Pirate Princess (41 page)

“Three times as many as Markleville,” he said softly.

“Amazing,” I whispered.

“I told you it was better to see in person.”

I nodded my head. He was right. I wouldn’t have believed him if he had told me. We pulled to the docks and I followed Eric to shore. “Can I have my bags?” I asked.

“Are you hungry? I bet you didn’t eat breakfast yet.” He said ignoring me.

People milled about and some moved quickly on their way to wherever they were going. Most wore brightly colored clothes in what appeared to be silk. I had some bright dresses, but my normal clothes were all dull and bland for camouflage purposes.

“I did not eat yet,” I confirmed, “But I don’t need you to carry…”

“There is a great tavern just up ahead. We can eat and then we will head over to the stables to get horses for our journey.”

I gave up. If he wanted to play pack mule, then I would let him. We wove in and out of throngs of people and I felt almost closed in. Even at major events Crilan didn’t have this many people together and I was always given room since I was the princess. Here no one knew who I was. I started to fall behind Eric who moved through the crowd easily since everyone veered around him. He stopped and waited for me to catch up and then took my hand and pulled me in his wake. I still felt crowded, but at least I didn’t have to try to avoid running into others now. He finally got off the main road and took us to a small tavern where only the bar had available seats. Eric took one of the barstools and set the bags on the ground beside him. I sat on the barstool next to him and felt like a child on her father’s chair with my legs swinging above the floor and my head coming to Eric’s shoulder.

The tavern owner was a portly man with a large bald spot and gray hair where the hair was left on the back of his head. He smiled warmly at us with kind eyes and then stopped at he looked at Eric. “It can’t be,” he muttered.

“Ah Mick it’s me, Eric.”

Mick grabbed Eric and hugged him across the bar top. “You look nothin’ like you did when you left,” he said in shock.

“That’s what I told him,” I said smugly, “And he was mad that I didn’t recognize him.”

Mick looked at me and then at Eric. “Who might you be?” he asked politely.

“Mick this is Princess Tilia of Crilan,” Eric introduced.

His eyes widened and he bowed to me quickly. “Princess, it’s a pleasure to meet you and have you in my tavern.”

“Thank you,” I said with a smile. “Your tavern came highly recommended.”

Eric smirked and Mick said, “Let me get you food!”

Mick left and I saw someone move out of the corner of my eye. I had my dagger in my hand and ready to throw, but Eric put a hand on me to stop me. He didn’t even turn towards the man who was attempting to steal one of my bags. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, sir. The lady here has a dangerously accurate throwing arm and personally I wouldn’t want her aiming for my back.”

The man let go of the handle of my bag and saw the dagger in my hand. His eyes widened in fear and he ran out of the tavern.

“It’s not always necessary to threaten people,” he told me as he leaned casually on the bar top.

“Easy for you to say. You’re intimidating looking whereas people assume I would run away screaming or just let them steal from me,” I replied defensively.

“I don’t know a single person who would think you aren’t intimidating,” he said.

“In Crilan they know about me, but here they don’t.”

“Oh we know a little about you, m’lady,” Mick said and set plates of food on the bar top in front of us. “Word about your Kingdom’s battles reaches us fast and people here gobble it up like air since we don’t see much action anymore.”

“I haven’t been in many battles,” I said.

“No, but rumor is that you managed to cut King Jared during an earnest fight,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes. “Jared the Dragon of Crilan was cut and bled for the first time in history.”

“Did you cut the King?” Eric asked me in shock.

“Well, yes. We always fight earnestly without holding back. Holding back in practice diminishes your battle abilities,” I explained, “We have healers nearby and most of us can heal minor injuries so we aren’t ever in danger. Plus he didn’t start sparring with me until early this year when he felt I was ready to face him.”

“I always knew you were an impressive fighter,” Eric said, “But now I’m beyond impressed.”

“It was only one time,” I muttered in embarrassment.

“And you killed a tiger with just a dagger,” Mick said.

Oh yeah, I had forgotten about the tiger. “Yes, well I didn’t want to hurt him, but he wouldn’t stop attacking me. He was hungry and I looked appetizing apparently.”

“You killed a tiger? With a dagger?” Eric asked.

I looked at him. “You lived in Crilan and you haven’t heard these stories?”

“I didn’t pay attention to the rumors about your family while there. I was focused on keeping the peace,” he said in defense.

“We heard you can throw a dagger in the center of a target blindfolded, backwards or from a mile away!” Mick said.

“Not a mile away,” I corrected him.

“You try’na tell me this girl can throw a dagger better than most men?” asked a man with a thick accent.

“Those are the rumors,” Mick said.

“I don’t believe it.” He said angrily.

I looked at Eric. “Told you people aren’t intimidated by me.”

“Prove it,” the guy said.

“She is a princess. She doesn’t have to…” Mick started but I held up my hand.

“It’s alright, Mick. If it’s okay with you I can prove myself to him in a minute. I just need a target and for your patrons to stay seated.”

Mick grabbed a red coaster that most people put their drinks on at the bar and walked to the other end of his tavern. “All of you stay seated and you’ll get a show with your meals,” he told them, “You get up and you might get dead.”

“Name the throw,” I told the man with an accent and a strangely curled mustache.

“From here hit the center,” he challenged.

I scoffed. “That’s it? Just a regular throw?” I asked him. “How boring.” Mick stepped out of the way and sat in an empty chair near the target. I pulled a dagger from my hip, flipped it up into the air, caught it and threw it while staring at the ugly curled mustache.

Silence. Ah! I loved the silence when I hit a target perfectly. Mick took the dagger out and I held my hand up so he wouldn’t walk back to me. “I imagine you still aren’t impressed,” I said to the man. “So I will solidify my reputation with dagger throwing now and get it over with.” I looked at the full tavern and said, “And all of you as witnesses may spread the truth of the events here.” Eric handed me his dagger and I took out a second of mine. “Mick, sit down,” I ordered.

He sat and I faced the target for a moment. I turned around and threw one over the top of my head while facing away from the target and then spun around and with closed eyes threw the second dagger.

This time the patrons erupted in cheers. Both daggers were side by side in the center of the target. Mick took the daggers out and carried them to me while holding onto the target. “Want me to sign that for you?” I asked him teasingly.

To my surprise, he had me sign it. The man who challenged me sat silently back in his seat. Ha! Eric was looking at me with an odd expression on his face, but I didn’t want to ask him what he was thinking with everyone still staring at us. We ate our food and tried to pay, but Mick refused to take our money. We stood on the outside of the tavern about to step into the stream of people. “What are you thinking?” I asked him. “You’re looking at me weird.”

He shook his head. “Just impressed by your skills, that’s all.”

Liar. He held out his hand and I took it despite not wanting to be holding a man’s hand. It was the easiest way for me to make it through the people. A few minutes later we were through the river of people and stood outside a stable. Eric spoke to the owner and a couple minutes later two horses were brought out, fully tacked and ready for us to ride. They were both tall with long legs and narrow heads and looked like they were probably fast runners. I walked up to the first horse, a gelding with a grey coat and held out my hand for him to smell. He smelled my hand and then nudged it with his muzzle. I took the reins from the stable owner and mounted him easily since I was used to propelling myself up onto Duke’s back.

Eric paid the stable owner, mounted his horse and led the way in the opposite direction of the road the people were taking. “There’s a separate road for horses and wagons,” he explained.

“You would need separate ones,” I said, “all those people would just get in the horses’ way.”

“Or get trampled,” he said.

We reached the road and headed north. On this side of town there were many short buildings, but still no people outside. “Where is everyone?” I asked.

“They’re at their jobs or elsewhere. Most don’t return home except to sleep,” he said.

We urged the horses to canter and it took me a minute to match my new mount’s stride since it was shorter and faster than Duke’s. We rode in silence as I took in the strange city around us. We rode for two hours and I still had yet to see farmland. “How do you grow your food?” I asked him.

“There are farm fields in the west. It’s delivered here,” he explained.

Two days later, we reached empty land where no one lived and no farms grew. “Why is it empty?” I asked. It seemed like they took over all of the land that they could.

“This part extends for a very long and wide area and is for the animals to live in and reproduce. There is no hunting allowed except by those hired for that specific task and they have strict limits and are punished if they exceed them.”

As we rode, my thoughts continued to turn to Finn as they so often did. Why couldn’t I just put him out of my mind? Why couldn’t I just let go? As the sun began to set I saw the Capitol in the distance. Buildings surrounded a castle twice the size of ours. The castle itself gleamed like one thousand diamonds. “It’s quite…”

“It’s overkill,” Eric said, “They’re more proud of their money than anything else.”

“Ah, a possible different reason you turned to Crilan.”

He smirked. “Perhaps there are many.”

“You’re just one mystery after another,” I said.

He laughed and looked at me in disbelief. “You’re saying that to
me
? The Pirate Princess?”

I flinched. “Don’t call me that.” I snapped it at him like a rabid dog on a chain. He bowed his head and continued ahead of me without looking back. “I’m sorry,” I said, “I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

“It’s fine,” he said, “You can’t help what hurts you.”

He obviously wasn’t fine though because we rode the rest of the night in silence and through the sunrise until we reached the castle’s stables. We let the stable boys take the horses and we headed to the main entrance. “Normally I wouldn’t come here,” he told me quietly, “but I’m your escort.”

It was morning and people were beginning to stir around the Capitol. The height of the buildings still amazed me, but I was more nervous about meeting the royals of Blith at the moment to pay them much mind. “I would force you to go with me,” I told him.

“Being the gentleman that I am, I will accompany you,” he assured me. He looked at me and asked, “You get nervous about social situations, but not battles?”

“Battles are easy. You kill anyone who tries to kill you. This involves politics, the right words, and sneaky people who talk about you behind your back.”

“Something we both agree upon,” he said. “Come on, let’s face them together.”

We walked inside and an attendant met us. “How can I help you?” he asked in a deep voice despite looking very old and frail.

“This is Princess Tilia of Crilan,” Eric introduced, “She has come to visit the King and Queen.”

“And you are?” he asked.

“Eric of Blith.”

The butler’s eyes widened. “Sir, I didn’t recognize you. My apologies.”

“It’s alright, no one seems to recognize me,” Eric said with a smirk.

The butler walked in front of us very slowly. I looked at Eric and he shrugged. We followed the old man to a set of giant double doors with gems embedded in them. He knocked twice, the doors pushed open from the inside by guards, and he stepped inside. The King, Queen, and Prince were sitting at a table in the front of a room that was almost as large as our entire castle. They were eating and several other people were sitting around tables around the room eating as well.

“May I present Eric of Blith and Princess Tilia of Crilan,” the servant said in a booming voice that impressed me.

The group murmured in shock and the Prince stood as Eric and I walked towards their table at the front. Eric bowed and I curtsied to the monarchs.

When we stood, the prince walked around and hugged Eric. “Cousin! It has been so long since you visited. Look how you’ve changed!”

He smiled and said, “You look a bit taller too, Prince Samson.”

The King and Queen didn’t look sick or frail. They looked well and alert. “We were shocked to hear you were visiting us,” the Queen said.

“I apologize for the brief notice. Since Eric was heading here, I asked to join him so I could learn about your Kingdom. I felt it was time to meet our allies and neighbors,” I said sweetly with a smile.

The Prince looked at me with an expression I did not like, it was almost possessive. He picked up my hand and kissed the back of it. “It is an honor to finally meet you, Princess Tilia.”

“Likewise Prince Samson,” I replied and gently pulled my hand back.

“It seems the apple does not fall far from the tree,” the King said.

“I don’t understand your meaning, Sir,” I said.

The Prince glared at his father. “Your Majesty, she is a visiting royal. Respect is due.”

“She’s a child,” he spat, “and look at her attire! Those Crilans are always letting their women behave however they want. No woman should wear breeches or walk with a sword at her side.”

“I’m sorry my appearance offends you,” I said politely to him, “but differences between our Kingdoms are naturally expected. For instance, my King would never insult your Prince because he wears brightly colored attire that could easily be spotted by enemies.”