Demons & Pearls (The Razor's Adventures Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

Not that I haven’t proven I am far from worthless and certainly not a whore. I suppose I’d have to have taken an arm from your entire crew before you’d give me the respect I deserve.”
    “Respect? So it’s respect ye be wantin’ then? Ha!” Willy threw his hands up and what started with a laugh soon fell to a grim and deadly stare. “Yer lucky to be drawin’ breath, remember? Any one a’ them fellas coulda’ killed ye out there, and Green and me couldn’t a’ stopped it.”
    “Ha, indeed. I’m not sure what I’ve been saving this for, but allow me to produce the settlement of this entire affair.” I dug into my bloody shirt, where I had stored the document in a smooth, leather sheath and strapped it against my body. I opened my shirt before them without shame or modesty, untied the bind which held the sheath, and peeled it away from my sweat-soaked flesh. The relief of at last removing it was two-fold; weeks of discomfort now over, and proof  by way of my blood-stained agreement with Barclay that my survival was worth more than a vote.
    “Here,” I said as I slammed the damp, pressed leather down on the desk.
    “That is Barclay’s seal,” Green noted, and I slid it across the desk to Willy. Willy used his dagger to remove the seal and folded it open to reveal the document within. “What is this?”
    “Let me make it as simple as I can,” I said. I reassembled my clothing properly and tucked in my shirt. “Barclay and I had an agreement, yes.  But I wasn’t foolish enough not to get it in writing. My own articles of agreement, shall we say.”
    “Unfortunately, Madame, an agreement with a dead man means nothing, stained with his blood or not,” Green said as those jade eyes shot up at me.
    The words upon the parchment spoke for themselves:
    In regards to Madame Ivory Shepard, Madame Cassandra Randall, Madame Keara Shepard, and Madame Miranda Shepard of Charles Towne settlement in South Carolina: These Articles as written this Fifth day of June Seventeen Hundred and Seven, do hereby stand by vote of the crew of the Demon Sea that said women:
Be transported to Port Royal, Jamaica by way of this vessel, unmolested and free of bodily harm.
Be provided clothes to sail and all of their personal items left untouched.
Be provided proper provisions of food and water.
Be regarded as crewmen and given work daily to provide for those provisions.
Be accountable under the existing Articles of the Demon Sea and her crew.
Upon my death, should it come during this errand, as Captain of this Vessel Demon Sea, as I am so named, these Articles shall be upheld. 
    Captain Christopher L. Barclay
    Demon Sea    
    “This is a blatant violation of the ship’s code, but under the circumstances, I’m not surprised,” Willy said, shaking his head.
    “Violation, how? You all voted and agreed to this the day we were brought here from my farm. There has been no betrayal sir, regardless of your interpretation of this document.”
    “She is correct,” Green stated. “Although he claimed to have taken all of the goods and livestock from their home as payment, he called the vote to deliver them as a cloak for his true intentions. He misrepresented the purpose of transporting them. You know what he had planned, or they would have never set foot aboard this ship.”
    “There’s no point in arguing, gents. The proof is there in black…and red. By the way, what were his true intentions for granting us passage?” I leaned forward and directed my inquiry to Green, since so far he had proven to be the most forthright. I hated being in this room. There was something going on under their glances and their words, and I needed the truth.
    “The Captain was taking you to Port Royal to be sold off to a very wealthy man for his personal pleasure. Four lovely and, as yet, untouched young women bring a great deal of money, which he had promised equal shares of to the crew.”
    “Won’t they be disappointed when they find out?