Prizes, Plunder, and Adventure

Chapter Twenty: Port Royal

They reached the castle with little trouble. Emmet stayed close to Lucy, following her lead. She was remarkably good at sneaking about.

They managed to make it to the castle walls without being spotted by guards- not that that was an especially difficult feat, when they were so distracted by the battle going on by the docks. "We should just- go in by the gates, don't you think?"

"Emmet, they tried to kill you. You going in through the front door is just handing yourself to them on a silver platter, and I highly doubt that just the two of us could fight off the entire castle guard. Sneaking is the only chance we're going to have of getting in and out of there alive. Can you climb?"

His gaze traveled up the vines clinging to the stone walls, and he bit his lip. "Yes, but I don't think that's going to hold my weight-"

"Up you get," Lucy nudged him.

"But-! Lucy!" He huffed, took one more look at the vines, then took a deep breath and grabbed hold of them, hauling himself up. Lucy stood watching him, holding her breath as he slipped several times, the vines dislodging from the disturbance. But he made it to the top safely, blinking in disbelief for a moment, then smiled and waved down at her. She huffed a quiet laugh and climbed up after him.

"Alright. How do you suggest we get inside now?"

Emmet grinned. "I have an idea." He made his way back down on the other side, Lucy dropping down behind him and following curiously. "If I'm right about where we are, there should be a service entrance somewhere nearby. From there we can just follow the signage to get into the palace proper."

"And from there?"

"...I'll be honest, I don't know. That part may require some improvisation."

Sure enough, Emmet found a service entrance close by, and they slipped inside. Lucy followed, trusting Emmet to know what the signage meant- half the names made no sense whatsoever to her. "Here we go," he said, pushing a door open-

And froze. "What in the world-" Lucy complained as she ran into his back, then peered around him at the dozen or so guards holding him at swordpoint. "Oh."

"We had heard that you were never returned home," spoke an unfamiliar voice. Lucy frowned as Emmet stiffened. "But I never would have expected you would throw your lot in with them." The pirate captain frowned as the guards parted to allow the Scalan princess to approach. "It wasn't enough for you to insult me by leaving, you had to decide to turn pirate as well."

"If anyone was being insulting it was you, you tart," Lucy spat. Princess Lotte bristled.

"How dare you-"

"Let me guess," Lucy interrupted with a snarl. "You were expecting someone more like King Sirius, and you were disappointed when you were presented with Emmet instead so you wrote him off then and there rather than taking the time to get to know him, otherwise you'd have realized by the end of that week that he's worth more than a dozen snooty, spoiled princelings." The prince in question blushed, unable to hide his smile. "I'm honestly curious to know what it is about him that you find so objectionable."

"...Nothing," the princess finally admitted, surprising them both. "I was... envious, that you could so openly be yourself," she continued, turning her attention toward Emmet. "And that your father actually listens to you and takes your words into consideration. My objection was to being married off to someone I had only just met, to being used as a pawn to take advantage of your father's success because my parents are too arrogant and lazy to follow in his footsteps and put in the effort to improve our own kingdom. I am sorry that you had to bear the brunt of it, but as I am not permitted to be as outspoken about my own opinions and desires, I had to find another way to get my point across."

"Oh." Emmet gave her a relieved smile. "I'm glad we're on the same page about that, then." Lucy relaxed, and Lotte smiled back at them.

"I have, however, been fortunate to gain the ear of my brother in recent weeks. I may not be able to convince my parents of the folly of this course they have taken, but I know he can. We have heard how your people have taken up arms against us once they heard you had been threatened. Octan has a cause worth fighting for. We really don't. With the kind of power and determination Octan bears against us, it's highly unlikely we would win anyway."

"So we'll be able to end this war?" Lucy asked. "Soon?"

"With luck, yes. For now, all I can do to help is to send the order to call off the raid." She held a hand out to Emmet. "I hope to be able to work with you in the future."

Emmet smiled brightly at her, taking her hand. "So do I."

"And I do hope you will refrain from so readily accusing people of being 'tarts' in the future," Lotte continued, giving Lucy an arch look. The pirate hunched her shoulders, looking away.

"...My apologies, Princess."

"In her defense, it was a very convincing act," Emmet said. "Good luck."

"And to you, as well."

They were escorted out of the palace by the princess' guards after that. As the gates closed behind them once more, the pair glanced at each other. "That was a lot easier than I thought it would be," Emmet remarked. Lucy snorted.

"If she was genuine, yes."

"I think she was." As they walked through the streets on their way back to the docks, he held a hand out to her in silence. Wordlessly, she accepted, giving it a gentle squeeze in return.