Somewhere Weaknesses Are Strength

Sebastian turned from the lock system, keeping the sword and the satchel hidden behind her back, to face the pirate. Hayley stood at the top of the staircase, arms crossed, one eyebrow cocked. To Sebastian's surprise, Hayley was still fully clothed in her day attire, her clothing comfortably adorning her body. It looked as if it hadn't been disturbed at all.

Realization washed over Sebastian. Hayley wasn't actually planning going to bed. It was all a trick and Sebastian was screwed. Unless she could find someway out of the mess she was in.

"Do I need to repeat myself?" Hayley asked, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Various excuses ran through Sebastian's mind. She needed one, any one, that would be believable enough. Something that wouldn't get her killed preferably. If she couldn't convince Hayley she wasn't trying to escape, she was dead and that was it.

But she couldn't get over the shock of getting caught. This was the hardest part of the plan, Sebastian knew that, but she hadn't been expecting to get caught so soon. She thought she had been doing well, thought she had been sneaky enough to get out of there.

Now, she wasn't sure she would get out of the situation alive.

"I needed to get some air," Sebastian responded.

It was plausible. Never mind that she was going through the front door alone, breaking a whole other rule all together. That was a technicality that Hayley would hopefully overlook.

"Oh, you wanted to get some air?" Hayley asked, beginning to descend the steps, "Was that an excuse that worked on your father?"

Sebastian jaw dropped. Hayley couldn't know that she ran the same excuse past her father in order to leave the castle. It had worked multiple times but Hayley shouldn't have known that. Sebastian never told her about her escapes from the castle.

She still had some hope though. She could get out of this. All she had to do was act oblivious, stupid. Like a normal princess. It wouldn't be hard. Sebastian had done it multiple times to get out of trouble.

If all else failed, she could try bombarding Hayley with the boyish charm she inherited from her brothers. But she didn't think it would work on the captain.

"Excuse me?" Sebastian asked.

"I'm not stupid," Hayley stated, "I knew you would act like some idiotic prince and try to escape."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Like hell you don't. Your mother committed suicide after your second youngest brother died. She was weak. You wouldn't have wanted to be like her. Not in the least. So you must have rebelled against the weaknesses princesses have, acting more as a prince than anything else. With two other brothers and lenient father it had to have been easy. In fact, you were close to your brothers, weren't you? I mean, you wouldn't be so scared of being in a ship if you weren't close to them. Their ridiculous behaviors must have rubbed off on you."

"That doesn't prove anything. I just wanted to get some air."

"Oh, I'm not done," Hayley shook her head, approaching Sebastian, "You were never trained in ship navigation. You avoided marriage at all costs, even managing to keep your father from arranging a marriage as you got older. You hate the scent of roses, you don't like caviar. You're room was at the topmost floor of the castle. And you expect me to believe you ever followed rules, that you would ever follow my rules?"

By her last statement, Hayley stood in front of Sebastian, there bodies almost touching. She held Sebastian's eyes, glaring daggers at the younger female. Sebastian must have thought Hayley was stupid to not piece things together. Well, now she would face the consequences of disobeying her most important rule.

Sebastian blanched. She had no idea the seemingly useless information that Hayley asked of her was that important. Her character was decided from facts about her life. Who her family members were, how they passed away, her reaction to things around her, all of it pointed Hayley to her deduction.

And Hayley was right about everything.

Sebastian knew she should have expected it. Hayley was a master at torture. She would be able to figure victims out from small details. She probably didn't even need the information Sebastian provided to figure her out. That was just a buffer to help conclude any of what Hayley may have suspected from the way Sebastian carried herself.

"You're nothing more than a rowdy prince," Hayley stated, "So why don't you tell me what you were really doing?"

That was like a slap in the face. How dare Hayley compare Sebastian to a rowdy prince? Sebastian would have vehemently denied the accusation. But she was trying to find a way to save her life.

It seemed like there was no hope for the princess. Hayley knew everything. Sebastian couldn't even undo the lock to get out. She was trapped between a firmly shut door and a pirate. She was as good as dead.

She had a sword though, the one hidden behind her back.

Sebastian gripped the handle of the sword. One swipe and she could run to another opening in the mansion. She didn't know how to open the lock and she wouldn't waste her time trying to figure it out. All she needed to do was wound Hayley enough to keep her out of the way while she searched for an exit.

She could jump out the window if that's what it took.

"Well?" Hayley pushed.

Hayley could see the fight in Sebastian's eyes. The princess never actually lost it while they were on the ship. It just lay dormant every now and then, like when Hayley kissed her. But Hayley was prepared for whatever fight Sebastian would put up.

Keeping eye contact with Hayley, Sebastian swung the sword from behind her back, aiming for the captain's neck. The makeshift satchel fell from her hands to the floor, contents rolling out of it. Instead of metal hitting flesh, the sound of metal hitting metal rang through the air. Hayley held her sword against the one Sebastian held, smirking over the X-shaped formation the metals made.

Sebastian hadn't even seen her draw her sword. She knew that the captain had one but she assumed she would be fast enough to take the pirate by surprise. Apparently, she was wrong.

"Put the sword down," Hayley commanded.

She knew it wasn't Sebastian's sword. Sebastian hadn't gotten onto the ship with any weapons. Hayley knew the sword Sebastian held belonged on her wall. She knew exactly which wall fixing it belonged on. The sword was missing when Hayley walked down the hallway to talk to Holly not even an hour prior. Knowing Sebastian took the sword to aid in her escape only pissed Hayley off more.

Sebastian had no idea what she in for.

There were only two ways Sebastian could go. Either she could put the sword down, submitting to whatever Hayley had planned, and get killed. Or she could fight. Regardless of the outcome, Sebastian wasn't going down without a fight. The odds seemed fair enough. Sword on sword combat wouldn't be too hard. As long as Sebastian got one opening to injure Hayley, she would be fine. Escape or die. There was nothing else she could do.

"No," Sebastian replied, keeping the sword tight in her hands.

Sebastian attempted to push Hayley's sword from hers. The captain simply pushed her sword harder against Sebastian's. The princess could make no useful movements.

Well, her plan was slowly going to hell.

"You want to rethink that?" Hayley asked.

With each of Sebastian's defying actions, Hayley grew angrier. She was already livid when she found Sebastian sneaking down the staircases. Her mood had only dropped further into her pit of fury.

Even worse, Sebastian was dumb enough to think she would get away with it. The princess was pushing her luck, what little of it was actually still existent. She was mistaken if she thought she would get out of there alive.

It was a shame too. Hayley was looking forward to keeping her around. But if she couldn't keep the girl from leaving the mansion and putting them both at risk, she couldn't keep that captive alive. It was as simple as that.

Sebastian gritted her teeth, trying to find some way to offset Hayley's sword. Hayley was stronger than her. That had always been evident. Hayley had proven enough times that she was strong enough to force Sebastian into submission. None of those instances involved major force. Hayley could even control a group of male pirates. What had Sebastian been thinking in coming up with an escape plan and trying to go through with it? She should have given up the plan when she was second guessing herself.

But she was too far in to stop now.

"I'm not dying at your hands," Sebastian stated.

"You must really be an idiot to think you can get out of here alive."

"I don't see you making any moves to kill me."

Sebastian knew she was only digging her grave deeper. Whatever would happen to her if she didn't get out of the mansion would be far from pleasant. But she couldn't drop the sword and start groveling. She couldn't sidestep the fate she made for herself. She was going to be tortured to death if she didn't get the hell out of there. Hayley wouldn't go easy on her.

"I was giving you a chance at redemption. You should have just taken it," Hayley stated.

She had been giving Sebastian plenty of chance to admit to what she was doing. She would have been nicer to her if Sebastian had. Sebastian never admitted she was trying to escape. She tried to lie and fight her way out of it. Sebastian was about to receive hell.

"I don't need redemption from a pirate," Sebastian spat.

Hayley chuckled, "Let me let you in on a little secret, sweetheart. You're about as intimidating as a small dog."

"Fuck you."

"I wouldn't use language like that if I were in your position."

"My position?" Sebastian asked, "We're equally matched."

They both had weapons that couldn't be used at long distances unless hurdled through the air. Those weapons were locked in a standoff, not allowing either of them to move. Aside from Hayley being stronger, Sebastian had just as great a chance at winning the fight.

It wasn't always the strongest who won sword matches.

A click sound next to Sebastian's head, smooth metal pressing against her temple. Sebastian's breath caught in her throat, fear running through her body. From the corner of her eyes, she could see a portion of a hand gun.

Hayley smirked, "Not anymore."