[How had things taken this bizarre and alarming turn? He wasn't the kind of guy to usually end up in girls' beds wearing frilly nightgowns. Really, he wasn't.
The governor's daughter, eager to sneak out and meet her undesirable lover in the city (Cloud hadn't wanted to ask too many questions about it, but he had a grasp of the basics), had begged and pleaded with him to take her place for the night so that anyone checking on her would think her safely in bed.
For some reason, he had agreed to help. In retrospect, it was a bad idea, but somehow, beneath all his complaining and reluctance, it turned out that he was a sucker at heart. It was just his luck that he agreed to help her on the very night pirates tried to kidnap the governor's daughter. Or he hoped it was his luck and not a setup on the part of the governor, who may have been forewarned and trying to save his daughter with this ruse. Somehow, this would all be worse if he'd been thrown away by his own employer. It was bad enough as it was.
He was just a simple guardsman. He had dreams of being more than that, but who knew how likely they were to come true--especially now that he'd been kidnapped. He sat listening to the pirates argue. Pretty eyes? He didn't like the sound of being "dealt with". He decided it was probably best for now not to say too much, so he nodded and tried to look as dignified and unafraid as he could while tied up and wearing a woman's nightgown: which was to say, not very.]
no, this is great!
The governor's daughter, eager to sneak out and meet her undesirable lover in the city (Cloud hadn't wanted to ask too many questions about it, but he had a grasp of the basics), had begged and pleaded with him to take her place for the night so that anyone checking on her would think her safely in bed.
For some reason, he had agreed to help. In retrospect, it was a bad idea, but somehow, beneath all his complaining and reluctance, it turned out that he was a sucker at heart. It was just his luck that he agreed to help her on the very night pirates tried to kidnap the governor's daughter. Or he hoped it was his luck and not a setup on the part of the governor, who may have been forewarned and trying to save his daughter with this ruse. Somehow, this would all be worse if he'd been thrown away by his own employer. It was bad enough as it was.
He was just a simple guardsman. He had dreams of being more than that, but who knew how likely they were to come true--especially now that he'd been kidnapped. He sat listening to the pirates argue. Pretty eyes? He didn't like the sound of being "dealt with". He decided it was probably best for now not to say too much, so he nodded and tried to look as dignified and unafraid as he could while tied up and wearing a woman's nightgown: which was to say, not very.]