The Lost Prince (16 page)

Dean expected Lord Ralian to protest, but instead the man’s face lit up. “A splendid idea, Lord Kray. I never would have thought of that.” He smiled at Dean. “It will be an honor and a privilege.”

Dean grimaced. Ralian’s happiness struck him as cause for concern. This job grew more complex with each passing minute. He hid his concern behind a smile. “If I knew there were going to be so many tests, I would have studied harder,” Dean joked.

Lord Kray shifted in his seat. “I’m afraid you won’t be laughing when you face the trials, but they are hurdles you must clear. They have deep meaning for us, and for you as well. If you are who you claim to be, that is. They’re the price of your crown. Will you pay it?”

Dean squared himself up and lifted his chin. If he couldn’t convince these people that he was their prince, this job was over before it began. “I’ll pay any price to claim that which is rightfully mine, including your daughter’s hand in marriage.”

Dean flashed a smile at Waverly. She didn’t return it. He was playing the gallant young lord and hoping to impress her with bold, confident talk. It didn’t work. Dean couldn’t be sure, but it looked like she just rolled her eyes at him.

Dean’s promise seemed to have the opposite effect on the regent. “Well said,” he declared. “I hope you live up to those words. We’ll soon find out. We need to move quickly if we want to stay
ahead of the storm. For now, make yourself at home. You’ve had a long journey. Rest. The trials will begin tomorrow. Lord Ralian, can I trust you to see to the details?”

Ralian stood at attention before the regent, with a hand pressed to his heart. “You can always trust me, Lord Kray.”

Dean frowned as Ralian bowed down with an exaggerated motion, holding out the hem of his cape. He never trusted anyone who talked like that, and as far as he was concerned, people wearing capes were automatically suspect. Of course, that didn’t place Lord Ralian in any kind of rare company. Growing up among pirates had made Dean suspicious of almost everybody. Something told him that before he left this island, he’d be grateful for that fact.

CHAPTER
15

R
oyal stewards showed Dean, Ronan, and Rook to their quarters and left them alone. They were given a lavish state apartment in the castle’s west wing all to themselves. It was big enough to fit half the Pirate Youth with room to spare, and helped Dean forget his looming trials for the moment. He walked from room to room, marveling at the wealth and splendor of it all. There were three bedrooms, a large drawing room, two small parlors, and a study. Once again, Dean found himself envying the life of a prince. A few days earlier, he had believed Verrick’s cabin on board the
Tideturner
to be the height of luxury. Now he was the guest of honor in a suite of rooms fit for a king. That’s what he was supposed to be, after all. A future king. Dean couldn’t believe
how far he’d come, even if he was there under false pretenses. “I could get used to this,” he said with a smile.

Rook slammed Sisto’s cage down on a nearby table, causing the bird to squawk loudly. “Whaddaya think yer doing, Seaborne?”

Dean turned around. “What are you talking about, Rook?”

“Back there, in the throne room. You didn’t ask ’em about the orchard!”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Of course I didn’t ask them about the orchard. What do you take me for?”

Rook grabbed Dean’s arm. “I took ya to be the pirate king’s top spy! What do you mean, ‘of course not’? Did you forget why we’re here?”

“Hands off, Rook!” Dean pulled his arm away. “I know what I’m doing. You’re the one who’s out of his depth. I purposely didn’t mention the orchard because I’m not the prince here yet. I’m not going to come in here asking these people where they keep their gold. That’s what a thief would do.”

“Don’t give me that,” Rook sneered. “You coulda worked it in if ya tried. You was just too busy makin’ eyes at the regent’s daughter.”

“I was not.”

“You were, and I don’t like it.”

“Why’s that? Jealous?”

“Of what? Yer not a prince! They’ll find that out when One-Eyed Jack gets here.” Rook went to Sisto’s cage and slid up the
door. “Check that desk for ink and paper. We’ll send the bird out with a note tellin’ how to get here.”

Ronan swooped in and shut the birdcage door. “Not so fast.” He stepped in front of Sisto’s cage, muscling Rook out of the way. “One-Eyed Jack sent us here to find the golden orchard. So far, I haven’t seen it.”

Rook tried his best to get past Ronan, but it was no use. “Get off it. The gold’s here somewhere. We’ll find it.”

“I didn’t realize it was so easy,” Dean said. “Weren’t you just yelling at me for not asking the regent where it was?”

Rook made a face at Dean. “We’ll find out where it is when our mates sack the island. One-Eyed Jack has ways of gettin’ information outta people.”

“I don’t want any part of that,” Ronan said. “We’re not that kind of pirates. Gentleman Jim taught us better.”

Rook let out a groan. “Not this again. You’ll follow that man right into the grave, ya will. What did his way of doin’ things ever get ’im besides lost at sea?”

Ronan got right in Rook’s face. Eyeball to eyeball. “You don’t talk about Gentleman Jim, Rook. Not ever. And if I find out you had something to do with what happened to him, you’ll pay for it. Like you wouldn’t believe. Understand?”

Rook stood his ground and stared right back at Ronan. “The only way you’d find out somethin’ like that would be if I was dumb enough to confess, which I ain’t. So I s’pose that’s that, ain’t it?”

Ronan clenched his fist. Another fight was brewing. Dean wasn’t going to stop this one. They were behind closed doors, which meant Rook was fair game. “We’ll see,” Ronan said, but he never threw a punch. Instead, he locked Sisto’s cage and put the key around his neck.

“What are you doing?” Dean asked.

“Gentleman Jim might be gone, but we’re still his crew. That means we steal from people who can afford it, people who deserve it, or both.”

Rook held out his arms and motioned to the luxurious apartment. “Are you daft? Look around! This lot can afford it.”

“Find me the golden orchard and we’ll know for sure,” Ronan said. “Until then, that bird stays in his cage. We’re going to honor the Gentleman’s Code. I don’t expect a scoundrel like you, or a spy like Seaborne, to understand, but it’s what we’re going to do, just the same.” Ronan tucked the key inside his collar and puffed out his chest. “Either of you got a problem with that?”

Dean studied Ronan’s unwavering gaze, then looked over at Rook, who had taken off his belt and wrapped it around his fist. “C’mon, Seaborne. He can take us one at a time but not the two of us together. Let’s get that key.”

Dean leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. “Sorry, Rook. I’m with Ronan on this one.”

“What?” Rook and Ronan both asked at the same time.

Dean smiled. “We’re going to keep to the code.”

“What for?” Rook stomped his feet like a child throwing a tantrum. “Gentleman Jim wasn’t even your cap’n, Seaborne.”

“He was for long enough. Besides, I’m not getting One-Eyed Jack worked up about this place until I see its treasure with my own eyes. We’re here for the golden harvest. I’m not calling One-Eyed Jack in until I know it’s here.”

“I don’t like it.” Rook shook his head. “Not one bit. One-Eyed Jack said if we find the island to signal him at once. Yer changin’ the plan.”

“Then I’m changing it,” Dean said. “You don’t have to like it.”

Rook looked at Dean as if he didn’t know what to make of him. Then a realization struck him. “Oh, I see what this is. Now yer the one who’s stallin’. You wanna stay here and play house with that mincy little lady, don’t ya? What do you think, yer gonna marry the regent’s daughter? Live happily ever after?”

“That’s not it at all.”

“The devil it ain’t. What happened to ‘meetin’ the regent, gettin’ settled, and gettin’ word to One-Eyed Jack’?”

Dean shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “We’re not settled yet, are we?”

Rook balked at Dean’s explanation. It was such a weak excuse, there was hardly any point making it.

“We’re as settled as we’re ever gonna be, Prince Charmin’. Don’t forget, that smile of yers … yer fancy words … it’s all just
a mask hidin’ who ya really are—a pirate spy. We’re all spies now, and we need to call our friends in before they find us out.”

Ronan covered Rook’s mouth and slammed him into the wall. “One-Eyed Jack’s no friend of mine, you wretch. And no one’s going to find us out if you can stand to keep your mouth shut.”

Dean got up and stood next to Ronan. “I think we all understand each other now. You’re not in charge here, Rook. What’s more, if you can’t shut your mouth, he’ll shut it for you. Are we clear?”

For a second there, Dean thought he saw Ronan smile. He wondered if the truce he’d hoped for was forming around a mutual dislike of Rook. It was hard to tell. The smile vanished as quickly as it came. Rook’s expression was easier to read. He looked daggers at Dean and Ronan before finally nodding in agreement. Ronan let him go.

“This is how it’s going to work,” Dean announced. “If we’re going to find what we came here for, we need a distraction to cover us while we look. That’s me. You both saw the people out there. These are my people. At least they seem pretty happy to think so. Everyone wants to see what I’m doing … where I’m going … they can’t get enough of me. That’s good. These trials they’re setting up should occupy everyone long enough for you two to find the orchard. Once that’s done, we’ll signal One-Eyed Jack and get out of here. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Ronan said. “
If
we find the orchard.”

Rook straightened his clothes and stepped away, giving a cursory nod. He wasn’t happy about the plan, but he’d go along with it. He didn’t have any other choice. “We don’t have forever to wait. The storm comes back in one week. After that, we’re stuck here, and everyone’s gonna learn the hard truth about their precious lost prince.”

“Glad to see you were paying attention,” Dean said. “I guess we better start looking.”

CHAPTER
16

F
inding the golden orchard proved easier said than done.

One look out his bedroom window was all Dean needed to see that the small island was big enough to hide the fields of gold rather well. Either that, or its people were simply smart enough not to plant them out in the open like fools. Dean didn’t know why he had thought things might be otherwise. Hiding the orchard was the only sensible thing to do. If the legends were to be believed, Zenhala had been burned once already by pirates who came to steal its harvest. At this point, Dean was out of reasons not to believe the legends. He had found the Golden Isle, but the hunt for the Caribbean’s most storied treasure had just begun.

Dean, Ronan, and Rook spent their first day in Zenhala
touring the palace and quietly checking things out. They started small, trying to keep a low profile as they scouted the island, but it was clear that more than a casual stroll around the castle would be required. They climbed every tower and looked out in every direction, hoping to get a sense of where to begin. From the highest points of the Aqualine Palace, they could see far and wide, but they could see only what was in plain sight. The mountains behind the castle blocked their view of half the island. What was on the other side? A waterfall ran out from a forested valley between two green peaks. What was in there? Anything? There was only one way to find out. The three boys agreed that Ronan and Rook would strike out at first light and start the search. Meanwhile, Dean would occupy himself, and the locals, with whatever Zenhalan trials of manhood they threw his way.