Curse of the Zodiac Serpent
The Trade

It hadn’t taken long to dress Ayako in the same robes as the Princess. For saftey’s sack, Princess Matsu also donned Ayako’s uniform. Once the swap was complete no one could tell the difference between the two until Ayako opened her mouth. Anyone who knew the Princess would be able to tell that the voice was very different.

But, thankfully the pirates had never heard the Princess’s voice. Ayako would just have to remain silent until she reached the ship and was handed over to the pirates. Funny how no one actually protested her idea, it didn’t bother her. Honestly, it made the transition easier to slip into the Princess’s role. The problem would be the Shogun, they couldn’t inform anyone of their plan if they were going to pull this off.

Stepping outside, she couldn’t help but wonder how women didn’t trip over all the layers of fabric, her uniform was far more comfortable and practical. Her hair was styled and adorned with hanging jewels, her face was lightly coated in powders and her eyes were accented with eyeliner. She felt alien in the attire.

They headed for the still-blazing town, the Emperor walked beside her while a number of guards created a circular barrier around her, her escorts.

“He’s bringing the Princess! Alert the Captian!” A hollowing voice rang out on the wind above the crackling of the fires.

It was a pirate. So they were watching, good.

She remained posed with her head angled down and her hands tucked away under her sleeves in front of her body. The path through the once flourishing landscape now a resemblance of how one would describe hell.

The fighting slowed with each step closer to the docks. Onlookers turned to watch her slow approach with shocked expressions, others began weeping. But thankfully she saw no dead, only injured townsfolk and their burning homes. They had managed to act quickly enough that life would be saved.

Then came the hardest part. Lord Kaiko strode toward the group, the Emperor stiffened beside her clearly nervous. She gave him a discrete nod, reassurance that this would work.

“What do you think you’re doing!” The Shogun’s booming voice cut through all the surrounding noise.

“What we must! The Princess agrees.” The Emperor tried his best to not have his own voice waver.

“Where is Ayako? I told her to take you to the palace for protection, not this!”

“She has fulfilled her orders and I gave her new ones, she is remaining behind to protect the other clan members until the pirates leave.”

“I will not allow this!”

“I will not allow the city to burn to the ground!” The Emporer shot back rather sternly.

Ayako dressed as the Princess stepped forward and held her hand out for the Shogun lord.

Taken aback by both her movement and the Empoerer’s outburst he stood for a moment and simply stared. Hesitantly he took the hand that was offered to him and remained still as she leaned forward on tiptoes to whisper a few short words in his ear.

‘The imperial family is safe.’

She had spoken so softly that no one else could hear her over the utter chaos that was slowly fading around them. Lord Kiako’s eyes widened enormously for but a moment, before he returned to his usual stern demeanour. He moved away from her, taking up a position in the forward flank.

“Let us escort the Princess to the docks.” He ordered.

It seemed that once the pirates had spotted her word of her departure had spread, the pirates retreated while the people came into view to say their goodbyes. It wasn’t a long walk to the docks, and reaching them was rather easy with the shogun’s help, having cleared the way of fallen debris.

The pirate captain Kenji stood atop his vessel peering down at the approaching party with a smirk spreading across his face. He was now surrounded by a hoard of men, his crew.

The Emporer put on the waterworks as she was ushered up onto the makeshift steps leading up to the ship’s landing.

“Good to see you’ve come to your senses!” Kenji reached forward clasping a hand around her arm and wrenched her over the wooden railing.

If she hadn’t been a trained fighter she would have likely lost her footing and fallen. Probably what had been intended by the rough treatment, but just because she was disguised as the Princess didn’t mean she couldn’t be a strong individual. She wasn’t going to act the part of a hopeless damsel in distress.

Spinning she reached for the railing as the crew pulled up the plank. This part she would have to act out. She looked down at the group below with a sorrow-filled expression, though her heart felt nothing.

“Don’t worry Princess.” One of the crude pirates laughed. “We’ll take good care of ya!”

“Set Sail!” The captain ordered.

“Wait! Please!” The Emperor looked frantic, he was a pretty good actor when he needed to be. “What are going to do with my daughter? where are you taking her?”

“That’s none of your concern now.” One of the crew yelled down.

“Besides it’s better not to know!” Another burst out laughing as he took hold of Ayako’s arm and yanked her away from the railing.

“Honestly I’m surprised this one isn’t crying yet.” Another commented as she was led to a small staircase, the entrance to the caban’s below deck.

“Doesn’t matter, just keep her locked up until we reach our destination.” Captain Kenji commented to his crew.

The ship had already pulled away from the docks and was making its way steadily toward the sea. The sails draped down and the wind caught them perfectly propelling the vessel forward.

“Why must I be locked away? I’m not going to jump overboard.” She protested now that she was out of earshot of any villages that would know she wasn’t the Princess.

Kenjo stormed over to her, taking hold of her chin and forcing her to look him in the eye. “My ship, my rules.” He hissed with venom.

She frowned but felt it best not to argue. She was dragged below deck and shoved behind a wooden door before it was locked behind her. With a heavy sigh, she sat herself down on the makeshift bed, if you call the hay-filled burlap sack a bed. The subtle itch of the cattle fed only bearly pocking her through her layers upon layers of clothing. Again she wondered how this attire was practical.

Also, it had only just occurred to her now that she hadn’t brought any additional clothes with her. Her head lulled to the side leaning on the cold wooden interior of the ship. The sounds of merry-goings-on echoed down to her solum existence. Were they celebrating her capture or just simply being pirates?

She tried to block out the loud cheers and songs that erupted from above and focused on the sound of the waves crashing against the side of the ship. It was in no way conforming, all she could think about was the unknown, why they needed the Princess and what her fate would be.