Pirate Princess (42 page)

“We have no enemies,” the King said. “He has no need to hide.”

I bit my tongue and glanced at Eric who was seething with anger. “That is enough, father,” Samson snapped. The King leaned back and mumbled to himself, but stopped talking. “I apologize. He isn’t around others often and sometimes forgets his manners.”

“It’s quite alright. No offense was taken,” I said with a shrug. “He likes women in dresses and I like men who can fight at the front lines instead of from their castle. Our kingdoms are different which is what makes us unique.”

It was a low blow, but he had made me mad. The King of Blith was known for sending his military to battle during the last conflicts they had, whereas Jared led from the front and fought side by side with our men.

“Ah there is the fire of the Queen,” said a man who stood up from his table and walked towards us.

He had a commander’s formal jacket on with several medals, tight breeches, tall boots, and a smug smile. He had black hair, green eyes, and an air of overconfidence that irked me.

“Princess Tilia, this is King Priam of Trian,” Prince Samson introduced.

Eric was at my back in an instant and put a hand on my lower back in warning. I knew not to kill the bastard. Priam tried to pick my hand up and I took a step back so that I was side by side with Eric.

“I didn’t know you would have other royalty visiting,” I said through gritted teeth to Prince Samson. “I apologize for my intrusion.”

“Do you know Priam?” Samson asked.

“I know of him,” I said. “I know of his ridiculous vendetta against pirates because
one
stole from his castle. I know he is obviously just upset that he could not protect his own items in his own castle so he is trying to get others to help him kill innocent people. And I know that he is a murderer.”

“Tilia,” Eric warned.

“See, the fire burns through her veins just like Esmeralda. It’s enticing to find a woman who doesn’t cower in my presence. And I fear you are mistaken my dear Princess, because I am no murderer.”

“You’re a terrible liar,” I told him.

“Tilia,” Eric said louder, “This is not the time for this.”

“No, it’s alright. Let her tell me why she thinks I’m a murderer. I would rather clear my name so she can put the worry out of her mind,” Priam said with smug calmness.

I wanted to slit his throat. “You ordered two war ships to open fire on a town and killed hundreds of people,” I said, “You killed people who had done nothing to you. People who were unarmed and who were killed unprovoked by your ships.”

His eyes widened in shock and I could tell he did not like being caught unawares. “I’m not sure where you heard that story,” he said, “but…”

“I was there, you bastard!” I screamed at him. “Your stupid ships almost killed me!”

“Tilia!” Eric yelled in shock. I knew I wasn’t supposed to say I was there, but he had no way of finding out how his ships were destroyed. Even if he did, it would be Jax who had done it, not me.

The room that had been silent now filled with murmurs of shock. Priam stared at me in horror for a full minute before composing himself. “I believe you may have been mistaken about it being my ships.”

“I know your symbol, Priam. Your men confirmed they were sent to kill the
pirate
scum you believed to be there.”

“And what happened to my ships?” he asked. “These ones you claim attacked.”

“Jax blew them up,” I said with a smug smile. I let the smile fall and snarled at him. “She blew them up and saved a thousand lives including mine. A pirate saved a princess and here you are condemning them all. You know
nothing
about pirates and you are far worse than any of the pirates I have known.”

“Your Kingdom was the first to turn me down,” he said angrily, “they seemed to hold no grudges at pirates.”

“That’s because you can’t convict the many for the few. There are bad pirates, but there are also pirates who only steal from other pirates and leave the Kingdoms alone. There are also bad
royals
but you don’t see anyone condemning the lot of us.”

“You know a lot about pirates,” Samson commented.

“How did you even find the town?” I asked Priam angrily. It was then that I looked over at his table and saw Martin sitting there. Martin, my dad’s former crew member and the man who had visited me at the Capitol. “You told him!” I screamed and drew my sword.

“Tilia!” Eric yelled and wrapped his arms around me to keep me from moving forward.

“Princess Tilia,” Samson said angrily, “While in my kingdom you will not harm another visiting royal.”

“I’m not going to hurt the royal, but I’m going to chop Martin up and bury him in the dirt where he belongs!” I screamed at Martin. He looked calm and smug. That bastard. “Even if I don’t kill you here, your life is over. You’ll be hunted and there will be a reward for your head that every pirate on the seas will race to finish. How could you tell him? How could you give out a secret like that?” I screamed at him and fought against Eric even though I knew there was no use.

“You know him?” Priam asked.

That made me pause a moment. “He’s a pirate!” I yelled at Priam. “You’re after pirates and yet you have one sitting right there with you.”

“He’s my pirate advisor,” Priam said, “He is a former pirate who was recently able to escape from Captain Rocco.”

“Escape? You were always free to go when you wanted. You think your life is nice and cozy, blowing smoke up the King’s arse, but it’s over now, Martin.”

“How do you know him?” Priam asked.

“He visited my kingdom,” I said truthfully.

Priam walked over to Martin and Martin whispered into the King’s ear while smiling at me.

“Tilia calm down,” Eric said, “Let’s leave and we can head out for our travels.”

“Apparently the rumor is that the pirate Jax not only blew up my ships, but blew them up and turned them to ash. There’s only one family known with that power,” Priam said.

“Apparently another has that power as well,” I snapped.

Samson and the monarchs of Blith sat idly by and I realized Priam had planned this. He wanted me to confront him.

“She’s a pirate,” Martin yelled.

“Don’t be absurd,” Eric snapped, “She’s the Princess of Crilan.”

Priam walked closer to me and Eric released me to step in his way, but Priam shoved him aside, grabbed me and tore my shirt down in the back to reveal my tattoo. “You bear the marks of a pirate!” he yelled.

“Imposter!” the King of Blith yelled.

“I’m not an imposter. I’m the Princess of Crilan and if you touch me again it’ll be the last time you see your hand. The King and Queen of Crilan will destroy you and your Kingdom if you try to harm me.”

“No one is going to harm you,” Samson said, “And you would be wise to keep your hands to yourself Priam.” Samson gave me a jacket and I put it on to cover myself since my newly ripped shirt was close to exposing my chest.

Eric met my eyes and I shook my head. He couldn’t touch Priam or he would be killed. He wasn’t royalty like I was.

“Princess or not, you are a pirate and you’re coming with me,” Priam said.

“Locks won’t work on me,” I told him, “so you should save your breath.”

“Oh we know about your tricks,” Martin said.

“You’re not taking her anywhere,” Eric snarled and pushed me back.

Priam moved and I plunged a dagger into his thigh while Eric punched his face. We both tried to jump backwards, but the room suddenly began spinning.

“Tilia,” he whispered.

“Eric,” I called. What was happening to us?

“What do you think you’re doing?” Samson growled.

“You can keep your boy here, but she’s coming with us. I’ll use her as my example to show the pirates that I mean business and that I won’t stop until all of them are dead, royalty or not.”

“You can’t kidnap a princess from our kingdom,” Samson said.

“Shut up, boy,” his father, the King, snapped. “It’s time the pirates died and if this girl helps, then so be it.”

“You’re going to die,” I told Priam. “Jared is going to cut your head from your body and hang it from your castle door.”

“By the time word reaches them and they set sail you will already be dead,” he told me smugly. He touched my face and everything disappeared into darkness.

Chapter Thirteen

I woke up with my hands tied behind my back and my feet tied to a metal ring in the concrete. I looked around and as I assumed, I was in a cell. The cell was made of iron bars in the cement and one stone wall with a tiny window. There was sunlight streaming in through the bars, but I had no idea how long I had been asleep.

“You awake, girl?” one of the prisoners across from me asked.

“I think so,” I muttered.

“Thought you were dead,” he said. “Didn’t know why they would put a dead body still tied up in a cell, but I’ve seen stranger things in my life.”

“How long have I been here?”

“Two days.”

Two days?

“They put some food and water in the corner to your right,” he told me. “I recommend consuming it.”

I focused on the ropes and imagined them disappearing. I was worried I would burn myself, but I wanted them off. Nothing happened. I rolled over and searched my cell for something I could use to cut through my ropes. Whatever spell he had used on me was preventing me from using magic and I had no way of setting the ropes on fire without burning myself anyways.

I gave up and went to the bread roll and cup of water. I grabbed the cup with my teeth and then tilted my head back slowly to drink it. I spilled most of it, but the bit I got made me feel a little better. I dropped the cup from my mouth and bit into the bread.

“How long have you been here?” I asked him.

“A month,” he said, “Though I’m sure my time is up soon.”

If I could get my magic to start working, I could open the stupid cell and escape. “Any idea how long the spell takes to wear off?” I asked.

“They didn’t use no spell on me,” he said.

I sat in the cell with my hands tied behind my back and thought about this irony. Finn had sent me home to be safe and I had told him that I could be killed. Here I was in another royal’s cell, waiting for my hanging.

I rubbed Faxon’s ring and whispered into it where I was repeatedly in hopes that even though my magic wasn’t working, the ring might, like it had in Crilan.

The sun began to set and a guard came to my cell with more water and another piece of bread. I ate and drank and then a mage with a red robe stepped inside and put his hand against my head. I tried to get away, but the guard grabbed me and held me as the mage put the same spell on me again.

I fell onto my side and fell back asleep.

People were yelling and I could hear explosions, but as soon as I was awake, the guard and mage repeated their steps and I was put to sleep again. Where were Jared and Esmeralda? Couldn’t they find me? Couldn’t Faxon hear me?

Two more days passed and I felt myself losing hope. I didn’t understand why Priam hadn’t killed me yet. He said he would kill me before Jared could get here, but we weren’t that far from Trian that he could risk me being alive much longer.

“Today is the day,” Priam said from down the cells row.

I didn’t respond.

“You finally putting me out of my misery?” the prisoner across from me asked.

“Today we kill you and then tomorrow we kill her,” Priam said with an evil grin at me.

“And then the next day, your entire kingdom will burn to the ground,” I told him with a sweet smile.

He stopped grinning and glared at me. “Your family hasn’t even left port yet,” he told me, “Obviously they don’t care if you die.”

“Or they’re already here and any minute Jared will step out from the shadows and decapitate you.”

I rubbed the ring vigorously and yelled at Faxon in my head in case it helped.

“Put her to sleep,” Priam ordered the mage. “Tomorrow when you wake up will be your final day alive.”

“At least I was able to visit this wonderful kingdom,” I said with mock sincerity. “I love the stone floors, very vintage.”

The mage touched my forehead and I slept again, but this time I went to sleep with a smile on my face. Even if I was going to die, I would do it while taunting Priam.

The next time I woke, I could hear yelling and explosions. I looked out of my cell and was shocked to see the same prisoner still there.

“What’s happening outside?” I asked him and licked my lips. My mouth was incredibly dry and felt like I had cotton in my mouth.

“Not sure. Probably more pirates trying to attack Trian,” he said with a shrug.

Two guards came in holding a man between them by the arms and dragging his legs behind them as they walked. I rolled over so they wouldn’t know I was awake yet and rubbed my ring again. Come on Faxon!

Suddenly there was a scuffle and a fight behind me. I rolled back over and stared in disbelief as Finn killed the two guards and then unlocked my cell door.

“I’m dead,” I whispered, “That’s the only explanation. You can’t be real. Priam must have had the mage kill me instead of put me to sleep again.”

He went behind me and cut my ropes and then picked me up and hugged me to his chest. “You’re not dead,” he whispered, “And I am very thankful for that.”

“Why are you here?” I asked him around the lump in my throat as my stupid heart attempting to break out of its box.

“Explanations later. First we need to get you out of here,” he said sternly.

“I can’t walk,” I admitted.

“Don’t worry Pirate Princess, I can carry you,” he assured me with a smug smirk. I felt hope surge within me at his nickname and smirk, but I tamped it down quickly. He stepped out of the cell and I pointed at the prisoner.

“Unlock his cell.”

Finn didn’t question me and unlocked the man’s cell, then handed him the keys. “The Princess of Crilan has granted you freedom,” Finn told him.

The man’s eyes widened and he bowed his head to me. Finn turned and ran. Watching him run and being in his arms while he ran faster than seemed humanly possible were two completely different experiences. The wind pressed against me and scenery flew by. Finn seemed to know where he was going, but I didn’t have a clue where we were. He stopped for a second and I saw down the cliff below us. A black castle was on fire, smoldering, and disintegrating from Faxon and Esmeralda’s barrage of magic fire. Jared stood at the front of the castle slaughtering man after man with bodies piled up behind him. The bay was covered in Crilan ships with Eric screaming orders from the main one, Finn’s ship, and my dad’s ship all firing cannonballs into the city.