Pirate Princess (36 page)

“Finn, I can do it,” I assured him, “I won’t even be in danger. I can do it from outside the city. I just need to be able to see the ship.”

We stepped out of the jungle to the other side of the island where the beach started and found another Trian war ship waiting for us. “Surrender or we will open fire!” the commander of the ship called as the Trian crew glared at us.

“Now would be a good time to prove your skills,” Bernard whispered.

I stepped forward and said, “You are attacking people with no cause or order. Lay down your weapons or I will be forced to attack.”

The commander looked at the crew with him and laughed. “You stupid, pirate wench. How do you think you can defeat us? We have orders to destroy everyone on this island. Last warning or we will open fire.”

I took a deep breath, centered myself, focused on the ship and imagined it bursting into white hot flame and turning into ash. The ship started smoking and the crew aboard it began yelling and running around. A second later, the ship exploded into ash and floated to land on the ocean’s surface.

“Mother of All, tell me I’m hallucinating and that she didn’t just do that,” someone whispered.

“I think I’m going to faint,” Bernard said.

“Where did you learn to do that?” Finn asked in an almost yell.

“Faxon was tutoring me with my magic and I did it to a tree. Then he made me do it to a ship and a wagon far away as well.”

“You just obliterated a war ship full of soldiers and left nothing, but ash behind. How much magic do you have?”

“Not much,” I lied with a shrug.

“We are going to talk about this later,” Finn said, “For now we need to make our way around to see if there are any more waiting for us.”

We jogged along the beach heading in a loop towards the town. There were no more ships until we got almost to town and saw the first war ship. “Please impress us again,” Bernard said. Our ship was returning fire at the war ship along with my dad’s ship that had suddenly appeared with a few others.

I focused again and the ship exploded into ash.

“No one is going to believe this if I tell them,” someone said, “It’s like the stories of the King and Queen from the Crilan Kingdom. There’s no way they’re possible and yet I saw her do this twice. It’s crazy and unbelievable even for me.”

“Actually I’m from the Crilan Kingdom and the stories about the King and Queen are one hundred percent true and accurate,” I advised them. “My aunt can blow up an entire fleet of ships at once and then sit and watch as her husband kills hundreds of soldiers by himself.” I didn’t tell them about Faxon because that would just be overkill.

“Remind me never to go near Crilan,” the one who spoke said.

We raced to the port and I felt nauseous when I saw the bodies lying in the remains of the buildings that had been destroyed by the war ship. My dad’s ship and our ship docked and Dad called out, “You do that, Jax?”

I waved and said, “Yes, sir.”

“What do you mean she did that?” Captain Sisko asked as his ship pulled in.

“She blew up the war ship,” my dad explained, “Her bloodline from her mother’s side is packed full of magic power.”

“I don’t believe it,” he said.

“I saw it twice, cap’n,” one of the people who had been running with us said to Sisko.

“Find your men, board and sail somewhere safe,” my dad instructed them. “If you have a plan now is the time to enact it. If not then you need to be ready for battle. I have no idea if a decision was made so I can’t tell you if there are any other ships waiting for pirates.”

“Bernard, see if you can find the rest of our crew. We sail in an hour with or without our entire crew. I don’t like leaving anyone behind, but I don’t want to sit here and wait for any more ships to come either,” Finn instructed. “Thomas make sure the ship is in sailing shape,” he called to Thomas who was standing aboard the ship still. “I need four of my men with me to get provisions and take them to the ship.”

“Jax,” Dad called. “Go home, child. Go home and stay safe,” he ordered.

I didn’t say anything to him. I had to find out what Finn’s plan was. “Finn,” I said softly, “What are we going to do?”

He refused to look at me. “Let’s focus on getting out of here first. We can deal with the other things later when we are a safe distance from here.”

“Why should we leave?” Sisko’s crew member asked, “If she is here she can just defeat ship after ship.”

“There is a limit to my magic,” I said, “I don’t know what it is, but it is possible that I could destroy two or three war ships and then suddenly faint from using up all of my magic and you could have four more attacking you still. I can’t guarantee anyone’s safety.”

“Jax, get on board the ship,” Finn ordered.

He was no longer looking at me so I didn’t argue. There was nothing I could do here. I walked down the dock feeling like a dejected puppy and waited while a boat was lowered and sent to pick me up. When I turned around Finn was gone with the crew. I boarded the ship, walked to the cabin and closed the door behind me. If Finn was trying to shut me out now then he was probably going to try to make me go home and stay there. I wouldn’t let him. I couldn’t let him, but I also couldn’t force him to do something he didn’t want to do.

I flopped backwards onto the bed, grabbed my pillow, and screamed into it to release my frustration. Those stupid Trian’s! If I saw that King I would kick his butt and make him kiss my boots! I couldn’t tell how long had passed before I heard Finn order the ship to set sail and he finally came into the cabin. It felt like days to me even though I knew it was probably only an hour or two.

He sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed his hands together in silence. I wanted to yell at him to just spit it out, but he needed to be the one to talk first so he could get his thoughts together to tell me what his plan was. I felt the ship start moving and saw the town disappear from the window and still he didn’t speak.

I wanted to take my boots off, but with danger possibly lurking around the corner I left them on. Jared told me that it was always best to be prepared and even though sleeping in boots was uncomfortable, it was much more uncomfortable to run through a field of stickers without boots on. He said experiencing it one time was enough proof for him and made sure to tell me that on several occasions.

“Tilia,” Finn finally said, “I’m torn.”

I wanted him to say more, but he didn’t. “Torn between what?” I asked him.

“I don’t know what the best thing for my crew is and I can’t decide what would be best for me.”

“Why not talk with the crew and see what they think?” I suggested.

“I don’t think they’ll like what I want.”

“What do you want?” I asked. I was tense and jittery and felt like I was going to get punched any second.

“I haven’t known any other life, but this,” he said, “I don’t know if I could assimilate into a life on land.”

“It wouldn’t have to be permanent,” I said to try to console him. “You could just do it until things calmed down.”

He sighed and put his head in his hands. A moment later he stood up and said, “I’m going to go talk to the crew.” I started to get up and he said, “Would you mind staying here?”

“Why?” I asked nervously.

“I think it would just be easier for everyone to vote on a course of action without you present.”

I was upset, but more than that I was hurt. “Okay,” I said softly and looked down at my lap.

He sat down beside me and wrapped his arms around me. I wished he would have said something, anything, to comfort me, but he only placed a tender kiss to my forehead and left in silence. I wanted to scream again, but I decided to use my alone time to write a letter to Esmeralda instead. I wrote to my aunt and told her the things Jax had done at the island and asked if she could send me any information or find anything out. When I had finished writing the letter and putting my seal on it Finn came back inside. He looked perplexed as he shut the door and sat in a chair at the table with me.

“How did it go?” I asked.

“Well we haven’t made a one hundred percent decision yet since we need to contact someone, but I just don’t know…” he leaned back and tilted his head back to look up at the ceiling.

“What are you going to do?” I asked him.

“I’m going to do what my crew wants.”

“Stop being so darn vague!” I yelled at him. “What was decided? Are you afraid to tell me? If you don’t tell me I’m going to go ask one of the crew.”

I stood up and headed towards the door, but he intercepted me.  “They want to use your idea of making a town of pirates,” he said, “but no longer actually be pirates. Many said they’re tired of the pirate life anyways.”

“Oh. So, where are you going to make this town? And with another crew or just yours?” I asked feeling hope trying to bubble up. I shoved it back down and told it not to interfere.

“We haven’t decided that. We are contacting another crew to discuss it with them,” he said. “Once we hear from them, if they decide to join us, we will decide a location together.”

“What does all this mean for me?” I asked him.

“We’re taking you home.”

I wanted to get angry or upset, but I had known this would be his decision. It had been his decision right when he found out now, when some of his crew had been killed, I knew he would decide to do it again. I had spent a mere two months with them and now I would be dropped off at the Capitol like a stowaway and left without consideration of my feelings. All of his words were meaningless. I should have known it was just fluff, just what I wanted to hear.

“Fine,” I said. I grabbed my bag, opened my drawer, and started emptying the contents into the bag.

“What are you doing? We won’t be to Crilan for a week at least,” he said as he watched me.

I didn’t speak to him. I couldn’t. If I talked I would cry. I finished packing my things and stared at the ring on my finger. I didn’t want to give it back. I didn’t want to admit that we were through and he had given up on us. I thought he loved me, but apparently our love was not strong enough to survive this. I could spend the next week with him, spending every last second with him before I left, but it would only make it that much harder to leave. It was already going to tear my heart apart and I didn’t know if I could survive it. I took the ring off, set it on the center of the table, and walked out of the cabin. Tears were already flowing and I knew I couldn’t stop them. I walked down the stairs into the lower levels of the ship and went to the one section of the boat no one ever went, the cell. It was left unlocked and despite being a jail cell, it had a cot and only a small window with a set of bars on the top of the door to see inside, which would give me the best privacy available on the ship.

I pushed the door shut, set my bags down, and wept. My finger felt naked and cold without his ring and I could feel the cracks in my heart breaking, spreading, and separating. I had been stupid to allow myself to fall so quickly for him and now I would pay the price. I cried with entire body convulsing sobs, a cry as I had never experienced before. I cried until I fell asleep on the cot.

Two days later Finn found me. He looked inside to be sure that I was there and then disappeared out of my view. “I searched all over this ship for you. I can’t believe this is where you have been. Tilia,” he whispered, “I don’t want it to be like this. I don’t want to separate, but I can’t risk your life just to satisfy my own wants. Your dad ordered you home and I agree that it is best for you to return to the Capitol. I love you, Tilia. It hurts me as much as it hurts you.”

“Obviously not,” I whispered, “because I wouldn’t force you to leave me. I would allow you to make your own decision. I would let you stay where you wanted to stay.”

“You’re too stubborn to see what is best for you right now. Your death would hurt me more than being away from you. At least while you are away I will know that you are alive and safe.”

“You said this before when I told you that I wouldn’t go. I could die in a battle in Crilan,” I snapped, “I could be murdered by a rival Kingdom or people who hate royalty. Being on land doesn’t mean I’m safe! I could fall off a cliff or be crushed by my horse if he falls. I could die and you would never know, but then again that seems to be fine with you. As long as you aren’t there for my death than it does not matter.”

“That is not how I feel at all,” he yelled, “You can’t just put words in my mouth and make assumptions like that.”

“Have you heard from the crew you contacted?” I asked him.

“No.”

I didn’t respond. I wanted to beg him to stay with me. I wanted to beg him to let me stay with him. I wanted to smash his face into the wall to knock some sense into him! It would not do any good and I knew it.

“Have you eaten?” he asked.

I continued to ignore him.

“You need to eat.”

I didn’t need to do anything. I needed to be with him. I needed him to fix my heart.

“When was the last time you ate?”

I ignored him and after a sigh he left me alone again. He returned shortly after with a plate of food and water, which he set just inside the door. I refused to look up at him, but I could see him looking at me from the corners of my eyes. He didn’t try to talk to me again and left. I didn’t eat the food or drink the water he had given me because I had snuck to the storage room and taken food and water and hidden it in my bag so I wouldn’t have to leave the room again except for emptying my bladder. I barely ate the food I had taken anyways, my appetite gone with my happiness. Finn came back later after the sun had set with another tray of food. He frowned down at the still full tray from the morning.

“Tilia, please talk to me,” he whispered. “Is this really how you want us to spend our last few days together?”

“You made the decision, not me,” I muttered.

“Why can’t you see this from my side?” he asked. “Why can’t you understand that you’re making this harder on the both of us by doing this?”

“How is it making it harder?” I screamed at him as I sat up to face him. “How would it be any easier to sleep in the same bed as you and listen to you tell me that you love me and then watch as you sail away and leave me by myself?”