The Tale of a Princess Kidnapped by Pirates

Prologue

The Kingdom of Alluvia was a strong and prosperous land, which reigned over much of the world. The King and Queen were blessed with seven healthy heirs – the firstborn was troublesome Cassian, who was always getting into trouble and misleading his younger brothers Zion and Henri. The Queen finally received her wish of a baby girl in quiet Sapphira, who was tormented by her three older brothers, but formed a deep bond with the next child Gabriel, and they spent much of their free time in the library reading together. Beautiful Princess Rosilabeth came next, who loved attention and the finest clothes, and then the youngest was sweet Aurora who was always incredibly kind. King Markus and Queen Genevieve enjoyed a peaceful and happy reign until their darling Aurora's ninth birthday.

She was famous around the castle for being a sweet and caring child, who was doted on by her older sisters and brothers – when they were not pulling her hair of course. She loved being outside playing with the butterflies and picking flowers, and was always singing to herself. Her governesses always said she was 'off with the fairies'. She was fortunate to grow up with the best of everything, and had a family who loved her dearly.

However, for her ninth birthday she begged and pleaded with her parents to let her go and visit her best friend Prince Theodosius of Yemini, and begrudgingly they let her go alone on her Royal Ship (each child had one named after them), with her governess Miss Tilly as they had important meetings in Parliament which could not be skipped. Her mother gifted her a golden locket with a tiny painting of them both inside to remind her she was not alone, which Aurora treasured. Aurora did not know it at the time, but it had been written since the time of her birth that when she became of age Theodosius and she would get married to unite the Kingdoms.

However, two days into the journey tragedy struck. For the past one hundred years, Alluvia had been in a state of peace and tranquillity, but all that would change when pirates chose the wrong ship to pillage. Some argued that maybe security was not as tight as it should have been, considering the young Princess was on board, and others argued that no one could have expected such an atrocious act of treason could have been contemplated, let alone acted upon. For whatever the reason, in the dead of night 'The Royal Aurora' was attacked, all of the finery was plundered, and everyone was slaughtered apart from the terrified Princess and her Governess. They were taken onto the pirate ship and forced to watch as the Royal ship was set on fire and sunk to the unforgiving depths of the ocean. They were the only survivors.

The disgusting Pirates threw Aurora and Miss Tilly into a dirty cell, and made plans to hold the young Princess for ransom. Miss Tilly had to look after Aurora and please the pirates, which is why she was not killed. However, before the pirates could alert Aurora's parents to her kidnapping, there was a pirate takeover and Aurora and Miss Tilly were taken aboard another ship. As their finery had been stripped of them the new pirates did not know they had actually captured the young Princess Aurora of Alluvia, and forced Miss Tilly and herself to work as maids. The situation was dire and Aurora was often shouted at and kicked down since she did not know how to do housework. They were rarely fed and Aurora missed her family terribly, but Miss Tilly made sure to treat her like the Princess she was and educate her in any way possible. There was no way for either of them to escape as they were in the middle of the ocean without a clue as to where they were. Miss Tilly did her best to protect Aurora from the violent and grotesque pirates, often at the expense of herself.

Aurora was constantly dirty, hungry and exhausted, and her life as a Princess was becoming like a dream. The only thing that reminded her that she had a family was her necklace that she kept carefully hidden under her bed and clung to at night. Around seven months after she was captured the boat arrived at a dangerous port in Alluvia, infamous for dirty deals and the black market. This was how the pirates came to know about the missing Princess, and they started to become suspicious of Aurora's parentage. Apparently, there were posters everywhere and a life-changing sum of money was being rewarded to anyone who delivered the Princess safely to her parents. The whole country was in turmoil and grieving its youngest heir.

Miss Tilly knew the only chance for them to escape together was while the ship was docked, so they waited until the blanket of darkness covered the sun, and then sneaked off the pirate ship. However, a patrolling guard caught Miss Tilly, so she screamed for Aurora to run whilst she was dragged back onto the ship. Aurora managed to hide in an empty abandoned building, and cried herself to sleep as the pirates sort to hunt her down. She was awoken the next morning by an old man with a playful muddy dog, and after telling the wrinkled, dirty man she was all alone and did not know where her parents where, he promised to help her. Unfortunately, his 'help' was really selling her for money, as he thought she was just another street orphan. Aurora had the common sense to keep her identity a secret as Miss Tilly had drilled it into her head.

She was sold a couple of days later to a female pirate looking for company and a maid. The pirate never once thought she was the Princess as her hair was black with dirt and she was very scrawny. Aurora cried a little as she boarded the new ship, as she was now completely alone without Tilly. She never saw her again. Aurora worked hard for Mistress Scarlett Overture for three more years, and even sort of became friends with her. She was fed and no one really looked twice at her apart from Scarlett, so she was able to keep her head down and dream. However, this life did not last as one day the ship was attacked and Scarlett died in battle. At the tender age of fourteen Aurora had seen more blood and death then she would ever wish on anyone, yet still she kept her head high and always made sure to be kind like her mother taught her to be. Her life as a Princess was just a dream at this point.

Her new master Tyrus the Third was cruel, mean, and often beat her or let his comrades do it. Sometimes she was so weak she could hardly move, and she was so malnourished she became quite ill. The pirates threw her overboard as they thought she was dead, but fishermen fished her out of the water. At this point, she thought she must have been sixteen, but the years all blurred into one ever since her kidnapping. The fishermen nursed her back to health, and she helped the three kindly older gentleman – Mick, Jack and Quinton - for a couple of months until on their journey home, the same pirates that left her for dead came across the ship, stole their produce and forced them all to slave for them. Aurora had recently cut her hair quite short, and as she was clean and healthy now the pirates did not recognise her, and thought she was just a random boy.

One by one, Mick, Jack and Quinton died, and as the months of torment, punishment and loneliness dragged on Aurora thought about throwing herself overboard. She just needed it all to end; she was too tired to continue being mistreated. Where was the woman painted in her golden locket, which she had still managed to keep a secret all of this time?

But then one day a few weeks after her seventeenth birthday, her prayers were answered as a ship bearing the royal colours of the country of Yemini encountered the pirates, and launched a brutal attack.

I hope you like this backstory guys! Fun fact, I've been meaning to write this story for years! I got the original idea from a dream I once had as a child! xoxo

Edited