Pirate Princess (9 page)

Esmeralda moved her horse over next to mine and whispered, “The day I fell for Jared was when I heard them singing together on a ride. A warrior with a voice like that is just too much and makes girls swoon.”

“Add their good looks into the mix and they’re lady killers,” I said softly.

She giggled quietly and said, “Oh, sweetheart I wish you had seen them as teenagers. You would have fallen off your horse right now.”

“I’ve heard this song before,” I whispered as I tried to recall where.

“Jared sings it when he is in the halls,” she said, “He doesn’t realize that he does it.”

She and I rode silently next to each other as the men around us sang. When that song ended Faxon started another one. We were slowly climbing up the side of a mountain, the road going back and forth to make the climb easier. Halfway up the mountain we came to a very large flat spot and set up camp. Jared tied a rope between two trees and then tied the horses to it so they wouldn’t wander off or fall off the edge. I laid out my bedroll and Faxon made a fire for cooking. I wasn’t sure what they were going to make, but I was pleased to see it was stew. We sat down around the fire and ate our stew as the sun slowly set and the valley below grew dark and quiet.

“This week we all realized that we don’t know as much about you as we thought,” Griffin said to me. “Why don’t you tell us something about your past?”

I slurped up my stew and thought about various events that had happened and debated what to tell them or more accurately, what I
could
tell them. “Well you know I’m a skilled fighter. Most of you don’t know that my dad trained me to use a sword since I was two years old. I learned to fight, throw daggers, use a harpoon, and how to tie knots. I can sail a ship and can chart a course with a compass or the stars for the most part. I haven’t done it in a long time though.”

“Can you use a bow and arrow?” Jared asked.

“No, I’m terrible with them,” I said truthfully. “My dad didn’t think they were very useful since you hardly use them on a ship.”

“Surely he uses them on land though,” Esmeralda said.

“Um, some of his people did, but he didn’t.”

“What’s one of your favorite memories?” Jared asked softly.

I thought back to younger years and a smile crept over my face. “When I was ten years old, my dad took me on a trip. We sailed to a beautiful island that was mostly sandy beaches and he helped me collect sea shells for hours. We collected so many that it filled an entire chest and it barely closed without crushing them. The crew joined us and when the sun set, a bright curtain of blue and green lights flowed over us in the sky. I danced, or did what all little kids think is dancing, under them and the crew took turns dancing with me. That was not too long before I came here. I think it was his final adventure for me and he put that chest of shells with his most prized treasures.”

The men were looking at each other with strange expressions, but said nothing.

“Your dad sounds like a wonderful man,” Esmeralda said with a soft smile.

My smile faltered a little and I said, “He loved me very much and I know he only sent me here because he thought it was best for me and because it was what my mother wanted.”

“I bet he misses you as much as you miss him,” she said.

I shrugged and said, “Well, I have definitely learned a lot since coming here.”

“How far away was the island from your dad’s kingdom?” Griffin asked me.

I shrugged. “No clue.”

He frowned, but let it drop.

“So, have you all known each other your whole lives?” I asked them. “Or did you come together person by person?”

“We all grew up together and went slightly different ways for a while, but Jared pulled us back together,” Faxon said.

“Did your dad like Jared?” I asked Esmeralda.

She laughed and Jared frowned. “He loved him in his military and on the battlefield, but when he saw Jared flirting with me, he was furious. I had to pretend I didn’t like Jared or he would have sent him away on a mission or a bogus assignment to keep us apart.”

“I was good enough to be a Commander and even his Chief, but not to have his daughter’s hand,” Jared said bitterly, “He planned for her to marry some prince in another kingdom.”

“I thought you said you haven’t done arranged marriages in a long time?” I asked.

“He wouldn’t have done an arranged marriage,” Esmeralda said, “but he would have continued to push prince after prince towards me and sent me to their kingdom to try to let them woo me.”

“It wouldn’t have worked,” Jared said, “Once I have a goal in mind I won’t be stopped until I achieve it.”

“And how would you have done anything if I was in Trian or Emprad?” Esmeralda asked him.

“I would have left the military and gone to find you,” he said adamantly.

“You would have left the military?” she asked with shock.

He smirked, picked her hand up and kissed it. “I would do anything and go anywhere for you.”

“We just ate,” Faxon said, “Let us keep the food in our stomachs.”

“Shut up you heartless man,” Esmeralda teased him.

“I have a heart. I just can’t stand your mushy ridiculousness. I’ve had to deal with it for two decades now,” he said.

“Only four or five decades more to go,” Jared said cheerfully.

“Don’t remind me,” Faxon said with a sigh.

“I have to tell you, when my dad told me I was coming here I thought it was going to be horrible,” I told the group. “I thought I would be in a dusty castle and never allowed to fight and have to wear dresses all the time and talk proper like a royal, whatever that meant. I am so glad that Crilan isn’t like that.”

“Don’t go to Blith,” Faxon said, “The king isn’t fond of women fighters.”

Esmeralda sneered. “That old goat can’t even hold a sword and he thinks he can look down on women who can. It sickens me.”

“Esmeralda,” Jared scolded, “They’re our allies. We’re supposed to refrain from speaking ill of them.”

“They shouldn’t be so ridiculous and I wouldn’t talk poorly about them,” she said and crossed her arms over her chest.

“The King was raised in different times,” Griffin said, “and he refuses to let go of the past. That’s why their kingdom loses women by the boat load to us.”

“Their women come here?” I asked curiously.

He nodded his head. “About an eighth of their women move over here each decade.”

“Quite a few of our women move to them as well,” Faxon added, “Though I’m not sure why.”

“Maybe because the men here are wimps,” I suggested as I stirred my stew.

The men looked at me incredulously. Jared asked, “Did you just call us wimps?”

“Not you three,” I amended, “But most of the boys here are intimidated by…girls who can fight.”

Esmeralda smirked and said, “Well maybe those
girls
just haven’t found the right one yet. I assure you that many were put off by me as well.”

“Your beauty and large bosoms helped assist them in getting over that,” I grumbled.

She gaped at me and the men coughed to cover up their laughs. “Tilia Jasmine that is the rudest thing you’ve said to me.”

“How is it rude? You know I’m right. So does Jared that’s why he’s looking up so you can’t see him laughing,” I said.

“Don’t drag me into this,” he said without looking down.

“You’re incorrigible,” she muttered.

“Did you know that the trainees try to act superior to me and then after Marcus has me do a demonstration they refuse to talk to me?” I asked. “Even the men who are making up the King’s Steel can’t handle a woman who is better at things than them.”

“It’s a huge wound to our pride,” Jared said, “We’re supposed to be your protectors and yet you are more apt to charge out next to us and fight instead of letting us protect you.”

“That’s why so many men here marry Blith girls,” I said in understanding.

“You’ll find the right one,” Esmeralda assured me.

“I’m not worried about that,” I said honestly, “It’s just irritating that they’re so intimidated that they can’t even have a conversation with me. How can they go into battle but not talk to me?”

“Battle is a lot easier than talking to girls,” Jared said. Faxon and Griffin nodded their heads in agreement.

“Men are preposterous!” I exclaimed.

“That they are,” Esmeralda agreed.

“Women are worse,” Jared said and Faxon and Griffin agreed with him again.

“We should get some sleep. It will be two more days before we reach Markleville and those two days will be spent traversing the mountain range,” Griffin said before we could continue our argument.

I wondered if I would ever find a man. I didn’t necessarily want one right now, but it would be nice for a boy to try to woo me and flirt with me. I hadn’t even had my first kiss yet.

The next morning we continued up the side of the mountain. Jared sang more and I tried not to fall asleep and fall off Duke. We ate while riding to save time and made only a couple stops for personal necessities. The days seemed to drag on as we rode, but they thankfully passed. We couldn’t be loud in the mountain ranges and there wasn’t much open area for us to do anything off the horses so Faxon just asked me to light random trees on fire and then they would put them out as we continued.

We finally reached the top of the last mountain and I stared at the sight before us in stunned silence. At the base of the mountain sat a large city that spread all the way to the coast. On each side of the city were fields where I could see people working in them, but they looked as small as ants.

“How many people live here?” I asked.

“We stopped trying to keep count,” Griffin said, “But at least five times as many as the Capitol.”

We started down the path and I wished we could race to the ocean. The trip down seemed to take forever, but I knew it was just because I was being impatient. It took barely a third of the time it had to climb up the first mountain. When we reached the bottom, people were already gathered to see the King and Queen.

Esmeralda and Jared rode at the front of our procession, side by side, Faxon rode beside me, right behind them, and Griffin rode at the back. People lined the street as far as I could see and kids sat onto their parent’s shoulders just to catch a glimpse of the royals as they passed. Esmeralda waved to the people and blew kisses to them. Jared looked stoically straight ahead. Faxon used his magic to create explosions of color in the sky, earning squeals of delight from the kids.

I watched everything in shock and then I heard people saying my name. Girls my age and children waved and called, “Princess Tilia!”

“Wave to them,” Faxon whispered to me.

I raised my hand and waved, trying my best to smile despite my shock. Our procession moved slowly down the center of the town and when we reached the largest building, at the edge of the ocean, everyone stopped and dismounted. People took the horses from us and we walked up the steps of a stone castle with at least four floors, open windows, railings and a giant bell on the roof.

“The bell is used to alert the town of an impending threat, whether it is weather or human,” Faxon explained when he noticed where I was looking.

Twin doors taller than any I had seen before with ornate vine carvings were pulled open by guards to allow us to enter. Esmeralda stepped inside, put her arms out and spun in a slow circle. “It is so good to be home.”

I walked in and found a large entryway with two curving staircases leading up to a balcony and a large crystal chandelier above our heads. “This place is incredible,” I whispered.

“Let me take your bag,” Faxon offered and reached for the strap.

I jerked back and said, “No thanks.”

He frowned at me. “I’ll take it to your room so you can look around.”

“It’s fine. It’s not that heavy.”

Esmeralda saved me by grabbing my arm and dragging me beneath the balcony to a large hallway. “Wait until you see the ballroom!” she said excitedly. I felt Faxon’s eyes on me, but I didn’t turn around. “Only a week until your birthday,” she said with a wide smile.

I groaned. “Yay.”

She laughed and said, “You’ll love it, especially when all of those guys are focused on you.”

“I’m sure there are going to be other girls to take their attention away,” I muttered.

“Yes, but none of them are the princess.”

“I don’t want a guy who is only interested in me because of my title,” I told her honestly.

“Which is why you start off with your top five choices and slowly weed them out,” she told me.

“Five?” Jared asked, “Who were your other four?”

“He’s so jealous even though he is the one who won my hand,” Esmeralda said with a roll of her eyes.

“Stop giving our niece advice to date multiple guys. I don’t like the idea of any boys trying to pursue her yet as it is,” he said and put his arms around Esmeralda.

“At least you can be here to monitor,” she said to ease his worry and rolled her eyes at me since he couldn’t see her face.

“Hm, I suppose you’re right,” he murmured.

“And I’m sure she is perfectly capable of stabbing any boy who tries anything,” Esmeralda said.

“Yup,” I said with a smile.

“Maybe we should push this back until she is eighteen,” he said.

“I second that,” I said with a smile.

“I third that,” Faxon said as he walked into the ballroom.

Esmeralda rolled her eyes, “You are all ridiculous. What are you afraid of?” she asked me.

I looked down at my hands and whispered, “I can’t dance.”

“What?” she asked.

“I can’t dance,” I said louder.

“You’ve attended balls with us several times,” she said.

“And I never danced at them,” I told her.

“She always snuck off to the stables or the arena,” Griffin informed her.

“How do you always know what I’m doing?” I asked him with a glare.

“It’s my job to keep the royal family safe,” he said. He couldn’t know about my secret trips or he would have said something by now. “Although there are rumors that you sneak out occasionally very late at night or very early and no one is able to follow you,” he said.

Uh oh. “Rumors are wrong most of the time,” I reminded him.