Pirate Princess

Chapter 14: Layover

Alaraec returned to the crowded tables determined to have fun and to do dabble in a little espionage while he was at it. "How'd ya end up a pirate, eh mate?" asked one of Caelron's crew in a slurred speech.

A pint of ale was set in front of him by Caelron as he answered, "Well, I'd always wanted to be one since I was a kid," remembering a little too late to adopt the coarse language of theses seafarers. One of the Valiant's crew choked on a mouthful of beverage, nearly emptying the contents of his mouth.

"That's a miserable ambition, didn't your Papa try to make you a baker or summat?" asked Caelron, "I was born to be a carpenter, or so my Mam said. Damn near broke 'er 'eart when I turned pirate."

Alec effected a gulp of ale, but in actual fact too a small sip. He realised then that practically all conversations among the pirates had stopped and everyone was waiting for his reply. Taken unawares, he began to improvise as he went along. "Well, uh, me Papa was a hostler. T'was only natural that I became a stable boy and worked me way up." Pausing to recollect his thoughts he added, "Am a mean horse rider if I may say so me self," thinking that a pirate would boast about his achievements no matter how small. "Pity there ain't any horses t'be ridin' on a ship, eh?" He asked, hoping to steer the conversation away from himself.

"There ain't no horses, but we be guessin' ye ridin' somethin' else all together now, ain't ya?" came a lascivious voice from the far corner.

Now it was Alec's turn to choke although he smothered it most effectively. "If you mean the Captain, I'd be more than happy to assure you that our relationship is strictly professional," he replied with much fervour, forgetting in his indignation to use the pirate's slang.

"Ye mean she's a hard filly to break," supplied Caelron. "Can't be 'elped though, only one man's ever ridden 'er. I fer one would like to break 'er back!" This lewd comment invited hoots of laugher and piercing whistles.

Well, that innuendo was a bit more blunt than at Court, thought Alaraec wryly.

After a short time, he somehow began to enjoy the easy camaraderie of these hardened pirates and their company reminded him of the days he spent at the Marloven Hess Military Academy as a youth on the brink of manhood. Out of the corner his eye he spied his four Commanders socializing with some pirates with relative ease and came to the conclusion that for one to be a leader, besides having a cool head in times of crisis, one must first gain the respect of those who follow him, in a bid to ensure their absolute loyalty. A fellowship of camaraderie such as this must be maintained in the military for the effective achievement of a common goal. This was a lesson his parents had taught him a long time ago, but which he, as a young hothead, had not entirely believed in.

The inkers arrived a short while later and Alec found himself strangely fascinated with the tools of their trade. A simple sharp implement comprising of a wooden handle with a needle of sorts secured to it with twine and a pot of black ink. It was against the rules of the Remalnan military to have a conspicuous tattoo for it would compromise the dignity of the Royal forces. Commander Stamford was in the midst of stripping off his shirt when he caught Alec's reproving eye. Sheepishly, he began to pull his shirt back on, only to have Commander Keriam stop him with a murmur before strolling over to where Alec was seated.

"It'll do no harm, would it sir?" he asked before a boyish grin spread over his face, "I've always wanted to get one," he added a little wistfully.

The four Commanders were of an age as Alaraec and he understood the simple desire to be tattooed just for the sake of rebelling against the conventional idea that a tattooed man was a man of crime. Was it not true that the Ancients had rituals involving tattooing to initiate boys into manhood? Besides, it would not hurt to seem a little more intimidating, he thought. "Go ahead," he said to Commander Keriam before adding impulsively, "I might be getting one myself."

Deciding on where to get his tattoo and what it should depict was no easy task as he soon found out. Among themselves the Commanders got a panther, fox, shooting star and an eighteen-pointed sun on their chests, backs and arms in all. Soon it was Alareac's turn. He peeled off his shirt and sat before the inker. "Well, where d'ya want it?" asked the gap-toothed old man. Alec scoured his body for a suitable position that few, if any, would ever get to see.

Finally, he indicated the edge of his hipbone. "Some crustacean will do."

"Ya need balls o' steel the get it done that close the yer bones. How 'bout over to the front?" the inker gestured towards the front of his pelvis, "Slightly tilted to a side, the size of me palm?"

Alec balked at the prospect of so large a tattoo, but the other occupants of the room were quick to disagree and he heard comments ranging from, "It's his first one, eh? Give 'im a big one I say!" to "How 'bout a seahorse, eh, rider?"

He would have protested, but the crew of the Fearless were watching him with glints of a challenge in their eyes. Even those of the Royal Navy had looks of expectation on their faces, as if wondering whether their prince had the courage – or as they say here, the balls – to undergo the inker's manipulation.

Caelron gave him another pint of ale as the sharp point first pricked his skin. "Drink this, it'll help," he said. Alec clenched his teeth to stifle his yelps of pain and admonished himself immediately after for displaying such weakness while feeling his abdominal muscles tighten involuntarily each time his skin was pierced. Drinking the ale did indeed help, as he later found out, and a few liberal mouthfuls were all that was needed to put the pain from his mind. All the while, Caelron and some of his crew kept his occupied with conversation that he was more than happy to participate in. Anything to numb the pain.

What seemed like an eternity later, it was done. While he had been embarrassed beyond measure at having to unlace his trousers in front of dozens of people, he had to admit with a strange detachment that the tattoo of a seahorse did make him feel a little manlier than before. He laughed quietly to himself and ran a finger experimentally over his tender skin before hiking up his trousers and lacing it back up.

&&&

The lone candle flame on the small desk in her rented room in the White-Cap Tavern was already beginning to gutter, but Ezra still pored over her many scribbled plans, written on discarded pieces of paper she had been given by "Baron" Capstan. Every one of them was a course of action, regarding how to go about getting information of the whereabouts of the Norsundrian pirates. Where was that infuriating Prince when she needed him? She stifled a yawn and stretched her arms above her head, arching her back when she heard a muffled knock on the tapestry-door. "Enter," she said, still stretching languorously.

Alec pushed aside the threadbare tapestry, the quick movement causing the ache in his head to flare suddenly, and saw a slightly disheveled Captain Fyn flick her braids over her shoulder. He gave her a small smile, taking care not to drop the glowglobe he held in his hand as he walked to the desk. Once he blew out the sputtering candle—or what was left of it—Alaraec produced a small stand and placed it on the table before putting the glowglobe atop it. "I thought you might need this," he said.

She ignored the gift, although he was right, she did need it. "And where have you been all this while?" questioned Ezra archly.

"I'm sorry, but I lost track of the time. The fellows wouldn't let me leave the party once we struck up a game of cards. If it'll make you feel better, why don't I take over while you catch a few winks?" he asked apologetically and with such utter sincerity in his gaze that Ezra nearly let her jaw drop. Why wasn't he picking yet another fight?

The bed in the corner was getting increasingly tempting, but Ezra fought the urge to yawn and shook her head. The beads in her hair to clacked together noisily. "No, it's all right. We've got to get this done as soon as possible. I've already come up with a few possible ideas, but none of them seem very useable." She gestured towards the sheaves of parchment scattered all over the table.

Alec picked one up and read it. It hurt to think; so much so, even, that he could hardly form a coherent thought. But he had only drunk a little, sipping as his father had taught him to do. Why, then, the dizziness? He pursed his lips together in an attempt to clear his thoughts as his eyes flicked from one end of the parchment to the other. "An information network? Collating any useful information in the next few days before planning a course of action." He looked at her for confirmation, which she gave with a short nod. "Sounds like the espionage that goes on in the political arena. But, besides the Fearless' crew, we have little other human resource that can take part in such an operation without raising suspicion. Have you considered what to do about that?" He arched an eyebrow in question.

"Of course I've considered that!" said Ezra with a little undisguised irritation. "I figured we could make use of Caelron's crew, and your sailors can loosen some tongues in the taprooms by plying other pirates with drink. A good drinking party is a great way to loosen tongues. I'm sure you'll be able to finance that little foray. Or, forays, depending on how long it takes to get what we need."

"I should. If not, I can send a letter home and ask for more funds. I'll say that it's to pay off an informant. In fact, you could already say I've started downstairs tonight." He dropped the parchment onto the table.

"Don't we need to discuss this with the rest of the Royal Four?" Ezra could not believe that he was - in a way - following her instructions without question.

"Is there a need? This is a sound course of action." He paused, "Unless there is a problem?"

"No, no problem! Why would there be a problem?" She was babbling. Not wishing to maintain eye contact with her now strangely obedient First Mate, Ezra headed for the washbasin and splashed some cool water onto her face. The Prince stood at the door and held open the tapestry by the time she had finished. Ezra strode through the doorway without a word, sensing him follow and move up nearly beside her, as much as the narrow hallway would allow.

Ezra had just gone a few steps when she saw the Prince start to weave out of the corner of her eye. Turning, she found him bracing himself against the wall. "Are you drunk?"

He groaned and put a hand to his forehead. "No, but I feel dizzy. I drank only a little. I don't understand why my head hurts."

She caught him by the shoulders as he stumbled in the dim hallway. "Who plied you with drink? I mean, literally gave you the cup to drink out of?"

"Caelron."

"I think he's drugged you."

Alaraec could not for the life of him fathom why Caelron would do such a thing. Perhaps it was just a joke. Of course, if he'd been thinking clearly, he thought that he might be able to come up with a few more answers. Before he could reply, Ezra draped his arm over her shoulders and heaved him down the stairs. "Caelron!" she shouted. Alaraec winced in sympathy for his ears, and for the young captain of the Crusader. "What are you playing at?"

The silence that greeted her when she led Alaraec into the taproom was deafening. Caelron swung his long legs out from under the table and over the bench he was sitting on, casually coming to his feet, and shrugged his shoulders carelessly. "The lads and I were just having a lil' fun with the fella. There's no harm done. Just a couple of exotic tea leaves; nothing he can't handle, I'm sure."

By now, Ezra was practically supporting Alaraec's full weight as his knees weakened and his vision swam. "Bear," she grunted. Uncle Bear moved in to assume her burden before she collapsed under it.

"Now," she said once she was relieved of the Prince's weight, "what exactly have you done to my first mate?"

"Nothing too terrible, Ezranya, my love," Caelron assured her with a slight grin and a roll of his eyes. "He'll have quite the headache in the morning, and he may even regret the tattoo he chose to get, but he'll be no worse for wear."

"You gave him a tattoo?" She looked back at the Prince, slumped against Bear's side. "Where? I don't see anything."

"It's not in a place for a lady to look."

Ezra's eyes first went wide, and then she shut them tight, trying to get the sudden, unwanted image out of her mind. It brought with it certain completely uncomfortable, entirely too personal questions with it that she did not want the answers to.

Caelron laughed riotously. "Not quite as far down as you're thinking, Ezra. It is simply under the bottom half of his shirt. It wouldn't be too scandalous for either of you if he was to lift his shirt in order for you to see it."

Ezra was blushing furiously. She did not want to have a conversation about removing someone's shirt, or him removing his own shirt for her, with Caelron, about the Prince or anyone else; and especially not with Bear—who was practically her father—in the same room.

"I am leaving now. Don't do anything like this to a member of my crew again, Caelron. You'd better consider yourself lucky if I don't leave this port without you." She turned her back on Caelron and the other members of the party to face Bear and the Prince. "Bear, find…Alec… a room for the night so that he can sleep off whatever Caelron gave him."

"Ehh, we have a small problem with that, Ezra," Bear said, a wry, sheepish smile creeping up. "With what ye spent on the supplies, and what we paid for the drinks and the taproom, we've run out of money. And Baron Capstan has already gone to bed, so we won't be borrowing any tonight. I'd start a tab, but the bartender an' everyone else's gone t' cot, bed, or hammock for the night."

"Well then let him sleep in with you."

"I'm staying at the party." He shrugged. "I didn't bother t' get a room. I figured it most likely I'd fall asleep sittin' up in here."

Ezra stood next to Bear and hissed up at him. "Then put him in with one of the other men."

"Don't think any of 'em would welcome that, do you?"

She had the urge to stamp her foot and pout, or slug her mentor. Neither would get her out of what Bear was implying.

"Look, princess, I wouldn't even consider it if he was halfway in his senses. As it is, he'll be out by the time his head hits the pillow."

"I'm still awake now," Alaraec pointed out, if a bit groggily, "and I'm not deaf. I don't want to put you out of your room, Captain. I'll just stay here, and sleep against the wall. If it's good enough for the rest of the men, it'll be good enough for me."

"No." Ezra shook her head. "I don't trust that Caelron gave you whatever he did 'just in fun.' I'd wager a fair bit that he's trying to loosen your tongue and find out about you, or me, or any other thing that he wants," she said, leaving out the bit concerning their mission. "No…much as I hate to admit it, it looks like you'll be coming with me." She took in a big breath and huffed it out. "Oh well. I wasn't done with my work, anyway. Come, Bear. Bring him."

"Good night, my dear Ezranya," Caelron called from the floor. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do. And good night to you too, rider!"

She didn't even turn around to acknowledge his existence.

&&&

A/N: This chapter is truly a collaborative effort. I wrote the first half and EG wrote the second half. We both had half our creative cells left, what with me rotting away at home from chicken pox and EG studying hard. Put those 2 remaining halves of creative cells together and you get a creative masterpiece! Sorry for the self praise.

What do you guys think of this chapter? We didn't plan on writing what Alec did in the taproom at first and how he got his tattoo, but I got curious and dragged EG in with me. He's got one sexy bod I tell ya!

I'm sure you're already adoring us for the fantastic cliffy already! EG's wonderful idea. You just know something is going to happen in that bedroom right? Well, I believe you'll be in for a surprise. We're evil.

Chapter 16 is completed. EG edited it and said it made her cry. I added on to it due to the little voice in my head pestering me, and sent it back to her for editing. We'll see how that turns out.

I'll be going back to school next Monday, so expect updates to be less frequent. I'm targeting an update every fortnight. As you can see, it hasn't been a fortnight since I updated with chapter 13. I'm just feeling nice today. EG has just started on chapter 17 anyway, let's give her a little breather. Deadlines aren't a fanfic author's best friend.

P.S Just curious, do you guys think this fic would make a good piece of original fiction? EG and I sure think so! If possible, we'd change the names that need to be changed, add in more subplots that we may or may not thought of yet, and be novelists in our own right. I might be dreaming too big, but hey, its better to dream the impossible so that if you fall short of your target at least you'd have attained the best of the possible right?

Thanks to all Reviewers:

VioletIvy: We'll have to discuss your suggestion. EG and I have slightly different ideas about what Ezra should do after this. Mine is more similar to yours. But we both believe that the main part of the sequel should be set in court for the sole fact that we like court! Adventure on the high seas is fine and all but let's make her feel like a real princess for once yeah? It'd help that Alec would be more in his element at Athanarel. Maybe then she'd see him for the nice guy that he is.

Trina-k: EG would like me to say that we're doing our best to make them compatible. We started off this fic wanting them to end up together! Hopefully, you don't think Caleron is a bad guy at this point because he isn't. He's just watching his own back.

Nebulia: Thank EG for that hilarious line. I personally have a soft spot for calling it a 'manfinger' after reading Summers at Castle Auburn. If you like sexual innuendo continue reading! There's more to come in chapters 15 and 16.

We're reaching the big 100! Keep those reviews coming in and we'll keep these chapters coming out. You know what to do.

FS&EG

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