A Lost Princess (Belles & Bullets Book 2)

by Caylen McQueen

  As soon as Roderick was on his feet, Kieran kicked his leg out from under him. When Roderick landed on the ground, face-first, Tobias shifted targets and pointed the pistol at Kieran. “No... you're not allowed to hit him either,” Tobias insisted. His hand was shaking as he held the gun, but he tried to sound as confident as possible. “If the lady doesn't want you to fight, then you should probably listen to her.”

  Lyneah closed her eyes, sighed, and whispered to herself, “thank you, Tobey...”

  When Roderick was back on his feet, Tobias pointed the gun at him again. “So help me understand... you want Princess Lyneah to go back to the castle with you?” Tobey asked the question as assertively as he could.

  “I do,” Roderick glared at the boy as he answered his question. “She belongs in the castle. With me.”

  “And Lyneah...” Though he glanced in the princess' direction, Tobias kept the gun on Roderick. “You don't want to go back?”

  Lyneah shook her head. “No. I don't. I really don't.”

  “Then that's all we need to know,” Tobias matter-of-factly stated. “I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave, sir.”

  “Lyneah...” Roderick made a final plea. “You're really choosing them over me? You're choosing this over us? I'm going to ask you to carefully consider this, because if you stay with them, then it's over between us. Truly over.”

  Lyneah couldn't bear to look at him. She kept staring at the sand, hoping the awkward moment would soon be over. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely more than a whisper. “I'm sorry, Roderick.”

  “Well, then... it's just as well, I suppose,” Roderick hissed. “There's another girl in the castle, pretending to be you. And you know what? She's better than you, Lyneah!”

  “Stop,” Tobias spoke up. He knew he was talking about Kitt, and while Tobias knew she was a good girl too, he was disgusted by Roderick's comment. “If you ever cared about Lyneah, you shouldn't say something like that. You should actually be ashamed of yourself for saying something like that.” He waved the gun in Roderick's face. “Now start walking. Back to town. Go.”

  Tobias held the gun to Roderick's back as he led him in the direction of Dovyr. He was proud of himself, and not only for stopping the fight and standing up for Lyneah. He never stuttered once.

  “I know Kitt,” Tobey confessed as they headed into town. “She's my best friend. I assume it's Kitt you're talking about, right?”

  Roderick sighed. He had no desire to make small talk with the man who had a gun at his back, so he gave him a short reply. “Yes. Kitt.”

  “Hmm.” Tobias wondered how Kitt got involved in pretending to be the princess, but he didn't want to ask too many questions. “If you see her again, will you give her a message for me?”

  Roderick rolled his eyes as the younger man's request. “What is it?”

  “Tell her Tobias misses her, and he's thinking about her all the time. T-Tell her... I hope she stays safe.”

  “Alright. Sure. If I do that, will you tell Lyneah I'm sorry?” Roderick asked. “I was overly harsh. I didn't mean what I said. She really is a good girl when she's not... shagging other men.” Roderick winced at his own words.

  “Lyneah's special. She's a sweet, strong person... but she doubts herself. I'm sure you really hurt her tonight.”

  “Spare me the bloody lecture. I just need you to tell her I'm sorry!” Roderick roared. “Will you do that?”

  “S-s-sure.” When they reached Dovyr, Tobias stopped, but he kept the gun pointed at Roderick. “This is where we part ways. Keep walking.”

  Surprisingly, Roderick didn't protest. He shoved his hands in his pockets and shuffled forward, back to his airship, where Miles was waiting. When Roderick was at a comfortable distance, Tobey headed back to the garage. Every now and then, he glanced over his shoulder. He kept expecting Roderick to appear out of nowhere, kick him to the ground, and rip the gun out of his hands. Tobey hadn't actually expected to succeed in banishing him.

  When Tobias reached the garage a short time later, he didn't see Lyneah, but Kieran was lingering outside, swigging spirits from a small tankard. He offered the tankard to Tobias, who politely shook his head in decline.

  “Ah, Tobias. I'm proud of you, boy! You actually managed to look like you knew what you were doing with a gun.” When Tobias sat beside him, Kieran roughly slapped his shoulder. “I'm damned proud.”

  “Al-alright,” Tobias said with a shrug. “If you say so.”

  “I think that bastard nearly broke my jaw.” Kieran opened and closed his mouth several times, testing the pain. “You know, I hated him from the moment I laid eyes on him. What a giant twat!”

  Tobias simply nodded, unsure of how to respond.

  “Do you know what the worst part of this night is? The verrrry worst part?” Kieran was already slurring his words, so Tobias assumed he was well on his way to drunkenness. “I almost had my cock in the princess. If that ass hadn't shown up when he did, I would've had her. A bloody princess would've been impaled on me. Do you know how damned disappointing that is?”

  “Uh... sure.” Tobias could feel his heart dying a bit with every word he heard.

  “But maybe it's for the best, eh?” A slurry Kieran suggested. “She's already had my brother in her. Dead or not, if I shared a girl with Rory, that could be... awkward.”

  Tobey was silent as he listened to Kieran's speech. He felt his lower lip shudder, so he sucked it between his teeth. His chest hurt so badly, Kieran might as well have punched him.

  At that moment, a terrible realization dawned on Tobias.

  He was Lyneah's last choice. He would always be her last choice.

  29

  When Kitt woke up on the airship the next morning, her smile stretched across the entire length of her face. She couldn't remember a time when she felt happier, more relaxed or more comfortable. That is, until she heard the boom.

  She immediately sprang from bed and jumped into her clothes—or rather, Doon's clothes—then ran up to the deck to investigate the commotion. She found Doon at the helm of the ship, sandwiched between Doldy and Bryce. Doon was peering out of a monocular, so Kitt jumped into his line of sight to let him know she was there.

  “Good God, Princess!” Doon exclaimed as he lowered the monocular. “No offense, but when I saw you pop up, you nearly gave me a heart attack!”

  “Sorry.” Kitt stood beside Doldy, who was studying her clothes with great interest. “What's going on, Doon? I heard a noise.”

  Doon handed her the monocular and pointed in the direction of the ship's aft. At first, Kitt expected to find something wrong with the ship, but she didn't. “I don't see anything!”

  Doon gently lifted the monocular, encouraging her to look higher. “Check the sky, Princess.”

  And then she saw them. They were still a considerable distance away, but they were impossible to miss. There were two airships, a black one and a white one, chasing after them. As Kitt watched them through the monocular, one of the airships suddenly fired. Kitt was so surprised, she nearly dropped the monocular. When he saw her fumble with it, Doon swiped it out of her hand.

  “Who are they?” Kitt asked. “Are they McCray's ships? Did they decide to come after us... after you?”

  “I don't know, but whoever they are, they're going to die today. They were foolish enough to open fire on me... and that's all I need to know!” Kitt might have been worried if not for the fact that Doon was grinning. She assumed he lived for a moment like this.

  “Destroying ships is practically his favorite thing in the whole world,” Doldy suddenly spoke up.

  “Aye,” Bryce agreed in a low voice. “It is.”

  “Increase our altitude!” Doon seized the wheel and shouted at one of his men, who went to check some gauges. “We'll hover in the clouds as long as we can. That should give us some cover... make it harder for them to fire on us. Once they're within range, we'll decrease our altitude, decrease our speed and open fire!”

 
“Should I be worried?” Kitt nervously asked.

  “Not at all, Princess. These are piss-poor excuses for ships. If this is what passes for an airship nowadays, that's sad!” Doon's eyes sparkled madly as he drove the airship into the clouds. Kitt could feel her ears crackling as they ascended, and one loud pop made her flinch. “You should get back to your room, Kitten. I don't need you yipping at my heels, distracting me.”

  Even though he was being rude, she didn't want to leave. Kitt was curious. “No... I want to stay. I want to see what happens.”

  “Alright, but if you stay, I'm going to need you to keep quiet.” Doon raised the monocular again, trying to get the ship in his sights. Drifting through the clouds would affect his enemies' visibility—the downside was that it also affected his.

  “Are those the captain's clothes?” Doldy suddenly asked her, gesturing toward her shirt.

  “Um... yes.” Kitt could feel her cheeks warming as she gave her answer. “They are.”

  “Wowww.” Bryce sounded impressed by that. “So is the Cap'n in love witchu or something?”

  “The captain's standing right here, Bryce,” Doon spoke up with a sigh. “If I was you, I'd save the uncomfortable questions for later.”

  One of the smaller ships fired again, missing by a huge margin. Kitt didn't know much about air warfare, but she thought the other ships were silly for wasting their fire on a target they could barely see.

  They drifted for some time, letting the ships move in closer. When Doon was satisfied with their range, he handed off the ship's wheel to one of his men and turned in Doldy's direction. “Doldy... get the men to ready the main cannon! Have it ready to fire within a few minutes!” When Doldy rushed off, Doon turned to his bulkier assistant. “Bryce, go fetch the precision cannon and bring it to me! I'll be waiting by the stern.”

  When the pirates dispersed, Kitt followed Doon. She had a hundred questions to ask, but he told her to remain quiet, so she kept her thoughts to herself. She wouldn't have obeyed his order if not for the fact that he was the ship's captain, and he looked extremely focused on getting them out of a dangerous situation.

  As Doon waited on the back of the ship, he peered out of the monocular, keeping the enemy in his sights. When Bryce returned, he was carrying something that looked like a huge metal box. Doon rubbed the palms of his hands together, practically salivating over his new toy. “Lower altitude!” He screamed the command as Bryce hefted the huge box to his captain's shoulder. “This should surprise them!”

  Doon was actually licking his lips in anticipation. Kitt wasn't sure what was about to happen, but she had never seen him look more excited. “Is that the precision cannon?” she dared to ask.

  “Yes. Now hush. This requires extreme concentration.” As the airship sailed downward, Doon rotated a crank on the metal box and peered through a scope. When he was satisfied, he pulled back on a lever, and a missile whistled out of the huge box. The projectile sailed toward one of the ships, resulting in a direct hit. As the enemy ship went up in flames and spiraled down to earth, Kitt was sure she wouldn't see it again.

  “Main cannon ready!”

  “Main cannon ready!”

  A ripple of shouts echoed throughout the ship. When Doon waved his hand, the ripple continued in the opposite direction.

  “Fire main cannon!”

  “Fire main cannon!”

  A moment later, Kitt heard a thunderous boom, much louder than the one that shook her out of her bed. When the second ship exploded in a sea of flame, she gasped. The battle was over before it even really began.

  To the captain, Kitt exclaimed, “That almost seemed too easy!”

  “I know.” Doon winked at her. “It's what I do, Princess. I told you they wouldn't give us any trouble. If I thought we were in actual danger, you wouldn't be standing next to me right now. I would have demanded that you went somewhere safer.”

  Doon handed the precision cannon back to Bryce, who barely flinched as he shifted the giant cannon to his shoulder. When Doldy reappeared at the captain's side, Doon shouted another command at his men. “Circle back around! We need to go back and salvage the wreckage!”

  “Looting ships is practically his favorite thing in the whole world,” Doldy told her.

  “Aye,” Bryce agreed in a low voice. “It is.”

  30

  Not long after the battle, Kitt knocked on Doon's door. When he answered with an irritated, “Damn... who is it?” she knew she wasn't finding him in the best of moods.

  “It's Kitt.”

  “Ugh. Come in.”

  When she opened the door, Kitt's lips dropped into a pitiful frown. Doon had been kind to her lately, so to get an icy reception was a huge disappointment. “Doon... I need to talk to you for a moment. Do you mind?”

  The captain was sitting at the desk with a quill in his hand, and his other hand stroked his chin. He didn't even bother to look up from his papers when she entered. “Why do you always think I should drop what I'm doing every time you come around?” he barked at her. “Every time you bat your eyelashes at me, you expect my undivided attention. I'm the captain of this ship. I'm a busy man, you know.”

  Kitt didn't say anything, she just slowly stepped backward, through the doorway. When he didn't hear her respond, Doon glanced up from his desk just in time to see the disappointment in her eyes. As soon as he saw her dejected expression, he knew he made a mistake. He immediately leapt from his chair and chased her down the hall.

  “Kitt!” he tried to call her back to him. “Kitt... stop... please. I'm sorry.”

  She turned to face him, but she didn't look amused. “I don't expect your undivided attention all the time! I just thought it would be nice to have your company.”

  “I know. I'm sorry, Angel. I'm sorry, I'm sorry,” Doon apologized profusely. “You're always worth my time. I'm so sorry.”

  Kitt's mind lingered on a single word. “Angel?”

  “Well... you are an angel. My angel.” Doon said it so sincerely, it was almost impossible to stay angry with him. Nevertheless, Kitt's sour expression didn't change. “What did you want to talk to me about, Kitten? I always have time for you.”

  “Nothing,” Kitt said with a shrug. “It was nothing important.”

  “Ohh, come on! Don't be like that! You can talk to me about anything.”

  Kitt shook her head. “There really wasn't anything in particular I wanted to discuss. I just... wanted to see you.”

  “Let me finish my paperwork... and then you'll join me for supper?” Doon suggested hopefully. “I'd love to have your company.”

  “I guess.”

  “You guess?”

  “Sure.”

  Kitt sounded so morose, and he couldn't remember the last time she looked so sad. He desperately wanted to fix her, but he didn't know how. Doon knew he said a bad thing, but he didn't know enough about women to turn her mood around. “You will join me for supper... because I know you want to.”

  “I'll be there,” Kitt said with a sigh, “but your invitation was horrid.”

  When Doon returned to his room and sat at his desk, he nearly threw his inkwell across the room. He wanted to be softer for her, kinder for her, but it wasn't in his nature. “Try harder, Doon,” he whispered encouragement to himself. “Try harder, try harder.”

  As soon as he finished his work, Doon sprang into action. He dragged a table to the center of the room and threw a tablecloth over it—the nicest tablecloth he could find on a pirate ship. He asked the cooks to prepare a meal of quality—the best they were capable of, anyway. Then he went around his room, lighting candles in every corner. If she saw how much effort he made on her behalf, she would have no choice but to forgive him.

  When Kitt arrived, much to Doon's relief, she didn't look upset anymore. And when she saw how many candles were lit, her eyebrow raised.

  “This is a lot of candles, Doon. I mean a lot. Are you are trying to set us all on fire?”

  “No!” Offended, Doon leaned
over a cluster of candles and blew them all out. “If you don't like them, get rid of them.”

  “Oh, it's not that I don't like them. I'm just... surprised? I guess?” When she sat at the table across from him, Kitt still looked puzzled. For whatever reason, Doon looked nervous. “Is there something wrong?”

  “No. It's just... I'm trying to... I mean, what... what I hoped to do was...” Woo you. He couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence, and he wouldn't have to, because he was saved by the arrival of a grungy chef, who delivered their meal with a toothless grin.

  “Ravioli!” Kitt exclaimed when she looked down at her plate. “But not cut up into tiny bits. I'm disappointed.”

  “You remembered!” When Doon smiled at her, he looked uncommonly happy. “I should have known you'd remember. After all, you hang on every word I say.”

  He already had her rolling her eyes. “Oh, I do not!”

  “Mmhmm. So you say, Kitten, so you say.”

  When Kitt tried the ravioli, she was pleasantly surprised. The perfectly seasoned squares of pasta sat on a bed of rich and tangy tomato sauce. One of Doon's pirates was apparently an accomplished chef.

  “Tonight we have juice, not wine,” Doon said as he poured her a glass. “Any time you come close to wine, you end up on the floor. I'm saving you from yourself.”

  “Kind of like how I tried to save you from your smoking habit, and failed?” Kitt's eyes narrowed playfully. “I can smell it on you, by the way. Don't even try to hide it!”

  “There are pirates coming in and out of here all day, love. If it smells like smoke, you can't necessarily blame that on me!”

  “Uh huh.” Kitt glared at him through the prongs of her fork. “You're such a terrible liar.”

  As she continued to eat her supper, Kitt couldn't stop glancing up at him. More often than not, Doon was an unkempt mess, but on this night, he had made an effort to tidy himself. His hunter green greatcoat looked almost fancy; it was very different than the coats he usually wore, which were covered in holes and patches. His hair was pulled back in a tiny ponytail, and his cravat was intricately tied, as if it had been tied by a proper valet. She was surprised he would make such an effort to look dapper for her. Had she known what he was planning, Kitt would have worn nicer clothes herself. She was still wearing the clothes she borrowed from Doon, and they were hardly designed to impress.