Pirate Princess (14 page)

He cringed. “Well, he kissed her twice.”

“Actually it was three times, but that’s probably not important,” I muttered.

“Who was he?” Esmeralda asked.

“His name is Finn,” I said and then walked back inside, letting the nearest guy dance with me even though the only boy I thought of the rest of the night was Finn.

Chapter Five

The next morning at breakfast I felt the happiest I had been in a long time. Faxon and Jared were in foul moods and Esmeralda seemed to notice. “Stop acting like old men,” she ordered them.

“Griffin,” I said to get his attention. He looked at me with a curious expression. “I’d like to use my present today.”

“Today?” he asked.

I nodded my head. “I’m just going into town so I won’t be far or anywhere I can get into too much trouble or far from guards anyways. I just don’t want them specifically following me.”

Griffin looked at Jared and Faxon who were both scowling at me. Esmeralda was smiling and asked, “Finn wouldn’t happen to be going into town today, would he?”

I shrugged and said, “I’m not sure.”

“Liar,” Griffin said with a smirk.

“No,” Jared said, “You can’t go.”

I stared at him in shock. He rarely told me that I couldn’t do something. “Why not?” I asked.

“We don’t know anything about him. For all we know he could be a pirate,” he growled.

“I agree. I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Faxon said.

I looked at Esmeralda and she said, “Unfortunately for both of you there is no reason she can’t go into town and even if he was a pirate, this is one time where you cannot intervene.”

“Why not?” Faxon asked.

“Because you’ll just make him more appealing by telling her she can’t see him,” Esmeralda told them, “and she’ll sneak out to see him.”

“Not if she’s locked in her room,” Jared said.

“Except that I can unlock the door,” I told him with a smile.

He glared at me and then looked at Esmeralda. “Why are you okay with this?”

“She has to experience life. You can’t shelter her or cripple her from those experiences. She will make a terrible ruler if we keep her locked in a tower.”

“And what if she gets hurt or kidnapped?” Faxon asked.

“I have your ring,” I reminded him and turned my hand so he could see it on my finger, “If I’m in trouble I’ll use it to let you know and then you can tell me ‘I told you so’ after you save me.”

He frowned, still not happy, but didn’t say anything else. “Very well,” Griffin said, “I’ll pull my men from following you today. There are guards already around the town and their job is to patrol so I won’t pull them away, but I will make sure they know to leave you alone.”

“That’s fine,” I told him, “I’m not trying to hide from anyone. I just don’t want them specifically following me.” I stood up and left the room before anyone changed their minds. It took me two hours to decide on an outfit and brush out my hair. I looked at my reflection in my mirror and nodded my head approvingly. Breeches, white shirt underneath a purple corset and my sword on my hip completed with my tall black boots. I left my father’s necklace at home just in case Finn tried to be sneaky today and then decided to braid my hair.

By the time I was ready, it was ten minutes until noon. I jogged down the stairs and out the front door, right passed Faxon and Jared who were talking angrily with Esmeralda. “Bye,” I called as I jogged away.

“Have fun,” Esmeralda called happily to me.

“Behave,” Jared called angrily.

It took me five minutes to get into the main part of town and then another five to try to find the store because Faxon had led me around the previous day. I finally found it, but when I looked inside Finn wasn’t there. Maybe he wouldn’t come. Maybe it was a game to him. I turned around to storm away and ran into Finn’s chest.

“Hello,” he said as he stepped back.

“Sorry,” I muttered, rubbing my cheeks which had blushed in embarrassment.

He pulled my hands down and kissed one of my cheeks. “You run into a lot of men that way?”

“No, I’m usually very observant,” I said defensively, my blush even worse now that he had kissed me again.

He pulled a beautiful purple flower out from behind his back and tucked it behind my ear. “A flower for a princess may seem a small token,” he said.

“It’s lovely,” I told him honestly.

“How many flowers did you get from those boys who were glaring at me for taking their chances of dancing with you away from them?”

“None,” I said honestly, “I’ve never received a flower from anyone except my uncle and the older ones I consider uncles.”

“Did they keep you locked away?” he asked with a serious look.

“No,” I said with a laugh.

He turned and started walking so I walked beside him, looking at the town and the people in it again. “You don’t seem like you’re from here,” he commented.

“I’m not. We live in the Capitol,” I explained, “We just came to visit here for a couple of months. Apparently it’s something the King and Queen used to do every year.”

“What’s it like to be the princess?” he asked.

I shrugged. “I go to lessons with the townspeople for reading and math and now Faxon teaches me magic and King Jared works with me on fighting.”

“The King is teaching you to fight?” he asked in shock.

“No, I already know how to fight. He is just helping me improve,” I told him.

“So, if you don’t mind, where is your father?” he asked.

“He could be anywhere,” I said with a sigh, “He is a royal from another place,” I lied.

“Where?” he asked, “Maybe I know him.”

“I’m sure you do,” I muttered. When I didn’t answer he just continued to look at me as we walked. “I can’t tell you. It’s a secret and if anyone found out they might try to use me for ransom or use me to hurt my dad.”

“You think I would do something like that to you?” he asked me with an angry scowl.

“No, but then again I haven’t known you long and if you let it slip when you had too much to drink to someone else they might try to use the information themselves,” I told him.

“Will you come with me for the day?” he asked, “Away from the town?”

“Where?” I asked him excitedly.

“On my ship. My crew are respectable pirates. We adhere to Captain Rocco’s rules very strictly. I promise none of them will try to hurt you.”

“I have to be back tonight,” I told him.

“The place I want to take you isn’t far. I’ll drop you off personally right to the front door,” he promised.

I nodded my head despite part of me yelling this wasn’t a good idea and that Jared and the others would be livid if they found out. Finn smiled happily, kissed me on the lips and then took my hand in his and led the way. We walked out onto the docks and a few guards looked at me in question as I passed, but I didn’t acknowledge them. He helped me into his dinghy and then climbed in across from me, rowing us out towards the ocean.

“So, did you leave your necklace at home to keep me from stealing it?” he asked with a smirk.

“I didn’t want to tempt you,” I told him.

“Darlin’, you are temptation enough,” he told me with a laugh.

We swayed over the waves and I felt like I was coming alive again. It had been so long since I was on a boat sailing in the ocean. As we got farther out I saw that there were several pirate ships around. I looked for the symbol that was tattooed on my shoulder, but it wasn’t there. “Did Captain Rocco come for the festival?” I asked.

Finn shook his head. “Not yet. Word is that he stays away from this area.”

Of course he did. We pulled up to his boat and a smile split my face when I saw the new pirate flag. “Had to get a new flag?” I asked.

He scowled at me. “Your friend is lucky I can’t find her ship or I would tear her flag to pieces.” I laughed and then a rope ladder dropped down the side of the ship for us. He tied the dinghy to his ship so it would trail behind it and I started climbing the ladder. “I must say, the view is much better today than usual,” he called from below me.

I didn’t have a smart reply so I stayed quiet. I reached the top and one of his crew took my hand and pulled me onto the deck. “Afternoon, miss,” the large man with a missing tooth said with a smile for me.

Finn climbed up and yelled, “Raise the anchor, set sail!”

His crew flew into motion, running to their posts and getting the ship ready to sail. Finn took my hand and led me to the wheel. “Have you ever steered a ship before?” he asked me.

“A few times,” I fibbed. I had sailed dozens of times with my father. “But it has been a very long time.”

He stood behind me, put my hands on the wheel, and his body pressed against mine all the way from his calves, up my back, and down my arms to my fingertips. “Turn towards starboard and take us out deeper into the ocean.”

He kept his hands linked with mine and we turned the wheel together. The wind pushed against me and the boat swayed on the ocean. I was in heaven and Finn made it even better. We turned and headed east where I could see an island in the distance.

His navigator came and took over steering.

“Are we going there?” I asked, pointing to Walin, the closest island as we walked to lean against the railing at the stern.

Finn nodded his head and then kissed the side of my neck. I shivered and he wrapped me in a hug thinking that I was cold when I had shivered from his kiss. Dolphins raced the ship and I leaned over the railing to look at them. “I haven’t seen dolphins in seven years,” I told him.

“It’s a sign of good luck. I think it means you’re supposed to be here with me.”

I turned and leaned my elbows on the railing. “As much as I wish that were true, I’ll be queen someday and that doesn’t give me much time for sailing.”

“You won’t be queen for many years. Surely you can take some time to explore before then,” he said, leaning beside me.

“Maybe,” I whispered even though I knew it wouldn’t happen. As much as I was enjoying myself with Finn I knew it was a temporary thing. He would sail away after the Festival and I would return to the Capitol.

“Don’t look sad,” he said, smiled at me and put his hands on either side of me on the railing. “I brought you out here to have fun.”

“This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time,” I told him, “I miss the ocean.”

“Would you like a tour of my ship?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said with a smile and let him take my hand. It would take at least an hour to get to the islands judging by the distance so we had some time to kill. We walked down the stairs to the main deck and his crew smiled pleasantly at me. He led me down the stairs at midship and showed me the canons and the kitchen where he stole some dried meat for us to snack on. Then he showed me his storeroom and ended the tour at his cabin.

His cabin was larger than I had expected of a ship this size, but half the size of my dad’s. He had various items from the different places he had sailed to and a lot of jewelry. He even had a crown. “Where did you steal this from?” I asked as I picked up the crown and put it on my head. It was way too big and slid down my face.

He took it off my head and held it in his hand. “There’s a small country far in the east where a king rules with an iron fist. I visited and upon seeing that I was a pirate, he had me arrested. I broke out of his dungeon, stole the crown from his bedside table, and escaped. I still remember his screams as I sailed away.”

“How many times have you been captured?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Not many, but they can never keep me locked up for long.”

I walked slowly around his cabin, looking at his treasures and stopped at a familiar hair clip. “Is this mine?” I asked in shock.

He laughed. “I stole it from you last night. You had enough clips that you didn’t notice me take that one.”

“It’s hardly a treasure worth keeping in your cabin amongst these jewels,” I said, looking at the silver clip with a small sapphire. It wasn’t worth a tenth of the huge diamond it was sitting next to.

“Sentiment makes items much more valuable to their owners,” he said from directly behind me. I hadn’t even heard him walk over to me. “May I keep it?” he asked.

I set the clip back down, turned and smiled at him. “I wouldn’t try to steal your treasures.”

He ran his hand down the side of my face and said, “If only I was able to keep you I could throw all of this other rubble away.”

“There are those sweet words again you must have used on many girls in this very spot,” I whispered.

“Is that jealousy I sense in your voice?” he teased.

“Can’t be jealous of women who you have already discarded,” I pointed out.

“I would never discard you,” he said, “You are a treasure worth fighting a nation for.”

I stepped forward, closed the distance between us, and kissed him. He seemed surprised, but then he kissed me back. “Your flattery is nice despite its falseness,” I told him when I stepped back.

“Why are you so quick to assume I’m lying?” he asked. “Simply because I’m a pirate?”

“No,” I said in shock, “I just…” I looked down at the floor in humiliation.

“Why are you embarrassed?” he asked. He went quiet a moment and asked, “Am I the first man you’ve kissed?” I turned my back to him and nodded my head. “You don’t need to be embarrassed, Tilia.”

“I don’t mean to be rude,” I whispered, feeling like a complete idiot now. How could one man make me feel like such a child?

“I’m sorry I snapped at you,” he whispered back, “Come here.” I didn’t move so he walked forward and turned me around. “Tilia,” he whispered, tilting my head up with a finger under my chin, “You don’t need to be embarrassed. I was just shocked that a woman as beautiful and fierce as you would be self-conscious.”

“I’m not self-conscious,” I told him, “I just haven’t experienced much and you seem like you have so I assumed this was just normal procedure for you.”

“How old do you think I am?” he asked with a smirk.

“Twenty?” I guessed.

He shook his head and leaned down to whisper in my ear, “I’m eighteen, but if you tell my crew I’ll tell them you’re lying.”

“You’re only eighteen and a captain already?” I asked.