"Ettinsmoor? Is that what we're calling it now?" Imira asked.
"Better than 'the northern lands the Ettins inhabit' don't you think?" Peter asked in return.
"I suppose it's catchy," she agreed. "So what do we do now?"
Peter looked around the room...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
September 12, 1002
While Hayley hid in her cabin, waiting for James to show up and tell her they were in the clear, she begged Aslan for the pirates to go away.
She could hear the footsteps and drowned voices of men running about on deck. It didn't sound like they were fighting, but that didn't ease her mind. Not one bit. And when the footsteps stopped and the voices ceased, she grew very curious as to what was going on outside. She became very quiet and still, trying to figure out what was going on as she pressed her ear against the wooden walls. The waters were calm and there wasn't a creak throughout the ship. A pin dropping could have been heard. Hayley didn't even dare to breathe, much less move.
She waited for something to happen. Anything.
At last, she heard a few footsteps above her and some shouting she couldn't understand. Almost instantly there was movement in the ship once again. Whether that was a good thing or a bad one Hayley couldn't tell, but she felt some of the tension in her leave as she drew in a new breath, but the fear remained as she figured the fight had come to a start. There was an awful lot of noise outside and lots of movement. The shouting and clashing of swords could only mean one thing: they had been boarded by pirates. She waited and waited and waited for what felt like an hour. Suddenly she heard some footsteps closer, right outside her cabin and immediately tensed. She reached for the knife James had gifted her a while back and gripped it tightly with her right hand. She watched the doorknob turn slowly and stop. There were some voices outside, whispering. She couldn't make them out. The door finally opened and Hayley launched herself at the intruder.
"Whoa!" He held her wrist above her head making her drop the knife. It fell to the floor and inserted itself on the wooden boards. "It's me," James said, laughing at her poor defense tactic.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Hayley apologized.
He let go of her wrist and reached down for the knife.
"Good news. It looks like you won't be needing this anymore," he said handing it back to her.
"What happened?" Hayley asked, rubbing her wrist. James' reaction had been a forceful one.
"We had a fight with the pirates, but some friendly Calormen army ships showed up and had the pirates running with their tails between their legs," James explained.
Hayley let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.
James laughed at this. "Don't worry, we're fine," he said comfortingly. "Do you want to come outside?" he asked her.
Hayley nodded, "That'd be nice," she said and followed him above deck.
They were not too far away from Tashbaan, so the ship headed there where the pirates wouldn't follow, escorted by the friendly Calormen.
