The Princess and The Pirate

Rushing, buzzing about wildly like bees defending a kicked hive, Lillian had thrown herself out of bed at the urgent message. Wearing only her evening robe, she sprinted down the long spiraling corridors of the Rocqueburne castle. Black hair waved behind her, stretching the length of her shadow. Never in her wildest nightmares would she have thought her cousin was alive. Why on earth would she have ever fathomed it? People died and stayed dead!

Versetti was standing in the stable, petting the nose of his great horse while a lump covered with his cape was draped over its back. A man was slouched down, looking half dead himself, held in place by the two borrowed guards. It was quite a sight amongst the peaceful animals, bright yellow hay, and soft lantern light.

Lillian’s normally pale expression was hot and flush. A violent blush decorated her face, neck, and the top of her exposed chest. The robe she wore, loosely tied in the center, kept her only a notch above nude. She bit her nails and crossed her other arm against her stomach. Indecency was not on her mind!

“You brought her here?!” she hoarsely screeched. The Princess was within the castle walls!

Versetti looked annoyed. “Of course. Where else could we possibly go?”

Thinking about the magnitude of the situation, Lillian bit her nails again. “W-well, let me see…” Her usual cool demeanor was visibly rattled. Were Jacqueline’s parents wrong? Was Lillian as poised and as graceful as they once thought? She bit her nails more, turning the questions over in her mind. As commanded, Versetti lifted the corner of his cape, showing the side of the Princess’s dirty, bruised face.

Going white, the queen nearly fainted on the spot, imagining her hard-earned legacy wasting away. Lillian had to sit down. Thinking, she stared off into the distance, leaning her hip against a rail for support.

Kyle spit into the hay, only one of his eyes open. The other was swollen shut. He analyzed the raven-haired woman. Her skin was flawless, whereas Jacqueline’s was freckled. She was pale, while Jacqueline had life in her veins. The woman wasn’t even dressed! The sheer of her robe hinted at the curves of her hips and chest. He breathed slowly; it hurt to do anything else. Kyle didn’t want to admire his judge, jury, and executioner, but it was nearly impossible.

“Don’t you look upon her!” Versetti shouted, just as panicked but less adept at hiding it. He hit the pirate across the face. It was a brutal strike that took the heat out of Versetti’s boiling blood.

Taking the strike, rolling his head on his shoulders, Kyle—who was now very accustomed to feeling shitty—spat out a tooth. “What’s the matter? Watching your sandcastle being destroyed?” Versetti went to hit the insolent man again but Lillian stood up, causing him to pause.

“You’re the pirate.” His ocean-fairing accent was discernible, even with the punishment of his face. His voice suggested a coastal life. Besides, who makes sandcastle references?

Kyle didn’t say anything. Goddamn sandcastles.

“Why would you bring her back?” Lillian spoke as ethereally as a ghost, the words a fleeting sound.

Again, he didn’t reply to her. He found no strength in his neck so he just grunted, hanging his head.

“Your queen asked you a question, swine!” Versetti grabbed Kyle by the hair, holding his ugly face up.

“I-I’d be c-careful who you’re c-calling queen,” was all Kyle could muster before spitting a violent, red, gooey mass in the guard’s face. “I-I’ve heard it’s a temporary position.”

“THE AUDACITY!” Versetti threw Kyle into the hay and brutishly put his armored foot into the man’s back. The pirate’s blood and spit stuck to the stubble of his rough face.

Lillian glided to the lump on the horse, ignoring the noise of barbarian men. A steadfast resolve came back to her expression and confidence filled the cracks in her panic. Kyle tried to fight the pressure on his back but it only got his face pushed into the hay. She lifted the cape, completely revealing her cousin. Jacqueline’s face was badly beaten. Lillian touched the red flakes and crushed the dirt into dust between her fingers. Her hair was a dirty, knotted mess. She was wearing a terrifically filthy scrap of fabric. It was beyond shabby. This was a princess? This was her predecessor? Lillian gave a small chuckle to herself.

Lowering her porcelain-colored ear just against Jacqueline’s chapped, broken lips, she felt her breathing.

Breathing was a problem so easily fixed. The small sliver of power that Lillian had tasted had exponentially increased her sadism. There were many ways to scratch a bloody, thirsty itch.

“Thank you for bringing her to me. I had worried we’d have nothing to put in the crypts.” Lillian looked over her silky white shoulder at Kyle’s battered face. “And I’ve some questions for you.”

Kyle pushed against the ground stubbornly. “You leave her alone!”

Stroking the side of her cousin’s face, Lillian continued to look at the pirate through a veil of black lashes, quite pleased with herself. This one-sided exchange annoyed Versetti. Lashing out against her flirtation, he pushed all his weight onto Kyle, pinning him down like a butterfly to a cork board. So she liked them battered, eh? He’d give her something battered.

The prolonged violence was irritating the surrounding stable animals. Horses neighed and scraped their hooves on the ground. The sheep bleated, annoyed by the ruckus at so late an hour.

“We need less of an audience,” Lillian said as she waved over Versetti with an abrupt gesture. He nodded his head to the guards, who then put their feet on Kyle’s back.

The queen put her fingers lightly on his chest and curled her nearly naked body against his armor. Lillian pushed his leg between hers. He was hot with rage, which was perfect for the cold night. “Take Jacqueline and place her in the family mausoleum. It’s lightless and sealable.” She spoke so sweetly for such an evil person.

The crypt was also airless as well. Versetti’s face was set as hard as stone. Hadn’t he come all this way with dirty, bloodstained hands? What was one more sin?

“Get away from her!”

“Someone deal with that,” Lillian said while placing a kiss on Versetti’s cheek. An imperial guard swiftly kicked the boy, pushing him beyond his ability to fight any further. Kyle collapsed on the floor, submitting to the intense pain.

Lillian brushed some dust away from Versetti’s armor, dragging her fingers up the scars of his neck and sat her finely manicured nails behind his ears, speaking lowly. “After you’re done, bring the pirate to my chamber.” She then whispered, “Then kill these two guardsmen. No witnesses.” Her icy blue eyes sat on the golden knights. She pushed up on the balls of her feet and kissed the underside of his chin.

Alright, so he had a few more sins to handle. “Yes my queen. My sword is your will.”