It's a bloody mess of pirates going at each other, swords drawn and clashing against each other. I duck as one of my mother's vases goes flying over my head. I cringe as it smashes into a million pieces on a pirate's head. The man's eyes roll back in his head as he hits the floor. I move out of the way just as a dagger goes flying past my head.
Darien pushes me out of the way as something else goes flying. He yanks a man from the fight and examines his bloodied face before throwing him back into the thick of it.
"They're my father's pirates," he growls.
"Then where is your father?"
I swerve my shoulder to the side before a dagger impales the wall, barely missing me.
Darien and I back up against each other.
"What do we do?"
For once, I am at a loss for words.
"I-"
"They're a bloody mess, I can't tell my father's pirates from Julius's."
My eyes catch sight of a black tattoo on one of the men's arms.
"It's not just the pirates, there are royal guards in here too."
My eyes land on a stool at the edge of the room. "Bring me that."
Darien nods and comes back a few minutes later with the stool.
He gives me a hand up. I clear my throat.
"May I have your attention please?"
The men keep fighting.
"Hello?"
It's like I'm a ghost.
Fine, no more Miss nice princess.
"STOP IT!" I scream.
The men stop.
Somewhere a sword clatters to the floor.
I tip my chin.
"I left the castle for no more than a few days, and what do I come home to? A bloody mess of men fighting for no apparent reason."
I inhale a sharp breath and continue.
"Julius's men, your leader is currently tied to his own ship, with a gag stuffed in his mouth, and you pirate buddies are waiting for my order in the sand that runs along the kingdom. Seeing as Julius had no way of contacting you, he couldn't have possibly told you to do this. Which means you are acting of your own volition."
Murmurs run through the men. One of them speaks up.
"What have ye dun to our Cap'n?"
"I captured him and took over his ship."
More than half the men burst into laughter.
"You? A little thing like yerself captured our cap'n? Why, yer nothing more than a-"
A gunshot from Darien's pistol rings through the air, sending involuntary chills up my spine.
He comes to stand beside me. "Most of you may know who I am, Darien, Prince of the Pirates. What the princess said is right. Your captain will die soon if you don't obey her orders."
He takes a menacing step closer to them.
"You will all die soon if you don't obey her orders."
One of the royal guards steps out of the crowd.
"Princess, we didn't mean to step in. It's just, after the siege on the castle while you were gone, your mother disappeared, and the pirate king decided to take control while you were away. But, Julius didn't like that, so he sent his pirates to fight with Magnus's pirates, and we tried to stop them, sating you were the rightful ruler. And then things just got out of hand-"
I hold up my hand to stop him. "Thank you."
"Where are the rest of the guards?"
He swallows as a bead of sweat rolls down his forehead.
"Most of them fled the castle, and the rest are in the city."