A Pirate's Life For Me

Chapter 5

Skye knocked on the door to the captain's quarters repeatedly until she heard an answer.

"Nope! You need to forget that I said that!"

"How can I forget that? My mother's not dead and now you're telling me that I'm being kidnapped by pirates because it was her dying wish? That's not something you easily forget!"

"I'm sorry princess, but I'm not supposed to tell you anything about that until we get you to the islands."

"So you're going to make me wait two weeks until you tell me?"

"Yes!"

"No, I'm waiting right here until you tell me!" she said as she sat down on the ground next to the door.

"Have fun with that!"

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Near about 3 o'clock in the morning, Skye had finally fallen asleep and Grant snuck out of his room. He smiled when he saw Skye. She really did look like a pirate, and she looked good as one too.

"Woah! What? No!" he chastised himself, "you are not supposed to think that! You only need her for this one task, nothing more. Once you're done with her, she has to go!"

He shook his head to clear it and walked over to the rails, letting the water splash on his face. He squinted his eyes when he saw something in the distance. He pulled out his spyglass and peered into it, he swore quietly. More pirates!

He ran from the deck and he rang the bell, waking up all his men that weren't already working on the decks.

Everyone, including Skye, woke up and gathered around Ward, "there's another pirate ship in the distance! It's likely that they've heard about the princess and they want to get their hands on her. We can't let that happen, so we need to be prepared for a fight. Understood?"

The whole crew shouted their agreement as they ran to go grab weapons and load the cannons.

Skye walked up to Ward, "why do they want me? Why am I so special?"

He sighed, "I didn't want to tell you this but I suppose you should at least know why you're being attacked. Your real mother is not Queen Rosalind. Your real mother was one of the most famous pirates, except for me of course. Your father met her a few years before you were born and they fell in love. When he realized that she was pregnant with you he wanted to get married, but he was already engaged to Rosalind through an arranged marriage. So he married Rosalind out of duty, but stayed in contact with your mother until she had you. She left you with him, knowing that the open seas on a pirate ship wasn't the right place to raise a princess, so she left you that ring to remember her by," he said as he pointed to the emerald ring on her finger, "then a few months later she was killed in a fight. Legend has it though, that before she died she buried all of her treasure that she had ever gotten, on an island and only the blood of a person directly related to her can open it."

Skye swallowed nervously, "uh... blood?"

Ward laughed as he handed her a sword to defend herself, "don't worry, we would only have you prick your finger or something just so you could get the blood on the lock. These pirates though, they'll probably slit your throat."

Skye moved her hand to her throat and rubbed it then confidently raised her sword, "well then I won't let that happen."

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As the two ships passed each other there was complete silence. Everyone was holding their breath waiting for the fight.

"Surrender the princess!" the captain of the other ship yelled.

"Not a chance!" yelled Ward.

"Do you really want to play this game, boy? Do you know who I am?"

"Oh I'll play this game any day, Blackbeard."

"Very well, have your men prepare themselves for death."

Ward laughed, "you wish."

Before Skye knew it, both ships were shooting cannonballs at each other. Blackbeard's men swung off of the mast of their ship and fell onto the deck of Ward's ship. One landed right in front of Skye and he grabbed her leg. She used her sword and she drove it straight through his hand, causing him to let go of her. He stood up and pulled out his sword. Their two swords clanged against each other each time sending shivers down Skye's spine.

"And how does a princess like you know how to use such a weapon?" the man asked as she tried to disarm her.

"Well you didn't think that I sat in my room all day, did you?" she smirked. He gritted his teeth and he jabbed the sword at her side. She gasped and dropped her sword as he pulled an arm around her and started to carry her off the ship.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said Ward as he pulled the sword out of the pirate's chest, causing the pirate to die and fall overboard.

"Are you alright?" he asked, concerned.

Skye nodded, "he got me in the side, but I'm fine."

Ward pointed to the crow's nest, "try hiding up there. They probably won't look for you up there, you just have to make sure that they don't see you climb up there."

She nodded and made her way through the frenzy and towards the rope ladder.

She climbed it quickly to avoid detection and crouched low down in the small basket. She turned around when she heard the floorboard creak, it was Blackbeard himself. She gasped and pulled out her sword, pointing it at his face, "don't come any closer."

He laughed at her, "what? Does the little princess think that she can fight now?"

She slashed the sword and trimmed off an inch of his beard as a warning, "just because I'm a princess doesn't mean that I can't fight."

He touched his beard and growled, swinging his sword expertly. She blocked it and moved closer to him, forcing him to back up onto the masts. He didn't waver and he kept his balance, still swinging his sword. Skye blocked it and jabbed at his leg, causing him to lose balance for a moment but he caught himself. He kicked out his leg and he tripped Skye, causing her to lose her balance.

The next thing she knew she was falling.

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"Easy princess, calm down," said Ward as Skye sat up in bed panting.

"What happened?" she asked as she spotted the alcohol and bandages.

"We won. Blackbeard's dead. You're pretty good with a sword, you know," he smiled.

She blushed, "thanks, I guess it pays to have to have friends who are knights."

He laughed, "I suppose it does."

"What happened after I fell?"

"I caught you," he said, flashing her a cheeky grin.

She laughed, "guess I really fell for you, huh?"

He smiled at her joke, "how'd you manage to not get cut when the first pirate slashed your side?"

She looked down and saw the small tear in her pirate outfit, "thank goodness for corsets."

He whistled, "wow. If a corset is tight enough to keep a woman from getting cut by a sword I don't think that I ever want to wear one. How in the world can you breathe?"

She shrugged, "smaller, more shallow breaths. You get used to it after wearing so many gowns at the Royal balls."

"I'm glad that I will never have to wear one."

"Yeah, most guys think like that," she laughed.

He stood up and smiled, "you should get your rest, I'll see you in the morning."

She smiled at him, "goodnight."