Emile slept very little that night. He was excited, but also anxious.  If this plan didn't work, it would almost certainly mean death. Even if they got as far as collecting the ransom, if the navy caught up with them before then they'd never make it to another shore. The Bevrijder wouldn't survive further wounds.<br/><br/>The next morning he was up early. He visited the captain's quarters, but Christoffel wasn't there. The noose was still hanging, much to Emile's discomfort. He found Christoffel at the bottom of the ramp, ushering men and women sailors aboard. Allegra walked up with another small platoon of raggedy fellows. Niall and Duncan were playing five finger fillet on the docks, betting coins.<br/><br/>"What're you doing here?" Captain Emerens asked. "Go wake up your sleeping beauty and get to it. We need her signature on the ransom letter. Don't let her write nothin' else, though; we don't need her writing in code, in case it's a trap."<br/><br/>"On it." Emile said, heading back belowdecks. With her subpar acting abilities and strange eagerness to come aboard this ghost ship, Emile doubted she was plotting anything that elaborate. He believed her when she said she didn't want to go back. It wasn't really that uncommon for nobles, though more rarely women, to leave their luxury lifestyles behind just to escape the restrictive environment of the upper class. The situation was certainly more dire for a woman though; the harder you were to marry off, the less likely she would enjoy the marriage. The lifestyle had suited Emile though, and he would have been happy to swap places with her if he had ever been given the opportunity.<br/><br/>He strolled down to her quarters and knocked hard a few times on the door, "Rise and shine miss. Time to get to work."