Authors: Catherine Banks
Jared rolled his eyes. “Really, Tilia?”
“She’s awesome,” I said with a dramatic sigh, “I heard she took out an entire crew and left them marooned on an island while she stole their boat.”
“She’s still a pirate,” Faxon said.
“Maybe not all pirates are bad,” I suggested, “From what I hear she only goes after other pirates and even gives the treasure she steals to the poor.”
“Sounds like a fable to me,” Jared said.
“She’s not a fable,” Griffin said, “I’ve seen her.”
“You
saw
Jax?!” I asked in utter shock and disbelief. My heart began beating faster and I gripped the arms of the chair tightly.
He nodded his head. “She was fighting with a pirate on the docks a week ago, but by the time I got down there she was gone.”
“Why haven’t we just put out a bounty for her?” Faxon asked.
“She wears a mask so that no one knows what she really looks like,” Griffin said, “She could be anyone.” I liked that she wore a mask like I did when I went to get my letters delivered to my father. “Plus she hasn’t really done anything against the law to honest people, just other pirates. I could charge her with disturbing the peace I guess.”
“I wish I was Jax,” I said, “it would be incredibly fun to sail around fighting other pirates.”
“Not a chance,” Esmeralda said, “You are not allowed to become a pirate.”
“That’s not fair,” I said, “Other people are letting their kids become pirates.”
“You’re the next in line for the throne,” Jared said, “so you can’t be a pirate.”
“But then I would be the Pirate Queen!” I said excitedly, “It has a really nice ring to it don’t you think? I mean Pirate Princess is already really nice sounding and very tempting.”
“No,” Esmeralda and Jared said at the same time.
I laughed and pointed at them. “You should see your faces. Please, I wouldn’t become a pirate. That would leave me no time to ride Duke around or learn from you or become a High Mage.”
“You have the knowledge to be a pirate,” Griffin said.
Oh Griffin, if you only knew the truth in that statement. “Maybe it will help me learn to outsmart them and I’ll be the one to catch Captain Rocco.”
“That would be an interesting sight. Captain Rocco in handcuffs walking behind little Tilia here,” Faxon said with a smile.
“I’m not that little,” I snapped. My napkin caught fire and I dumped my glass of water on it. “Oops.”
“Looks like your training is working,” Esmeralda said with a snicker.
“Just don’t set the curtains on fire like your aunt did,” Faxon whispered.
She punched his arm and said, “That was an accident.”
“Only because she meant to set Jared on fire,” Griffin said.
“What?” I asked in shock, “You tried to set him on fire?”
“He told me that the dress I was wearing made my butt look big,” she confessed, “It was when I was sixteen and he was trying to embarrass me in front of the other kids.”
“Yeah, so she was going to light my shirt on fire,” Jared said, “Very equivalent.”
“You were a pompous jerk who would have deserved it,” she replied tartly.
“Yes, but those poor curtains had done nothing to you,” Faxon said in a serious and sad tone.
“Watch it or your trip won’t be nearly as fun,” she growled in warning.
“You tell me that every time we go somewhere together.”
“That’s because you always say something rude before we go,” she replied.
I laughed and listened to them tease each other. Finally I stood and stretched. “Well, I’m off to bed to finish packing and make sure I’m ready to go tomorrow.”
“We’ll leave after breakfast,” Jared informed me.
I nodded my head, said my goodnights and left them.
Chapter Three
“Tilia,” Esmeralda said, “Wake up.”
“No,” I muttered as I rolled over and pulled the blankets tighter around me.
“Fine, then we will leave without you,” she said.
“I’m up,” I mumbled.
“Be downstairs to breakfast in five minutes.” I got ready as fast as I could and hurried down to breakfast. I couldn’t stop yawning as I took my seat. “Why are you so tired?” she asked me.
“Couldn’t sleep.”
“Too excited for today?” Faxon asked.
I nodded my head with a smile.
Griffin and Jared were murmuring quietly to each other so I asked Esmeralda, “Did something happen?”
“Jax struck again last night,” she said, “I’m surprised you didn’t know since you’re her biggest fan.”
“I just woke up,” I reminded her.
“Well she went to a notorious pirate bar and apparently got into a fight. No one knows for sure what happened since all the pirates scattered before the guards got there, but the bartender said she was really mad about something.”
“Interesting,” I said as I folded my arms on the table and put my head down to take a quick nap.
“No elbows on the table,” Esmeralda said.
“My arms are on the table, not my elbows,” I whispered with closed eyes.
“Maybe we should tie her onto Duke so she doesn’t fall off while we’re riding,” Griffin suggested.
“I like that plan,” I said, “Then I could sleep the whole way.”
“Aren’t teenagers supposed to have lots of energy?” Jared asked.
“Only when they get enough sleep,” I said around a yawn.
“Our trip in Markleville is going to be an interesting couple of months,” Griffin said.
“Oh, what news have you heard?” Jared asked.
“Apparently the pirates are having some type of competition in the waters near there. They aren’t killing anyone, just stealing things for bragging right,” he explained with a frown.
“It’s called the Treasure Heist Festival,” I explained since he didn’t know, “They all pick an item and hide it on their ship with a red marker on it so it is obvious which item they chose and they are supposed to protect it and try to steal the other pirates’ items as well. They can only steal the specified item from each captain and nothing else. The captain with the most treasures is pronounced the winner and gets to choose one crew member from any of the other participating captain’s ships.”
“You are full of surprises,” Faxon whispered.
“I saw the Festival once when I was eight,” I told them with my head still on my arms and my eyes closed. “They also hold parties almost every night and anyone is welcome to come. The townspeople join in and drink, dance, and sing with them. They aren’t allowed to steal from each other during the parties either; it’s part of their code.”
“Your father took you to one when you were eight?” Griffin asked.
“It was on his island,” I said truthfully, “He even participated and ended up stealing the most treasures that year and earned respect from all of the other pirates.”
“Where is your father’s island?” Griffin asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t remember. I just know it is really far away from here.” I paused and said, “I think it took a week to get here, but I was ten so everything felt like it took forever.”
“Did you participate in the festival?” Esmeralda asked.
“I danced with the pirates and ate with them. I even snuck a drink of whiskey from one, but it was too strong and made me gag, which they found hilarious.”
“Your father seems pretty lenient,” Griffin said.
“Like I said, the pirates respected my dad so they didn’t even think about hurting me. They acted like pseudo fathers and I even learned a few fighting techniques that they said I might be able to learn once I could use magic.” I paused and wondered if I could use them now.
“Who was your favorite pirate?” Esmeralda asked me.
“Jax wasn’t there,” I said.
“I know, but who was your favorite that was there?” she asked.
Did I lie or could I tell them the truth? Could I let this truth slip by like the others I had been? I shifted nervously and sat up. “Um, well, my favorite was, uh…”
“Why are you nervous?” Griffin asked.
Darn his intuition. “I just don’t want you to think differently of me is all,” I muttered, “You’ve all already changed how you see me this week.”
“We aren’t going to be upset at you because you liked one of the pirates there,” Esmeralda said, “You were a child then and besides, we can’t control what your father did before.”
“Well, honestly Captain Rocco was my favorite,” I said. I cringed, waiting for them to react.
“You
met
Captain Rocco?!” Griffin asked.
“The King of Pirates?” Faxon asked.
I nodded my head. I ran a finger over my necklace and said, “This was Captain Rocco’s and my father gave it to me as a gift when he brought me here.”
“Your dad stole that from Captain Rocco in the Festival and gave it to you?” Jared asked.
“You guys keep making me repeat myself,” I muttered since I didn’t want to clarify what I had said or tell the truth about the necklace.
“We’re just a little shocked is all,” Esmeralda explained.
“Well now you know why I’m not anti-pirate,” I said, taking a slice of bread and breaking a piece off of it to eat.
“We also know why you’re so knowledgeable about them,” Griffin said. At least he might get off me about it and not pester me to try to get more information about my knowledge now.
Our food was brought out and the topic shifted to the journey ahead. They debated the best place to stop for the night and then we were ready to head out. I grabbed my saddle bags, my pack, which I made sure to put my mask in as well, and made sure I had all of my weapons on before heading out to the front of the castle. The stable boys had fed, watered, brushed, and saddled the horses for us. I walked over to Duke, put my saddle bags on him, and mounted him. Everyone else was already mounted and as soon as I was ready we headed out to the main road at a trot. Duke snorted in anticipation, not having been on a journey with me before or with so many other riders at once.
Griffin led with Jared and Esmeralda behind him and Faxon beside me. I listened to them chat occasionally, but I didn’t join in and instead surveyed the land around me as we headed farther from the castle than I had ever gone before. The ocean disappeared as we crested then descended behind a mountain and into a thick forest where a trail had been established from years of use.
“Why doesn’t the road stay beside the ocean?” I asked, feeling sad that I couldn’t see the blue-green water.
“There are a few trails that stay along the coast,” Faxon said, “But they are very twisty and it takes much longer to go that way. This way is faster, less treacherous, and a more direct route. Markleville is diagonal to us, not just straight along the coast.”
“Oh,” I replied, having not known any of that. The birds sang above us and animals in the distance fought, but nothing bothered us as we went. Despite missing the cool ocean breeze, I did like the smell of the trees and how vibrant the colors were. The animals were incredibly active too. There weren’t many varieties of animals at the castle so it was a nice change to see a variety of wildlife. The trees thinned and we came to a valley of open fields. The road was considerably wider and allowed me to move Duke up between Jared and Esmeralda.
“How are you doing?” she asked me.
“Fine,” I said.
“Ready?” Jared asked me with a wide smile.
“Ready for what?” I asked.
Esmeralda and Jared clucked their tongues and their horses shot off ahead, racing together. “Cheaters!” I yelled, clucking to Duke and squeezing my legs to urge him forward. He reluctantly took off at a canter and then lengthened his stride into a gallop. We caught up and then pulled ahead of them both by a neck.
“Your horse’s size is not fair,” Esmeralda called.
“Your small horse should be faster than this lazy giant,” I called back.
We continued galloping for a little ways farther and then slowed the horses to a walk. I pet his neck and praised him. “What a good boy,” I crooned, “I’ll make sure you get spoiled in Markleville.”
“That horse can really move when he needs to,” Jared said.
“He’s a perfect horse,” I said with a genuine smile and heartfelt appreciation.
“I’m surprised you can even mount him,” Esmeralda teased.
“You should have seen her trying to climb up him the first day I gave him to her,” Jared said with a laugh.
“Well you wouldn’t pick me up and put me on him,” I complained.
“It was worth it to watch you scramble up his front leg and almost pull out the poor guy’s mane to get onto his back.”
“I apologized and gave him three apples that night,” I said as I pet his neck again. “He forgave me.”
“Most men forgive you if you give them something to eat,” Esmeralda teased.
“Don’t put ridiculous thoughts like that into her head,” Jared reprimanded her.
“It’s going to be interesting to see who you end up with,” Faxon said with a smirk at me.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked defensively.
“You are equal parts your uncle and aunt,” he said, “I always knew they were meant to be together because of how they interacted, but seeing you as both parts makes me wonder who could possibly counteract your attitude and personality.”
“Are you trying to imply that by being a little bit of both of us that she is unlovable?” Esmeralda asked with venom in her voice.
“Not unlovable, just…difficult,” he said with a wide smile.
“I’ll show you difficult,” she said, her hands moved and then a fire started on the top of Faxon’s saddle pad. His horse bolted ahead of us, bucking as he tried to dislodge the fire and Faxon.
Faxon somehow held his seat and used his magic to put the fire out. “See what I mean?” Faxon called back to us, “Difficult.”
“I’m not difficult,” I said.
Jared reached over and pet my hand. “You’re right; you’re only difficult eighty percent of the time.”
I let my mouth drop open and then glared at him. “You’re the most stubborn man in the Realm of Olanze and you’re telling me that
I
am difficult?”
“She has a point,” Esmeralda said.
“Don’t you team up with her against me. I’m your husband,” he growled.
“I’m only speaking the truth,” she said.
“You are rather difficult sometimes,” Griffin agreed with Esmeralda.