Yay next chapter! Personally, I think this one's kind of short and boring, but we get to see Charlene for the first time and get to see more Maybeck.

I'm not going to say any more so I don't give anything away! Enjoy!

Chapter 8: Name Your Price

The three day journey was a blur, but the captain blamed that on the amount of rum consumed by him, his crew and his three new friends (Shark Fin, Phildweeb and Dillboy).

On the fourth day, everything had gone smoothly: docking the ship, finding the palace, even scoring a meeting with the queen herself. But something was still bothering him, and he couldn't figure out what. Becoming a pirate had always been a boyhood dream of his, but after the awesome parties and becoming captain, he still felt empty inside. Something was missing, and no amount of rum would fix that.

The Floridian capital, Tallahassee, was right off of the coast. The royal castle was cool-looking and all, but the inside blew the captain's mind.

The main hall was lined with large pearl white Greek columns, each had a purple banner with a golden sun draped around them. There was a purple carpet running from the door to the throne. Standing beside the throne was a young woman with blue eyes and long blonde hair, currently braided down her back. She was wearing a simple long-sleeved pink dress that extended to the floor.

And Captain Maybeck couldn't take his eyes off of her.

Upon seeing the group, the woman turned and sat down on the throne. They weren't lying about her being smoking hot, the captain thought to himself.

"So the rumors are true!" The queen exclaimed. "Prince Finnegan is alive and has come to ask for my help." Her smile blew the captain away.

"Yes your majesty." Finn bowed to her and the others followed.

"Well, well, well I must say, you are quite the cute little bunch! A rather odd bunch, but yet precious." The queen got up off of her throne and approached the group who were standing in a straight line. "Now, what kind of host would I be if I didn't introduce myself properly."

She stood about five feet in front of Finn and curtsied. "I am Queen Charlene. How may I be of assistance to you and your companions Finnegan?"

"First, call me Finn."

"Done." She had such a warm and loving smile. Captain Maybeck was having a hard time concentrating on anything but her.

"Second, could we…uh…talk more in private." The captain tore his gaze away from the queen for a second to realize that the room was busy with servants.

"Of course. This way." The queen walked down the halls of the huge castle until she stopped in front of two large wooden doors. She opened the doors to reveal a large sitting room.

"How about Finn and I go and talk over in my bedroom, just next door, you know, royal to royal?" She winked at Finn and all the captain could think of was ways to get her attention. "And the rest of you can make yourselves comfortable. I'll send for a servant to get you some food or something to drink. Please, sit. Enjoy yourselves! We shouldn't be long."

The queen ushered Finn out of the room and immediately Dillard and Amanda collapsed into two of the many chairs in the room. Philby and Willa walked around the room, admiring all of its works of art. Captain Maybeck, on the other hand, would have never admitted this to any of the others, but he knew in that moment, that he was falling for Queen Charlene. And falling hard.

Queen Charlene had a weird effect on Finn. One second he'd be swooning over her, the next he'd remember Amanda and feel awkward and out of place.

"So tell me Finn, where have you been all these years? Maleficent has ruled your kingdom for some time now." She sat down on the bed and patted the spot next to her, signaling him to sit there.

"I was living in the woods." He sat down next to her, still a little confused as to why he was the only one allowed to talk to her at the current moment.

"All by yourself? That must have been difficult. Especially knowing that you were the only survivor."

"Well, not really. Willa, I mean Lady Isabel—"

"Let's not talk about your companions. Let's talk about why you really came here." Queen Charlene placed her hand on top of his, causing Finn's heart to skip a beat.

"I…uh…need an army to help get rid of Maleficent."

She rolled her eyes at him and took her hand away. "I figured that much. I want to know what you're willing to give me in return."

Finn got over his silly crush for a few seconds and boldly said "name your price."

One thing Captain Maybeck hated was waiting. He couldn't stop thinking about Queen Charlene, but every time he thought about her, his memories of Jess would come flooding back.

"You're awfully quiet captain." The captain looked up and saw Willa standing in front of his chair.

"Oh, uh…just thinking."

Willa eyed him curiously then sat down beside him, a small glass filled with water in hand.

"I'm not going to try to pry anything out of you Terry. But just know that if you need someone to talk to or someone to listen, I'm always here."

"Why would you do that for me?"

"I've been told I'm a good listener." She smiled. "Plus, if we're going to fight together, I might as well try to be friends with you."

The captain smiled back. "We got off on the wrong foot Willa." He held out his hand for her to shake. "I'm Terry, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Willa, and the pleasure's all mine." She shook his hand.

There was a few seconds of awkward silence after Willa took her hand back before the captain spoke up.

"You know Willa, I've given everybody a nickname in the group, except for you."

"Is it important that everyone has a nickname?"

"Not really. I just realized that."

"Well why don't you work on that? I don't want to be left out." She winked at him in a friendly way.

"Now, we wouldn't want that." He nudged her playfully.

"Willa! You've got to see this!" Philby waved her over to come see something on one of the tables across the room.

Willa stood up, but before leaving the captain, she turned around.

"I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to spit it out." The captain looked up at her, completely confused. "I know that the whole captain thing is a charade, that you're really a nice guy on the inside. I can tell that you're hurting on the inside." Willa stepped closer and lowered the volume of her voice. "Whoever she was, she must have been something special."

"How did you—?"

She placed her hand on his knee and whispered "I can just tell" before going over to where Philby was standing.

The captain sat there in shock. How had she seen through me so fast? I've only known her for four days.

The queen eyed him, studying him. Finn couldn't help but feel awkward and out of place. He really liked Amanda, but he couldn't keep his eyes off of Queen Charlene. The more he thought about it, the more he got confused.

Finn was snapped out of his thoughts by the queen clasping her hands together.

"I've got it!" She stood up, facing Finn. "Now let me say all of it before you say no."

"Okay?" Now Finn felt even more confused than before.

"See, here in Florida, I've got a problem. My parents died prematurely at the hands of an assassin, leaving me to be queen at the age of twenty-two. In any other kingdom, this would be okay. But since my parents did not force a marriage upon me, I have no husband and therefore no heir. If I were to die before that happens, the kingdom would go into turmoil, and Maleficent would be able to take over Florida as well."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"I'm getting there! So if I let you use my army to fight off Maleficent, you'll surely win. When that happens, you'll be named king, but you'll also have no heir. I am correct in assuming that, right?"

"Yes…"

"And Florida and California are two of the biggest and most powerful kingdoms in the known world…"

"Yeah? So what?"

The queen rolled her eyes. "If they were to somehow merge, they'd be unstoppable."

"How would they merge? They're so far apart! That's impossible!"

"Not physically, Finn." She rolled her eyes again. "With a marriage alliance."

"A—" Finn gulped. "A…marriage alliance?"

"Yes!" The queen slapped a huge smile on her face. "You and I get married! We can easily get two male heirs. The oldest can inherit California, and the younger can inherit Florida. The two would only be merged for a short time! It's a win-win situation for both of us!"

"Are you asking me to marry you, Queen Charlene?"

"I'm proposing an deal. I give you the full support of my army, you marry me and I give you two male heirs and control of both kingdoms until your death."

Finn couldn't believe what was going on. So many thoughts were swirling inside his head.

Where does that leave my relationship with Amanda? What will happen to her and the others? Do I really want to jump into an arranged marriage like this? There are so many things that could go wrong with that! But having both kingdoms would provide extra security. She does have a point, it kind of is a win-win, but it seems too good to be true.

"So, Prince Finnegan of California, what do you say? Do we have ourselves a deal?"

Oh dang, we've got ourselves a real cliffhanger! What do y'all think Finn will do? Does he take Charlene's deal or does he turn her down and stay with Amanda? I guess you'll have to wait and see!

Review! I love reading them! :)