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“…You may now kiss the princess- “
“NOOO!!” Princess Arin yelled, waking himself up. He sat in an upright position, bracing his arms tight to his chest. His hair was a mess, hanging out from the bun he had put it in the night before, and sticking to his sweat covered forehead. He held a breath, waiting. Wide eyes roaming around the room he was in, he paused for a minute or two before he sighed out in relief, “Oh thank god.” He huffed.
For the past week, Princess Arin has had these nightmares, all of them consisted of the same thing; marriage. This was his parents fault. They’ve been “secretly” setting up an arranged marriage for him for weeks now, nearly months. Though they weren’t doing a very good job to keep it a secret, Arin had walked in while they were looking at some wedding dresses, and the maid scrambled to get him out. It was really starting to get on his nerves. He didn’t want to get married, he’d only just turned twenty-two not so long ago! That was still too young in Arin’s mind.
“It’s time you started looking for a partner now, Princess.” The Queen had told him on his eighteenth birthday.
‘No thank you.’ Arin thought as he held up his new dress. Pretty and pink, just how he liked them. In Arin’s mind, there was no way in hell that he’d get married anytime soon. But alas, four years went by and there was a change. The Queen hadn’t asked about marriage on his birthday, and that’s when Princess Arin started to get suspicious.
“Do you remember Prince Edward?” The Queen asked over dinner, eyes focused on Princess Arin.
“From Deverenden?” He replied.
“Yes.”
“What does he want?” Arin questioned spooning a heap of peas into his mouth.
“Your father and I have arranged for him to marry yo-”
A loud cough interrupted the Queen’s statement, which devolved into choking. The source was Arin, and his peas. A few of them falling out of his mouth during the coughing fit. All the King and Queen could do is stare, wide eyed, waiting for him to finish. After taking a large gulp of his sparkling water to clear his throat, Princess Arin spoke.
“Excuse me. What?!” He said, unbelievingly.
“You heard me.”
“I know! But… But how could you do this to me?”
“It’s time for you to be wed, Princess. We have waited long enough.” The Queen strictly told him.
Arin abruptly stood. “No! I am not getting married, Mother!”
“You will sit down and listen to your mother, Princess.” The King interrupted. Usually, Kings were not ones to help prepare princess’ for marriage, but Princess Arin was not just any Princess. He was stubborn, there took a lot of persuasion and bribing for Arin to change his mind on something. Princess Arin was also kind, and sweet, he took pride in knowing all of the maid’s names. It brought a smile to their faces too; he’s such a sweetheart.
But still, the Princess remained standing, mouth agape.
“I will not be getting married! You can’t make me!” He screamed, spilling the contents of his glass on the oak table and ran away.
“Arin!” The Queen rose from her seat to called after him, “you come back here. Now!”
But Princess Arin did not listen. He just kept running, with his pastel pink dress bunched up in his hands, freeing his legs. He didn’t stop running until he reached his room. Arin reached for the doorknob and quickly twisted it, pulling himself into the room. Artwork hung all around on the cream coloured walls, most of them drawn or painted by Princess Arin himself. A bed placed in the centre of the room takes up most of the space, but Arin swiftly glides past it to stand in front of the window.
“They can’t make me,” he cried out, tears leaving wet trails down his face. In one swift move, he pulled the tiara from his hair, ripping a few of the long strands out in the process, “I don’t want to…” he muttered.
Arin took a seat at his vanity, taking his in his current appearance.
‘How could they do this to me?’ He thought, ‘I trusted them…’
———
“We enter here?" A shadowy figure asks, pointing to a gateway on a map.
"Yes, that's where we will strike." Says another, slightly older man.
"But that's the main entrance! We'd be caught for sure Captain!" The first man shouts, growing angry.
The Captain leaned back in his chair, a smirk on his face. “You see Barry,” he started, “that’s what they fuckin’ want you to think.”
The man stared, baffled by his Captain’s comment, he glanced to his left, a man that stood there. A confused look on his face too.
“... Alright then.” The young scruffy man said, “We’ll enter through the front.” There was a murmur of agreement heard in the small room, that broke the silence for a second, but the quiet soon returned.
“Then it’s settled. We leave at zero two-hundred hours,” The Captain stood, clapping his rather large hands together, “be ready everyone, we’ve only got one fuckin’ shot at this!”
———
“Excuse me, Princess?” A polite voice said through the door.
“Come in.” Arin called back in response. He looked back at himself in the mirror, delicately combing through his long hair, being careful of the knots that he had caused prior to the frustration. His eyes glanced to his door again when it opened, an older lady walked inside the room, quietly closing the door behind her. She took a moment to breathe before she spoke, like she was trying to find the right words to say to the Princess.
“I know it is very late, but I think you should apologi-“
“I am not apologising to her, Eleanore!” Arin argued, cutting her sentence short. He glared at her through the mirror, before promptly turned his head to look at her fully. A sad look in her eyes made him furrow his eyebrows and start to sob.
“Please, El… I d-don’t want to do this-s! Pl-ease!” Fat tears started rolling down his cheeks, clinging onto his chin during his sudden fit of hiccups. In an instant, he disregarded the comb he was holding to raise his hands to his face; hiding himself from her gaze. Eleanore immediately rushed over to the Princess and held him gently to her chest, hushing the noises that escaped him.
“I know sweetheart, I know,” She whispered, placing a kiss to his forehead, “they’re only trying to do what they feel is best. You should know that.”
Arin sniffled, his hiccups soon calming down. Eleanore was like a mother to him. She had always been there to take care of him while growing up, and because of this, the Princess considered her to be his best friend. He didn’t have anyone else. He knew no other children his age whilst growing up, and he had no brothers or sisters either. So, one of his parent’s many maids was the next best thing, and Arin treasured their friendship. He wouldn’t give it up for the world.
“It’ll be okay, Princess.” Eleanore reassured.
Arin lent back from her embrace to wipe his eyes, being very careful of the sensitive skin.
“I can trust you, right?” He asked suddenly, startling Eleanore.
“Yes, of course…” A growing silence took over the dark room, “Princess…?”
“Yes?”
“What are you thinking of doing?” She questioned. A small glimmer in Arin’s eye told Eleanore that he had an idea.
“I’ll run away!” He said, matter of factly, “it’s the only way I can get out of this marriage.”
“But Princess, you have nowhere to go.”
Arin gasped then turned to Eleanore, who was perched on the edge of his vanity bench.
“You can come with me!” he excited told her, “We can run away from this place, and-and live with your brother in Finwick! You said he writes you letters telling you to visit him. Come on, El! We’ve got to pack!”
Princess Arin quickly stood and rushed to his wardrobe, clearly excited. He started grabbing whatever he could, which involved numerous dresses, pencils, and his precious sketch book, and placed them in a large suitcase he had pulled out from under his bed, a pretty pink bow tied around the handle of it. Though Eleanore was still seated, just watching the Princess skip around the room gathering various items. Just as Arin buckled the suitcase up, he turned to Eleanore.
“Come on!” He said as he walked over to her. He took her hands in his, “We’ll be okay, El. Just as long as we make it out of this place.”
Arin waits for a response, looking into the eyes of his best friend.
“I can’t.” She mumbles.
Arin furrows his brow, clearly confused.
“What? But you’ve wanted to leave this place for so long!” Arin let her hands drop, “You said- you told me, that you miss being free!”
He was shocked, how could she.
“I’m sorry, Princess-“
“Leave.” Arin said, clearly annoyed. “I wish to be alone.”
Eleanore stood, moving to the door. She grasped the doorknob, turning back around to Arin, who remained where he was.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered before leaving the room and shutting the door, locking it from the outside.
This was expected for Arin. After midnight, all door must be locked, the King’s orders they say. But Arin knows that it’s because they have no guards patrolling the perimeter during the night.
———
From the shadows, a pair of hazel eyes look out over the castle grounds.
“All clear,” said the Captain, “we’ve just got to wait a little longer. I see someone still has their lights on. The second floor.” He points.
The man known as Barry nodded, but just as he did, the light switched off. The Captain looked back at him.
“It’s time.” He said quickly, creeping his way through a gap in the wire fence.
The rest of his crew follows, moving silently through the night. They reach a large wooden door, towering the tallest of them. The Captain raises a hand to halt the group.
“Ross?” he whispers, quiet for a moment while the man stumbles to the front, “Did’ya bring the picks?”
“Yeah, of course.” He says, pulling a small leather pouch out from his pocket. The Captain takes a step back, giving the other man some room. It takes Ross a few seconds before there’s a noise.
Click
The door swings open smoothly, the Captain looks impressed. He waltzes right in, taking in his surroundings.
“Alright,” he says as he turns towards his crew, “Barry and I will take the second floor, and the rest of you take this one.”
He motions for Barry to follow, keeping a swift pace as he climbs the stairs, taking three steps at a time. Once they reach the top, the two of them split up, each going in opposite directions. After opening and closing some doors Barry manages to find the study, this was what they were looking for, he turns back around to get some help from his fellow friends.
The Captain, on the other hand, stumbles into someone in the wide corridor whilst roaming the halls. He quickly grabs ahold of them, turning them around to face a wall. Roughly putting his hand over the victim’s mouth, immediately silencing them.
“Shhh. If you make even the slightest noise, I will cut your throat.”
What the victim didn’t know, was that this was a false threat. The Captain never carried a weapon, afraid of hurting someone. It was never his intention in the first place. A loud bang gave him a fright, a suitcase with a bow tied to it was released from the victim’s grasp. This gave them an opportunity to wiggle out of the Captain’s firm hold. They turned to face him, searching his face with a creased forehead.
“Who are you, and what are you doing in my cast-“
The Captain raised his eyebrows.
“This is your castle?”
“You didn’t answer either of my questions, and as far as I am aware, you are an intruder!”
“You’re the fuckin’- oh!”
The Captain had a sudden realisation, this forced him into action. He lunged forward to pick up the Princess, throwing him over his shoulder, and bending down slightly to pick up the disregarded suitcase. Running back down the stairs, he nearly bumped into Barry, who was quite surprised to see him carrying another person.
“Princess.” He spat out as he strode past. Barry quickly took this opportunity to grab a piece of paper from the study to write a quick note.
———
“Don’t you shush me!” Arin yelled, “I want answers!”
Arin was currently chained to a bed, on a ship, in the middle of the ocean. The mugginess of the air passed through the floorboards which kept making Arin sneeze. He’d never been on the ocean before, there again, he hadn’t even seen it before! The Princess was never allowed to go past the gates, an annoying rule his parents had. But here he was, on the ocean, being interrogated by a man he’s never met before. The Captain had been trying to get any information out of him for hours now, but the Princess wouldn’t budge.
“Fine,” The Captain said after some time, “what do you want to know?”
“What is your name?” Was the first question he asked. A weird choice in the Captain’s opinion, but nonetheless, he answered.
“Dan,” He said, “or Danny, whichever you prefer. And yours?”
“Princess Arin. My second question is where the heck are we?”
“… On the fucking ocean? Is that it?”
“Huh? Oh! All of my questions? No.”
Dan was starting to get annoyed, he ran a hand through his wild hair, taking a deep breath.
“Look. I’m only keeping you here for a little while; then we’re taking you back.”
Arin was confused, but that turned into fright.
“I don’t want to go back!” He cried, reaching for Dan. Though the chain around his ankle didn’t let him go far, “Don’t take me back there! Please, Dan!”
Tears started streaming down his face, Dan was gobsmacked. He had never seen someone so vulnerable than how Princess Arin looked at this moment. Puffy red eyes, wet cheeks, random pieces of hair coming from the side of this head, and a little bit of snot coming out of his nose.
‘That’s a little gross.’ Dan thought, pulling a face at the booger, but he soon returned his features to a confused expression, raising a single scarred eyebrow too.
“I’ll think about it, but no promises.” He said. Arin’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” He excitedly said, trying to reach out and hug Dan, but the Captain waved him off, still curious as to why the Princess didn’t want to go back to the castle. He would have to ask another time.
———
“Where is he? He must be here somewhere around here!”
“We’ve searched everywhere, your highness. He is nowhere to be found.” The Commander says to the Queen, her frustrated starting to show, making the guard worry. After waking up to find out that Eleanore, didn’t see Arin wandering the castle this morning and that he wasn’t even in his room at all, she panicked. Asking everyone if they had seen him, or if they had saw someone strange at all. As soon as she calmed down a little, she ordered the guards to search for him, and after two hours of searching the castle, grounds, and the garden, they reported that he was not there. Though, she did notice that the rug in the foyer had one corner flipped over. At first, it didn’t seem important, until the King came rushing into their shared bedroom.
“Charlotte, my sweet. This was on my desk in the study. Someone was in there! And it’s definitely not Arin’s handwriting.” He said, waving the paper in front of her.
“Read it aloud please.” She said quietly, fearing the worst.
The King took a deep breath.
“We have the Princess. He has not been harmed… yet. Give us ten gold bars, and we shall return him. -D”
“Ten gold bars?! They must be insane!” The Queen shrieked, raising from the bed to look out of the window.
“Do you not want the Princess back?” The King questioned. If his wife was not part of this, he would have gladly paid the amount, but the King knew that she was cruel and cared more about money than her own child.
“He’s not worth ten bars.” She said.
———
Three months went by without a single reply from the King and Queen, no note saying where the gold would be, or none saying to lower the price. This left Dan to keep the Princess onboard his ship, The Aurum. Though the Captain would never admit it to his crew, or even to the Princess, but Arin was definitely growing on him. They had created a bond like no other. Barry saw it too, but he didn’t dare to comment, he just went on his way when he saw them sitting particularly close one evening. The two were in the Captain’s room one rather dark night. Dan sat at his desk, mapping their destination out whilst the Princess lay across his berth drawing. The only sounds being the sea crashing up against the boat, and Arin’s scribbling. The Captain found this comforting. It had been a while since he had shared his quarters with another person, but there again, he did enjoy having someone to distract him from his work at times.
Dan leant back in his chair to stretch out his arms, after hearing a satisfying pop in his joints, his eyes moved over to Arin. Who was contentedly drawing, his tongue poking out the tiniest bit in concentration.
“What’cha drawin’?” Dan asked while raising his eyebrows in curiosity. Arin immediately looked up towards Dan, a red tinge starting to cover his cheeks. He rested his head in the palm of his hand whilst the other covered his sketch.
“Nothing!” He said, “What are you doing?”
The Captain stood and started walking over to him.
“Well I was mapping us out, but now I’m interested as to what you were drawin’,” He stopped at the edge of his berth, just where Arin was, and sat down, “what ya hidin’? Something nasty?”
“Uhhh….”
Dan laughed, “Nah, I’m just kidding. You don’t have to show me.” Then he just got up, and left. Leaving the princess to let go of a breath he didn’t realise he was holding. What the Captain didn’t know, was that Arin had been sketching him leaning over his desk, focusing on the map! Arin found the Captain’s features very interesting. Sharp angles, but also soft, and his hair tied up in a low ponytail was perfect. He was perfect. The Princess could not have missed that reference opportunity, but he nearly got caught! He would never show Dan these drawing, ever! They could throw him overboard from having such feelings towards the Captain. But he didn’t need to know about them. Nobody did. So Arin drew in secret, not showing anyone his artwork.
A few days later, they arrived on an island called Mordale Isle. There weren’t many folks living there, but there were plenty of shops that held interest. Young children played with sticks up and down the streets, and dogs could be seen running around chasing cows in the distance. But as soon as The Aurum was anchored, Dan was off, with the Princess in tow. Joined by their hands the entire way there, Dan had to show Arin this shop that he remembered from last time. He didn’t care what his crew said if they saw him and the Princess holding hands, he would have to deal with that later. This was more important than anything. The Captain and his crew had visited Mordale Isle many times before for their supplies, but he had never once gone inside of the art shop. He had always breezed by it, but it seemed extremely significant in this very moment. He knew the Princess would love the quaint little shop.
“Slow down, please!” Arin was struggling to keep up with the Captain’s long strides. So he bunched up his dress in one hand, the other already being occupied with Dan’s, and tried to match up with his pace. Seconds went by, then Dan abruptly stopped, letting Arin bump into him for a second before reaching for the door handle. He guided Arin in before himself.
The environment changed as soon as they walked in. There were no sounds of people bustling in the streets, no dogs barking, no children laughing. Just quiet music playing from the back of the store. Arin was immediately distracted by all the different colours of paint they had and didn’t notice the Captain watching him with a small smile on his face. Rows upon rows of colours in different types of paint lined one whole wall of the store. Arin was amazed, he didn’t know there were so many different shades of pink! He wanted them all. ‘They’re so pretty!’ He thought. But what really caught his eye, were the watercolour sets. Those were his favourites to use when he made his art, he found them so beautiful. He turned to call Dan over to look as well.
“Da-ah!” He shrieked. The Captain was already standing behind him, a smirk on his face.
“Sorry, what is it?”
Arin pointed towards the watercolours, then to the pink paint, “I like those.” He said.
“Oh yeah? You like pink?” Dan said, picking up one of the lighter shades of pink. Arin nodded, and Dan hummed in reply. Not saying much else, the Princess went to explore more of the shop; Dan not too far behind.
“Hello!” A kind voice said, “Welcome to my shop!”
“Hello,” Arin said, “do you have any sketching pencils by any chance?”
Arin had been sketching so much while on The Aurum, he had nearly run out of pencil! The owner of the store led him to a large box filled with pencils, most of them already sharpened. Arin thanked him, and the owner went on his way, putting away more of his stock.
“Daaaaan~” Arin called sweetly. He watched Dan’s head shoot up from behind a stack of canvas, eyebrows raised. He looked like he was telepathically saying ‘what?’, so the Princess fluttered his eyelashes beckoning him over; which he promptly did.
“Why the fuck are you lookin’ at me like that?” he asked as soon as he was in earshot.
“Can I buy a new pencil, please~”
“Ask ‘im how much they are, then we’ll see.” He said, ignoring the flirtatiousness in Arin’s voice.
Arin tugged on Dan’s jumper sleeve in excitement, before searching for the owner of the store. But he missed the small smile that appeared on the Captain’s face. He was really having a good time with the Princess. ‘Snap out of it, you fool.’ He thought to himself, shaking his head a little as if to rid the thought.
“Excuse me,” Arin asked, turning back to Dan for a split second. He caught the owner’s eyes when he looked back, “how much are your sketching pencils?”
“Ah, those are one fifty each.”
“Thank you.” Arin said, “I’ll be right back.” He saw Dan standing near the open window of the store, eyes closed, taking in the sun. The Princess almost didn’t want to disturb him, he looked so peaceful.
“They’re one-“
“Yeah, I heard,” he interrupted, “let me get some money from The Aurum.” Arin nodded, surprised when the Captain grabbed his hand and pulled him along too.
Dan took a more leisurely speed when walking back, almost like he didn’t want the somewhat romantic moment to end. It didn’t last long at all. In no time, they were back at the ship. Barry stood at the bow of it, like he was waiting for the return of his captain, and the princess.
“Let’s go.” Dan said as soon as he helped Arin on board. Barry nodded, and told the crew to anchor up.
“But- What about my pencils?!” The Princess argued, lightly stomping his foot, being careful of the delicate wood. Dan still hadn’t let go of his hand and pulled him into his own quarters.
“You said I could buy a pencil. Why did you lie to me?” He whimpered. The Captain walked over to his berth, ignoring the question, and started pulling things out from his jumper pockets.
“Come’ere.” He said, beckoning Arin over to where he was. Arin just sniffled, looking at his tattered shoes, tears starting to roll down his face.
“Arin,” he called again, “could you come here… please.”
Eventually he complied, dragging his shoes against the floorboards as he walked over.
“What.” He said sharply. But Dan ignored it.
“Fuckin’ look.” Was all he said. So Arin did, and he was shocked. There on the berth was a new sketchbook, eight sketching pencils, and the watercolour set!
“When did you get these?” He asked in amazement.
“… At the fucking store? You were there, remember?”
“Well yes! But when? I never saw you talk to the owner.” A sudden rush of realisation hit the Princess like a train, “you stole them!”
The Captain raised a large hand to run it through his hair, with a ‘what do you expect’ look on his face.
“I’m sorry I’m not fucking made of money like you are, Arin.” Dan snapped. This shut the Princess up, though more tears fell from his eyes. Dan made a mistake. He didn’t want to be the reason Arin was upset. He didn’t mean to make him cry, and it hurt him.
“I-I’m sorry…” He said. He took one step closer to Arin and stretched out his arms. Arin jumped a little when Dan held him, but he soon settled and hugged the Captain back. There was no movement for a few seconds before Dan started to rub small circles on Arin’s back, calming him down almost immediately.
A few minutes after Arin’s tears and sniffles subsided, they were still embraced when a gentle knock on the doorframe interrupted their quiet moment.
“Excuse me, Captain.” Barry said, “I don’t mean to interrupt, but we await you and the Princess at the table.” Then he left. Dan was the first to speak.
“Uhmm... We don’t usually eat at a table…” He said, confused.
“I didn’t even know there was a table on the ship! I would be drawing there otherwise, not invading your personal space all the time!” Arin quipped.
“…but I like you in my space…” He said quietly, letting his arms fall from around the Princess.
“Oh? You do?” The Princess said, a smirk forming on his face.
“Fuck yeah!” Arin rolled his eyes at the curse, but continued to listen, “But like, I’m not just saying that to get into your pants. I really fucking like having you around. You’re just so fuckin’ soft, and caring, and lovable. You’re fuckin’ super cute too, and I love watching you draw, you just look so focused, and sometimes you stick your tongue out when you’re concentrating really fuckin’ hard. It makes me wanna fuckin’ kiss you, but I know I shouldn’t ‘cause you’re like totally younger than me, and it would be weird, and I don’t know what my crew will think of me, ya know?”
Arin was speechless, and he now had a permanent blush on his face, but one statement Dan said caught Arin’s attention.
“Y-You want to kiss me?”
Dan’s eyes widened, his thoughts were just rolling right of his tongue, and he was speaking so fast. He didn’t realise he’d said that.
“Uhh-“
“Because I wouldn’t mind kissing you too… If you still feel that way…”
He looked at Arin in surprise, but quickly nodded. He didn’t want the awkwardness of it all linger too much. They both faced the other, leaning closer and closer. Then Arin backed off with a laugh.
“Sorry, I’ve never done this before.” He said sheepishly, running a hand through his locks.
“Oh, it’s uh… It’s not that hard. Just uh... go with the flow I guess?”
“Okay… I’ll just- I’ll just- yeah.” Arin laughed, not really knowing how to explain it. Dan started to giggle too, the Princess liked that sound very much. But without warning, Arin leant forward, their lips colliding, maybe a bit to hard in the Captain’s opinion. Nonetheless, it was a kiss. Arin’s first kiss. Their first kiss. It wasn’t anything special, it didn’t need to be. But when Arin pulled himself away from Dan, a smile plastered on his face that, added to the blush, looked ‘cute as fuck’ in the Captain’s mind. All Arin could think about was how cute Dan looked in that moment. His big doe eyes, and his goofy smile. This is why he liked him, he was just too pure to be a pirate. Hard but soft at the same time. Mean, but also kind.
They kissed once more, gentler this time, then headed down to the dinner table.
“Jeez, were you makin’ out up there? What took you so long?” One crew member called when they walked into the room. Dan ignored the question, tugging the Princess to sit next to him.
“What’s all this?” He asked, “We don’t usually bring out the table.”
“It’s very important, Cap. We promise.” Another crewman said. “We’ve got another ship here with an important message!”
Dan is surprised to hear this, standing up quickly and heading out onto the deck to see what they have to say.
On their starboard, Dan notices that there is a small schooner floating next to The Aurum, the flag bearing ornate and royal seals. “I bring a message for Princess Arin, it’s from the Queen.” A man says from on board.
“I think you should fuckin’ leave.” The Captain strictly said, turning back around, and walking towards the Princess. “Come on, dinner’s going cold.”