Tales of Harem 3: Prologue

 

(I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it all.)

Limly curled up her small body in the darkness.

Shouting. Clashing metal. Explosions. Screams.

She covered her ears to keep all the disturbing noise from reaching her down here.

She pressed her hands tight against them, as if blocking it out would mean none of it was real.

(I can go back home if I do this.)

Back to the village. Back to that forest.

Were the monsters who had attacked gone?

What about her father who had collapsed in a pool of his own blood?

What about her mother who had pushed her onward and told her to run away?

She had obediently run for days on end through the forest to get as far away as she could.

Afterwards, she had met these people. They were the first non-elf adults she had ever seen.

They had said they would take her back home if she went with them.

But…but was that really true?

She had never seen the vessel known as a ship before. Nor had she ever seen the ocean.

She hated both of them.

The floors and walls were sticky, everything rocked unpredictably in the waves, and the wood creaked all around her. Even the bird cries were different out here.

Also, the clear view out to the horizon creeped her out!

She could see on and on, but there was nothing there. That had been unthinkable back in the forest.

It always made her anxious to see it.

Were her parents really waiting for her beyond that horizon?

“It’s true. I can go home if I do this.”

The bright sunlight shined down on the floor through the lattice trapdoor on the hold’s ceiling.

She stared at one point of that sunbeam in the darkness and repeated the same thing over and over.

“They promised, so it has to be true. It’s true, it’s true, it’s true.”

Almost like it would become true if she said so enough times.

The next thing she knew, all the noise was gone.

“Captain! There’s another hold over here!”

Someone peered down through the lattice trapdoor. Limly couldn’t see their face, but they spoke with a woman’s voice.

“Is that where they keep the female slaves?”

The response was also a woman’s voice.

(Slaves?)

Limly had never heard that word before. Did it refer to her?

Her mother, her father, and the others in the village had never called her that.

Maybe she hadn’t been that before, but now she was.

If so, when had it happened?

The two women continued their conversation.

“No, captain. I don’t see anyone in here.”
“Look more carefully. See, there’s someone in the back. Lower the ladder!”

The lattice trapdoor opened and a rope ladder was tossed down.

But Limly stayed curled up and refused to move.

“What happened to the male slaves?”

“They jumped into the ocean. I think we scared them.”

“Tch. We’re not close enough to shore to swim. Lower a boat for them. They can figure out the rest themselves.”

Limly didn’t know what they were talking about, but the conversation overhead scared her. The woman referred to as “captain” had a wild voice that filled Limly with unease.

When Limly made no attempt to climb the ladder, the captain woman called down to her.

“Come on up. Don’t worry. My crew and I dealt with all of them.”

But Limly still pretended she couldn’t hear.

If she climbed that ladder, she was afraid everything she had believed would become a lie.

She didn’t want to go up there. She wanted to stay here forever.

The “them” who had been “dealt with” had to mean the crew of this ship. She was certain of that.

(Why? They promised to take me to my parents!)

The rope bent and then someone slid down into the hold.

The long-haired woman wore a large tricorn hat.

Her hair was a blood red. No one in the village’s hair had been that color.

After a nimble landing, she spoke to Limly who was cowering in the darkness.

“I’m not a patient woman.”

The voice identified her as the one called “captain”.

“Don’t you want to run away?”

“…”

Limly didn’t want to answer. She was certain opening her mouth would mean losing everything.

The captain laughed loudly.

“Ha ha! I see. So you don’t even know how to run away! Well, you are just a kid.”

“I did run away! Just like mom told me to!”

Feeling like she was being mocked, she snapped back, but then gasped and clamped her mouth shut.

“I see. I see. Heh heh.”

The captain raised one eyebrow and laughed in amusement.

(I…hate her!)

Limly didn’t understand what she was talking about and it irritated her how she acted like she understood everything about her.

But glaring back at the woman did nothing to wipe the smile off her face.

“Fine. If you want to stay a slave, suit yourself. Until you learn how to run away, anyway. Hey, pull her on up out of here! Bring her to the ship. She’s coming with us!”

The captain grabbed the rope ladder, shouted up to the deck, and then faced Limly again.

“I’m Almera Almiralda. I’m pretty well known hereabouts as the fearsome pirate captain of the Lady Shark. And as of now, I’m your new owner. Don’t you dare forget it.”

The corners of her mouth rose in a grin.

It was a callous smile.

Limly had found one more thing she hated.