The Pirate's Stowaway

Chapter 1

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Chapter 1:

"Aye, everyone, get everything ready on the ship as we start to head into the port. Make sure to draw the flag down as I'm sure not everyone will appreciate a pirate ship in England quite the way that we do. We should be there in about an hour!" Donovan yelled to his crew as he moved up to the upper deck, looking out at the crisp blue waves, listening to them. They made him calm and always took away the sadness or rage, both of them intertwined with the other. They didn't allow him to have a clear view of the world around him, except for when the waves were present, or if he could at least hear them.

To him there was nothing like owning Dioltas, it made him feel like he was in control, always, and that was something that he needed to keep. For him, too many times had his life had everything been taken and him left with nothing, but his ship, his crew, and his sword fighting skills. It wasn't much, but it was all that he could call his own. He was afraid to let himself enjoy anything that wasn't food, piracy or getting into trouble with other men.

He stood there while they waited to reach England, not paying much attention to the conversations of his crew around him. Even though they listened to his every word and would do anything for him, he thought of them as his family, his equal and very rarely did he ever pull the "I'm captain" card.

Behind him he could hear them laughing and talking, most of them going on and on about women they would meet when they went into port for the couple of hours it would take them to get supplies. Of course, he thought it was silly, to spend so much time thinking about them, they would most likely only cloud their minds.

It wasn't like he didn't think about it at all, but he only did if when it was necessary, like when the men found a brothel in a land they stopped at for a brief time. His mind almost started to move in that direction, but just before it could really get started, he saw England finally approaching and turned to his men:

"Alrighty boys, let's get our supplies and be in and out in a couple hours!" He was greeted with various hoots and hollers as they pulled the flag down and hoisted the sails in just as they slid into port.

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Emma could feel herself seething as she moved away from her father's office. He had no right to tell her that she had to marry someone within the next couple weeks or he would be forced to give the right to the kingdom to her little brother. Why couldn't he though? She didn't want it and it was all that her brother trained for.

She knew that it was normal for the oldest in the family to wed once they turned 18, just in case something were to happen and she would need to take the throne as queen. She had begged and pleaded for them to let her find someone that she actually loved to be by her side so she wouldn't have to spend her entire life filled with such terrible emotions.

The only problem was that she hadn't found anybody remotely like that in the 2 years since they had allowed her the deferment, and it was well past the point of making her father very, very upset with her. She didn't care that he was the King, all she wanted was a life that was actually her own and with her father around that was never going to happen.

Even though all she wanted to do was leave, she had no idea how or where she would even go, but she knew she had to do something.

She walked back to her room, saying hello to all her maids and guards as she went, making sure to stay polite so that no one would know she felt nothing but anger on the inside.

Once inside, she closed the doors behind her and looked around, looking for anyway to get herself out of the family that she was born into. She knows that there is no way for her to just walk out, especially since all of her clothing was the elegant attire that all royals wore.

Walking over to the window, she looked at the gardens that sat below her room and watched two of the maids exchange a quick conversation and then they split, one going into the castle and the other walking right out into the gardens, out of view. That was then it dawned on her, she knew how to get out and as long as no one caught her, it would be easy.

After watching the maids she knew that it was time for some of them to run errands in town so if she didn't do it now then she would miss her chance. She could blend in and she would be damned if they dragged her back here.

Walking out of her room, she moved down, carefully avoiding all the spots where she knew the guards would be posted and moved down the corner staircase to the bottom floor. Knowing she didn't have much time she quickly made her way to the servant's linen closet, hastily changing into a small, simple uniform and tying her unruly curls back with a strap.

She waited until the last servant made her way past her and turned the opposite corner before she moved out the door and into the garden. No one was out here, which means no one had seen her, so, so far, so good.

Not looking behind her she walked as fast as she could without drawing attention just in case someone was actually in viewing distance. As soon as she knew she was out, with no possible witnesses, she ran for two hours, to town as quickly as she could, not stopping a single time even when her lungs and legs were screaming for her to.