Pirate Princess Read online

  The guards helped me down and motioned me towards the main doors. I started forward, fear making my stomach turn over in swirling undercurrents. The castle was even larger up close and loomed over me like a mountain.

  “I’m going to turn you into a toad!” a woman yelled from my right side.

  I spun around and watched in shock as a beautiful woman with the same golden hair as me chased a horse around the corner of the castle. She held up her hands and blue light began to glow around her. The horse stopped, one hoof raised and held perfectly still. The woman walked up to the horse, grabbed its reins, and then released the spell to let it put its hoof down. “That will teach you to run away from me,” she grumbled at it.

  “Queen Esmeralda,” the guard said to get her attention.

  My mouth dropped open in shock. This woman, in breeches, boots, and a billowing white shirt, that yelled at a horse, and used magic, was the queen?

  She walked over to us and asked politely, “Who is this girl?”

  I curtsied to her and said, “My name is Tilia Jasmine Swanson and I am your niece.”

  The guard motioned towards me and I held out the letter to her. She didn’t even look at the letter. Her eyes widened and she dropped her horse’s reins to grab me in a tight hug. “Tilia I have been waiting so long to meet you! You look exactly like your mother.” She crushed me against her chest and kissed my cheek. “Come, we have much to discuss.”

  * * *

  “Tilia,” Esmeralda called, pulling me out of my daydreaming about how I first came here six years ago. She was wearing a beautiful emerald ball gown and was by far the most beautiful woman in the kingdom. Even as similar as we looked I wasn’t as beautiful as her. My nose was too short, my eyes shaped more like my father’s than hers, and as much as I wanted to believe I was beautiful, I could see the flaws in myself more often than my beauty. “What are you thinking about?” she asked as she stood beside me on the edge of the ballroom. People swirled around us in a vortex of rainbow colored silk and jewels.

  “Just remembering the day I came here,” I explained.

  “I know life is so boring here,” she said with a dramatic sigh.

  I laughed and hugged her. “I love it here. I just miss my dad.”

  “So I really came over here to see if you wanted to sneak off with me and spar? This ball is really boring,” she whispered in my ear.

  I looked at the Queen, a fierce woman who was one of the best mages in all of the kingdoms, one of the only two Arch Mages, an exceptional sword fighter, and married to a man who won every tournament he entered. This country was unlike any I could have imagined. Instead of the Queen sitting in the castle and the King letting his military fight his battles from the safety of his castle, both of them set off into battle at the head of their military and bled right along with them. Women were allowed to join the military and it was even encouraged! I thought I would be stuck in a dusty castle, but instead I had been instructed in magic, reading, politics, and every fighting style available. I was already a Journeyman, but my hope was to become an Arch Mage, like my aunt, although I wasn’t sure it would happen since I seemed to have very little magic. It seemed more likely that I would progress in the King’s Steel, the men and women who preferred hand to hand combat to magic, instead of the Queen’s Fire, the men and women who possessed magic.

  “Let’s go,” I said to her with a wide smile. I looped my arm through hers and we walked through the ballroom as though strolling through it and then ran to our rooms to change. I walked out of my room, closed my door, and found that she was already waiting for me. “Did anyone see you?” I asked her.

  She shook her head. “We better hurry before Jared…”

  “Before Jared what?” asked King Jared from the main floor below us. He had dark brown hair, piercing blue eyes, and a chiseled jaw. Everywhere he went women stopped breathing for a moment as they took in his appearance. His good looks paired with his fighting honed physique made him a heart stopper. He also stopped the hearts of men when he approached because he was the most feared fighter in all of the kingdoms. He had obtained the highest rank in the King’s Steel before becoming King and was the one and only Dragon of Crilan.

  “We’ve been found!” Esmeralda hissed. “Retreat!” She grabbed my hand and we both ran down the stairs and towards the door that led to the training grounds at the back of the castle.

  “Halt!” Jared yelled.

  I stopped, but Esmeralda pulled on my arm, “Your Queen commands you to ignore the King!”

  I giggled and kept running with her. She reached for the doorknob and opened it to find Jared on the other side.

  “Curse your swiftness!” she yelled with mock anger.

  He smirked at us, blocked the doorway with his wide shoulders, and asked, “Aren’t you supposed to be at a ball? A ball that I am forced to attend as well?”

  “It’s so boring!” Esmeralda whined, transforming into a spoiled child as she pouted at her husband.

  “So you and Tilia were sneaking off to go have fun while your poor husband and King was left to endure the boringness alone?” he asked as though we had betrayed him.

  “You could come with us?” I suggested with a smile and bounced on the balls of my feet.

  He looked at me a moment and said, “She is definitely from your bloodline, Esmeralda.”

  She beamed proudly and said, “I know. It’s glorious, isn’t it?”

  “People will notice that you are gone,” he scolded Esmeralda.

  She stuck out her bottom lip in a pout and said, “Please.”

  He sighed and placed his hand on her face. “Alright. Go have fun. I will be the responsible adult for tonight.”

  She kissed his cheek and said, “Next boring event I will let you sneak out.”

  He let us pass by him and we ran into the building closest to us, the trainees’ living quarters. We hurried through their door and into the large indoor sand arena. I had spent a lot of time in this arena since my father had sent me here and it felt like home more than anywhere else.

  “How is your magic training coming?” Esmeralda asked me as she drew her sword.

  I cringed. “Not good. I can do simple spells, but that’s about it. I don’t know what to do. I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong. I want to keep progressing in the Queen’s Fire and get above the Minor Mage ranks to the Senior Mage ranks, but that doesn’t seem likely.”

  She shrugged. “Some people aren’t magical adepts. Jared has no magic, which is why he focuses so much on his fighting skill, much like you do. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. You could be very successful in the King’s Steel. Or you could be one of the few who doesn’t develop their magic level until they are older.”

  “I just don’t understand why you and my mother would be such strong mages and I have very little magic,” I said, letting her in on the frustration I had been feeling recently. Many people told me that my mother was the only one who had rivaled Esmeralda in magic power and abilities when they were growing up. Why had I not developed the same magic? Why did it not pass on to me? I wanted to be at least a Master Mage, the title my mother had obtained prior to leaving Crilan.

  “Everyone is different. Try not to compare yourself to anyone,” she said. “It could be worse,” she reminded me, “You could have no magic.”

  We weren’t sure why some people had magic while others had none. There was no conclusive reasoning behind who obtained magic and who didn’t. Lineage had nothing to do with it and you couldn’t curse someone with magic or take their magic away. It seemed completely random.

  “Let’s fight!” she yelled happily.

  I drew my sword and took a ready stance. She attacked and I blocked. I attacked and she blocked. Soon our faces were split with smiles of pure joy. This was something I was good at and something I enjoyed. We sparred until sweat drenched my hair and back.

  She put her sword back in its sheath on her hip and smiled at me as she caught her breath. “You have
definitely improved. Soon I think you are going to have to start sparring with Jared.”

  “Really?” I asked excitedly.

  She nodded her head. “I fear your youthful energy has surpassed my old body.”

  I laughed at her. She was only in her mid thirties and I had seen her in battle, she was incredible. “Is it your bedtime, granny?” I asked with a smirk.

  She glared at me. “Watch it. I can still use magic and turn you into a toad.”

  “Like you threatened that poor horse when I first arrived here,” I teased.

  “I should have turned that rotten horse into a toad,” she muttered.

  I laughed and linked arms with her as we walked back to the castle.

  Chapter Two

  The day dawned overcast and cold. After dressing in a white long sleeved shirt with a black corset over it, tan breeches and a black coat with black bear fur around the collar, I went to the stables to get my horse, Duke. It had taken me a while to learn how to ride and once I was able to ride alone, Jared had given me Duke for my birthday. The gelding was well over sixteen hands high, thick, and a palomino with a mane and tail the same color as my own hair. He was a gentle horse who didn’t spook over anything. Jared said he had seen him walk right up to a bear without a trace of fear. He explained that he was a type of draft horse, normally used for pulling carts, but some were also used as war horses. He was perfect for me. I climbed into the saddle and clucked my tongue to signal him to move forward. He trotted forward, his long strides eating up the distance from the castle to the docks. I enjoyed the short ride, smelling the crops as we passed them, watching birds flying overhead and the wind blowing my hair back. People waved to me from their fields, used to seeing me going down this road once a month, and I waved back with a smile. I was royalty after all and the royalty here interacted with the people, no matter their stature. It was definitely pleasing to be part of a royal group who didn’t act pretentious just because of their bloodline or because of who they were married to. It was a nice break for me too since I had been forced to have guards for several years, but recently I had been able to get out without taking some with me.

  A few guards waved to me, but none stopped me. I stopped at the market, dismounted and lead Duke behind me as I perused the stalls for anything I might want to buy. Esmeralda and Jared had been very generous with the allowance I was given and I had been able to save a lot since I didn’t need or want for much. I purchased a small bracelet with a satin pouch and then made my way to the bar near the docks. I tethered Duke to the building next to the bar, put on my mask and used a spell to change the color of my hair. Once my appearance was safely altered, I walked around to the back of the bar and knocked on the door three times. I had to wear a mask so that if one of them saw me in public they wouldn’t ruin my double identity. I had no idea what Jared and Esmeralda would do if they found out that I was really Captain Rocco’s daughter, but I didn’t want to find out. Dad had had the mask made for me so that I could keep my face secret from the pirates and had it delivered to me a month after I had arrived in the Kingdom of Crilan. It had taken the pirate he had sent two days to find a moment where I was alone for a brief second in the market to give it to me. I had barely been able to hide it before Griffin looked at me to see what I was doing and thankfully I had played it off. The mask felt like lace, but somehow maintained its shape and from far away looked like it was solid white, but when you looked at it close up you could see the swirling lacey designs all across it. It had taken me a full month to learn how to change my hair color, but it was a very handy spell.

  The door swung open and a middle aged man with a thick scar running down the right side of his face looked down at me. I turned, pulled the top of my shirt down and showed him my tattoo despite the fact that he saw me each month and I was the only one with this mask it was still protocol. He opened the door all the way, and stepped back so that I could enter. I walked in, held my head up high, and acted like I was the baddest, most ruthless person in existence. I learned that for these type of people you made it farther if you acted like you were incredibly tough, even if you weren’t. It helped a lot that I had Captain Rocco’s mark on me and most pirates feared him. I walked down the stairs and found the room full of rough looking men as usual and a few scantily clad women who poured their drinks and flirted shamelessly with them.

  “Who’s sailing tomorrow?” I asked them in my loudest and most stern voice, cutting through their chatter.

  “Hey, who let the child in?” one of them asked angrily.

  I came here once a month and there were always new people who had to give me crap. I turned and showed them my tattoo. “Now, who’s going out tomorrow?” I asked, raising my voice as I turned back around to face them. The room quieted until the only sound was the man playing on the piano in the back corner.

  A thin man with glasses stood up from his seat at one of the low tables where they played card games for money. “I’m heading out to the islands tonight,” he said.

  I walked down and set my envelope in his hand, it had my personal seal and ensured that if anyone opened it, my father would know. “Deliver this to Captain Rocco. If you can’t make it to him, find someone who can.”

  “To Captain Rocco?” he asked nervously.

  “He’s expecting it and you better not even think about opening that letter. If it is open he will be the one to deal with you,” I said quietly to him in my best threatening tone with relaxed posture to show I wasn’t scared of him.

  He nodded his head and put the envelope in his bag. “I’ll be sure to get it to him as soon as possible.”

  “Be sure that you do.” I turned and started up the stairs again.

  “How did a young girl like that get Captain Rocco’s mark? I heard he refused to take on women?” someone asked as I walked away.

  “Rumor is that she proved so brave as a child that he took her on and she served with him for years, until she suddenly decided to leave piracy behind,” someone answered.

  “I heard she was involved in the Mackely Massacre and killed over twenty men herself,” someone else added.

  “I heard that she wears that mask because she was horribly disfigured after battling with Captain Rocco himself and that he was so impressed with her fighting ability he granted her full admission to his pirate crew. She sailed on his ship with him for years,” a man said with a quivering voice.

  I hesitated at the top of the stairs, turned to face the room which had gone silent again and then hurried out of the building and back to Duke. He was dozing with one back hoof cocked in relaxation. I was glad that more rumors were spreading since it meant that fewer men would be likely to try anything with me when I came to give my reports to be delivered. I took the mask off, hid it in my bag, and went back to the castle with my blonde hair shining brightly in the sun again.

  Esmeralda stood on the steps in a pair of breeches and a plain shirt with her hands on her hips as I approached. Uh oh. I couldn’t think of anything I had done to be in trouble, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t done something or not done something. I trotted up to her with a smile on my face. “Hey, what’s going on?”

  “Where have you been?” she asked angrily. “I searched all over the castle grounds for you.”

  I pulled out the pouch with the bracelet I had purchased and tossed it to her. “I wanted to get you something for all that you’ve done for me,” I told her. It was true. I was very thankful for everything she had done for me.

  She opened the pouch and looked at the silver bracelet etched with leaves and amethysts placed to look like flower buds. Her face softened and she said, “Thank you, Tilia. Next time could you just let us know where you are going?”

  I nodded my head. “Okay. Sorry to have worried you. I’m going to take Duke to the stables and then I will come inside.”

  “Hurry, we waited to eat until you could get here,” she informed me with a smile.

  I nodded and squeezed my legs around Duke to get him
to walk. He headed towards the stable and I dismounted, taking his saddle off and putting him inside his stall. One of the stable boys would take him out to a pasture later in the day so he could roam with the herd of other horses and be able to stretch his long legs instead of sitting in a small stall all day. I jogged into the castle, hid my bag with my mask under a loose board in my floor and then jogged to the dining room.

  The dining room was on the first floor of the castle, closest to the main doors with a lower ceiling painted to look like the sky with clouds, and one very heavy and thick rectangle dining table that had six chairs around it. When I walked in I found Jared and Esmeralda whispering to each other, but they stopped as soon as I walked towards them.

  Griffin, the Chief of the King’s Steel and spymaster, sat across from them and arched an eyebrow when I entered. “Off on another suspicious trip early in the morning?” he asked me. He was an older man with grey and black hair and always wore his military breeches, boots, and then a simple shirt, which was grey today. He was notorious for his viciousness in battle and only Jared surpassed him in fighting prowess. He was in charge of the King’s Steel and advised Jared on all military matters.

  “It wasn’t a suspicious trip,” I told him defensively, “I wanted to surprise my aunt with a present.”

  “One of the guards reported that you were seen riding all the way to the docks,” Griffin said and sat back to watch me. He was incredibly intuitive and could read body language better than anyone. How had he received a report so quickly from the guards at the docks? I had just returned!

  I stayed relaxed as I continued to hold his gaze and said, “The women who sell items down there have very nice jewelry and they don’t overcharge me when I come. Some of the merchants in the main part of the city will charge me double because they know that I’m royalty. I would rather spend my money with people who don’t try to rip me off. I wasn’t in any danger and besides, there were guards nearby so if I needed help they could have come to my aid quickly. Not that I would need their aid if I was in a fight.”