Princess Triumvirate (Pirate Princess, # 2)

by Catherine Banks

  “I’m almost done,” I assured him. “I was just convincing Faxon to stop worrying and working so much and take a break while we’re gone.”

  Faxon released my hands and turned to Finn. “Jared said you wanted to speak to me?”

  Finn nodded his head. “Tilia, I’ll meet you at the barn, okay?”

  “Okay,” I agreed. I resumed packing and hoped that whatever had happened between them would be fixed soon. I couldn’t have my mentor and my fiancé arguing or hating each other.

  I couldn’t even think of a reason why Finn would be mad at Faxon. Maybe he wasn’t mad, and I just read the situation wrong. Maybe he wanted advice from Faxon about something.

  I sighed and rubbed my temples with my fingertips.

  “What’s troubling you?” Esmeralda asked.

  “Men.”

  She laughed, tossing her head back and then threw an arm around my shoulders. “That is something that will never go away.”

  “I could become one of those fanatics who seal themselves away from men,” I suggested.

  “And every day you would think about the men you had known and why they had acted so strangely.”

  “Do they fret about us as much as we do about them?” I asked her.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know the first thing about men and their ridiculous minds and emotions. Ask me about their battle strategies or point a man out and make me determine his fighting abilities and I’m your woman. Ask me what a man’s thinking and you might as well ask me what a horse or a fish is thinking.”

  “They discuss their feelings just as much,” I muttered.

  “Is something going on between you and Finn?” she asked with genuine concern.

  “No. It’s Faxon.”

  “Faxon?” she asked softly.

  “He’s been overly protective since the incident, but ever since Drimla he has been even more crazy. He even tried to convince me to let him come with us to the Lost Port.”

  The Lost Port was the name of the town my father and the other pirates had restored. It had gone from a few shambled buildings to a thriving town with visitors each day. They were farming the land, fishing the sea, and some even discovered they had talents with carving and blacksmithing.

  “I warned you about his past,” she reminded me.

  “I know, but I had no idea it would end up like this. I just wish he would relax. He’s making me paranoid by being so paranoid.”

  “In time, he will relax, but it hasn’t been that long since the incident.”

  She had started referring to Marquez’ attack with the device and my almost death as ‘the incident’. I think it made her feel better than to say what happened.

  “I hope so.”

  “Are you all set?” she asked me, changing the subject.

  “Yes.”

  “Behave while you’re gone,” she ordered me.

  “I promise.”

  “And when you get back, we’re going to sit down and discuss your wedding,” she said with a smile.

  My wedding. To Finn. “Okay.”

  “You look terrified,” she said with a laugh.

  I couldn’t tell her why, because she would just tell me I was being ridiculous. I wasn’t sure whether I was or not, but I couldn’t change the fear inside of me. The fear or rejection and loneliness.

  “It’s just a lot to plan,” I lied.

  “That’s what I am here for,” she reminded me and hugged me. “I’ll see you when you get home.”

  I slung my bag over my shoulder and headed out to the stables.

  Finn was already mounted on his horse, Twist, a horse with a midnight coat and a single white star in the center of his forehead. He was mild mannered, but when he wanted to, he was the fastest horse I’d ever seen.

  Duke nudged my shoulder when I approached him and nickered at me. I rubbed his face and kissed his muzzle. “Hello, handsome.” I mounted him and turned to Finn. “You ready?”

  “Always,” he replied with a smirk and then squeezed his legs around Twist’s sides. Twist trotted ahead and Duke immediately followed.

  “So, what did you need to talk to Faxon about?” I asked as nonchalantly as I could, even looked around at our surroundings as if I didn’t care.

  “Nothing important,” he replied shortly.

  “Liar.”

  He sighed. “I asked him for help on something. I’m not going to say anymore about it.”

  “Why not?” I asked and felt my anger stirring.

  “Tell me what you wanted to ask me on the ship the other day,” he said. “What you actually wanted to ask me, not what you made up when you decided not to ask.”

  Dammit. How did he know?

  I remained silent and so did he. Now my curiosity was even higher. What could he have needed to talk to Faxon about that he wouldn’t want to tell me? What would he need help with?

  No answers came to mind, which infuriated me further.

  The silent ride dampened my mood to the point that I almost considered turning back and staying in my room for a week.

  Finn slowed Twist until we were riding side by side. “I don’t like when we fight,” he told me.

  “Then you should tell me what I wanted to know,” I snarled. I wanted to end the fight, but I was too angry to let it drop. Everyone was constantly keeping things from me and it was bull.

  “Are you going to stay mad at me the entire trip?” he asked quietly.

  “Yes.”

  “Tilia.”

  “No! Start talking and then I’ll adjust my mood. You hate being kept in the dark just as much as I do.”

  “It’s a secret,” he said. “A surprise. Okay? I don’t want to tell you yet what I’m doing.”

  “And what about the other things you’ve been hiding from me?”

  “That’s the only thing, Tilia,” he assured me.

  I didn’t believe him. I don’t know why since everyone assured me that there were no other secrets, but I felt it in my gut that something was amiss.

  “Are you going to talk to me now?” he asked me with a pout.

  “Esmeralda is going to make me plan our wedding when we return,” I blurted out.

  He looked at me like he was waiting for something else. “And?”

  “What do you mean, ‘and’? That’s a big deal.”

  “Don’t you girls usually plan out your wedding when you’re young? I know my sisters did.”

  “Hello, raised on a pirate ship,” I reminded him as I pointed at myself.

  “Right…” he said with a frown.

  “You’re going to help me,” I informed him.

  He laughed. “Nope. That’s the bride’s job.”

  “And what, pray tell, is your job?” I grumbled.

  “Showing up.”

  “Impossible. You’re simply impossible.”

  He laughed at me and we finished our ride in silence, but this half was at least comfortable.

  We neared the town and I was shocked to see they had planted several more fields of crops and there were more houses as well.

  “Looks like the town has grown,” Finn noted.

  “I wonder if they gave your house away,” I teased him.

  “Your dad promised to leave it for us to use to visit them,” he explained.

  “I wonder how the old badger is doing,” I said with a wide smile, talking about Sedgwick, the ship’s doctor.

  We urged the horses to trot and rode into the center of town to find it bustling with activity. There had to be a hundred new faces walking around. It looked like a thriving port town now.

  We tied the horses to a post outside the tavern and surveyed our surroundings. Most of it looked the same, but there were so many more people here.

  “Tilia!” Cristoff yelled and lifted me into a spinning hug. “You’re back!”

  He set me down and I smiled at him. “I’m here for a bit, to visit.”

  He smirked and said, “How is it possible that you’re even more beautiful than the l
ast time I saw you?” He kissed my cheek and Finn cleared his throat. “Hey, Finn,” Cristoff greeted him and shook hands.

  “The town seems to be doing well,” Finn noted.

  Cristoff nodded his head. “Captain’s done a helluva job setting everyone up for jobs and figuring out skills everyone is good at. We have visitors everyday coming to shop from us.”

  “Can it be?” Sedgwick asked behind me.

  I spun around and threw my arms around him. “Sedgwick!”

  He hugged me and then gripped my chin to look in my eyes. “Tilia, I’m so happy to see you.”

  “How’ve you been?” I asked him.

  “Gettin’ old, but I’m still alive.” He touched my cheek and asked, “Something’s happened to you. What’s wrong?”

  “Where’s Dad?” I asked excitedly, ignoring his question.

  Sedgwick took my hand and placed it on his bent elbow. “I’ll show you the way, m’lady.”

  Finn walked behind us, saying his hellos to men he knew and we made our way through the variety of people to a large building right by the docks. Sedgwick pushed open the door and I looked around the large room. It had several chairs around the perimeter of the room, two in the center in front of a large desk, and Dad’s deck chair behind it. Dad looked up from the papers he had been signing and a smile split his face.

  “My girl!” he boomed and walked around the desk to hug me tightly.

  “Hi Dad.”

  He held me at arm’s length and continued to smile. “How are you?”

  “Good. How are you?”

  “Can’t complain. Business is booming!”

  “I saw,” I agreed. “You’ve done an awesome job here.”

  He turned and shook hands with Finn. “How are you, Finn?”

  “Good, Captain,” Finn replied with a smile.

  “Your house is still yours. We locked it up to keep people out though. You’ll have to find Bernard for the key.”

  Finn nodded and asked, “Tilia, are you okay staying with your dad while I go look for Bernard?”

  “Yeah,” I agreed.

  He paused and looked at Cristoff, “Don’t let her out of your sight.”

  Cristoff smirked. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”

  “Finley!” I growled.

  “No arguing. If I’m leaving, then Cristoff is staying with you. He can die and come back to life protecting you.”

  Finn left and I yelled at the now closed door.

  “Everything alright?” Dad asked quietly.

  I turned and stared at him in disbelief. “You don’t know?” I couldn’t believe Esmeralda hadn’t told him. I knew they hadn’t told many people about the devices, because they didn’t want to cause mass panic, but I thought she would have told my dad.

  Cristoff sat in a chair by the door and Sedgwick sat in one of the chairs in front of Dad’s desk.

  “Don’t know what?” Dad asked nervously.

  “Sit,” I said since I didn’t want to see him throw a chair or something if he got mad about what happened.

  He obeyed and waited for me to begin.

  “After the tournament, Prince Marquez, from Drimla, threatened to use a device on Crilan that would steal everyone’s magic.”

  “That exists?” Cristoff asked with fear edging his words.

  I swallowed and whispered, “Yes.”

  “What happened?” Sedgwick asked me.

  “He said if I agreed to leave Finn for him, that he wouldn’t use it. I went to him under that rouse, but was really going to steal the device and leave him. He must not have believed my act, because he activated the device while he was with me and in front of Finn and the King and Queen. I couldn’t let him take their magic so I teleported us to a small island not far from Crilan. It’s uninhabited and far enough away that I hoped the device wouldn’t reach our people.”

  I had started crying. I hadn’t realized it until Sedgwick handed me a handkerchief.

  “I tried to teleport myself away again, but he was a mage too. I killed him, but I didn’t have enough magic to return and…” I fell into the chair beside Sedgwick and sobbed, “It’s gone. My magic is gone.”

  Sedgwick knelt in front of me and hugged me. “Child, I am so sorry.”

  “I feel so empty. I feel so…”

  Sedgwick moved aside as my father sat on his knees to look at me. “I know this must be heart wrenching for you, Tilia. You’re a strong woman and when you were on our ship you did just fine without your magic. You’ll do fine once you’ve adjusted to life without it again,” he assured me.

  Just hearing my dad’s confidence in me made the pain lessen. If he had such faith in me, then why didn’t I have it in myself? I was always sure of myself before this. And he was right, I survived fine without magic. I could figure it out again. I had known this was a possible consequence when I offered to go to Marquez. I had really hoped it wouldn’t happen, but I had known going in.

  “Did you find out if they had more devices?” Cristoff asked.

  “They didn’t have any more, but they were not the ones making them. They only purchased them. We still do not know who is making them, but Faxon is trying to find out.”

  Dad returned to his chair and leaned his chin on his fist. “We can do some searching for you as well. We still have connections out there and there’s bound to be at least one rat who transported these who will talk. I’ll send word to a few of my people and let you know if I hear anything useful.”

  “How much damage can one device do?” Cristoff asked.

  I could understand why he would be worried about losing his powers especially. Without his power, he wouldn’t regenerate his health and might stay dead.

  “We aren’t positive yet, but Faxon said that he believes if that device had gone off in the Capitol that all of Crilan would have been affected by it.”

  “The entire Kingdom?” Sedgwick asked in shock.

  “Come on, let’s get you some food and something to drink,” Cristoff offered and opened the door.

  “We’ll catch up with you once our daily duties are finished,” Dad promised me.

  I followed Cristoff out and he led me around the building and into a small alley. “Cristoff, where are you…”

  He crushed me to him in a hug that pushed all of the air out of my lungs. “You saved all of us and no one knows. If you hadn’t sacrificed yourself, we all would have lost our magic.”

  I patted his back and was glad when he loosened the hug. “I know.”

  He looked down at me and the heat in his eyes was alarming. “I’m in your debt, Tilia. Whatever you need, you let me know.”

  “Cristoff, you don’t owe me anything.”

  He shook his head adamantly. “I owe you a debt. I always repay my debts.”

  “Fine, I’ll find some way to free you of your debt.” I would make it stupid and simple so he wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.

  “Tilia, you’re too good for Finn,” he whispered.

  I rolled my eyes. “Cristoff…”

  He stopped my protest by kissing me. I tried to jerk away, but he was holding me still.

  As soon as the kiss started it ended, but only because Cristoff was now being held against the wall beside me with a sword to his throat.

  “Touch her like that again and you won’t heal fast enough for the damage I inflict,” Finn threatened him.

  “Finn, don’t. Cristoff knows better. He won’t do it again, right Cristoff?” I asked, trying to defuse the situation. I still couldn’t quite believe he had kissed me. I knew he liked me, but to kiss me when he knew I was engaged to Finn? What had gotten into him?

  “You know you aren’t good enough for her, Finn. You know that she deserves someone better. Someone who doesn’t have the twisted past that you have,” Cristoff growled.

  So not helping things.

  “Someone better, huh? Someone like you maybe?” Finn growled and dug his sword in enough to draw blood.

  “That’s e
nough,” I ordered them. “Stop it right now. I don’t know what got into you, Cristoff, but knock it off now.”

  “Do you even know about his past?” Cristoff asked, flicking his eyes towards me. “Did he tell you?”

  He hadn’t, but I wasn’t going to admit that in front of Cristoff.

  “Tell her Finn. Tell her why you ran away from your Kingdom. Tell her why your half-brother hates you. Tell her why…”

  “That’s enough!” I yelled.

  Cristoff stopped and looked away.

  “Come on, Finn. I need to eat and so do you. Cristoff can take some time to cool off or sober up. Whatever it is that he needs to do,” I ordered them.

  Finn lowered his sword and took my outstretched hand. As we walked past Cristoff, Finn whispered something to him that made Cristoff clench his fists and jaw.

  I waited until we were out of the alley and several buildings away before asking, “What did you say to him?”

  He looked at me, his face still a mask of fury, but didn’t reply.

  “What did you say?” I repeated.

  “I told him to remember this the next time he thought it was a good idea to try to kiss you. And to remember whose bed you shared every night.”

  I rolled my eyes and sighed. Typical. He was still holding his sword and practically vibrated with anger. “I’m sorry, Finn. I didn’t…”

  He shook his head. “It’s not your fault. I told him to stay with you knowing that he wants you. It’s my fault. I should have known better than to trust that dog.”

  I wanted to ask him about what Cristoff had said, but now probably wasn’t the best time. We went into the tavern and Finn’s entire crew was there. I hugged and greeted everyone and they made room for Finn and me at a table.

  “Hungry or thirsty?” Bernard asked.

  “Both,” I replied immediately.

  “So, we hear that you got yourself engaged to some loser,” Tristan said with a smirk.

  “Yeah, we heard he’s a real piece of work and that you felt bad for him, so you agreed to it,” Bernard agreed.

  Finn normally would have taken their teasing in stride, but after our interaction with Cristoff he couldn’t take it. He slammed his fist on the table, knocked his chair over in his haste to get up, and went up to the bar top.