Lamp of Light
Page 16
Damien was hardly listening up until this point, but his ears perked up and his eyes glowed. Fairy gold? His attention was piqued.
“A lot of it, too. But Ledger, he gets greedy, and he tries to take it by force. This man however, he’s not having it and he totally gives Ledger and his men a thorough beat down. But during the fight, wings appear at his back. He’d not really a man, you see. He’s a fairy! He’s a fairy prince!” Edgar smiled, baring a mouthful of crooked teeth, proud of the tale he’d told. “But that’s not all. The broad—the girl he’s with? Well she’s not just any girl. The fairy introduced her as Queen Esther Anna LaPointe. Can you imagine, the woman who murdered our king, with a fairy prince who beat down my friends? What was unusual, though, is that the fairy healed the wounds of the men and they set sail. I rushed here as fast as these legs could carry me to inform the great princess of this development.” He bowed to the princess.
Noelle barely acknowledged the gesture and waved him off.
Damien stared at the floor, unsure of what to say. He had not expected such news and took a moment to process it all. The queen left the fairy kingdom and was now on a boat with the fairy prince…
“What do you have to say for yourself woodsman?” Noelle asked.
Without a single word, he opened his palm and conjured up the enchanted map. It was the only way to ensure he was not the victim of an elaborate ruse. He wondered how his tracking spell could fail, as he spent every day to make assure its success. Damien wanted to know how she slipped past him without his knowledge.
As he opened the map and scanned it, he narrowed his eyes. Something was amiss. There was nothing there that indicated Esther Anna had escaped. He showed the blank map to Noelle, vindicated by his discovery. He wanted, more than anything, to take the life of the man who dared to come in and make him doubt himself. As he stared at her his smug smile returned. It opened his mind to more possibilities. The event at the harbor could have been an elaborate ruse to turn the princess’ attention elsewhere, as a decoy. Revealing their identities caused quite a stir…as if they’d done it on purpose.
“What are your ideas on this, woodsman? What are we going to do about this problem?” The princess asked, as she seemed to have calmed down.
“Well, Princess, it appears that the queen is trying to throw us off her tracks and send us after these two imposters. I suggest I keep up with my current course of action. The queen is still in the fairy kingdom. If she’d left, I would have known by…” His voice trailed off and he instantly felt shame well up inside him. As he’d been speaking, his eyes had strayed towards the map again and he had seen a mark appear over the part of the sea closest to the harbor.
Princess Noelle noticed his pause and got up to look at the map too. She caught sight of the mark as it vanished, and then appeared again, but only for a short while. Then it was gone again.
Damien looked from the princess to the map and sighed.
The fairies had somehow masked her from his tracking spell, though it wasn’t absolute and simply managed to distort it. He reckoned that wherever the beacon appeared wasn’t completely accurate, offering a bit of leeway for the queen and her fairy accomplice to escape. He wondered how long they’d been in the realm, out in the open and free from the wards. He’d been played for a fool, and that angered him.
Damien looked down and continued to watch, as the mark appeared once again.
Chapter 11
Present time. Aboard the Marry Finny Fine. Seven seas.
The boat rocked from side to side.
The queen felt queasy at the motion and rushed to the side to brace herself against the rail. She had been on a fair share of boats in her lifetime, so her seasickness came as a bit of a surprise. She thought, perhaps, it was simply a result of the spicy food she’d eaten and quite possibly her nerves, since she focused solely on what they were going to do now that they were at sea. How were they going to locate the pirate who had the Lamp of Light?
Prince Phillip was handling it just fine. He spent most of his time with the man at the helm and gave him instructions in hushed a conversation that he didn’t deem necessary to share.
From what Esther Anna had heard about the pirate they were after was as mean as they come. She had no idea how they would reason with him when they met, but she reckoned that Phillip had all that planned. Or at least, she hoped he did.
The prince winced as she retched. The seas were not kind to her, in that sense. Once she was finished, she wiped her mouth and returned to her seat. She’d been so miserable that he even went to the helmsman and asked him to steer carefully so she wouldn’t be so sick, as he knew she needed to be alert and healthy for their journey. He watched Esther Anna, as she sat there quietly. From what he gathered, she was staring off into the distance, wondering how he planned to find the pirate they needed. What he didn’t tell her was that his plan started the second they had left Fandrela.
Phillip strolled over to where Esther Anna stood and planted himself beside her. He didn’t say one word. There seemed to be nothing to say, so they took that moment to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the ocean’s spread, as it was infinitely beautiful. The gentle waves rolled over each other and crashed against the boat, creating the gentle rocking motion that upset her stomach.
For a second, Phillip felt guilty. Perhaps he should have been upfront what his plans were with her, but he was confident it was going to work. The only way they could fail was if his display at the harbor had scared the men into keeping quiet, but he doubted it. The news of the fairy prince with the bag of fairy gold, travelling with the fugitive Queen Esther Anna going across the seven seas would spread, and they would get what they want. That was the plan.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Esther Anna uttered, and it broke him out of his thoughts.
He took in a deep breath and even thought of her as he said: “Yup. It’s definitely beautiful.”
“We made it…” She said softly, and breathed out too, in relief.
“Not yet, my queen, not yet. We must get the pirate with the lamp. Without it, our plan won’t work. Even with the princess’ power play, it’s still not total proof that she’s evil. She’s ready to do whatever to protect her father’s throne. Her throne. The lamp, however, will assist, or even take care of that problem for us.”
His reference to the massacre of the leading families by the princess took over her thoughts and she imagined how their families had felt, drawn into something some of them probably didn’t even want to. And it would get worse. She knew it would. Princess Noelle had to be stopped, and it seemed like they were the only ones who were trying to do so. They needed the pirate. They needed the lamp.
“About the pirate, how…?” Esther started but was interrupted by a scream that sent seagulls flying away.
“PIRATES!”
Phillip was instantly on his feet.
She looked up sharply, confused. Is that a smile on his face?
The men swarmed the deck, buzzing around to quickly take up their defensive positions. Their boat was not built for combat but for speed, and they planned to use it to escape.
“Full speed ahead!” The captain shouted the command to his men.
“No! Don’t do that. Retain this speed. We face them head on!” Phillip defied the captain’s order, and the men paused, looking at him as if he had gone mad.
All seven men gathered around him, mumbling and grumbling up a storm in disagreement with the prince’s demand. They weren’t pleased with this change of order, and even the man at the helm had a scowl on his face.
Esther Anna ran towards him. “What are you doing?”
“What do you mean we’re facing them head on? Are you insane?” They asked.
Phillip peered through the spyglass to the other ship across the way, and he nodded in satisfaction. He made his choice, and they were going to face the pirates.
“Do you know what ship that is?” the captain asked, and his eye twitched in frustration.
The men nodded and reluctantly returned to their posts, murmuring about needing more money for their troubles.
Phillip recognized the ship. He knew that one pirate, and one pirate only, was aboard that ship…
“What are you doing?” Esther Anna asked. “Why aren’t we fleeing?”
The prince smiled at her, an arch in his brow. “Now, why would we do that? We need the lamp, don’t we?”
She went to reply, but as she stopped herself, her eyes widened. It finally clicked. Phillip’s confident smile should have been the giveaway, and she was surprised she hadn’t seen it from the beginning: His choice of harbor, the way he bragged about his bag full of fairy gold. ought off the men to draw attention to himself, when he later revealed his identity as a fairy prince and introduced her as the queen. This was the plan. Esther Anna viewed the prince in a different light now as she laughed. His plan was admittedly genius as much as it was crazy.
Phillip had made as much noise as possible to attract the attention of pirates. In that part of the harbor, the pirate who frequented it the most happened to be the one they were after. They were followed…it was all going according to plan. After all this time, they weren’t in search of the pirate. They were bait, luring the pirate to them all along! He looked at Esther Anna and tried to decipher her expression, but it was unreadable, aside from a slight hint of approval and awe in her eyes. Finally, they were on the same page.
She nodded, and he ran to the helm.
“Keep her steady, don’t make it too easy for them.” Phillip commanded, and the man steering nodded obediently.
The pirates appeared out of the mist, with a ship that far outweighed the Marry Finny Fine. They knew they didn’t even stand a chance…they were going to be captured.
Phillip quickly went to the captain and paid him in excess, which made the man’s eyes go wide in surprise at the sight of the fairy gold. The amount was enough to cover him for life. Many thanks were given to the prince, as the man fell to his knees, but the prince helped him back up and gave his final order.
The white flag was pulled up to notify them of their surrender. Everyone stood with their arms raised above their heads, as they waited for the captain to come aboard. The pirates whooped in victory and they aligned the boats to board the Marry Finny Fine. Underlings came first, several men coming through with a haughty air only to size up the crew with intimidating grandeur.
Phillip pulled Esther Anna close beside him, with the others in the crew a bit behind them. If things went his way, as swimmingly as his plan was executed, they would have no use for the boat or its crew, and simply take them, the royals, and the people worth more coin.
“Captain on deck!” One of the pirates yelled, baring his yellow teeth and bleeding gums with a proud smile.
A figure rope-boarded, swinging over from the other ship, and landed with a heavy thud.
Esther Anna and Phillip both gasped. This was the infamous pirate captain? After all the stories they’d heard, they weren’t prepared for this. He wasn’t what they’d expected. He was a she. As Phillip looked, he could tell that she was no ordinary woman. Both human women he had met in a while turned out to both be extraordinary, though in their own right.
The woman approached the prince and queen, walking with the confidence and ease of someone completely in her element. Raids were second nature to her and she was incredibly good at it. She stood at an impressive height for a woman, and the men on board gawked at her in awe, though that awe was mixed with a cowering fear of her power.
After removing her hat, she shook her hair free of sand and sea salt. Then, she smiled. “Hello.” She said.
The captain was mesmerizing; a pretty woman with blonde hair kissed by the sun, and her blue eyes as brilliant as the sea. Her demeanor hinted of a rage that rested hidden beneath the surface, though she seemed friendly now. The captain sauntered towards them with a gait that only a captain could bear, and her boots clicked against the wood of the sea-worn deck. She smacked her lips once she reached the royals and she grinned at the man who seemed adamant about keeping the woman and the rest of the Marry Finny Fine behind him. “Prince Phillip, I presume? Then that would make you…Queen Esther Anna LaPointe, is that right?”
“Yes, that’s right.” Esther Anna responded, staring at her defiantly.
Phillip smirked, proud at the queen’s courage.
“I’m Captain Michelle of Vanderbeck.” The flaxen-haired pirate bowed with a flourish. “I’m here to officially inform you that your ship has been captured by my vessel. Though, I have no business with your men. You see, I’m going to take the queen and the prince aboard my ship. You surrendered quickly, and that’s a good thing. For me…” She grinned, “But if any of you got delusions of grandeur, you’d to well to stop yourselves now from interfering with my plans. Or mark my words, the action you take will be your last.”
None of the men moved. They were entranced by the way she spoke, with such a silky smooth with a tone that commanded every ear to listen.
She clapped her hands. “Very well then!”
As she turned to move, a sudden cry erupted from behind Phillip. One of his men rushed towards Captain Michelle, though no one from her crew made a step to stop him, and they simply watched as the gangly man lunged with his dagger aimed for her back. Michelle anticipated this and at the last second, she moved to the side and stretched out her foot. The man, unable to stop his forward motion, tripped over the foot and he fell face first on to the deck. Her men erupted in laughter. The man scrambled for a moment and finally rose to his feet, ashamed at his failed attack. Everyone assumed he would have taken that as a display of her mercy, but he bared his teeth and attacked again. This time, Michelle parried the attack and knocked his hand to the side. He stumbled into some of the men who were watching, but they pushed him back towards the captain. The man lunged at her once more. Michelle rolled her eyes, tired of the pathetic display. She caught his knife hand and twisted it, causing the man to drop the blade, and then she kicked his leg out from under him, which dropped him to one knee. She lifted her hand and delivered a blow to the side of his face and he fully collapsed, weak and defeated.
Her men erupted in a cheer again.
Phillip and Esther smiled in admiration. Ruthless pirate or not, the woman had skill.
Michelle rolled her eyes and dropped to a knee beside her attacker. She took a handful of his collar and yanked him upward. “What’s gotten into you, hmm? Once wasn’t enough, you gotta try, try again?”
“M-My friend. You killed my friend!” He sputtered, his face bleeding from the strike.
She lifted her eyebrow and shook her head. “Oh, I’ve killed a lot of people my good man. You’ll get over it.” After one last glance at the pathetic man, she dropped him and stood upright. It was time to get back to her ship.
“He was my best friend!” The man yelled after her, but she did well to ignore him.
With one quick wave, her men grabbed Queen Esther Anna and the fairy Prince Phillip. They were tied up quickly and loaded onto the ship.
The pirates were quite coordinated. When the captain gave them an order, they followed them strictly and to the letter. One could say she ran her ship with an iron fist, as it was not uncommon for her to fly into a rage and kill several of her men at a moment’s notice. Punishment didn’t come without warning, however, Captain Vanderbeck just hated repeating herself, and the men quickly learned that the best way to stay alive was to remain on her good side.
The benefits of working with her far outweighed the drawbacks. She was the most prolific pirate in all the seven seas, as she had conducted raids throughout. The crew were all considered wealthy. They could easily settle down since they had pillaged and plundered more gold and rare artifacts than they could spend in their lifetime, but their lives were at sea and they were all drawn back to
the adventure.
Vanderbeck herself had initially started as a common crewman, working for an equally ruthless captain. One day, she lost her temper and challenged him to a duel. After the swords clashed, she stood triumphant over the dead body of her former captain. The men wasted no time in declaring her captain, and she led them to more success than any of them would have thought possible. Much of her life before she took to the sea had been shrouded in mystery, and there were endless speculations about her past. However, none ever dared to ask, as she avoided speaking about it altogether. Despite methods she’d enforced on her ship, she had shown a very strong dislike for tyrants, and had often led raids on ships owned by famous, tyrannical kings with the same goal in mind: to rid him of all his ill-acquired possessions on-board. After they divided the plunder, her men never knew what she did with the bulk of the gold. She said it was ‘kept in a good place’. No one questioned it, because they respected her. There were times her leadership would be tested, but they were easily silenced by her cunning and skill with a sword.
Michelle whistled as she strolled across her ship, and her pet fluttered over and landed on her shoulder. Peggy, or “Peg” as most of the men called her, was a magical owl, as it had been given the power of speech by an ancient enchantment. As a side effect of the spell, Peggy seemed unaware to the fact that she was an owl. She preferred to be called a parrot, and in turn squawked as most parrots did, even though she could articulate quite well when she spoke up. Peggy was the light of the boat and provided much needed entertainment.