The Pirate Princess
Chapter 1
Gan Ning stood at the top the mast of his ship, Heaven Wrath, looking at the woman sitting on the bow. She wore loose linen pants like he did, and a wide belt stitched with hundreds of bells. Her wild black hair was tied back with a headband that had three tiny black bells sewn onto it. She turned and stood, her small bare feet stepping lightly over the wood before leaping up into the air and landing on the deck, turning until she had to lean on the mast for support. All who looked upon her face agreed that she had to be one of the most beautiful women in all of Asia, with her small mouth, button nose and wide forehead. Even her eyes, which were grey and sightless, were beautiful in their emptiness. She fingered one of the bells on her belt and looked upward. She knew he was up there, watching her like he always did, ever since they were young and had taken vows that bound them as siblings.
"Gan Ning, come talk to me." She called, her voice strong and clear "We won't be in Wu's territory for at least two more hours, so you can stop trying to be impressive."
Gan Ning laughed and jumped down, landing with a thud and a jingling of the bells around his neck. He slung a muscular tattooed arm over his younger sister and leaned on her, making her groan and jab him with her elbow.
"No fair doing that, Gan Ning! You're twice as big as me!"
"Ai Rong, you'll just have to get bigger. You'll like these people, I promise. Well," he thought about the cocky Sun Ce and the cool attitude of Sun Jian "They are all good people, anyway."
"Tell me there are girls that aren't whores there."
Gan Ning laughed loudly, earning him a glare from Ai Rong. He remembered that he had taken her to the pleasure district in Wei's capital city, leaving the then twelve year old with the madam of one of the establishments until he came back. Apparently in six years, she still hadn't forgiven him.
"Yep. No whores in the palace."
"PALACE?! I don't even know what's fashionable in Wu! What do you expect me to wear?"
"Whatever you have. You've never worried about dressing up before."
"I've never been in a palace before!"
She threw her hands up in defeat and walked away, stomping her way below deck. He listened until he couldn't hear her bells before chuckling again. This was going to be fun…