Pirate Princess (6 page)

“Why didn’t you tell me before about your fighting abilities?” he asked as we headed out of the arena and towards the castle.

I shrugged. “Esmeralda and I spar a lot, but she just likes to go at a fun, long pace to wear herself out. I never really had the chance to show her what I could really do. And, you have been busy,” I said instead of saying he didn’t pay much attention to me when it came to fighting.

“Esmeralda never told me you were this excelled at swords.”

“I held back, but don’t you dare tell her!” I said urgently.

“Once she sees us practicing together she is going to know, but don’t worry, she won’t be mad at you for long,” he said with a laugh.

“Has anyone ever had a rank in both the Queen’s Fire and King’s Steel at the same time?”

“No, you pick one or the other. Esmeralda could have a rank in both as could Faxon, but we are only allowed to choose one.”

“Why?” I asked curiously. If they could have a rank in both, why not?

“Faxon is a great example for why not. He could be both Arch Mage and Chief or at least Commander. So what happens if Esmeralda is ill and he has to lead the Queen’s Fire, but we also need him to lead the King’s Steel? He can’t do both at the same time. It would divide his attention.”

“True, but if he is in both and key people get taken out in one, he can cover the one most in need.”

“Yes, but we would just move someone from within the faction to that missing spot. You know your faction better than someone outside it.”

“Why divide them? Why not have them united?”

“They’re united in battle, as you’ve seen.”

“Not really, you order the King’s Steel and Esmeralda orders the Queen’s Fire and though you are side by side, the two are not one.”

He stopped walking and looked at me in shock. “You’re just full of surprises.”

“If you allowed those who could be in both to do so, you would allow for greater coverage. What if a mysterious plague takes out half the King’s Steel and someone attacks at that moment? If you allowed mages to be ranked in the King’s Steel you could move some over and we would be able to defend ourselves without a halt in process.”

“As if we would be worried about an attack on us, even with half the King’s Steel ill,” he said with a scoff.

“You know I’m right, Uncle. It makes sense to allow those who can and want to be in both to do so. It would help unite the factions too. There’s a lot of fighting between them.”

“I haven’t heard anything about that.”

I smirked. “Seems that your Chief doesn’t keep you apprised of all matters.”

“What fighting is happening?”

“It’s like two different Kingdoms within our walls. The King’s Steel think they’re superior to the Queen’s Fire and vice versa. If you get one journeyman walking alone on the street and three warriors see him they will pick on him. Not to say the journeyman couldn’t handle the three warriors, but it happens and I’ve seen a lot of people hurt and sent to healers over petty rivalry.”

He rubbed his jaw and said, “I think Griffin and I need to discuss this.”

“I think the Order of Elders should discuss unification.”

“Don’t get too cheeky. Just because you’re with us all the time doesn’t mean you get such pull with the Elders.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be so far removed from such discussion,” I teased him.

“I talk with all of our citizens.”

“But you spend most of your time with the King’s Steel and they’re all too afraid to give you suggestions.”

“You aren’t afraid.”

“I’m a sweet, delicate girl. You wouldn’t want to intimidate me so I know I’m safe.” I laughed as soon as I finished.

He laughed as well and we walked the rest of the way to the castle. We went inside and met Esmeralda, Faxon, and Griffin for dinner. Apparently I had missed lunch. I sat down and my uncle motioned Griffin to come talk to him off to the side of the room. Griffin listened to him and then turned and stared at me in shock. I met his gaze for a moment and then looked at Esmeralda who was talking to me. “Faxon says your first lesson went very well.”

I nodded my head. “It did.”

“So, I have a task for you,” she told me.

“A task?” I asked.

“She wants to test your unlocking powers,” Faxon explained.

Esmeralda picked up a small chest and set it on the table in front of me. “Can you unlock this?”

I examined it, ran my finger over the lock, and felt something burn my fingers in the middle. “Spell protected?” I asked.

She nodded her head.

I stared at the lock and after two seconds the lid popped open. I slid the open chest to her and said, “That stung a bit.”

“Does it still sting?” Faxon asked me.

I shook my head. “It just stung as I unlocked it.”

“That fast?” my aunt murmured as she looked at the chest, “That’s amazing.”

“It seems you’ve impressed everyone today,” Griffin said as he approached the table.

I didn’t look at him and instead looked at my uncle who was smiling proudly. “I guess,” I answered.

Esmeralda looked at her husband. “What did she impress you with?”

“Her dagger throwing,” he said.

Esmeralda nodded her head. “I think she might be better than you.”

He arched an eyebrow and said, “Now I think you are forcing me to challenge my niece to a dagger throwing contest with that comment.”

“You’re just afraid that you will lose,” she teased him.

“He might,” Griffin said, “I’ve seen her and her form is pretty flawless.”

“Now you’re all just being silly,” I said, “I could never beat any of you.”

“I think this trip just became more exciting,” Faxon said with a smile.

The food was served and I ate and listened to them discussing my feats of the day. I didn’t say anything, but it was nice to have them finally notice my talents. I did notice that Jared steered clear of the faction discussion, but I was okay with that. At least I had planted the idea in his head and he was going to think about all the points I made. We were served dessert, a rare treat, and I ate it slowly, enjoying the sugary goodness.

“That’s it,” Jared said after Esmeralda teased him again, “Tilia, I challenge you to hit that black spot on the far wall.”

I looked at the wall and found the spot. “Can I finish my dessert first?” I asked as I took another bite. He just looked at me so I pulled a dagger and threw it without standing up. It stuck in the spot and everyone’s eyes stared at it for a long moment before looking back at me.

“If I ever meet your father I am going to congratulate him and ask him if he wants to become a teacher,” Esmeralda said.

“Her father is a royal, remember?” Griffin said.

“He isn’t patient enough to teach,” I said honestly, “He taught me the basics and then his people would help me practice or I would practice on my own. He occasionally challenged me, but he was a very busy man.” Planning raids and thefts and dolling out punishments to bad pirates was a big job.

“Who taught you to unlock things?” Faxon asked.

“No one. I got tired of being locked out of certain places so I just kept trying to open them. It worked one day and I’ve been able to do it ever since.” There was only so much you could to do occupy a child on a ship and having areas I wasn’t allowed to go in only increased my curiosity and desire to go in there.

“Does your dad know?” Griffin asked.

“No,” I admitted, “I never told him I could do that.”

“I wonder if she could open the vault.” Esmeralda said.

“She’s done it,” Griffin said.

I turned and looked at him. “How do you know that?”

“I told him so he could work on better security for it,” Jared said.

I blushed. “I told you I wouldn’t do it again.”

“It’s not to keep you out, Tilia. It is to keep anyone else who might have your abilities out,” he explained.

I didn’t say anything, just took another bite of my dessert, feeling embarrassed nonetheless. They continued talking and I wondered what would happen if I told them who my dad really was. I couldn’t imagine my aunt and uncle turning on me and trying to use me to get my dad, but I could definitely see Griffin doing that. Not that he would hurt me, but I bet he would make my dad think he was.

And although I hadn’t seen my dad in six years I had no doubt that he would try to use his cannons to blow up the castle to rescue me. The only problem was that he didn’t have any mages on his ship and Faxon alone could destroy his ship not to mention Esmeralda.

“What has you frowning so deep in thought?” Faxon asked me.

“The Order of Elders is so strong, why haven’t you captured or killed Captain Rocco?” I asked quietly.

The room grew eerily quiet as all eyes turned to me.

“What do you know about him?” Jared asked.

“He’s the King of Pirates, everyone knows about him,” I said with a shrug, “he’s a notorious outlaw that has never been captured.”

“I guess rumor of him even spreads to the Princess’ ears,” Griffin said.

“I can’t imagine that if you all went after him, he could escape or survive,” I said, “So why haven’t you?”

“He’s very good about keeping hidden. Some say he has an island he sneaks off to when trouble is near, but no one has ever found it,” Griffin said. I knew what island he was talking about and it wasn’t hidden, in fact it was painfully obvious, but that was the point. They assumed he couldn’t possibly be there so they didn’t look.

“He is also very crafty and stealthy,” Faxon said, “I met him once, not knowing at the time who he was and thinking him a simple pirate and he escaped from me.”

“Da, uh Captain Rocco escaped from you?” I asked in shock.

“Yes and to this day I have no idea how,” he muttered.

“Probably a token of confusion,” I whispered as I thought to myself about my dad’s many possessions.

“What?” Griffin asked.

I hadn’t realized that I had said that loud enough for them to hear. “You know, a necklace or even a ball that is charmed so that if it is activated and dropped near someone or worn as you walk by someone it makes them forget what they were doing and confuses the person so that the other can escape by simply walking away,” I said.

The adults looked around at each other and Griffin leaned closer to me with a frown on his face. “How do you know about that?”

“My dad had some,” I answered honestly so he wouldn’t figure out the truth. He could read from my body language that I was telling him the truth now.

“Your father becomes more and more interesting by the minute,” Esmeralda said.

I smiled. “He is a very smart man and had a lot of fun toys.”

“I can’t believe I never thought about a token of confusion,” Faxon murmured bitterly.

“Perhaps you were too confused to consider it,” I teased him.

“You know, I’m starting to think that we haven’t been using you to your full ability,” Jared said.

I shrugged. “Most people see me and think I’m just a cute royal girl.”

“And then she throws a dagger in their heart and they realize they’re wrong,” said a new voice. We all turned and I stared at Martin, one of my dad’s main pirates, in handcuffs between two guards.

“What is this?” Jared asked, standing up and becoming the strong, intimidating King he was known for.

“We found him skulking around the grounds,” one of the guards said in a thick accent.

Martin looked at me and smiled. “I was searching for something and I found it. I didn’t mean to intrude. If you let me go I will be on my way and promise not to set foot here again.”

What was he doing here? Why on earth would he be at the castle?

“What exactly were you looking for?” Griffin asked as he walked towards Martin and the warriors.

“Rumor was that a princess was being trained to take out pirates. So, my Captain asked me to come check things out,” he said.

Dad had heard a rumor that had made him worry about me so he had sent Martin to check up on me. Why? I had just sent him the letter. Of course he probably didn’t get it yet. Still, what could he have heard to make him send Martin all the way here?

“I’m not being trained to take out pirates,” I said, “I’m being trained like any royal should be.”

Martin understood my meaning. I wasn’t in trouble. I was being treated fine.

“My apologies, miss. Curiosity got the better of me,” he said with a bright smile.

Part of me wished to run to him and hug him, but I knew I couldn’t. Not without getting interrogated non-stop and being forced to tell my secret.

“Escort him back to his ship and make sure you watch him leave,” Jared said sternly. He walked towards Martin and said, “And if I see your face or hear you were ever within two hundred miles of my niece again, you won’t have any legs to run away on.”

“Aye sir, I hear you. I won’t be troubling the princess. Would be a vile man who would hurt a flower,” he said honestly. He looked at me one last time, gave me a friendly smile and said, “Long live the King.”

I knew he meant my father and it also meant he was well. I returned his smile since no one was looking at me and then the guards forced him out of the castle to take him to his ship.

“That was incredibly weird,” I muttered as I turned back to my dessert.

“Curiosity is a terrible thing,” Faxon said.

“Who would have been spreading a rumor that we’re teaching her to take on pirates?” Esmeralda asked in disbelief.

“As if a teenage girl would be the one able to stop the pirates anyways,” I said as if it was the most ridiculous thing in the world.

“I don’t know, I think you could take out a few pirates,” Esmeralda said with a smile.

I smiled back and said, “Sure a few, but I couldn’t take on an entire crew.”

“That man acted like he knew you,” Griffin said softly.

“I’m the only princess in the land. Most people know me,” I reminded him with a roll of my eyes as if he was being ridiculous.

“He wasn’t from here though. Why would his captain care if we were training you anyways?” he asked.

“Maybe he is a new captain and easily spooked,” I suggested.

“You sure know a lot about pirates,” Griffin said.

“Didn’t you know?” Esmeralda asked with a wide grin, “She’s obsessed with Jax.”