Pirate Princess (22 page)

“You cannot even
think
about marrying Finn or anyone else until you are at least twenty years old,” she continued.

“Twenty five would be better,” Jared mumbled.

“So you’re saying there is a chance that I could marry Finn if we wanted to?” I asked to tease her.

“Did you not hear what I said? You cannot think about marrying anyone until you’re twenty.”

“I was just clarifying,” I muttered.

“At twenty we will discuss the situation. Three, you have to be Jax while you are with pirates so that we can keep this secret from the people. If you are captured by another kingdom you can reveal your true identity and require them to contact us, but you have to say that you were only impersonating Jax and you have to be convincing.”

I felt like my body was going to explode from all of my excitement. I turned to Finn and realized I didn’t know if he wanted me to sail with him, let alone for a year. “Can you put up with me on your ship for a while?” I asked him.

He rubbed his chin and sighed, staring at his feet for a long moment. “You’re full of trouble and I know you’re going to constantly test my authority as captain, but I suppose I will allow you to sail on my ship for a year as a new recruit.”

He sounded serious and I felt like he was really telling me he didn’t want me to go with him, but then he looked up at me and gave me his sexy smirk.

“I’ll have you know that I’m a princess and that I can steal all of your treasures and give them away if you try to treat me like a recruit,” I warned him.

“Aye that’s my girl,” Dad said with a laugh.

“She gets that attitude from her mother, doesn’t she?” Jared asked my dad.

Dad nodded his head. “How’d you know?”

Jared looked at Esmeralda who noticed and punched his arm. “I am a lovable angel.”

“You don’t have to keep me for a year, or if you don’t want me to go with you at all, I can go with my dad,” I told Finn.

“And let Cristoff have a year of endless amounts of free time with you?! I don’t think so. You’re stuck with me, girl. I risked my life for you and technically I won you at the festival,” he said with a happy smile.

“I agree to your provisions,” I said to Esmeralda with a wide smile, “But you have to promise not to get rid of Duke.”

“That stubborn horse would find his way back to us even if we left him across the sea in Blith,” Jared said.

“You’ll always have a place in our home and are welcome to come back at any time,” Esmeralda said.

I wanted to scream in joy, but I held it in.

“I’m going to say my goodbye and head out,” Dad said, “Your townspeople are starting to venture out.” I hugged him and he kissed the top of my head. “You keep her safe, Finn. I’ll expect updates from you just like normal, Tilia.”

“I will,” Finn and I said at the same time.

“I’m going to go let my crew know we’re alive and break the news to them that we’re going to have a new member on the boat,” Finn said.

“When will you be back?” I asked.

“I’ll be back tomorrow morning.”

“Our balcony?” I asked.

He nodded his head. “I’ll dock out that side so we can sneak you away without the town seeing.” He kissed my cheek and then jogged off to catch up with my dad.

“I still can’t believe that you’re Jax,” Jared said.

I wanted to avoid them getting serious so I smiled and said, “I cut your arm.”

“What?” Esmeralda asked.

He frowned at me and said, “That was a pretty clever move.”

“She cut his forearm almost in half,” Faxon told Esmeralda. “It was quite impressive.”

“Hah!” She said to her husband. “A girl made you bleed.”

We walked inside the castle and to the dining hall with Jared grumbling about lucky moves. “I’m guessing you’re probably hungry,” Jared said.

“Starving!” I yelled, “They gave me a small piece of bread and a tiny cup of water.”

“Well you were a prisoner,” Faxon reminded me.

“Well I’m hungry and not a prisoner now,” I reminded him.

We sat down at the table and it felt almost normal. “So, I almost won the Festival,” I told them around bites of fruit, meat, and bread. “Finn beat me by four pieces.”

“You could have stolen all his stuff when you were on his ship,” Esmeralda said, “And won by a ton.”

“Of course you would say that.” Jared mumbled.

“I thought about it, but he had been nice that day so I didn’t.”

“So if he had been mean you might have?” Faxon asked.

“He didn’t know I was Jax until the Festival,” I told them.

“How did that go by the way?” Jared asked.

“Well my dad didn’t know I was Jax either or that I was doing pirate things so when I participated in the festival he wasn’t too happy. And he saw Finn kiss me which made him even less happy.”

“It doesn’t make me happy either,” Jared muttered.

“Or me,” Faxon said.

“But Dad was pretty impressed with the name I had made for myself and Finn forgave me,” I explained, “And the rest of the pirates forgave me for everything when they found out that I was Rocco’s daughter. Probably because they don’t want to get on his bad side.”

“I don’t think anyone wants to get on his bad side,” Faxon said with a laugh.

I looked at Faxon and said, “I owe you a huge debt, Faxon. If you hadn’t given me the ring and come to save me, this day would have ended much differently.”

“I would do it again in a heartbeat,” he assured me.

“I thought you were possessed,” Jared admitted to Faxon, “it makes sense now, but you were talking nonsense at the time and you punched Griffin.”

“You should have punched him a few more times,” Esmeralda said.

“How’s your back?” Faxon asked.

“Perfectly fine,” I said, “Thanks to you.”

“No thanks to me,” Jared grumbled.

“What did you do?” Esmeralda asked.

I cringed. “You didn’t tell her?”

“Tell me what?” she asked.

“When I thought she was Jax, Griffin convinced me that the best thing to do was whip her a few times and…”

“You
whipped
our niece?!” she screamed.

He winced.

“Only once,” I defended him.

“And I didn’t know it was her.”

“He also whipped my arm,” Faxon said with a smirk trying to get Jared in more trouble.

“Sounds like
you
were possessed,” Esmeralda grumbled.

“Well I didn’t whip Faxon on purpose. I was going to whip her again, which I’m glad I didn’t, but he stopped the whip with his arm,” Jared explained.

“This has been the craziest day ever,” she said.

“I really am sorry,” I told them all. “I know you’re all probably mad at me and disappointed and if I could change some of the events I would. I just love the sea and sailing and doing pirate things. I tried to give it up, but I can’t. It’s too heavily a part of me and who I am.”

“Apology accepted,” Esmeralda said.

“So you’re really going to sail on a pirate ship for a year?” Faxon asked.

“Yes,” I said, “but I’ll be back.”

“I’ll hunt Finn down if you don’t come back,” Jared promised.

“Don’t worry, I’ll come back.”

“So all those mornings that you woke up exhausted was because you had been out all night as Jax?” Esmeralda asked.

“Yeah,” I said smiling innocently, “And that morning I said I went for a run I had actually been on my dad’s ship all night and had just run all the way here. So I really did run, but not for exercise.”

“No more lying,” she said sternly.

“I promise,” I said using my finger to make an x over my chest.

“I can’t believe Elena married Rocco,” Esmeralda said with a laugh, “She was so crafty with her letters that I never figured it out. I bet dad would have had a heart attack if he knew when he was alive.”

“How did you know where the Festival was going to be?” I asked Jared. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t asked sooner.

“Griffin was tipped off by someone, but he didn’t say who,” he answered.

Who could it have been? Who would have known the whereabouts and would have been willing to tell Griffin? Maybe he had tortured it out of him.

I stayed in the dining hall longer than usual since it was the last time I would eat dinner with them. I went to bed that night and felt free for the first time since I was ten years old. Despite their assurances that they had forgiven me, I knew that I had hurt my aunt and uncle and this was not something easily forgiven or forgotten. If I could go back and change the events, I would for sure. I would have at least spoken up when they captured me or taken off my mask when Jared had grabbed me on the beach. It would have saved me and everyone a lot of trouble, but then again everyone had regrets or things they would change about their past if they could. I just had to learn from this mistake for my future.

I tossed and turned for a while in bed and then slept until Esmeralda shook me roughly. “Wake up,” she said as she shook me back and forth.

“I’m awake,” I mumbled.

“Time to eat and then pack,” she told me. “You’re setting sail soon.”

I sat up and yawned. “I thought it was a dream,” I whispered.

“Nope, you’re setting off as Jax on a pirate ship with Captain Finn. This makes me a terrible guardian since I’m okay with this, doesn’t it?” she asked as she stood in the doorway.

“No, it makes you a wonderful aunt for not trying to lock me up in a tower somewhere,” I told her as I dressed.

“If I had known earlier that you were Jax that is
exactly
what I would have done,” she teased me.

“I’ll send letters to you,” I promised, “I have my royal seal.”

“You better send me at least one a month,” she said sternly. I walked to her and she wrapped her arms around me. “You are so like your mother. She was a free spirit called to the sea as well. I’m going to miss you like crazy.”

“I’ll miss you too.”

“Now who is going to save me from the balls?” she asked with her lip stuck out in a pout.

“You’re going to have to attend your own balls,” I said in mock horror, “You poor thing.” We walked down to the dining hall arm in arm and I was shocked to find Finn sitting inside talking with Jared. “Finn what are you doing here?” I asked.

“Well, I hate to be left waiting so I came early. The crew will meet us in an hour,” he said, standing to pull out my chair for me. “And I was worried you might try to get out of it,” he whispered to me.

I sat down and he kissed the back of my hand. I looked at Jared who was scowling. “How many times did he threaten you?” I asked Finn while smiling at my uncle.

“Only a dozen,” Finn said nonchalantly, “but the threats were getting much more creative until you walked in.”

“I don’t doubt it,” I said.

“A man must be prepared for his fate. I always give fair warning to people since it is polite,” Jared said as he piled eggs onto his plate.

“So, where will you sail to first?” Esmeralda asked.

“I think we will head east and explore the smaller islands first,” Finn said.

“Taking her to the volcanoes?” Jared asked.

Finn smiled. “Yes.”

“Volcanoes?” I asked in shock. “Like, lava spraying volcanoes?”

“Don’t worry they’re dormant,” Finn said with a wave of his fork as if it did not matter.

“You should take her snorkeling,” Esmeralda said.

“I went snorkeling when I was seven,” I said, “but I don’t remember much except that a shark came and I freaked out.”

“It was probably a Zebra shark,” Finn said, “They’re not known to attack humans.”

“Well I didn’t feel like testing that theory,” I muttered. And my dad had laughed and laughed as I climbed up his body and clung to him like a monkey.

“We’ll try to spread word around the kingdom and to others so you know when we are planning to head back here so you can meet us,” Jared said.

I nodded my head in understanding.

“Have you been to the Emerald Isles?” Jared asked Finn.

Finn nodded his head. “A few years ago we went there. It’s a pretty long journey though and the seas are very rough once you get past Siladen.”

“I better get up there and start packing,” I said as I stood up. Finn stood up with me and followed me to my room. He left the door open, but pushed me through it and then against the wall to kiss me.

“I was wondering when I would get one of those,” I whispered happily.

“Well I didn’t want your uncle to stab me, so I figured I had to wait until we were no longer in his line of sight,” Finn explained with a smile.

“Finn, are you sure you want me to sail on your ship with you for a year? If you don’t want me to go I won’t. I know you were put on the spot yesterday,” I said despite the crushing sensation in my chest.

He tilted my chin up so he could look into my eyes. “You’re coming with me if I have to steal you and fight your uncle to do it.”

I smiled and kissed him. “Okay, stop distracting me. I need to pack.” I grabbed some bags from my closet and tossed my clothes inside except for my dresses. Finn grabbed the one I had been wearing the night he danced with me and put it inside my bag. “Like that dress?” I asked him with a smirk.

“It has good memories,” he said, “And I loved you in it.”

I opened my dresser drawer and took the note and grabbed one of the many flowers, pressing it inside the note to keep. “I still can’t believe you snuck in here and did this,” I told him.

“It was pretty difficult,” he admitted, “But worth it.” I grabbed the book that I kept my mother’s picture in and stuck the note a few pages behind to keep it safe. “Is that your mom?” he asked. I flipped back to the spot where her picture was and handed him the picture. He smiled and said, “You do look a lot like her.”

“I wish I had gotten a chance to know her,” I whispered.

He hugged me and said, “I’m sure she would be very proud of you.”

I laughed. “I’m not exactly worthy of praise,” I reminded him.

“Sure you are. How many girls stand up for what they want despite the possibility of being locked in a tower for the rest of their lives?” he said.

“Not sure many girls are threatened with that,” I muttered. I packed the rest of my belongings and then my extra weapons.

“You’ve got more weapons than dresses and shoes,” Finn commented.