The Rookie Pirates (Parts 1-6)

39. Greed

"Tabby?"

Tabby was tall and broad with pale skin and brownish fur with mottled stripes, cat ears that flopped over his shaggy hair, and a fluffy brown tail that swished around him. He wore a honey gold breastplate across his muscular chest and was holding a honey gold tipped spear in his left hand.

"Your Highness." Tabby seemed shocked to see Zach, his brown cat-like eyes widening in surprise as he bowed his head out of respect.

"What is this?" Zach's bronze eyes looked sharply towards Gardenia. "Why wasn't I aware of a secret entrance to the mountain?"

The older woman gave him a stern look. "And where were you when our island was attacked by King Mordred?"

Zach's stomach tightened as he felt a pit of guilt brewing within him. He had made a promise the day he left Hive Island seven years ago that he would always protect them. He would always be there whenever they were in trouble.

"I didn't know. No word was sent out to me, and there was nothing in the newspapers of your attack. The whole world is unaware of what happened here." He wiped the tears from his face. "You have to believe me. If I had known what was happening, I would have been here in an instant. This is my daughter's home."

It was Gardenia's turn to look away with a guilty conscience.

"Prince Ash will not be happy he is here," Tabby interrupted.

Zach's heart picked up. Ash was still alive, a cousin of his daughters and one of the nobles. Almost instantly he frowned. Why would Ash not be happy to see him?

"Zach needs to know what is going on." Gardenia pushed Tabby aside and continued her journey along the hidden passageway.

The corridors were endless, like a maze heading off in all sorts of different directions. Zach was starting to wonder if they were lost.

"A month after you left Hive Island, King Mordred attacked us," Gardenia began. "He appeared with a menacing look in those putrid yellow eyes of his. It was clear his intentions were our honey gold, but he found entertainment in killing us. However, he never anticipated the Felines to be as strong as they were. So he called for reinforcements, his seven sins to be precise. They were incredibly strong and wiped out the Felines in less than a day. Only a few survived."

Zach's stomach felt sick. He hoped the black kitten that once played with Azalea was still alive. The young feline was supposed to grow up to be her personal guard.

"The Queen had no choice but to surrender to save her people," Gardenia's eyes drifted to the floor.

For the life of him, Zach could not remember the Queen, maybe because Hive Island never had a Queen. He frowned as he dug into the back of his mind, but nothing came to him. It was just like every time he tried to remember Azalea's mother. He looked down at the gold wedding band on his ring finger and clutched his locket from around his neck.

"Just like everyone else, you have no recollection of the Queen, but I will come to that later. King Mordred did not care for her surrender and was about to kill the Queen when Azalea came in between them. Your daughter was just a child; her naive mind had no idea what was going on. All she wanted to do was protect her mother. However, her innocence and beauty captured the eye of King Mordred. He had never seen a member the Honey Tribe with red hair before, and she fascinated him more than the honey gold did.

"King Mordred struck a bargain. He would leave the island as long he could take the Princess with him, so he could one day marry her when she came of age. The Queen refused. She offered him all the honey gold he could ever want, but it didn't work, and he started to enslave us, making us work in the mines, selling us at auction houses and so on.