Here we are! Chapter number nine!

If you've read Dark Passage, I think you'll enjoy this chapter more than the others (spoiler alert!)

I'm not going to hold y'all from the story any longer. Time to see what Finn does! Enjoy!

Chapter 9: Anything Except My Hand

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

Finn stared at her blankly. He knew had no other choice. He had to do what was best for the kingdom. This was his first real decision as future king. He knew this was one of many difficult decisions to come.

"Yes."

Finn regretted his decision almost immediately.

The doors of the sitting room opened and Amanda saw the queen on the arm of Finn.

"I've got great news!" The queen exclaimed excitedly. "There's to be a ball tonight, and all of you will be our honored guests!"

"Why the celebration?" Philby asked. Amanda kept her eyes on Finn, but he wouldn't return her gaze. To her, he looked empty inside. Oh no. What have you done Finn?

"Finn and I have come to an agreement! In return for receiving the full support of my army, he and I will join our kingdoms together through marriage."

Amanda felt like she was going to be sick.

For the next half hour or so, Amanda didn't pay much attention to anything. The queen left shortly to start the preparations for the ball. Willa and Philby had talked to Finn for a few minutes, but when Willa stormed off in the middle of the conversation, Philby followed after her. The captain had mumbled something about needing more rum and left, presumably to find some.

That left Amanda and Finn together in the sitting room. The silence haunted them for another half hour or so before Finn finally spoke up.

"Amanda, I…I wanted to say no." He put his head in his hands. "I…I just couldn't. I can't express how sorry I am."

"Don't be sorry." Amanda couldn't lift her gaze off of the floor. Looking at him would be too painful. "You and I both knew that you have to marry somebody with royal blood."

He stifled a laugh. "That was going to be the first thing I changed when I became king."

Amanda turned to him, confusion written all over her face. This was the first time she had heard of this, but Finn continued without looking at her.

"I…I want you to be by my side at all times Amanda. I…I can't do this without you. Any of this."

Amanda felt the tears streaming down her cheeks, but didn't even bother to wipe them away.

"Then why did you agree to marry her?" She could hear the anger in her voice and she hoped he could too.

"It's the only way to get a big enough army to defeat Maleficent." Finn looked up at Amanda for the first time since he entered the room with Queen Charlene about an hour ago. "I'm going to talk her out of it, I promise. I'm not going to marry her. I'll give her whatever she wants, Amanda. Anything except my hand in marriage."

He placed a hand on Amanda's and she immediately drew her hand away.

"You promised her you were going to marry her, Finn." She stood up. "You did what you had to for the good of the kingdom."

Amanda walked over to the door and pulled it open, but stopped herself from leaving. She knew that once she walked out that door, Finn would never be hers again. After her gained his throne, he would marry Queen Charlene and be the king of two powerful kingdoms, and he would forget all about her.

"Amanda, please." Finn pleaded with her one last time.

But Amanda had had enough. She knew it was too good to be true. She shouldn't have put down her barriers for him.

Amanda walked out the door and slammed it shut. Her relationship with Finn was over. Forever.

"Come on Willa, let me see!" Queen Charlene begged her new friend. "I'm sure you look stunning!"

Willa hesitated before walking out into the queen's bedroom.

"I love it!" She said. Willa was currently wearing one of the queen's dresses for the ball. It was a yellow dress that extended to the floor. Willa could hardly breathe due to the tight corset wrapped around her stomach.

"I can't breathe Charlene."

"Of course you can sweetie! You'd be dead otherwise. Now, we need to find the perfect necklace to top it off." The queen crossed the room to an open drawer full of jewelry.

"This is nice, Charlene, but completely unnecessary."

"Oh nonsense! I'm happy I finally have someone to talk to! And plus, I saw the way that soldier boy looks at you. Trust me, he won't be able to take his eyes off of you tonight."

"You mean Philby? I doubt that."

"Oh please, Willa. Trust me on this one." She found the necklace she was looking for it and placed it around Willa's necklace. "Simply stunning."

There was a knock on the door. The queen went over, opened the door and smiled.

"It's for you, Willa." She turned back to the person at the door. "She looks beautiful!"

Willa walked over to the door and saw Philby standing there in a new Florida military uniform: navy blue with a small golden sun on the pocket. She couldn't help at smile at how great he looked.

"Wow, just wow" was all he said.

"Wow as in good or bad?"

He looked her over one more time, kissed her on the cheek and whispered "great" into her ear. He held out his arm for her to take. "I think it's time we head over to the ball, if that's okay with you."

"Of course." She took his arm. "Thanks Charlene. I'll see you at the ball."

The queen said told her goodbye and went back into her room. Philby started heading down the hall towards the ballroom.

"So I see you've switched teams on me." Willa joked.

Philby looked down at his new uniform. "Oh this? Surprisingly, they didn't have any old royal Californian uniforms." He joked. "I figured wearing this one for the night couldn't hurt."

"So what do you think about Finn getting engaged while we're here?"

"It was smart strategically, but I have a feeling he didn't want to do it."

"Amanda looked devastated, poor thing. I really thought those two would end up together. It's the perfect love story."

Philby raised an eyebrow.

"Oh come on! He saved her from being burned at the stake and then when he takes back his throne, they get married and she becomes queen. It's just perfect."

"What about the laws about royalty only marrying royalty?" Philby asked. He was curious about what her answer would be. Since she was technically royalty, this would be a huge obstacle in their relationship if they ever chose to take it to the next step.

"I think it's stupid. I think people should be able to choose who they marry." Philby couldn't help but smile at her answer. He was glad she felt the same way. "I hope Charlene lets Finn out of the deal."

"Why does it have to be her to let him out of the deal?"

"Because he always sticks to his promises. Finn won't back out of the deal because he'll consider that breaking a promise and he couldn't live with himself if he did that." She answered his question in a monotone voice, completely void of emotion.

If Philby didn't know any better, he'd say she was still mad at Finn for the fight they had earlier that day in the sitting room. Philby knew in that moment that Finn's inability to break promises would be his fatal flaw, but he didn't say anything to Willa about it.

"Well let's hope for Amanda's sake that the queen lets him out of the deal."

"One can only hope."

Amanda didn't want to go to the ball. She didn't want to watch Finn dance around with his new betrothed: the beautiful Queen Charlene. She didn't want to have to pretend like everything was okay when on the inside she was anything but okay.

She also couldn't shake the feeling that she should have seen this coming. It was foolish for her to believe that he wouldn't marry somebody of royal blood. It's the law. You should have known better Amanda, she scolded herself.

The door to her room opening brought her out of her thoughts.

Captain Maybeck stood in the doorway. "Can I come in?"

Amanda nodded and the captain came in and shut the door quietly behind him. He sat down beside her on the bed.

"Did you find any rum?"

He shook his head. "You look like you feel about as crappy as I do right now." Except he didn't say crappy.

"How would you know how I feel?"

"I know what it feels like to have somebody you love ripped away from you." He glanced at Amanda. Oh my gosh, he remembers me. She decided to act as if she had no clue.

"You do?"

The captain looked at Amanda skeptically then turned his gaze to the floor. "Yeah."

Amanda almost let out a sigh of relief. The last thing she wanted was for him to remember her, or worse Jess. She was convinced his life would be better if he had just forgotten about her.

Amanda thought for a second, then realized this had nothing to do with Jess at all, even if he did remember her.

"Is this about Queen Charlene?"

"What would make you think that?" Amanda could see him blushing.

"Oh my! It is about her!"

"Is not." He crossed his arms, like a child pouting.

"Is too!" She poked him. "Don't lie to me!"

He gave her a very intimidating stare that gave Amanda chills up her spine. "You're not going to stop until I tell you, are you?"

"Nope." She crossed her arms, mocking the captain and widened her smile.

"You can be annoying, I hope you realize that."

"Start talking captain."

He glared at her. "I don't think I should—"

"Now."

"Look here missy. I ain't gonna start talking if you're gonna have an attitude about it."

"Fine then. I'll just leave you to drown in your misery then." Amanda stood up and almost made it to the door, before he spoke up.

"Fine! Get back here."

Amanda walked back over and sat back down beside him again.

"Before I became a pirate, there was this girl, and she was…she was something special." He paused before continuing. Amanda figured he was thinking about her. "Then about three years ago, Maleficent's army raided the city and she disappeared."

Amanda had to stop her jaw from dropping to the floor. He did remember Jess.

"And then I thought becoming a pirate, I wouldn't have to worry about it. But then we come here, and I see Queen Charlene. And wow…"

He glanced over at Amanda. "Why are you looking at me like that Amanda? It's creeping me out."

"I…you…and…oh no." She scooted further away from him.

"What?"

"That girl…from your past…who disappeared in the raids…"

"Yeah?"

"That…that was my sister…Jess."

His eyes widened, and she knew that he was starting to remember her.

"I knew I'd seen you before!" He stood up. "Why didn't you say anything before? Where's Jess? Do you know what happened to her?"

Amanda looked down at her hands, trying not to cry. "I know as much as you do. I honestly would rather just not talk about it, if that's okay with you."

He nodded. Amanda could feel a few tears escape her eyes, fleeing down her cheeks.

Before she knew it, the captain pulled her into a hug.

"I miss her too," he whispered into her ear.

He let go of her and she wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her dress.

In the distance, they could hear the sounds of trumpets announcing the arrival of important people inside the ballroom.

"I really don't want to go in there." Amanda sat back down on the bed.

"You really like Shark Fin, don't you?"

She nodded. "I should have known better. He's going to be king. We could never be together."

She could feel him studying her. After a few minutes, he held out his hand to her.

"How about I get the queen away from him for a while and you can say a formal goodbye."

"Are you sure about that? I can tell that you have serious feelings for her. That wouldn't be good for you."

"Eh. I can flirt it up, maybe steal a kiss or two. Then I'll be good. You, on the other hand, need closure."

Amanda studied carefully him for the first time. She could tell that he wasn't going to be okay to lose another girl like this. But she could also tell that he wasn't going to budge on this.

"Fine." She took his hand and got up. Together they walked down to the ballroom. Amanda pushed back the tears and decided that the captain was right: she needed the closure.

Jess heard footsteps outside the throne room and hurried to hide behind a pillar, pulling her black cape very close to her so that it wouldn't show.

The door opened and Maleficent walked in with the Lady Grimhilde and another woman that Jess had never seen in the castle before.

"With this journal, we'll have the key to unleashing his spirit." The unknown woman said with an accent Jess had never heard before. Jess figured she had to be from one of the island kingdoms. "He'll be in out debt, and we'll be in control of him."

"Where is the journal being held now?" Maleifcent asked her.

"In the royal treasury room." The unknown woman smiled and Jess could see she was missing a tooth. "It will be safe there until we need it."

"When is the time to use it? We can't wait around forever, especially with Prince Finnegan on the move!" Lady Grimhilde said a little bit too loud.

"Soon, my dear. We're waiting on our spies to report to us. We need to know which island kingdom they went to before we can send a team out to kill them."

Jess' eyes went wide. Maleficent has spies in all of the kingdoms?

"Do you have any idea of which one he would go to?" The unknown woman asked.

"I believe the kingdom of Florida would be his best bet. That new queen of theirs will be very welcoming to his cause." Maleficent sat down on the throne with both women standing in front of her.

"So what purpose does the journal serve?" Lady Grimhilde asked.

"It'll give us the steps to unleashing his spirit. We cannot do it without the journal." The unknown woman turned toward Maleficent. "We can't wait forever. The sooner the better."

"We'll be doing it soon. Just be patient."

Jess waited and listened to the rest of the conversation, but nothing else seemed to be as important as the first part.

When the room was empty, she hurried to the secret passage behind the throne and ran down to see the real queen.

Upon telling her about the journal, the queen leaned back in her chair. Jess could tell how worried she was.

"My dear nephew." She muttered under her breath.

"What should I do ma'am?"

Jess could see the queen thinking out a plan in her head.

"I'd wait until the news of the prince's location comes." She leaned forward and continued in a whisper. "And then I'd steal the journal and go find him."

Jess to the rescue! So what did y'all think? Thanks for all the great reviews so far! Please keep the reviews coming! I love reading them!