Pirate Princess (56 page)

“I can’t lose you,” he whispered.

I leaned my head against his shoulder and whispered, “You won’t. You need to trust me.”

“There are so many things that could happen.”

“If you were in my place you would be doing the same thing.”

“You’re so much trouble,” he said with a sigh.

“Finn, if something does happen to me, I want you to keep your position here. They’ll need you and…”

He stopped me by kissing me. “No, we won’t discuss it. You’re coming back and that’s final. If you say anything else I will tie you up and hold you hostage on my ship.”

We sat in silence for a while longer and then went to our separate rooms. Would this work? It had to. If it didn’t work our lives as we knew it would be gone. No more magic. No more powers. It could potentially cripple us.

Chapter Seventeen

Everyone was reserved the next day. Faxon tried to teach me a new spell, but I couldn’t do it. Finn tried to convince me to stay again, but his heart wasn’t in it since he knew I had already made my decision. The Order of Elders gathered to discuss an alternate strategy if mine failed, while I was left alone in my room to prepare. I admired the engagement ring Finn had given me and despite how much I didn’t want to, I took it off and put it in a locked box on my dresser. I couldn’t wear it while seeing Marquez. After brushing out my hair I braided it and let it hang over one of my shoulders. The woman looking back at me was scared. Dammit I couldn’t be scared. I had to be convincing and protect my family and Kingdom.

The sun dropped lower in the sky and I gathered the façade I would be using while facing Marquez on like a cloak and headed out of the castle. I couldn’t say goodbye to my family because I had to believe I was returning soon and I didn’t want to say goodbye to Finn. I couldn’t.

The townspeople waved and smiled as I passed by them and I dutifully waved and smiled back. They could be minutes away from losing their magic and they had no idea. It was painfully clear that ignorance was bliss at times.

I walked towards the arena and wasn’t shocked to find it empty. I had to be strong. I was a Master Mage. I possessed a boatload of magic that rivaled my aunt and Faxon. I could take this stupid prince easily.

I walked around the arena and felt angry for him ruining what would have been a perfect place for memories for me. Here Finn had beaten Jared. Here Jared had pardoned all pirates. And here, Finn had proposed to me.

“I’m surprised you actually came alone,” Marquez said behind me.

I spun around and smiled at him. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I figured that your captain wouldn’t let you out of his sight.” He looked disgusted when he said captain. Why did he hate pirates so much? Had one done something to him? Or was it just the typical bias?

“He can’t control me.”

He smirked and said, “I doubt anyone could.”

“I know where my place is,” I said with a smirk back at him.

“And where is that?”

“Ruling. Together, you and I, and with that device, we could rule the Realm of Olanze.”

“The plan was for Drimla to take over Crilan,” he said with a frown.

“So your dad can rule it?” I asked him with a scoff. “Why let him rule when we could? I have enough magic to take on your father and then you will be King.”

He rubbed his chin while he thought about it. Yes, fall for my bait. Of course you want power and want to usurp your father. “And you’ll be Queen to my King?” he asked with a look of possession I hated in his eyes.

“Yes.” The word left my mouth and my food almost followed it.

“What about the pirate?”

“He’s a pirate,” I said with a laugh, “And I’m a Princess. Do you really think we could last?” It hurt to even say it.

“His power? Is it magic?”

“His speed?” I asked. He nodded his head. If I lied and he thought Finn could lose it, then it could possibly save him. “Yes.”

“Prove you’re committed to me,” he said and folded his arms across his chest.

“How?”

“Set off the device.”

“You said if I came with you that you wouldn’t use it.”

“I changed my mind.”

“Fine, give it to me.” He couldn’t be that stupid, could he?

He produced the metal ball and pushed buttons that I hadn’t seen on it. “It is set to detonate in two minutes.”

“What? You activated it?” I asked in a near scream. “Are you trying to take my powers away?”

“Find a good spot to leave it and I’ll teleport us out,” he said.

“Why can’t we just leave it here?” I asked him.

“It doesn’t have the same effect if we just left it here. I have the perfect idea, take us to the castle and drop it in front of your family with me there.”

Oh no. “Fine.”

He set his hand on my shoulder with a sneer and I teleported us into the castle and into the dining room where I knew they were. Everyone looked at us when we appeared and Finn’s gaze hardened when he saw Marquez touching me.

I hadn’t wanted to say goodbye. I hadn’t wanted to do this. I didn’t have time. I looked at them all and said, “I love you.”

“Tilia!” Finn yelled.

I teleported Marquez and I to a remote island very few knew existed and no one lived on. I dropped the ball and was preparing to teleport again, but Marquez froze me in place with a spell.

“I knew you would try something! You are a filthy, lying, pirate lover! Now you’ll sit here while I take this right back and destroy everyone you love!”

I focused despite the fear I was feeling and broke his spell and then covered him in fire. The ball made a strange ticking sound on the ground beside us. I tried to make him disintegrate, but it was harder to do to mages for some reason and I hadn’t learned how to overcome that yet. He tried to freeze me with ice, but I broke his concentration by stabbing his leg with a dagger. He bellowed in pain and I took the advantage to punch him and knock his legs out from under him, but he grabbed a hold of me and pulled me down with him.

“If I go down, you come with me!” he snarled in my face.

The ticking grew louder and faster. “I’d rather die than stay on this island with you!” I screamed at him.

He pulled a sword out of seemingly nowhere, but must have been a summoning spell, and stabbed me in the side. “That can be arranged.”

I screamed and he was instantly covered in fire despite my not actually trying to do it. He rolled around on the ground trying to extinguish the fire in the sandy beach beneath us while I pulled the sword out of my side and gasped for breath. The pain was so intense that spots began dancing across my vision and I became lightheaded. I stood and staggered towards the ball, hoping that maybe I could turn it off somehow.

I rubbed the ring Faxon had given me as I staggered a step and then another and whispered, “I’m sorry. At least I saved you all.”

Marquez had stopped moving and when I glanced over at him I realized with no feeling at all, that he had burned to death. Was it wrong of me not to care that I had burned him to death? I tried to teleport, but I was too injured. I tried to heal myself but couldn’t perform such severe healing yet. The ball stopped ticking.

I looked down at it and hoped it was a dud. Maybe it was a bluff? Had it all been a bluff that this idiot prince had thought to use to steal me from Crilan with?

The ball split in half and the top half slid off of the ball, revealing a vial inside. The liquid was bright pink and bubbling. I’d never seen a sealed container with bubbling liquid before. The vial exploded and the liquid turned into gas. The pink gas burned my skin and as soon as I inhaled my body began burning from the inside. I screamed and cried at the same time, experiencing an agony unlike any other. I fell onto my stomach, the gas had taken all of my energy and I realized with extreme sadness, my magic power. I cried on the ground as I stared at Marquez’ dead body.

I had finally obtained my goal of being a Master Mage and now it was gone. I would never use magic again. I could never unlock anything. I could never turn invisible and scare Finn. I could never create fire. I could never battle Faxon and Esmeralda again.

The sun set and the island grew cold. If I had had enough energy, I would have shivered. I took shallow breaths and closed my eyes. I was going to die. I would die on this island and my family would never find me. They would never know what happened. Finn would blow up Drimla and they would have no idea why.

I rubbed Faxon’s ring even though it probably didn’t work now that I wasn’t a mage. I had come full circle in the past few years. I had gone from lying to my family and worrying I had no magic to lying to Marquez and losing my magic. What would they do? Would Finn move on? Would he find another Queen?

More tears came and the tide rose until it touched my feet with each wave.

Would I drown before the wounds killed me? I didn’t want to drown. I loved the ocean and didn’t want it to be the way I went out.

“Tilia!” Faxon yelled.

No! He would lose his magic! As much as I wanted to be saved from the island I didn’t want him to come and lose his magic. “Stay away!” I tried to yell, but it came out as a rough whisper.

Footsteps crashed through the brush and then I felt a hand on me. “Tilia!” Faxon gasped.

“Leave. Before. Magic.” I felt his warm healing magic against my side as he tried to heal my wounds. “Leave me.”

“No.”

“You’ll lose. Your magic.” I gasped.

“Shut up and let me heal you.”

I lifted my arm and ignored the pain to smack him. “Go!”

He bent over me so I could see his face, he was crying. I had never seen him cry before. “We’re going home so just shut up and let me take care of you.” He rested his hand on my shoulder and we entered the spinning tunnel that meant he was teleporting us. If I had the energy I would have thrown up.

We finally exited and my body was placed on a white table that I recognized as the healing room’s bed. His warm healing magic returned to my side again.

“Esmeralda!” Faxon yelled loudly.

“Could be. Contagious,” I said in a panic.

“You’re not or I would have lost my magic already,” he told me, “Stop moving so you can heal. If you struggle anymore I will knock you out.”

“Tilia!” Esmeralda yelled when she entered the room. I couldn’t see her, but that was probably for the best.

“Help me heal her,” Faxon ordered her.

She didn’t object or even scold him for ordering her; she just came and added her magic to his. My breathing became easier and the pain was slowly decreasing.

“Is she here?” Jared asked.

“Where is she?” Finn asked.

I closed my eyes and fought the tears that were trying to come. Part of me wished I had died there. I supposed part of me had died there. I had thought that I would be okay with losing my magic. I had never been so wrong in my entire life.

“What happened?” Jared asked me.

“Not yet. She can’t talk yet.” Faxon said.

“Marquez. Dead. Bomb. Off.” I said through gritted teeth.

“Where’s the device?” Jared asked.

“On Rancal,” Faxon told him.

“Let us heal her. We’ll get her story then,” Esmeralda told Jared.

“Tilia,” Finn whispered from in front of me. I didn’t want to see his face yet. I couldn’t see the sadness there. I couldn’t see him or I would break. I was holding it together, but barely.

“We’ll find you when we’re done,” Faxon told him quietly.

I felt Finn’s lips touch my forehead and then heard the door shut quietly behind him.

“You saved Crilan,” Esmeralda said, “You saved me and Faxon. You should have let one of us take it.”

It was too late for that. It was far too late for could have or should have. It was done.

“You did great,” Faxon said.

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. I felt empty inside. I felt like I was missing a piece of myself. I felt hollow.

They healed me in silence and when they finished Faxon pulled me off of the bed and hugged me tightly against him. His body was shaking and I realized he was crying again. “I am so sorry I failed you,” he whispered. “If I had been faster I could have taken it from you.”

“This isn’t your fault,” I whispered.

“Tilia, open your eyes,” Esmeralda ordered.

I didn’t want to admit that part of me was hoping it was a dream. That when I opened my eyes I would discover it had all been a dream. I slowly opened them and she smiled at me. “We’ll get you through this. I’m sure you will recover from this.”

“Will I ever get my magic back?” I asked Faxon without looking at him.

“I don’t know. The cases I had seen when it was used, they didn’t recover from what I know. Perhaps there’s a way, but I don’t believe there is.”

That was Faxon, honest even when it hurt.

“What is going to happen to Drimla?” I asked to change the subject.

“Let’s go see Jared and Finn first,” Esmeralda said with an angry scowl. “We can decide their fate once we hear your story.”

I didn’t want to see Finn. When I saw him I would cry. I would break. “Can’t I just tell you two?”

Faxon set me down and he and Esmeralda gave me the same frown. “Why don’t you want to see Finn?” Faxon asked.

“I can’t.”

“Why not?” she asked me softly.

“I’m not strong enough to see him yet.”

“What are you talking about?” Faxon asked.

“What if… What if he doesn’t want me anymore?” I asked softly. As soon as I said it tears leaked down my face. “I’m broken now! He warned me something would happen and I didn’t listen to him. I can’t use magic! I can’t rule without magic! I can’t be his Queen.”

“Of course you can,” Finn said angrily.

I looked up in shock. When had he come inside? He stormed over to me and wrapped his hand around the base of my neck, pulling me so close to him that all I could see was his face. “I don’t care if you have magic or not. I don’t care if you lose every ability you have. I love you. You’re stuck with me ‘til the end.”

Tears streamed down my face and my breath came in hiccupping sobs. “I’m broken, Finn. I won’t ever have magic again. I don’t know what to do.”

His grip softened and he said, “You’re not broken, you’re just different now. You’ll learn to live without your magic. You’re still a fighter. You can still be Queen. Most importantly, you’re still the love of my life and I won’t give you up. We will get through this together.”