Pirate Princess (16 page)

“What’s that?” Faxon asked, seeing the ring on my left hand.

“Nothing,” I said, “Can you please open the door? I want to go to bed.”

“Tilia,” Jared said in barely controlled rage, “What did you and that boy do all day?”

I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t do anything bad, Uncle.”

“You didn’t answer his question either,” Faxon pointed out.

“I’m seventeen now,” I told them both, “I am of age and allowed to date.”

“Not when you refuse to tell me what you did,” Jared said.

The door swung open and Esmeralda and Griffin stood taking the scene in front of them in. “Tilia,” she said, “How was your day?”

“It was wonderful, thank you for asking,” I told her warmly as I walked inside.

“Tilia!” Jared called.

“Jared,” Esmeralda said softly, “What are you yelling at her for?”

“She refuses to tell us what she did today,” Faxon said.

“I sailed on his ship, visited an island, saw my first waterfall, went into the cave behind the waterfall, swam in its lake, had a picnic, and let him kiss me several times,” I finally told them very loudly.

“Why are you wearing a ring?” Faxon asked.

“I’m allowed to wear jewelry,” I told him, “I’m wearing a ring you gave me as well and a bracelet from Esmeralda and normally I wear a necklace from my father. You didn’t complain about any of those.”

“Because a pirate boy wasn’t the one to give it to you,” Jared growled.

“Am I not allowed to accept gifts for my birthday?” I asked.

“Yes, but…” Faxon started.

“There is no ‘but’. Just because you don’t like him even though you don’t know him doesn’t mean that I can’t date him and wear a ring from him.”

“He could have stolen you and taken you who knows where!” Jared yelled angrily.

“But he didn’t!” I yelled back at him, “He was perfectly well behaved and if you would stop being crazy for a minute you would realize that I don’t make terrible choices and that I can protect myself.”

“Tilia,” Esmeralda reprimanded, “Stop yelling.”

“He started it,” I said and pointed at Jared.

Jared sighed and rubbed his temples. “I don’t like you seeing this boy.”

“He’s only going to be here for a week and then he’ll sail away,” I told him, “so you won’t have to worry about it for long. I know how to handle pirates and I know how to judge a pirate before getting on his ship.”

“You do seem to know a lot about pirates,” Griffin said with folded arms.

“That’s because I’m a pirate princess,” I told them, “And no matter how far inland you take me, my heart will always belong to the sea.” I ran to my room, slammed the door and locked it. I had never yelled at Jared before and my body was shaking with adrenaline. He was pretty scary when he looked at me in the manner which he had and yelled. I knew I was also shaking because I had told them I was a pirate princess. They probably didn’t understand what I meant, but I couldn’t be sure.

I looked at Finn’s ring on my finger and sighed loudly. Why had I let myself start to fall for him? I would probably never see him once he set sail and I didn’t really know anything about him. I shoved the negative thoughts aside. I would deal with that in a week. For now I would enjoy the time I spent with him and would avoid Jared and Faxon as much as possible.

I put the flower that I had somehow kept all day in my ear on my dresser and opened my drawer to grab my necklace to find the drawer filled with the same flower, my necklace, and a note. I opened the note:

I was tempted to steal this since you’ve already stolen my heart,

But decided I would settle with stealing your heart instead.
Sleep well and dream of me as I’ll be dreaming of you.

-Finn

I held the note to my chest and smiled. That pirate was something else. To think he snuck past the guards, into my room, and did this. I put the note back, closed the drawer and put the necklace on.

The next day Esmeralda told me I had to attend class with the local teenagers to get a feel for our people. I didn’t argue since it gave me an easy excuse to keep away from Faxon and Jared. The class was held in a small building in the center of town. I walked inside and took a seat in the back.

“Trying to hide in the back?” asked one of the boys who had danced with me several times at my parties, the one with big biceps.

“I try to be as inconspicuous as possible,” I said honestly.

“You don’t remember me, do you?” he asked with a frown.

“You danced with me like ten times,” I said, “Of course I remember you, but I didn’t catch your name.”

“Chris,” he said, holding out his hand.

I shook his hand. “Tilia.”

He laughed. “Everyone knows who you are.”

“We are all curious why you were on a pirate ship yesterday?” a girl with the ugliest face I had ever seen asked as she turned around in her seat.

“Who says I was on a pirate ship?” I asked her with a blank face.

“We were hanging out at the docks and saw you get on a small boat with that young pirate captain and go to his boat,” Chris said.

I smiled. “I can’t confirm or deny that.”

“Why would you hang out with pirates?” the girl asked, “They’re nothing but filthy criminals.”

“Not all pirates are criminals,” I said defensively, “And they’re more hygienic than you and definitely have better manners.”

Her mouth gaped open and she turned around with a “harumph”.

Chris sat down beside me and whispered, “She likes to gossip and doesn’t really know when to stop talking.”

“Alright class, today we are going to have a new student…oh, Tilia, you’re already here,” the teacher, a man with no hair and baggy clothes said.

“Yes, sir. Here and on time.” I said with a smile.

“Good. Now, let’s focus and begin our instruction on the use of medicinal herbs,” he said.

By the end of the class I was ready to swim out to Finn’s ship to escape the boring monotone voice of the teacher. I didn’t like the teacher, but I couldn’t figure out why, aside from his voice.

“How was your first day?” Chris asked as we walked out of the building.

“Do they find the dullest person possible and have him teach so that we have to force ourselves to stay awake?” I asked as I yawned.

Chris laughed and said, “Try listening to him for three years.”

“I can’t do it,” I said, “I’ll run away.”

“Take me with you,” Chris said, “I think my brain is turning to mush.”

“Tilia,” Faxon said, “It’s time for your magic lessons.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Chris said.

I waved to him and walked passed Faxon towards the castle. “Already found a replacement for the pirate?” Faxon asked.

I spun and glared at him. “I’m allowed to talk to people without it being anything, but friendly. I’m supposed to be friendly since I’m the princess, right?”

He smirked and I realized he was teasing me. “So, how was class?” he asked without saying anything about my outburst.

“Terrible. I think I might die of boredom in that class,” I told him.

“You’re not interested in the lessons?” he asked.

“I am and I was trying to pay attention, but he talks in a monotone that is like a lullaby,” I told him. It felt nice to talk normally with him instead of the uneasiness we had been having.

“I’ll talk to Jared and see if we can look for a new teacher,” he suggested.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll suffer with the rest of the students. I don’t want to get him fired just because of who I am,” I said.

“So, about last night,” he started.

“Yes?” I asked.

“Were you being honest about what you did yesterday?” he asked, looking at me as we walked.

“Yes.”

“Well I would lecture you, but at least you kept my ring on so you could have called me for help.”

“Faxon, if you had a secret, one that could potentially ruin every friendship you had, would you reveal it?” I asked him.

“It depends on the secret. If it was a secret about something I had done before I might not divulge it, but if it was something that could potentially harm me I would tell those I trusted,” he told me.

“What if you’re afraid someone might use it against you?” I whispered.

“Tilia, what is this about?” he asked, stopping me in the middle of the street we were walking down. “Is this about that pirate?”

“No. It’s about who my dad is,” I told him, “I haven’t been honest with you about him.”

“And you think if you tell us who he is that one of us will use it against you?” he asked with a frown.

“I’m afraid one of you will use
me
against him,” I clarified.

“We would never use you like that,” Faxon said.

“What about Griffin?” I asked softly.

He exhaled. “He is a bit of a wild card sometimes, but he cares about you and I don’t think he would ever try to hurt you.”

“But he would try to hurt my dad,” I said.

“Is that what you’re worried about?” Faxon asked.

I nodded my head. “If one of you killed my dad, I wouldn’t be able to forgive you.”

“Well, I swear I won’t kill your dad unless I’m protecting myself or you,” he promised.

“If Griffin told him a lie, told him I was being hurt, my dad would attack you all and then you would have to defend yourself and then some of you would die,” I said, “I can’t be the cause of that.”

Faxon rested his hand on my shoulder and said, “Maybe you should discuss this with Jared and Esmeralda then, in private.”

“Jared isn’t exactly level headed these days,” I murmured.

Faxon smiled. “He’s just worried about you. Most guardians wouldn’t want their daughter or niece or granddaughter dating a pirate.”

Part of me felt terrible for revealing my secret to Finn before my family, but I also knew I wasn’t fully open with Finn about myself either. “I just wish you all would trust my judgment,” I said.

“I’ll work on it,” he promised, “And when you’re ready to tell us about your father I will do my best to act level headed.”

“So, what magic are we working on today?” I asked him, starting to walk again towards the castle.

“Invisibility,” he said with a smirk.

I stopped walking and looked at him. “What did you say?”

“I’m going to teach you an invisibility spell,” he clarified, “It will help you if we are ever attacked and you need to hide from the attackers.”

He ambled away slowly, giving me time to process what he had said and follow him. “Do you think I will be able to do it?” I inquired.

He smiled broadly. “I have no doubt although it may take you some practice to master it.”

We stopped along the side of the castle and he explained the spell. Four hours later I was sweaty, had a headache, needed food, and fully visible. It was also dark which meant Finn would be coming soon.

“You’ll get it,” Faxon assured me, “It takes time.”

“How long did it take you?” I asked.

“That’s not really important,” he started.

“
Faxon
.”

“Two minutes, but I have different magic than you. I still can’t open that damn vault,” he grumbled.

I laughed and admitted, “That makes me feel better.”

We entered the dining hall where everyone else was already waiting. I sat down and felt nervous as I waited for Jared to say something to me. Food was served and I ate it in silence while the adults talked about a wolf problem in the mountains somewhere.

“Tilia,” Jared said, “How was class?”

“Fine,” I answered.

“She hates the teacher,” Faxon told them, “Apparently he only speaks in monotone.”

Esmeralda groaned, “Those are the worst. I don’t understand who decides making them a teacher is the right decision.”

“I always slept in class,” Jared admitted, “No matter who the teacher was.”

“That explains a few things,” Griffin commented.

“May I be excused?” I asked once I had eaten my fill of food.

Esmeralda nodded her head and I walked quickly to my room before they could call me back. I changed clothes since I got all sweaty during the magic lesson and brushed out my hair. I grabbed a flower from my drawer and put it behind one of my ears and then skipped down the stairs towards the ballroom.

“Tilia,” Jared called, “Where are you going?”

“Just to the balcony to look out at the ocean,” I answered as I continued on my way.

“Don’t fall in,” he called after me.

“Don’t worry I can swim,” I responded. I opened the ballroom door and was delighted to see that it was empty. I twirled across the open floor, dancing with a pretend Finn and pushed open the balcony doors when I arrived. The balcony was empty, Finn-less. I closed the balcony doors and leaned on my elbows on the rail as I looked out at the water. It was eerily still tonight and the moon was full and bright overhead.

What if he didn’t come? What if he had decided to leave already? What if he was hurt?

“Have you been waiting long?” Finn asked as he hopped over the side of the balcony.

I shook my head and admired the view as he walked towards me. If Jared saw Finn he would immediately know he was a pirate. “You look handsome,” I told him.

He wrapped an arm around my waist, pulled me against his body, his oceany scent filling me with calmness and said, “And you look lovely like always.” He kissed me and then looked at the flower with a smirk. “Found my note?”

“I did. Thank you for not stealing my necklace a second time.”

“Thank you for granting me time to work on stealing your heart,” he whispered before kissing me again.

“Did you steal any more treasures?” I asked him.

He smiled and nodded his head. “I was able to steal three more items.”

“That’s great,” I told him with a smile.

“A new ship came in,” he told me.

“Oh?”

“Your dad.”

“What?!” I asked in shock.

“He sailed in just as I was heading over here. I was a little late because I wanted to verify that it was him before getting your hopes up,” he explained.

My dad was here! I could see him. “Is he far off the docks?” I asked.

“Yes, but he is near my ship. I could take you to him and claim you just showed me your mark to get me to bring you,” he offered.