Vikram stood frozen in the dim cabin while the princess clung desperately to his wrist, her trembling fingers refusing to let go as moonlight spilled through the narrow wooden windows and painted pale silver lines across the floorboards. The ship creaked softly with the rhythm of the sea while distant pirate laughter echoed from the deck above. Bruises covered the girl's shoulders and arms, some fresh, some old enough to have turned dark blue beneath her skin. Her eyes carried the exhausted fear of someone who had stopped believing rescue was possible long ago. Vikram tightened his grip around the dagger, then slowly shook his head. "I can't," he whispered harshly. "Do you understand how insane this is? There are armed pirates outside. Your captain is a psychopath. I can barely walk because he shot me in the leg earlier. Even if we somehow escape this ship, where exactly do we go? Swim through the ocean?" The princess stared at him with widening disbelief before tears immediately welled in her eyes again. "Please…" she whispered weakly. Vikram turned away from her because looking directly at that expression made his chest hurt strangely. "No," he said more firmly, forcing logic into his voice as if logic alone could silence guilt. "Listen to me carefully. If he catches us, we die. Actually no, correction—I die horribly while you probably get dragged back here." He pointed angrily toward the cabin door. "You know exactly what those men are capable of." The princess grabbed his sleeve desperately before he could move away. "Then let me die outside instead." That sentence hit him harder than any punch. Vikram's jaw tightened instantly. "Don't say stupid things." But the girl only lowered her head while tears rolled silently down her face. "I'm tired," she whispered shakily. "Every day he says nobody is coming for me. He says islands forget daughters quickly. He says I belong to the sea now." Silence filled the cabin after that. Vikram could hear the waves outside. The drunken shouting from above. His own heartbeat. Every rational part of his brain screamed the same thing repeatedly—leave, right now, before this gets worse. This was already a nightmare. He was trapped in some impossible virtue test inside a mystical palace while getting tortured on pirate ships for reasons he still barely understood. Saving strangers from violent captains was not part of the plan. Slowly he stepped backward toward the door. The princess realized instantly. Fear spread across her face. "No…" Vikram avoided eye contact completely. "I'm sorry." He turned toward the exit, but suddenly she wrapped both arms around him from behind and held him tightly like a drowning person clinging to driftwood. "Please don't leave me here," she begged, her voice cracking completely now. "I'll help with anything. I won't slow you down. Please…" Vikram shut his eyes tightly. Why was this stupid test doing this to him?
Then came the knock.
Both of them froze instantly. A heavy voice growled from outside the cabin door. "Open." The princess's face lost all color while Vikram's heart nearly stopped inside his chest. The captain. Another knock came, louder this time. "Girl." Panic exploded through the room instantly. Vikram quickly limped behind stacked cabinets near the corner while the princess rushed back onto the bed and pulled the blanket around herself just seconds before the cabin door burst open. The captain stepped inside smelling strongly of alcohol, cigar smoke, and seawater, his half-buttoned coat hanging loosely over scarred skin. One cloudy white eye scanned the room slowly while the other remained sharp like a predator's. Vikram held his breath behind the cabinet as the captain approached the bed. "Why awake?" he asked coldly. The princess lowered her eyes. "Couldn't sleep." The captain stood silently for several moments before narrowing his gaze slightly. "Thought I heard voices." "No." The slap came instantly. Brutal. Loud enough to echo through the cabin. The princess fell sideways against the bed while Vikram flinched violently from behind the cabinet. The captain grabbed her jaw hard enough to make her wince. "Don't lie to me." Tears filled her eyes but she stayed silent. His expression darkened further. "Who was here?" "No one." Another slap. Harder. "Who." "No one…" The captain punched her directly in the stomach. She cried out painfully and curled forward immediately while Vikram's fingers tightened around the dagger hard enough to hurt. Rage burned through his chest so intensely he almost stepped out right there. The captain grabbed her hair violently and yanked her head upward. "You think I'm stupid?" She could barely breathe properly now. "I swear…" He threw her onto the wooden floor and kicked her hard across the ribs without hesitation. Vikram watched everything from hiding while something inside him slowly broke apart. Every logical argument he had built moments earlier collapsed one by one. The captain leaned down near the princess's face, his voice terrifyingly calm now. "If I find someone touched what belongs to me…" He paused, then smiled slightly. "…I'll feed him alive to the sea." The princess trembled silently beneath him. After several more seconds the captain finally spat onto the floor and walked back out, slamming the cabin door shut behind him. Silence returned. Only the sound of waves remained. The princess stayed curled on the floor shaking quietly while Vikram slowly stepped out from behind the cabinet. Something inside him had changed completely now. Not anger. Not pity. Decision. He walked toward her and extended his hand. "Can you run?" The princess looked up slowly, and for the first time since he had entered the room, genuine hope appeared in her eyes again. Small. Fragile. But alive. "Yes," she whispered. Vikram sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead tiredly. "This is probably the dumbest decision of my life."
They moved quickly after that. The princess grabbed a small cloth bag hidden beneath the bed while Vikram carefully opened the cabin door and checked outside. Most pirates had collapsed drunk across the deck while others snored beside fire barrels holding empty bottles. Moonlight reflected softly across the ocean around the ship. "Come," Vikram whispered. They slipped through shadows carefully, moving between crates and sleeping pirates while Vikram's injured leg screamed in agony every few steps. Mint—her name still sounded strangely soft for someone surviving this nightmare—walked silently beside him. Twice they nearly got caught. One pirate suddenly rolled over and muttered drunken nonsense while another woke up just long enough to vomit over the railing before collapsing again. Eventually they reached the edge of the ship where a small rope boat floated below tied against the hull. Mint pointed toward it immediately. "There." Vikram stared downward nervously. "You know how to row?" She shook her head. "…Great." Somehow, through panic and terrible coordination, they climbed down the ropes and untied the boat without alerting anyone. Vikram grabbed the oars awkwardly while Mint kept looking back toward the giant pirate vessel in terror. Every splash sounded deafeningly loud. Vikram fully expected shouting at any second. Gunshots. Pirates swarming after them. Death. But none came. Slowly the ship drifted farther behind them beneath the pale moonlight until finally they reached the rocky shore of the island. The moment the boat touched land, both jumped out immediately and started running. Through forests. Through jagged rocks. Through branches that tore at their clothes and skin. Vikram's injured leg became unbearable within minutes, but fear kept dragging him forward. Mint occasionally grabbed his arm whenever he stumbled too badly. Neither spoke much while they ran through the dark island beneath fading moonlight. Hours seemed to pass. Vikram's lungs burned. Sweat mixed with blood and seawater across his body while exhaustion threatened to collapse him completely. At one point he muttered bitterly between breaths, "If I survive this, I'm never helping anyone again." Mint looked at him despite her exhaustion and whispered, "You don't mean that." Vikram wanted to argue. But he kept running anyway.
By the time dawn began coloring the sky pale gray, the forest finally opened into a small fishing village near the cliffs overlooking the sea. Tiny wooden homes stood beside old docks while fishermen slowly began waking for morning work. Smoke rose from chimneys into the cold morning air. Vikram nearly collapsed from relief while Mint stared silently toward the village like someone seeing freedom for the first time in years. Meanwhile, back on the pirate ship, morning arrived badly. The captain entered his cabin while adjusting his gloves carelessly before stopping completely still beside the empty bed. Silence filled the room. No princess. No sound. No sign of her anywhere. Slowly his expression twisted into something monstrous. "WHERE IS SHE?" The roar shook the entire ship instantly. Pirates scrambled awake in panic while several slaves flinched violently. One terrified henchman rushed into the cabin only to freeze seeing the captain's face. "Captain—" "WHERE." The henchman looked around nervously before realization struck him. "…Mint's gone." Another pirate suddenly shouted from outside. "One slave missing too!" The captain's good eye widened murderously. "The new boy…" Rage exploded across his face instantly. He grabbed a glass bottle from the table and smashed it against the wall hard enough to shower the cabin in shattered pieces. "I WANT THEM FOUND." Pirates immediately rushed across the ship gathering weapons and supplies while fear spread among the crew. One man hesitantly asked, "Alive?" The captain slowly looked toward him with a smile that felt far worse than anger. "…Alive," he answered quietly while staring toward the distant island beyond the sea. Then his smile widened slightly. "For now."