Princess Triumvirate

by Catherine Banks

  “How likely are you to be able to defeat him?” Macon asked.

  “He is not strong enough to defeat me,” Faxon assured them. “I will be able to defeat him as long as I can see him face to face.”

  “Faxon is the strongest mage in our Realm,” I told them. “He is capable of incredible feats and I do not doubt that he can defeat him.”

  “Very well. What is the plan?” Macon asked Faxon.

  “When his troops attack, I will use one of his men to send him a call of a sort and when he shows his face, I will end his life.”

  “He doesn’t always come with his troops,” King Cesar explained.

  He nodded at Finn and me, “That is why they are here.”

  “What can two teenagers do against an army?” the human King asked.

  “Finn is the fastest man in all of the Realms, which I have no doubt of, and Tilia is a skilled fighter.”

  “Women fighting our battles,” the human King said with a sigh. “I never thought I would see the day.”

  “Our Realm allows women to fight,” I explained. “And our King and Queen are terrifying in battle. I was trained by them and I promise that I will be more than capable of defeating the army.”

  “How fast are you?” Queen Amadis asked Finn.

  “Very fast,” he said with a smirk.

  “Can you take this from my hand?” King Cesar asked and held an apple in the palm of his hand.

  Finn shrugged and then disappeared from beside me, only to reappear a moment later tossing the apple in the air and catching it. “Yes.”

  King Cesar beamed like a proud father. “Impressive.”

  Finn bowed and said, “Thank you.”

  “Well, I guess we will just wait until he attacks again and go from there,” Macon said.

  We all agreed and headed out of the room. Queen Amadis walked next to Finn and I and inquired about my sword. I drew it to show her, when a woman ran down the hall towards us with her sword drawn. I blocked her incredibly fast strike with my sword and was shocked to find Finn with his sword between ours and a male Elf with his sword between the woman’s and Finn’s. I hadn’t seen Finn or the male Elf move. Was he as fast as Finn?

  “Enough!” Queen Amadis ordered.

  Finn and I stepped back, but kept our swords drawn. The human girl looked at me curiously just as I looked at her. The male Elf glared at Finn and gripped his sword hilt tightly.

  “Favian,” the Queen snapped. “Sheath your sword.”

  “I will once they do,” he growled.

  “After you,” Finn snarled.

  “Boys,” I said softly. “If we are all in this castle together, then perhaps that means that we are allies.”

  “Then why haven’t you sheathed your sword?” the human girl asked, moving her black hair behind her shoulder as she watched me.

  “Because you have yet to sheath yours,” I commented.

  “Finn. Tilia. Stand down,” Faxon ordered us.

  “Who are they?” the male Elf asked.

  “I thought they were attacking you,” the human girl said to the Elf Queen.

  She smiled and said, “I asked about her sword. She was simply drawing it for me to inspect.”

  “Oh,” the human girl said and lowered her sword a bit.

  Queen Amadis turned to us and bowed. “Please forgive my children. They are protective to a fault. I am pleased to introduce my son, Prince Favian and his fiancée, Princess Marin of the Elves.”

  She was a princess of the Elves? She didn’t look like an Elf.

  “This is Princess Tilia and her fiancé Chief Finn,” she continued with the introductions.

  “A double set of engaged Princes and Princesses,” Faxon commented.

  We all sheathed our weapons and bowed/curtsied to each other.

  “It’s nice to meet one of my cousins,” Finn said to Princess Marin.

  I looked at him in shock and then at Marin. She didn’t look like him. How did he know they were related? He said he had never been here or heard of anything from here?

  She squinted her eyes a moment and then they widened as she gasped. “Is that what this feeling means?” she asked him.

  He nodded.

  “Father!” she called.

  A man materialized beside her and Faxon immediately dropped into a bow.

  “What?” I asked Faxon, but he hadn’t looked up yet.

  “You called?” the man asked her. He turned and looked at us and after taking us in, he looked back at Finn. “Nephew,” he greeted. “It has been a very long time since I met a nephew.”

  “Tilia, bow,” Faxon ordered me.

  Finn bowed to the man, so I bowed as well.

  “Who is he?” I asked curiously. “How are you related to her?”

  “She doesn’t know?” Marin asked Finn.

  “It is not common over there,” he said.

  Faxon stood up and glared at Finn. “You withheld this from me?”

  “I didn’t want to be tested by you anymore,” he admitted.

  “I don’t mean to be rude, but what the hell is going on!” I asked loudly.

  “Do you remember when I told you that I was a descendant of Aquinn?” Finn asked.

  “The sea god, yes?” I asked cautiously.

  “Well, I am his son. My mother was human.”

  “You said your father was a soldier…”

  “That was my stepfather,” he explained.

  “That’s why Lance is your half brother,” I realized.

  “Yes.”

  “So, you’re half god?” I asked in disbelief.

  “Yes.”

  I turned and looked at the man next to Princess Marin. “And he’s…”

  “A god as well,” Marin said with a smile.

  “Whoa.”

  “You are a fascinating woman,” the god said with a smile. “You and my daughter will be fast friends.”

  “Thank you for showing,” Princess Marin said. “I just wanted to be sure what Finn and I thought was true.”

  He turned to Faxon and said, “Thank you for coming. It is difficult not to involve myself where my daughter is concerned, and if you had not come today, I was likely to step in.”

  “I will fix this issue. I promise,” Faxon said and bowed again.

  “I am sure that you will,” he said.

  “Okay. Now that we are all on the same page, why don’t you get to know each other better,” Queen Amadis suggested.

  “Princess Tilia, would you like to join us for breakfast?” Princess Marin asked.

  “Please, call me Tilia, and we ate recently, but I could eat more.”

  She laughed and said, “You sound like my type of woman. I apologize for attacking you.”

  “You have no need to apologize. I most likely would have reacted the same way if our roles were reversed,” I said.

  “I apologize as well,” Finn said to Prince Favian. “I was only trying to block Princess Marin’s strike.”

  “It seems we were all pretty much on the same thinking,” Prince Favian said. We walked a bit and he asked, “How did you move so fast?”

  Finn smirked. “Speed is my best ability.”

  “I didn’t even see you move,” Princess Marin praised.

  “Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet,” I told her. “Just wait until we get on the battlefield. You weren’t exactly slow yourself,” I said to Prince Favian. “Had Finn not intercepted, I might not have won that battle.”

  “Have you seen Elves before?” Princess Marin asked.

  “No. King Cesar was my first,” I admitted.

  “You don’t have Elves in your Realm?” Prince Favian asked.

  “No.”

  “Are they all human?” he asked.

  “Yes. According to Faxon, we have quite a few more humans with magic than you do.”

  “Do you have magic?” Princess Marin asked.

  I flinched and Finn immediately linked our hands together to support me. Princess Marin and Prince Favian
seemed to see it all.

  “I had magic,” I told them, “but a Prince attempted to attack my Kingdom with a magic expunger, a device that takes away your magic. I was able to get him away from my Kingdom, but he used the device on me.”

  Prince Favian looked shocked and Princess Marin looked sad. “That’s terrible. I am so sorry.”

  “I knew the risks when I set out to confront him,” I replied with a sad smile.

  “A device that steals your magic,” she whispered and looked at Favian. “It’s terrifying.”

  “We spent the last few months tracking and destroying the rest of the devices in our Realm,” Finn told them. “It seems that our Kingdom has become a bit too terrifying to them and they wanted a device capable of defeating us.”

  “Would that defeat you?” Prince Favian asked.

  Finn laughed. “No. We have warriors who do not use magic. Our King is a terrifying monster of a fighter and he has no magic at all. If they stole our magic they would only anger him and seal their death warrants.”

  “I wish I could meet him,” Princess Marin said with a glint in her eye.

  “Perhaps after we defeat this enemy, we can spar,” I suggested.

  “That would be wonderful,” she replied.

  We entered the dining room and there was another male elf who was completely identical to Prince Favian.

  “Twins?” I questioned.

  “Yes,” Princess Marin said. “This is Prince Sebastian of the Elves and Princess Deana of the humans.”

  Finn and I bowed and Princess Marin introduced us.

  We went to sit down when Finn froze and looked slowly up into Princess Deana’s eyes. “You’re a…”

  “Quiet,” she ordered nervously.

  “How did you know?” Princess Marin asked.

  “The scent,” he whispered.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “This is a secret to even my people,” Princess Deana said to Finn. “Please, do not spread this information.”

  “Your secret is safe with me,” he assured her.

  I looked at them expectantly and Princess Marin said, “I think it will be more fun for you to find out when we go into battle.”

  “Fine,” I said and shrugged my shoulders.

  “So, how are you liking our Realm so far?” Prince Sebastian asked.

  It was strange to see identical twins together, but his voice was much different. “We haven’t seen much of it to be honest. We were taken to our rooms and only a few other rooms in the castle,” I admitted.

  “Would you like a tour of our grounds?” Princess Deana asked with a smile.

  “Sure,” I replied with a return smile.

  “What are you ladies hungry for?” a man with an apron asked.

  “Ribs,” Princess Deana and Princess Marin requested at the same time.

  He turned to me. “You, milady?”

  “Ribs sound great.”

  “You, milord?” he asked Finn.

  “Ribs as well.”

  He didn’t ask the Elves and when he returned he set a plate of vegetables and fruits in front of them before bringing out our ribs. I lifted my first rib up to eat it and found the princesses staring at me.

  “What?” I asked.

  They looked at each other and then Princess Marin said, “We’re waiting to see what type of eater you are.”

  I took a bite and moaned. “This is delicious!”

  “Oh good, she’s not a weirdo,” Princess Marin said and started eating.

  We ate in silence and I was shocked that both princesses finished their ribs around the same time that I did.

  “It’s not often that we can find women who eat food or enjoy it as much as we do,” Princess Deana told me.

  “Well, I can see how it would be awkward when your Princes don’t eat the same types of food as you,” I commented.

  “Elves don’t kill animals for food,” Prince Sebastian explained.

  “Makes sense,” Finn replied.

  “So, what’s your favorite weapon?” Princess Marin asked me.

  “Daggers and swords,” I replied right away. “What about you?”

  “Same,” she said happily.

  “I prefer a bow and arrow, but swords are my secondary,” Prince Favian said.

  “I’m awful with a bow and arrow,” I admitted.

  “Me too!” Princess Deana said.

  “I’m more of an ax user,” Finn commented.

  “Axes are fun,” Prince Sebastian said, “but swords are my favorite.”

  “So, why don’t you tell us something about yourselves?” Prince Favian asked.

  Finn glanced at me and I smirked. “Go on, tell them how we met.”

  “Tilia,” he groaned.

  “Oh, come on,” I urged him.

  “I would love to hear that,” Princess Marin said while Princess Deana nodded.

  “I suppose I should start by saying that I wasn’t always a Chief in Crilan,” he began.

  “What were you?” Prince Sebastian asked.

  “A pirate.”

  Everyone stilled and Princess Marin asked, “A pirate?”

  “A pirate captain to be exact. I found Tilia outside of a party in a dress wearing jewels and I stole her necklace,” he admitted.

  “You stole her necklace?” Princess Deana asked in shock. “Why didn’t you cut him or something?”

  “He is too fast,” I told her. “You’ll see. I tried, but I went that night and stole them back.”

  “How did you steal them back?” Prince Sebastian asked.

  “Well, I suppose I should backtrack. My mother was the Princess of Crilan, sister to the current Queen. My father was royalty of another nature. My father was the King of Pirates.”

  “A pirate king?” Princess Marin asked. “You guys are very interesting.”

  “Thank you. Yes, my father was the King of Pirates and I was raised on his pirate ship until I was ten and then I was taken to live with my Aunt and Uncle in Crilan to learn to become Princess. However, I was also doing pirate things without them knowing and that’s how I stole the necklace back from Finn.”

  “How did a pirate become Chief of a Kingdom?” Prince Favian asked.

  “I retired as captain so that I could live with Tilia on land. King Jared held a tournament, which I won by defeating him, something that hadn’t ever happened before. As part of his bet with Tilia, he appointed me Chief.”

  “Pirate royals,” Princess Marin said. “That makes a demigod human as Elf Queen seem less strange.”

  “I was wondering about that,” I admitted.

  “I was raised by Amadis and Cesar after they found me. My parents had been murdered by ogres…”

  “Ogres!” I exclaimed.

  “You don’t have ogres either?” Princess Deana asked.

  I shook my head.

  “Well, I’m working on obliterating them,” Princess Marin said. “You will likely face some when they attack again.”

  “How exciting!” I said and looked at Finn who was also smiling.

  “Dad was right, we are going to be fast friends,” Princess Marin said and laughed.

  “So, you were raised by the Elves, but then you fell for their prince and now you’ll become their queen?” Finn asked.

  She nodded. “Exactly.”

  “We were best friends and went on all of our missions together,” Prince Favian said.

  “Missions for the King and Queen?” I asked.

  “No, we were mercenaries,” Princess Marin explained. “Macon trained us at his mercenary training school.”

  “Mercenary royalty!” I exclaimed. “Together we could make every old King sputter himself to death.”

  They all laughed and we relaxed at the table.

  “Are you certain that your Arch Mage can defeat Malavar?” Prince Favian asked.

  I nodded. “One hundred percent.”

  “He’s a terrifying man,” Princess Marin whispered and her entire body tensed.
>
  “They told us what happened. I am sorry that you had to experience that. He attacked me a few months ago, causing me incredible pain and made me fear my own family until they altered my memory and later removed something from my brain,” I whispered.

  “He’s terrifying,” Princess Deana whispered.

  “Faxon is worse,” I told them and then laughed. “Or better since he is on our side. His abilities are terrifying, but he is a wonderful man.”

  “Tilia,” Faxon said from behind me.

  In the space of a matter of seconds, everyone at the table sprang into action. Swords were drawn, chairs were shoved away, and Finn had almost decapitated Faxon again. Faxon luckily used a shield, which kept everyone an arm’s length from him and then he froze us all.

  “I apologize for startling you,” he said to us.

  He released us and I sighed. “You should really find a way to make a chime sound or something to warn us when you’re teleporting. Finn tried to decapitate you again.”

  “How did you get here?” Prince Favian asked angrily.

  “Simple teleportation spell,” Faxon explained.

  “How did you freeze us?” Princess Marin asked and rubbed at her arm.

  “That’s more of a reflex spell, but I’m sure that I could teach it to you,” he offered.

  “Did you use your Sight on them?” I asked curiously.

  He smirked. “A Seer always observes his allies and enemies.”

  “What are you talking about?” Prince Sebastian asked.

  “May I sit?” Faxon asked. Everyone nodded so he took the seat to my right and explained, “I am a Seer, I can look at you and am able to figure out how much magical power you have, what type, and there are many other abilities, but that’s the one Princess Tilia was referring to.”

  “How fascinating,” Prince Sebastian whispered.

  “What did you need?” I asked Faxon.

  “To give you this,” he whispered and held out his open palm, which had a ring.

  “I thought you didn’t want to give me something because then people would know that you had given it to me and that I might be important to you?” I asked softly.

  “He already knows that you’re important to me,” he reminded me, “and it’s time to stop trying to hide.”

  “What does this one do?” I asked him.