“I want to see the Elf Kingdom,” I told her with a pout.
“You are welcome to visit us anytime that you wish,” Queen Amadis told me.
“You can teleport now,” Finn reminded me.
“It’s going to take me a bit of time to learn to do long distance teleportation,” I explained, “but I will work on it.”
Deana hugged me and I whispered into her ear, “Don’t forget about the Designated Heir option.”
She squeezed me tighter and said, “I won’t.”
Sebastian shook my hand and Marin pulled me into a tight hug. “Don’t stay away too long.”
Favian and Finn were gripping each other’s forearms in the man equivalent of a hug. “Try and keep her safe,” Favian told Finn.
He laughed and looked at Marin. “I think you’ll have your hands full as well.”
“We are standing right here,” Marin reminded them.
“And we can choose to make it more difficult on you,” I added.
Finn walked to Marin and she hugged him. Finn’s shocked face was priceless. Favian gripped my forearm and said, “We’re going to miss you two.”
I yanked his arm and pulled him into a hug. “I’ll miss you as well, grumpy Elf.”
“Do you need to get anything?” Esmeralda asked me.
“One second,” I told her. I teleported to my room and then Finn’s to grab our stuff and then teleported back to her. “Ready.”
“I have got to learn that,” Marin whispered.
Faxon and Favian were standing across the room whispering to each other. “That’s a scary sight,” I whispered to Esmeralda.
“He’s just teaching him a quick spell. Nothing to worry about,” she assured me. “Faxon, we’re leaving. Meet us at the docks of the Lost Port.”
He nodded and waved his hand at her.
Finn took my right hand and Esmeralda took my left. I curtsied to the royals and Macon, who I realized I had not introduced Esmeralda to. “Until we meet again.”
They bowed or curtsied in return and then Esmeralda teleported us away. We stood at the edge of the town and I took a deep breath. The temporary distraction was gone and now I had to face my father’s funeral. I wasn’t ready. I couldn’t do this.
“Deep breath,” Esmeralda whispered.
I obeyed and we headed towards the waterfront where Dad’s ship was docked. Part of me wished that I could keep the ship for myself, but I knew that he would want to go out with it. I teleported onto the ship, for one last time on the vessel I had called home for the first half of my life. I walked into my Dad’s room and ran my fingertips over his bookcase, looked at the pictures on the walls, and then faced his treasure case where he kept his most valued items. Inside was a picture of my mother and her crown. I opened the case and took them out, sure that my father would have wanted me to have them. I did not believe in an afterlife, but if there was one, I was sure that he and my mom would be together.
He had a few other treasures, some were things I had owned as a child, but I left those to drift to the ocean floor with him. There was a drawer in his desk that he had never let me open as a child, but now that he was gone, it was time to open it. I set the crown and picture on the desk and tried to open the drawer, but it was locked. I used my magic to unlock it and slid it open. The sight of its contents instantly filled my eyes with tears. My drawings, colorings, and letters filled the drawer. He must have kept every single item I had made for him. I shuffled through them to the bottom where I found a diary with my mother’s name on the outside. I didn’t dare read it now, but I placed it on the desk with her other items. I was about to leave when I noticed something shiny underneath his pillow.
Unlike the others, Dad had continued to sleep in his cabin on the ship. He said that the land was too still for him to properly sleep on. I sat on his bed and pulled out a picture frame with a picture of my father, mother, and me as an infant in their arms. They looked positively joyous and I could see the love they held for me and each other plainly. Tears began to pour out of my eyes and great sobs shook my body as I clutched the picture to my chest. I wished that I had known my mother. I wished that she hadn’t died when I was young and that my father could have kept her by his side. I wished that my father hadn’t died so soon. We were becoming closer and I was finally able to have him in my life. I didn’t want to even think about my wedding when I had to walk down the aisle without him by my side.
He had done plenty of terrible things in his life, but he had kept order among the pirates and disciplined those who got too out of line. Without him the pirates would have taken over every port in the Realm and farther.
He had taught me to fight with a sword. He had been the first to teach me to throw a dagger. No matter how tired he was after a fight or battle, he always gave me a bright smile and spun me around when he returned to me. I was proud to be his daughter and I knew the hole that his death left would not heal any time soon.
Warm hands slid around my body and pulled me against a warm body. I opened my eyes and Finn kissed my forehead. I sobbed in his arms and he held me silently, letting me know with his presence that he was here for me.
Once I was empty of tears, Finn wiped my face dry and kissed each of my eyes. I kissed his cheek and walked to the desk to retrieve the items I claimed.
“Is that all?” he asked softly.
I nodded and then saw the chest filled with seashells that we had collected before he gave me to Esmeralda to raise. I lifted the lid and took the most beautiful shell from the full chest. I surveyed the room one final time and whispered, “Goodbye, Dad.”
Finn slipped his arm around my waist and we walked off the ship and joined my extended family on the dock.
“Is there anything else that you want from the ship?” Sedgwick asked me.
I shook my head. “This is all I will take from him.”
“We could use another ship,” Sedgwick offered.
“No, it is only right that he and the ship go together,” I said adamantly. I would miss the ship, but I knew it is what Dad would have wanted.
He nodded in understanding and whistled loudly. Crewmembers carried my father’s body on a wooden board down the dock towards the ship. They paused next to me and allowed me to touch his face one last time. “All hail the Pirate King,” I whispered.
“All hail the Pirate King!” everyone yelled.
They carried his body onto the ship’s main deck where they had set up a pyre. Sedgwick started to walk towards the ship to set sail, but I grabbed his arm and stopped him. After handing Finn my items I said, “I’ll set course. I can teleport back.”
He nodded and began preparing the arrow that he would shoot to light the pyre.
“You sure?” Finn asked me softly.
“Yes.” I teleported on board and the crew disembarked the ship and removed the plank. I steered the ship out to sea and whistled the tune Dad always did when we began a new journey. Once we were far enough from shore, I tied the steering wheel to keep course and teleported back to the docks.
Sedgwick drew the bow, knocked the arrow, which was on fire, and let it fly. It hit the side of the pyre and the kindling began to burn. Finn held me against his chest and Sedgwick gripped one of my hands in his.
“Captain Rocco was the best Pirate King in all of history,” an unfamiliar deep male voice said over the weeping crew. “His memory will live on for generations to come.” The speaker walked out from behind us, towards the end of the dock and lifted his hand. A small wave sped from beneath the dock under his feet and pushed the ship deeper out to sea. Wind picked up, filling the sails and the ship sailed faster. “One last voyage for the great Captain Rocco,” he said.
“Who are you?” I asked him softly.
He turned and I instantly saw the resemblance between him and Finn. He had dark hair that hung just below his shoulders, a beard that was at least four inches long, and stormy grey eyes that reminded me of the sea during a hurricane.
He bowed to m
e. “Tilia Swanson, you are your father’s most prized treasure and my son’s as well. I am deeply sorry for your loss.”
“Father, what are you doing here?” Finn asked softly.
“I came to pay my respects to Rocco. He was a friend of mine,” he answered mournfully. I didn’t think that gods felt anything, but I could see the pain on his face.
“You were on the ship several times,” I remembered suddenly.
He smiled. “You do remember.”
“Aquinn,” Sedgwick said with a bow, “He would be honored to know you were here.”
“Two Gods in one week,” I whispered in disbelief.
“Two?” Aquinn asked.
“We met Marin of the Elves and her father was there,” Finn explained.
“Marin is a feisty one. Not unlike our Tilia here,” Aquinn said with a grin. “Seeing you two together makes me very happy.” He turned to Esmeralda and Jared. “I will attend their wedding ceremony. No need for anything special due to my attendance. I just wish to see my final son married.”
“We may be having a joint wedding,” Finn told him.
“I know,” Aquinn said and nodded. “I approve of this as well.”
“Is there anything you want?” I asked Aquinn softly.
He turned his full attention on me and for a brief moment I felt the staggering amount of power that he had. “I would request that the two of you be bound, as Marin and Favian already are.”
“Bound?” I asked. “What is that?”
“You can’t be serious?” Faxon asked angrily.
I was more shocked at Faxon’s tone towards a god than his reason, but I stayed quiet to let them talk it out.
“Of course I’m serious,” Aquinn said. “They will be bound to allow a complete marriage.”
“That is the Elven way, not our way,” Faxon argued. “They are young and while I accept their marriage, a binding is permanent.”
“What does being bound entail?” I asked.
“You two will be connected for the rest of your lives. You will be able to sense where the other is, as well as feel what the other is feeling. You can also communicate to each other just by thinking,” Aquinn explained.
“You will share memories with each other. You will know when the other is mad or jealous or angry. You will know everything about the other. When one of you dies, the other will feel it completely,” Faxon continued for Aquinn.
“Why are you against this?” I asked Faxon.
“What happens if you decide five or ten years from now that Finn isn’t right for you? What if he decides you’re not right for him? You will still be bound. Even if you chose to separate physically, you would feel the other’s every emotion.”
“We can discuss this later,” Finn said in a stern tone. “Tilia and I will make a decision together after we have discussed everything.”
Aquinn bowed his head. “As you wish, Finley.”
“Tilia,” Faxon started.
Finn interrupted him. “Your advice is appreciated, Faxon, but this is a decision that we will make for ourselves.”
Without a word, Faxon disappeared. I felt bad that Finn had shut him down like that, but it was our decision, not Faxon’s.
“Can we talk?” Finn asked Aquinn.
His father smiled warmly. “Of course, my son.” He held out his arm and Finn released my hand to step next to Aquinn who laid his arm across Finn’s shoulders as they walked away and talked quietly to each other.
What were they going to discuss? Finn was in a rather strange mood. I was in a strange mood too, when I thought about it. Things continued to happen to distract me from my father’s death, but no matter how terrible of me it was, I welcomed them. Dad was on his final journey out to sea and the only thing left to do was go home.
“Is that your mother’s crown?” Esmeralda asked.
I picked up the items I had taken from Dad’s cabin and Finn had set on the ground. “Yes.”
“I’m glad that you have it now,” she said with a smile and tears glistening in her eyes.
“We should head home,” Jared said quietly.
“Who is going to become the new King?” Bernard asked some of the other former-pirates still gathered.
“It’s hard to say who is still out there. There might be a whole new crop of captains, after the King Priam fiasco,” Lawrence said.
“I hope it’s not someone like that Lance idiot,” Sedgwick added.
Who would become King? That decision could possibly change everything about the sea and sailing. Without dad to keep order, what would happen out there?
“Don’t fret,” Sedgwick said when he noticed me frowning. “We will keep our ears to the wind to find out what’s going on.”
“Where’s Cristoff?” I asked suddenly. He had disappeared sometime after Aquinn showed up.
“I think he went back to his house,” someone in the back said.
“Can you take this for me?” I asked Esmeralda. “I need to talk to Cristoff before I go home.”
She took the items and nodded. “Of course. We will have dinner ready when you arrive.”
Jared set his hand on her shoulder and they disappeared. I turned and walked down the streets towards his house, or at least the area his house was at. I hadn’t actually been inside his house or seen where it was, so I only knew the direction. I could have teleported to him, but I didn’t want to do that if he was not decent. That would be a hell of a fun conversation with Finn.
Cristoff’s magic signature grew stronger and I followed it to a small, one-bedroom house in the center of town. I took a deep breath for courage and knocked twice. There was some shuffling and he asked, “Who is it?”
“Tilia.”
More shuffling, like he was moving things around in the house and then he opened the door. “Hi.”
“Hi,” I returned the greeting.
He shifted nervously. “I was going to come see you tomorrow.”
“Oh?” I asked curiously. “Why is that?”
“Can you come in?” he asked.
I stepped into the house and saw the large duffel bag under his bed and that some of his dresser drawers were empty. “Are you leaving?” I asked softly.
“Yes.”
“Were you going to tell me or just disappear?” I asked angrily. We would never be a couple, but after all that had happened, I thought we were friends.
“I was going to say bye,” he swore as he walked around to stand in front of me. “I swear. I just couldn’t find the courage today.”
“Why are you leaving?” I asked. “If it’s because of me, you don’t have to worry about that. I don’t blame you and I’ll be at the Capitol and…”
He reached out towards me slowly and I stopped talking as he pulled me against his chest. “You are the most forgiving woman on all the seas. You are the most beautiful and the sweetest.”
While I appreciated the compliments, this wasn’t exactly what I asked about. “Cristoff…”
“When you told me that I would marry a woman and have kids there was only one woman’s face that I saw. Yours. I know I can’t have you and I know that I don’t deserve you. I also know that living on land just isn’t for me.”
“These are your crewmembers,” I reminded him. “I will stay away and you won’t see me. You’ll be able to move on and find a woman…”
He shook his head. “I would never find another woman half as perfect as you.” I tried to pull away, but he held me tighter and leaned his forehead against mine. “I’m not saying this to make you feel bad or insinuate that my leaving is your fault. I just want you to know how amazing you are. If Finn doesn’t show you that every day, then it is a travesty. I am going to find a crew and I am going to become the new Pirate King. I won’t let the peace and prosperity that Captain Rocco created, and worked so hard for, disappear with his death. I will take up his mantle and I will make the Captain and you proud.”
“There will be many more seeking the title,” I warned him. �
�You will have a constant target on your back.” I felt more fear for him than I wanted to admit. I didn’t want him to die trying to achieve something he wasn’t ready for.
He smiled and said, “May I come see you during the next Treasure Heist Festival?”
“You must visit me in Markleville,” I whispered as a few tears slid down my cheeks. “It’s an order from the Pirate Princess.”
He wiped my tears away and beamed happily. “I will see you next year,” he promised.
“Thank you, for all that you’ve done for me,” I said as I tried to shove my sadness down.
“Thank you, for treating a lowly pirate the same as you treat a prince,” he said in return.
“One year,” I confirmed.
He brushed his lips across mine and promised, “One year.”
“If you die, I’ll hunt down your soul and kick your arse,” I threatened.
“As the Pirate Princess orders, I will stay alive to see her again in one year’s time,” he said and bowed to me.
“I have to go,” I whispered. I shouldn’t have let him kiss me again. I should have just let him go, but despite not holding my heart, he had a place in it next to Segwick and Faxon.
He hugged me once more and whispered, “Keep that boy on his toes and don’t back down on anything you believe in.”
We separated and I smirked at him. “The Pirate Princess never backs down,” I said with a laugh.
I left his house and wrapped my arms around myself. I had to have faith in him or I would never stop worrying and waiting for the news of his death. Cristoff was trained by my father and his unique abilities would help him secure my father’s title. I wiped my face and nodded. Cristoff would be the next King. I was certain. He had to be.
“Where have you been?” Finn asked me with worry as I rounded the corner at the end of the street towards the docks.
“Are you ready to go?” I asked him. “Where’s your father?”
“He left. He’ll be back to talk to us once we’ve made a decision about the binding,” he explained.
I leaned into him and he wrapped his arms around me. “Let’s go home.”
Princess Triumvirate Page 21
