Pirate Princess (17 page)

I really wanted to go see him, but someone was bound to come looking for me. If I was gone, they would most likely send out a search party. “I don’t know if I can go out,” I admitted.

“Can’t you sneak out after going to bed in your room?” he suggested.

That might work. “I have to make sure the guards don’t see me,” I whispered.

“Leave that to me,” he said, “I’ll create a small distraction to call them to the front of the castle so you can go out the back window.”

I hugged him tightly and gave him a huge kiss. “You’re wonderful.”

“About time you noticed,” he teased me.

“I’m going to go up now so I can get ready,” I told him excitedly.

He kissed me again and whispered, “Meet me at the docks, okay?”

“Don’t get caught,” I warned him.

He smiled smugly. “I won’t.”

I kissed him again for good luck and then hurried to my room. “I’m going to bed!” I called out to whoever could hear me.

“Good night!” Esmeralda yelled.

“Good night!” Griffin called from downstairs.

I shut my door just loud enough for them to hear and locked it. I checked my appearance, reached for my mask and froze. I couldn’t wear the mask in front of Finn, but I couldn’t show my face either. What should I do? I looked around my room hoping to find something and my eyes landed on the cloak on my chair. It was a little large and the hood hung over my head to hide my face. It was perfect. I put it on, opened my window and listened. The guards were yelling out front, which meant that Finn was doing his part. I tossed my rope out the window, secured it to the bed, and slid down it to the ground. I used my powers to burn the rope up to my window and then extinguished the fire. That way any guards who were walking by would just think I had left my windows open. I ran around the back of the castle, pausing at the side to make sure no one was there, and then ran all the way through town towards the docks.

I couldn’t see anyone. “Finn?” I called quietly.

“Here,” he called and then stood up where he had been untying his boat. I ran to him, jumped into the boat and he started rowing.

“How’d your distraction go?” I asked him.

“Pretty well,” he said, but I could tell from his tone he wasn’t being completely honest.

“Finn,” I probed.

“I got a cut on my cheek, but I got away without any of them seeing me and I didn’t hurt anyone,” he explained.

“How deep is it?” I asked as I leaned forward, trying to see it in the dark.

He leaned forward and kissed me and then leaned back. “I’m fine, Tilia. It’s just a scratch.”

“Alright,” I gave up.

“What’s up with the hood?” he asked.

“Well I’m supposed to keep who I am a secret which means you’re not supposed to know what I look like so I put on the hood.”

“So I shouldn’t know your name then?” he asked. I nodded my head. “Am I going to have to leave you on the boat?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said, “But I can come visit you tomorrow during the day.”

“It’s alright, Tilia. I know you haven’t seen your dad in a long time.”

“I did miss you today,” I admitted. I leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

“I missed you too,” he said with a smile.

“That guy you refused to let dance with me is in my class,” I told him, “He tried to flirt with me today.”

“Of course he did,” he growled, “He better keep his hands to himself or I will relieve him of them.”

I laughed and sat back. “He didn’t flirt with me. He was just social. Although some of the kids apparently saw me get on the ship with you. It doesn’t matter because I told my uncle and aunt what we did anyways.”

He stopped rowing and stared at me with wide eyes. “You told them that I took you sailing to an island and swam by a waterfall?” I nodded my head. “What happened?”

“Jared got mad and then even angrier when they saw my ring,” I mentioned.

“You told them it was from me? Tilia, don’t you know how to lie?”

“Don’t look so worried. I just told them the ring was a gift from you since it had been my birthday.”

“Oh. Wait, it was your birthday?” he asked as he started rowing again.

“The night you stole my necklace,” I told him.

“I apologize,” he said sincerely.

I laughed. “Don’t worry. You didn’t know.”

We were almost to my dad’s ship so I made him stop rowing and kiss me before he finished the trip to his ship.

“What business do you have here?” someone called from the ship.

“I’m here to see Captain Rocco,” I told him.

A head appeared over the side with a lantern. It was Sedgwick, although his hair was a bit grayer than I remembered. “For what?”

I tilted my head back so he could see my face, but Finn couldn’t. “A reunion.”

Sedgwick’s eyes widened in shock and then a smile split his face. “Ladder coming down!”

I put my hood back on and looked at Finn. “Thank you.”

“I’ll be waiting for you at noon in the shop,” he told me.

I nodded my head, climbed up the ladder that Sedgwick had dropped, and two sets of hands pulled me onto the deck. Sedgwick hugged me and then pushed me back to look at me. I took the robe off and his eyes widened. “You sure have grown, little princess.”

“Where’s dad?” I asked excitedly.

“Who did you let on my ship at this hour?” my dad yelled in a booming voice from the main deck where his chair was. I walked to the center of the main deck and the entire crew froze when they saw me. They parted to give my dad a clear view of me. His eyes widened and then tears lined the bottom of each eye. “My girl, is that really you?”

I took out a dagger and threw it into the arm of his chair right between two of his fingers. “Aye.”

He stood from his chair, barely looking at the dagger and walked up to me. “You look just like your mother,” he whispered.

“Aunt Esmeralda tells me that quite a bit,” I admitted.

He wrapped me in a bone crunching hug and I hugged him back. “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too, Dad.”

He released me and yelled, “Tonight we celebrate!”

The crew cheered and several went down to the hold to get booze and food. “What are you doing here?” Dad asked me.

“The King and Queen used to visit here every year apparently. Well they did before I came and this is the first time again. I heard the festival was here and paid a pirate to let me know if you showed up and then paid another to bring me here,” I lied.

“How have you been?” he asked me.

“I’ve been great. I just miss sailing with you,” I told him and then looked around at the crew I had grown up with.

Several crew members hugged me and many welcomed me back. The musician played music and dad grabbed me to dance with him. We danced and then Claus challenged me to a dagger-throwing match, which I of course won. It felt like old times and yet better at the same time. I sparred with dad and he commented that I had improved a lot since he last saw me.

It wasn’t until I saw the first rays of sunlight that I realized how long I had stayed. “Dad, I need to get back,” I said urgently, “They’ll realize I’m not in my room when they come to get me for breakfast.”

“Sedgwick, take her to shore,” Dad ordered. “When will you come back?” he asked.

“How long are you here?”

“Just until the Festival ends,” he said sadly.

“Tomorrow night,” I said, “I can come with you to the festival finale to see who wins.”

“Alright,” he said, “bring your mask though.”

“Okay,” I said despite the fear that I felt at that thought.

He hugged me and kissed the top of my head. “I’m so happy I was able to see you again. You’ve grown into a fine young woman.”

“I love you, Dad.”

He waved to me as Sedgwick rowed the boat. “Did Martin make it back?” I asked Sedgwick. I couldn’t remember seeing him.

“Yes, but he asked to leave the crew the next day,” Sedgwick said.

“Why?”

He shrugged. “We aren’t sure.”

That was highly unusual. “Can you pick me up here tomorrow night?” I asked him before I climbed onto the docks.

He nodded his head. “Be here right at sundown.”

“I will,” I promised. I ran through the town, through the side door, and went right into the dining hall. “Good morning,” I said to Jared, Esmeralda, and Faxon.

“You look flushed,” Faxon commented, “Are you feeling alright?”

“I just went for a run,” I explained, “Need to stay in shape.” I slowed my breathing and ate some breakfast. I was exhausted and I needed to take a nap so I could go meet Finn.

“With a robe on?” Faxon asked.

“It was cold when I started running,” I said defensively.

“Jared and Griffin are leaving for a few days,” Esmeralda told me, “But Faxon and I will still be here.”

“Okay,” I said, “Where are you going?” I asked Jared.

“Just checking out a tip that we received. It’s probably nothing, but we are going to at least look,” he told me vaguely. He did this a couple times a month at the Capitol and almost always came up empty handed.

“Good luck,” I told him.

“Thank you,” he said with a smile. “You should go take a nap, Tilia. You look terrible.”

“I see why you complain about him now,” I muttered to Esmeralda.

“You do look tired. Maybe you’re getting sick,” she suggested.

“I am tired. I guess I’ll go take a nap.” I grabbed a cinnamon roll and walked slowly up to my room. I put the roll on my nightstand, shut my windows and fell asleep when my head hit the pillow.

I woke up a few hours later and rushed to change clothes and go meet Finn. I jogged back into town, stopped at the store, and bent over to catch my breath. “You alright?” Finn asked.

“Out of shape apparently,” I admitted. I stood up and took in his disheveled appearance. “You look like I felt when I got home.”

“I had a rough night. Someone stole two items back and I spent most of the rest of the night trying to get more back,” he told me and then yawned.

“We can just sit on the beach and relax,” I offered.

“That sounds nice, but I’ll probably fall asleep,” he admitted.

“I’m okay with that.”

“I want to spend as much time as possible with you before I leave,” he told me.

“Well, why don’t we go find a secluded beach and talk,” I suggested.

“Okay,” he said around another yawn. He took my hand and we walked out of town, down the coast and a few miles through the sand until we came to a nice secluded beach where no one could see us. We sat down and he leaned over and kissed me. “I hadn’t stolen one of those yet today.”

“Feel free to steal as many as you would like,” I told him with a smirk.

He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me against his side. “How did it go last night?” he asked.

“Great. I came home at breakfast time, but managed to convince them that I had just gone for a run,” I said with a laugh.

“At least they didn’t find out what really happened,” he said around another yawn. “What are you doing tonight?” he asked me.

“Well, um, I’m actually going to the Festival,” I said, looking at him to gauge his reaction.

His eyes widened and he said, “You’re going with your dad to the Festival?”

“Don’t worry no one except you and my dad’s crew will know who I am.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?” he asked.

“I’ll be safe,” I assured him.

“I don’t mean at the Festival. Afterwards.”

“No one will know who I am,” I swore.

We were quiet a while and I said, “Finn, there’s something I need to tell you.”

He didn’t respond and his head was bent forward. I leaned down and saw that he was fast asleep. I laughed softly and watched the ships sailing around while he slept. Sometime later he woke up and apologized profusely.

“It’s alright,” I assured him.

We were walking towards the docks and he said, “I guess I’ll see you tonight.”

“About that,” I started, my hand rubbing my neck in nervousness, “I need to tell you something.”

“Tell me at the Festival,” he said, kissing me quickly before running off. “I need to go steal a few more things.”

I sighed loudly and walked back to the castle. I flopped onto my bed and sighed again. Tonight was going to be very interesting.

Chapter Six

I snuck out a little before sundown and rushed down the docks to Sedgwick. I had my mask on and was wearing my favorite pirate outfit. He smiled and held the dinghy steady for me to climb in. “I’ve missed that mask.”

“I have a feeling it’s going to cause me trouble tonight,” I admitted.

“Don’t worry. No one will try to mess with you while you’re with your dad.”

It wasn’t the people who wanted to hurt me that I was worried about, it was Finn. I had no idea how he was going to react and I worried it would be a bad reaction. I tightened my grip on the heavy bag around my shoulders and sighed. I just had to hope that Finn would forgive me.

Once I had boarded, my dad set sail. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and squeezed. “It’s been a long time since I last saw that mask.”

“It’s bound to stir up some trouble tonight,” I told him.

“Something you want to tell me?” he asked.

“I’ll let you be surprised with everyone else,” I told him with a smile.

“Humph,” he said, “I have a feeling you’re a handful more than your aunt bargained for.”

“You have no idea,” I whispered.

I looked out over the bow as we sailed towards what I knew was going to be a very eventful night. The breeze blew my hair around my face, tangling with my mask.

“Here,” a guy said as he offered me a leather strip for my hair.

“Thanks,” I replied, taking the strip and braiding my hair and then tying the end with the strip.

“You don’t recognize me, do you?” he asked with a smirk.

“Sorry, I don’t. I thought you were a new member,” I said as I looked at him closer. He did look a little familiar.

“Cristoff,” he said.

My mouth dropped open, but luckily he couldn’t see that behind my mask. “Cristoff! The boy who came on just a bit before I left?” I asked. He nodded his head. “Well damn you got handsome,” I said.

“How have you been?” he asked me, leaning against the railing.