Priceless

Worik and the Captain made their way to the dining room. A few moments after taking their seats a set of doors to the side opened and a number of young girls in maid uniforms entered carrying a wide array of dishes.

Captain Burgus looked over to the girls and showed a look of surprise. He recognized a couple of them. It was not their presence there that shocked him, but rather the docility with which they acted. Every movement was done very carefully and their eyes rarely lifted from the floor. The reason for his familiarity was that he had been the one who "procured" them for Worik. While he did not often remember the faces of the pieces of the living collection he would bring to the Governor, the two girls had stuck in his memory precisely because of how hard they had fought.

It had been the expedition directly before the one he has just returned from. The crew had traveled around some of the miscellaneous islands that lined the shores of their continent. Upon one of their stops, they had stumbled upon the girls. Though there was nothing particularly special about them, they were from an extremely isolated tribe known for their prideful nature. They rarely left their home. Though not a particularly strong people, they were able to maintain their anonymity for two reasons, first, the island had little resources that anyone would covet and second, The tribesmen were extremely skilled at setting traps and had the area around their land laden heavily with mechanisms to prevent trespassers.

His crew had found the girls quite by accident. They had taken the chance to explore the outer areas of the island, only to happen upon the two learning how to set traps with a teacher. He realized that such a moment would probably never come again and quickly lead his team to capture the girls for the Governor. Their teacher attempted to protect them, however, he was vastly outnumbered and it did not take long for him to fall. Though Worik did have some men in his collection, the teacher was a rugged looking man with scars over his body. For a man like Worik who loved beauty, such things would be seen as an imperfection, knowing this he had his men dispose of the man before taking the girls to the ship. They had fought all throughout the journey and even tried to end their lives on a few occasions, preferring to die than live as captives. He remembered thinking to himself that, with their attitudes, Worik would probably end up killing them anyway. And yet, here they were working diligently like they had been brought up to live this kind of life.

Captain Burgus turned to Worik, who had already begun to stuff his face with a chicken leg from one of the plates, and brought up the observation

"HAHAHA, Burgus, you underestimate my abilities. There is nothing in this world that I can't have. If I want someone to be obedient, what right do they have to say no?"

"Of course sir, I was merely surprised by how quickly you had worked them into submission, given their attitudes at the time, I brought them to you."

"I have my ways Burgus" Worik said with an evil smirk

'One's which would make even someone like me cringe I suspect' thought Captain Burgus

Worik was about to go back to his chicken leg when the door suddenly burst open and a frantic and disheveled looking Laurence rushed in.

"What is it?" asked Worik "What happened?"

"Pirates my lord" replied Laurence gasping for breath. "A group of pirates has entered our waters and had directly begun attaching, their main target seems to be your ship"

"WHAT!" Worik yelled in rage and panic. There were enough assets sunk into that ship [pun intended] to fund the entire city for a year, not to mention the irreplaceable and priceless masterpiece that was the figurehead.

"It has already taken some damage and has not been able to put up much resistance"

"Where is your crew!" Worik bellowed at Burgus. "What do I pay you all for if my ship got ruined sitting it my own dock!"

"Apologies my lord, I suspect the crew may be off enjoying themselves in town, I gave them the night off since we had just returned from the trip and they have not had much hum-hum companionship. I assumed security at the port would be able to look after things for the night"

"USELESS! Laurence, send word to the city guards to get down to the port and protect my ship"

As he was ranting the same boy from earlier rushed in and whispered something in Laurence's ear before fearfully looking at the Governor and hurrying away

"What is it now?" Demanded Worik.

"It seems that some of the pirates have made their way onto shore and are now causing havoc in the town, it seems the city guards have their hands full at the moment and have not been able to reach the docs."

"bunch on ungrateful fools! after the amount they have taken from me they should be putting my property first, what do I care if a few citizens get killed, there are plenty more where that came from. That ship is one of a kind! Priceless, you hear me PRICELESS! have my personal forces go there instead, tell them to ignore everything and everyone else. Protect what is mine and the rest be damned!"

"yes my lord"

"oh and send out the word that anyone who brings me a pirate will get a significant reward. I would like to see who thinks they can make a fool of me and keep living well."

"Right away" Laurence turned on his heels and ran out the door

"As for you captain, You had better hope that nothing happens to that ship because if so, forget about having a job tomorrow, you will be lucky to still have your life," Worik said these words and then stormed off the way Laurence had gone to keep tabs on the situation

Burgus gulped at these words from the fuming Governer, he knew it was not an idle threat, no matter how much he had brought this man, it would never compare to his "treasures." He gritted his teeth and balled his hands into fists.

"Damn Pirates"

Burgus then left the room to follow the other men, leaving the rest of the food completely untouched and forgotten.