The Captain's treasure

(note: this is currently unedited and historically inaccurate, also this is my first full erotic short story! I hope y'all enjoy it, I'm still learning when it comes to writing so be gentle!)

‘I'm doing it! I'm Finally doing it!’

After 20 long years of living in that wretched prison of A home I'm finally free!

Panting as I ran I could feel the cold air of the night chilling my skin. I could see my own breath with each huff of air I breathed.

It was refreshing to say the least. Momentarily stopping in my tracks I looked back towards the estate… the mansion. The place I once called home. To see if by chance the guards or anyone might have realized I was gone. The majority of the lights were out with Only a few lit for the night patrol as they stood guard.

That was good, had they realized I was missing the whole mansion Would've been awoken and every last candle lit so I would have no dark corner to hide it.

Placing The hat I had ‘borrowed’ over my head I made my way into town. I needed to get to the docks and find a ship that would take me far away from this place, far from my family's reach, where I could start a new life.

Making my way through the street I was a bit surprised to see the town wasn't as dark and decrepit as I had expected it to be at night. Especially at the taverns.

I nearly got ran over by a drunkard stumbling Out of the bar. “I'm rich!” He shouted out to the world while holding up a small pouch of what I assumed was coin, above his head.

“Take that mother!” He slurred before stumbling into a post. I winced as he nearly faceplate, then continued on my way towards the docks. As I arrived I saw only three ships docked in the port.

A naval ship and two merchant Ships. One looking Much nicer and upkept than the other. Steering away from the military vessel I knew all too well that those men would sooner turn me back over to my family than take me across the sea. I made my way towards the two merchant ships.

Being up close to them I could definitely tell the nicer one was much newer And cleaner. Considering I would be on one of these ships for weeks, if not months, I turned Towards the nicer looking one.

Standing beside the ship on the docks Stood the rigger for the galleon.

Smiling, I walked over to him. “Greetings fine gentleman!” The rigger paused in what he was doing and looked at me with an arched brow, almost like I was crazy.

“Whatda want?” He spat, not nearly as polite as I had expected, in fact he already seemed Irritated.

“Uhm well, my name is uh- Val! And I was wishing to inquire you about your next destination?”

The man glared at me as he crossed His arms over his chest. “Port karshin, what business of it is yours?”

Port karshin?! That's perfect! My family Would never be able to find me in a big city like that!

“Um- I'd like to Seek passage to Port Karshin upon your vessel! Not free of course!” I pulled out my own pouch filled With coin and promptly Showed him everything I had.

He eyes The handful of silver and gold coins before laughing out loud, startling me. After a moment he turned away to continue What he was doing previously. “Get lost kid.”

I stood there dumbfounded unsure what to say, did I do something wrong? I've heard numerous stories from my cousins of them buying their way onto merchant ships when they needed To travel.

“Sir please I really need this-” I tried to plead with the man only for him to shove me away and make me fall back on the dock. I cut my arm across an old nail and yelped, cupped the injury With my other hand as droplets of blood splattered on the wooden planks of the dock.

“I said get lost! We ain't taking any passengers with us and if we were we couldn't do it for a few measly coins! It's a waste of materials and rations! Now get out of here before I call over the guards!”

pulling myself back up to my feet I quickly retreated. Removing my hand from the injury I winced Seeing the deep gash across my forearm. Glancing around I saw a drunkard drinking from a barrel of water near an ally. As he stepped away I hesitantly went over and peered Into the water.

Surely if he was drinking it then it is safe? Pulling my sleeve up I whimpered before cleaning the blood and debri from my arm. Patting myself for something to wrap the injury I removed the small silk scarf tied around my neck and used it to bandage my arm.

Sighing, I looked back towards the docks. I can't believe how rude that man was. He had zero courtesy whatsoever.

After a moment I looked at the pouch of coins in my possession. Is this really not enough? I thought that surely this Would last me– how am I supposed to obtain more? I can't go back to the mansion!

As I sat there stressing over the lack of money an idea came to mind. The drunkard from the tavern. He had Somehow obtained coin, perhaps I could as well?

Making my way back towards the tavern I stepped up onto the porch Of the building and peered inside at the occupants. There weren't a lot of people but I did see a table near the far back with four men sitting there gambling in a game of liar's dice. One of which looked to be a finely dressed man with a large hat. A caption perhaps.

This is it! This is how I can get a ride off this island and perhaps make some more money. Liar's Dice is simple. I've watched my father, uncles and brothers play it all the time. As long as I can keep a straight face and tell a good lie then I can win. And in turn I could convince that man in there to take me where I wish to go!

Stepping back I looked at my reflection in the glass and quickly tidied up my outfit a bit more to make myself look even less like a woman. I'm glad I managed to obtain some clothes from the servants before I left.

Securing the hat atop my head I tried to obscure my face as much as possible. There's no way they could tell. Making my way inside the tavern I tried to seem as inconspicuous as possible and made my way to the back table.

Everyone but the caption eyed me suspiciously as I cleared my throat.

“We ain't looking for any more players.” one of them spoke Up.

“Exactly now scram.” Another added.

“But I have coin.” I pulled out my pouch And they only seemed to get more irritated. The captain paused and looked up just barely to look at me with curiosity in his eyes. Most of his face was obscured by the large Hat atop his head and his body was nearly completely covered by the old red coat he wore. “And I wish to play for more than just coin.” I looked towards the man as he eyed my appearance and the bag in my possession.

The first man that spoke Up stood and I could tell him and the second One who had spoken were no doubt part of a crew. “Look, we just told you we aint-”

The caption raised his hand cutting the man off and they all looked at him questioningly. “let him play. The more company the merrier.” he finally spoke. His voice was deeper than I expected.

The others settled into their seats growing quiet and I blinked a few times before following suit and sitting across from the Man in red.

They gave me a cup and dice before starting up a new game.

The first three games were a bust and I lost a good number of my coins to the stranger beside me, I was quickly losing hope thinking that this was a bad idea but as I looked at the roll I got this round I internally squeaked in delight. This was it, this was my game!

I placed my bet and hardly noticed the stranger beside me peering over ever so slightly. The captain eyed him as we did our round. I made a solid bluff to psych them all out but the man sitting beside me smirked and called it. We revealed our dice and my stomach sank. I lost again.

Laughing under his breath the Stranger moved in to take my coin only to be stopped as a knife stabbed into the table between his fingers.

Everyone stopped and looked to the captain as he glared at the stranger beside me. “I don't tolerate cheaters.” The other two crew members stood up from their seats and I could only watch as they grabbed the stranger and searched him. They found a single dice hidden in his sleeve That was rigged to land as a 6 every roll.

“I-i didn't mean it! I swear I only use that when I am facing against scam artists!” He tried to reason as They pinned him to the wall and the captain pulled his knife from the table, swirling It around in his fingers effortlessly as he approached the cheater.

“Please!” The man begged. Everyone in the tavern watched on in silence but I didn't dare look as he screamed In agony. My heart was racing, threatening to beat out of my chest as I stared at my dice on the table. The way these men were dealing with a cheat– These weren't normal sailors. had I mistakenly gotten involved with pirates?

After a few moments I could hear the cheater sobbing as he fell to the floor. “Get out.” The captain Spoke. His voice dark and demanding. The cheater Scampered Out of the building and all the other patrons within either continued about their business or left as well. There were about 3 people left in the tavern at that point, two of which were out cold.

The two crewmates sat back down in their seats And the coin I had lost was dropped on the table in front of me with blood splattered on their surface. I should leave.

“P-Perhaps that's enough for me tonight-” I tried standing up to excuse myself only to be pushed back in my seat With a firm hand on my shoulder.

“Sit and continue the game.” The man behind me said while cleaning blood off his knife.

“i-i really should be leaving…” I briefly glanced up only to lock eyes with the captain's dark green orbs. His gaze practically held me in place as he circled around the table and sat back down in his seat once more, To start a new game.

“Let us start over.” He spoke quietly. Breaking eye contact to look at the table. All three men continued as if nothing happened.

Several rounds later my worries seemed to fade and I found myself enjoying the game much more than before, despite the ‘incident’. I no longer was losing game after game and had a number of wins under my belt already. I had made double my money but lost a quarter of it the last round.

The captain and his crewmates didn't seem to mind the losses and seemed to also be enjoying the game a bit more. The captain was a quiet man of few words and seemed to barely show much emotion except when me or one of the others won a round and had a small cheer. At some point they had also ordered drinks as things became more interesting.

I was hesitant to really drink with them but after a few sips I found it quite pleasant as it made my insides feel warm and my worries washed away completely, so much so to the point I had forgotten why I was even initially playing, at this point it was just for the fun of it.

With this round it was down to me and the captain as the other two folded. I was confident in my hand because I had rolled four fives, and a six! There was no way he would believe that and would either fold or call bluff! On top of that, There's no way he would have a higher roll than me so I would win no matter what he did!

Grinned to myself and looked up at the captain as he looked at his dice and pondered what to do. By this point there was no one else in the tavern and the bartender Had gone to the back room.

“how about we up the stakes?” I offered confidently. He paused and looked up to me curious.

“twenty gold pieces.” I didn't have 20 gold but I doubted they had been paying attention or kept track of how much I owned, in their drunken states.

I should have known better to put myself in the negative, to risk going into debt but I was feeling good after that drink and I was confident. 20 gold was sure to be enough to pay for safe passage. It didn't matter if I didn't have enough now because there was little to no chance I would lose this round!

He hummed to himself thoughtfully before agreeing and placing 20 gold onto the table before him.

I placed my own pouch of coin down on the table and I called out my value. Of four fives.

Both the Crewmates were quietly watching intently as heads turned to the captain for his next move. I expected him to fold or call a bluff but he did something completely unheard of and called out five six’s.

Was he insane? No probably just drunk, there was no way that was true. He would've had to have 4 sixes rolled and that chances of that were impossible. So

I called his bluff.

We both revealed our dice and I paled at the sight. Before me. He had rolled 3 six’s a three and a 1.

Looking at the dice I rolled I swear the six I had rolled was like a mark of death staring back at me.

I lost.