eyes and in horror watched Tertius punish Kaspar then reprimand the rest of the crew. Her body shaking now, she heard him say,

“You stay right there.”

When he moved away, she released the breath she had been holding, frantically struggling to get her hands out of the ropes. Her mind screamed, (Oh gods oh gods....)

Kaspar awoke with a groan, his jaw ached, but it didn't hurt. He opened his eyes to be treated to a very fine view, the Minoan girl tied to the mast. He stared at her figure as the wind tugged on the garment she wore, then a shadow fell over him.

Tertius looked down at Kaspar,

"Get to your post, that was your last warning."

Tertius watched as Kaspar slowly got to his feet and with a slight wobble in his step pulled the whip free and stagger back to his post. Tertius picked up the whip, turned and flicked the tip at Tierra, the point grazing her left buttock, hardly enough to leave a mark, but enough for her to feel the sharp sting. He rolled up the whip and tugged it into his belt, he stepped in front of Tierra and waited for her to look at him,

"That was your second warning, next time I will take the loss of gold upon me and hand you to the men as entertainment."

He moved his face close to her ear,

"And you have heard about Greek style."

He laughed softly and made his way to wheel where the captain stood, watching the whole scene as it played out, next to him stood the quarter master, nodding his consent.

Tierra waited for Tertius to come back and whip her. She kept on wrenching at the ropes to no avail. After a few minutes she heard a groan behind her, turning her head as best she could, she could make out Kaspar as he stared at her. Putting her forehead against the mast, she rested, never having felt so tired in her entire life as she did now. She moaned to herself, “I don't know who is worse, this horrid man or Tertius and his punishments.” Suddenly she heard his voice,

“Get to your post, that was your last warning.”

Looking back she watched as Kaspar staggered back to his post dropping the whip as he went. Seeing Tertius pick it up she gritted her teeth and hung on to the mast expecting pain, lots of pain. When the tip hit her butt she smashed into the post and cried out. Shaking now Tierra tried not to cry but a tear slipped out anyways.

When nothing else happened she finally opened her eyes and saw him standing in front of her. For a few seconds she considered not letting her eyes travel up to his face. But on second thought he might hit her again, so she slowly raised them upwards seeing spots before her eyes. When her eyes met his she heard him say,

"That was your second warning, next time I will take the loss of gold upon me and hand you to the men as entertainment."

Moving closer he continued,

"And you have heard about Greek style."

She heard his laugh as he walked away, but didn't care, the blackness was taking over as she slowly slumped down held up only by the mast now.

Tertius left Tierra where she was, it was better and less trouble, but after a short while he felt sorry for her, the sun was beating down mercilessly and there was little to no shade against the mast. Making his way to a barrel filled with water, he dipped a bit of cloth in it, then moving over to her, he used the wet cloth to bring her around again. When her eyes flickered open he untied the ropes and placed the cloth in her hand,

"I should leave you to burn in the sun."

He met her gaze with a steely one of his own,

"But there is much work to do and you need to learn."

He pointed to a net, their main source of food production,

"You will learn how to fix and use the net."

Tierra could feel a wetness on her face and throat as she slowly came around. Opening her eyes she saw Tertius turn and undo the ropes. Bringing her hands away from the mast she rubbed her sore wrists when he placed the wet cloth in her hand. She held it as he started to speak to her, silently listening to his words. After looking at the net, she looked at his chest and nodded her head before wiping her face and throat with the cloth.

Getting up now she went over the recent events that lead her to being tied to the mast and whipped, even if it was briefly. She now realized like never before, she belonged to Tertius now and there wasn't anything she could do about it. If she had any chance of surviving it would not be by rebbelling at every opportunity. She would have to bid her time, no matter how long it took, she made up her mind, she would escape sooner or later even if it took her years, she vowed she would escape the life of being a slave.

Walking up to him, she stopped not looking up into his eyes and quietly said,

“ I will do as you say, you will not have to tie or whip or punish me again.”

She waited for him to instruct her on what to do with the nets.

He nodded and walked over to the nets, the repair tools was kept in a bucket, which hung on a peg. He showed her how to mend the net and stood over her, watching. The rest of the day went by swiftly and after the display the pirates tended to their work, of course glances still found Tiarra, but none of them actually stopped their work. It was not the first time and Tertius knew it will never be the last, but at least it worked for a while.

After dinner, he took Tiarra down to the cabin, he pointed out the bed, which was much more comfortable than the floor. He pulled a bundle from a chest and started setting it up on nails driven into the sturdy beams overhead, it was a hammock. He tied one end to another nail next to the door and clambered in, the sword and dagger still on his belt. He had not spoken much to Tiarra during the day and when he did it was only instructions. He waited for her to get into bed and blow out the candle.