The Princess of Pirates

Chapter 1 - [The Seductive Smile]

“Here, take this!” Yelled Jake, throwing a rock at his twin brother Jack.

“What, I don’t need this!” Jack yelled back.

“Yes you do, throw this at me, this is how were gonna start fighting, ok?” Jake exclaimed.

The girl, running behind them started to giggle.

“Hey, were doing this for you. Got it, Princess?” Jack said winking.

Princess Nerina of Caspian was at it again. Though most outsiders found her to be a beautiful and very sophisticated girl, her parents and friends knew the truth. She was a troublesome girl who has lived for seventeen years and she loved to do things she shouldn’t be doing.

However, something the outsiders were right about was her beauty. She was a gorgeous young girl with long, curly brown hair. She had perfect pink lips and large ocean blue eyes which stuck out because of her tan coloured skin. Not to mention her thin and tall figure.

As usual, Nerina had found away to slip past the guards and run down to the beach, her favourite spot in all of Caspian, a country known for its large and magnificent bodies of water.

Jake and Jack, her two peasant friends, were 15 year old twins with brown, tousled hair and brown eyes. They had been friends with the Princess for three years now and they have always been there to help the princess out in many ways.

Like now. Right now, they were running because they were late, at least the princess was.

When the three had arrived at the castle gate, the princess hid behind a bush. “See yeah, Princess.” Both of them said.

She bent down and kissed both of their foreheads. “Thanks again, you two. I promise I shall pay you back for your help!”

The two boys waved their hands. “There’s no need!” Jack said.

“Yup, we’re friends!” Jake added.

Nerina smiled at the two of them and they walked towards the gates. Jake and Jack walked right past the two guards, smiling at them, and when the reached a safe enough distance, they began to fight.

Hearing the ruckus, both guards ran towards them. Of course, this was part of the plan.

When the guards were gone, the princess snuck in through the castle gate.

“What’s going on here?” asked the first guard.

“This guy threw something at me!” said Jake

“Aren’t you two the same boys from yesterday?” The second asked.

“Um, no.” Jack said cautiously.

The guards rolled their eyes and walked back to the gate.

Jack and Jake chuckled, patting each other on the back.

In the meantime, the princess, who was trying to hold back her giggles, had gotten her way into the castle’s garden.

The castle of Caspian was a tremendously large place, like most castles, of course. There were many ways to get in and out and the Princess knew all of them. The easiest way, however, was through the garden.

Nerina slowly moved from bush to bush, trying to make sure no ones sees her, or the seashells and souvenirs she had brought in.

Almost there. The princess told herself.

All she had to do was find her way into the castle. From that point on, she could pretend that she was never gone.

But knowing her mother, she was probably looking for her from the moment she left.

Nerina rolled her eyes at the thought of her mother. What does she know? She thought. All she’s ever worried about it etiquette and being a princess. She should have some fun more often!

She peeked from the side of a bush and saw that the entrance was empty. “Wonderful!” She said to herself.

She got up, holding up her dress, and ran towards the entrance.

It was wonderful indeed. Especially when she bumped right into her mother.

After dragging Nerina into the throne room, Queen Nixie of Caspian started her lecture. “How many times do I have to tell you this?” She yelled. “You are a princess! You cannot run around like that! Look at you! You are a mess! What if someone caught you running around like this?”

King Seth of Caspian, and Nerina’s father, sat on his throne, with one hand on his bearded chin, watching his wife yell at his daughter. This wasn’t the first time, of course.

King Seth was a handsome man in his late forties. He had brown, curly hair and green eyes that still dazzled many women. He was tall with tan coloured skin and muscular, which made him very intimidating.

Queen Nixie was considered different. But this was mainly due to the fact that she wasn’t originally from Caspian. She had blue eyes that sparkled and black, long and silky hair. She was someone who knew what was right and wrong and always took charge and for her, family was always first.

“I don’t even know what to do anymore! You never, ever listen!” Her mother yelled.

Nerina was getting fed up with all of this. “I am 17 mother. I can handle myself—”

“Clearly not!” Her mother continued. “Maybe if you listened to me I would agree with you when you say you can handle yourself, but you’re not exactly allowing me to do so, now are you?”

Nerina looked at her father for support.

King Seth always supported his daughter if he joined the argument. Which is why Queen Nixie kept him out.

“Darling—” King Seth started.

“No! I will not hear it!” Queen Nixie yelled. She gave her daughter a look. “Return to your room. The maids will attend to you shortly.”

“Attend to me?” Nerina asked.

“The ball to celebrate your brother’s first wedding anniversary. Have you forgotten?” Her mother asked.

Oh yes. Nerina thought.

Nerina’s mother turned to the guards and signaled them to take the Princess to her room.

Nerina had always been used to celebrations like this, so she wasn’t at all excited. The only excitement she felt was probably because she would see her friends… and some boys.

Boys loved to flatter Nerina, and she loved that.

Oh, and how could she forget her brother? Of course, she was excited to see her brother, Destin. He was the reason for why she adored the sea. He was the one who told her all the stories of pirates and mermaids and Atlantis.

After getting married at the age of twenty-five, Destin left to spend time with the in-laws for a whole year. He was finally returning, and Nerina was definitely excited to see him.

After getting ready, she and her parents arrived at the celebration together. And when she saw her brother, she ran towards him. “Destin!” She called.

He turned around and smiled his beautiful smile. “Nerina!”

She hugged him tightly and kissed his cheeks. “I’ve missed you so much, brother! I’m so happy you are back.

He ran his fingers through his black hair and smiled, his green eyes sparkling just like their fathers. “I’ve missed you very much too. And I’m glad to be back!”

Nerina smiled warmly.

After their long discussion, mostly containing her mothers complaints of how much of a pain Nerina is, Nerina escaped to say hello to her best friend, Sienna.

“Oh, it feels like it’s been forever!” Sienna said as she kissed Nerina’s cheeks.

Nerina hugged her. “Why do you have to live so far?” She asked. “You could move here, with me! We could go on adventures together!”

Sienna laughed. Sienna was a pretty young girl with golden blond hair and green eyes. Her skin was light and she looked beautiful in any colour. Unlike Nerina, who looked nice in some colours, but bad in others.

Like the long, flowing, yellow dress she was wearing right now. Yellow was one of the few colours that she didn’t like to see on herself. But to make herself feel better, her hair was nicely done into a simple half ponytail and her favourite pearl barrette sparkled like it always did.

“Shall we go boy hunting?” Sienna asked, jokingly.

“Oh yes, we shall. But don’t make it to obvious. Our mothers will have a heart attack.”

Sienna laughed again.

The night was long, but thanks to the accompaniment of Sienna, it was fun. At least until her mother called her.

Nerina, whose arm was linked with Sienna’s, walked over to her mother. “Yes mother?” She asked, politely.

Her mother smiled at Sienna and then looked at Nerina. “This young man wanted to meet you.” She said with a smile.

Nerina looked at him. He was tall, with blond hair and deep blue eyes. Very handsome indeed.

He smiled sweetly at her and bowed. “Prince Dale of Aria.” He said.

Nerina bowed as well. “I am Princess Nerina of Caspian, pleasure to meet you.”

He took her free hand and kissed it. “The pleasure is mine.” He then looked up at her. “May I have the next dance?”

She looked at her best friend, who grinned and nodded. “Go ahead.”

“Oh… yes, you may.” Nerina said.

He smiled at her and she let him guide her to the rest of the dancers.

They danced together for a long time as they both got to know each other. Dales of Aria turned out to be an excellent horseback rider and a man who knew how to use a sword. But what caught Nerina’s attention was when he mentioned his families’ ship.

“Tell me more about the ship.” Nerina said right before he spun her around.

“Well, it belonged to my great uncle. Alejandro of Spain. He fought off Pirates with it.”

Now he had her full attention. “Pirates?”

He nodded. “Roberto the third was the king of the Spanish pirates.”

She nodded, enthusiastically.

“He was very terrifying… so I heard.”

And now she was thoroughly disappointed. He was very bad at telling stories. “Hmm.” She said. “That’s interesting.”

He shrugged. “The ship was given to me as a gift for my thirteenth birthday. It was a nice gift.”

“That is, indeed, an excellent gift. You must have been very happy.”

He smiled. “I was.”

He continued on, talking about himself and Nerina listened. At least until something distracted her.

She looked over Prince Dale’s shoulder and noticed a young man standing at the very back of the ballroom, which wasn’t too far from them, looking at her.

He was tall, with dark eyes and stood there, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

He wore a long black coat with large cuffs and underneath, he wore a white collared shirt that was unbuttoned, showing his chest. His black pants were a little bit dirty and were tucked into his large bucket topped boots and tied around his waist was a red coloured sash. It looked like he had long black hair, but she couldn’t be sure because of the large tricorn hat.

It took her a second to realize who he looked like.

And the second she realized, her eyes widened.

A pirate!

The man seemed to have noticed her realization. Because when he did, he smiled.

It wasn’t a normal smile though.

It was a seductive smile.

So seductive that it made her whole body itch.

Her heart skipped a beat and her cheeks burned. This was such an abnormal feeling for her, she had never felt this way before.

Suddenly he straightened up and turned to leave.

Her heart started to race as she pulled away from Prince Dale’s arms. “Excuse me.” She said, ignoring his shock.

She quickly walked over to where the man was standing and looked around, she then noticed a door.

She rushed over to the glass door, flung it open and stared as the wind blew into her face.

It was a balcony.

She walked over to the railing and leaned over to look at the floor. There was no one there.

Not to mention the fact that no normal person would have survived a jump from this high.

She shook her head, franticly trying to figure out what happened.

But she couldn’t think of any explanation.

She also couldn’t get that gorgeous seductive smile out of her head.