Chapter 24

"B-Betrothed?" The Captain stammered.

"Yes, didn't she be telling you?" Prince Gaspar asked. "I be the Prince of Tristram, the country known far and wide for their pirateer, obviously I be a sailor too, and I be to wed the Princess of Etholira."

"Get your hands off me," you snapped, and pushed him away from you in vain, struggling against his firm grip.

"Hold on now, beauty. I'll play with you later."

"Shut it, you lousy piece of-!"

"Now a tongue like that won't be doing you any good. Speak to me like that again and I'll be having it removed. But then, there are a lot of things I want you to lick with that tongue..." He smiled. "But first...what should I be namin' you?"

You pirates and their names... You thought bitterly.

"Ah." A grand name popped into his head. "Sima."

You wrinkled your nose at the sound of that name. It was very Tristramian. The name itself wasn't the problem, but the fact he chose the most common regal name he could think up on the spot, a name only used in Tristram, to be your title.

"Sima, means treasure. Like Gaspar. Oh, you must be feeling so honored, named after me. Except Sima also means...prize...as in...Murderer's Prize...which be bringing me to my next point, what to do about Skipp."

"Skipp?" you dared to ask.

"Yes, that be his name. Captain Skipp of the Scurvy Raider. Also the Prince of Tristram. Heir to the throne. My younger brother, here, shortly after the King decided that he be better suitin' the throne than me, 'disappeared' along with his sister. Something I...might've had something to do with. Only five at the time, Scarpa was to put an end to the both of them, so I bin the sole inheritance, but then...Scarpa be disobeyin' me. He never even knew the children were royal, as it bin dangerous for him to know, so he never did understand why it bin important they die."

You glared at him.

And in response, he held you closer.

"So I be just here to finish the job, Princess. That is, if you want to be the Queen of Tristram or not."

You mean be your cabin slave? Because that's what Tristram's women become.

"You may ask me questions if you would like. I'll always be givin' you an answer." It sounded like he was quoting the Captain.

"So why did you have the Captain's sister taken too?"

"Because she bin annoying, always whining. I thought that while I bin getting rid of him, I might as well be takin' care of her too. That, and she bin such good friends with him, I hated him so much I just couldn't resist. I bin only ten when I sent them off, but at that age, I had my connections. That was something father must have sensed, when he chose Skipp instead of I!"

"And how long have you owned a pirate ship?"

"Since I bin ten. Even at that age, I could beat the average improperly-trained adult pirate. And I 'ad the money to do whatever I want. Skipp stole money from the castle before he left, and hid it from Scarpa, so when he finally done became his own Captain, he bought a ship and hired mercenaries as his crew. That's how I started too."

"And why are you the one coming after me?"

"Because I agreed to get you, hired by your parents, and a promise that once I returned with you, that overdue marriage ceremony could be in order."

"I hate you."

"Not a question, Sima. Watch your tongue."

"Let me go!"

"Every time you struggle I be just going to hold you tighter, and when I can't hold you any tighter, I'll just start a new tactic."

"Which is?"

"Take them off."

You swallowed. "You two really are brothers, but he does it better."

Prince Gaspar slapped you.

"I be your Cap'n now! I be your Cap'n, your Prince, and your Master!"

"I am nobody's slave!"

"You bin sold to him as one!"

"And he let me exercise my own free will!"

"Well you be not going to find any of that here!" Gaspar let you go and only gripped you by the arm so tight your fingers tingled and felt numb, and he turned to the Captain. "On your knees, boy!"

The Captain didn't move.

Gaspar squeezed your arm tighter and you began to gasp in pain.

The Captain immediately dropped to his knees.

"Good," Gaspar said. "Now bow to me."

The Captain's jaw tightened.

"Bow."

The Captain took a deep, tense breath.

"Bow or she will for you," Gaspar threw you to the ground and you yelped.

The Captain slowly knelt to Gaspar.

Gaspar shoved a muddy boot on the back of the Captain's head.

"Finally. You can learn your place, brother. This is the way it should be."

"This is the reason it shouldn't," he muttered.

"Silence."

The Captain's hand was right there, shaking like a leaf, in front of you, on the ground. You reached out for it and gave it a squeeze.

It squeezed back.

You didn't need to look at him to know he was scared.

But not for him.

For you.