Voyage (Book 1 of The Pirate, The Professor And The Princess)

Encounter with the Princess, Chapter Six

This was a royal.

This girl-whichever kingdom she belonged to-wasn't making it very subtle. She walked in like she owned the shop, and at the same time, she couldn't believe she owned this old, cheap shop. Her eyes stopped at Rae for a second, and then dismissed her with a wrinkle of her nose. Like the court was adjourned here because Her Majesty didn't like a grimy little woman she ran across.

But maybe the bad smell has reached her. The last time Rae had docked at a shore was two months ago. And she had neither the time nor the motivation to groom herself in the ship's quarters.

The girl stepped forward and stood against the counter, opting to rest her hands on the counter but deciding against it when her eyes fell on the layer of dust. Rae looked towards the basement door from where she heard footsteps climbing up.

"I heard someone come in," the man said, then brightened up when his eyes fell in the newcomer. "Hello, My Lady, what's a young girl like you doing here all alone?"

The girl looked at him, then smiled. "I'm independent."

"That I'm pretty sure you are," he stepped up on the floor and walked over to them. "What would you like to buy?"

Rae watched closely as the shawl wrapped around the girl's shoulders slipped down, and she didn't bother redoing it properly. How much would that necklace piece be worth?

"I would like something extravagant," the girl said. "If you have it." She looked like she didn't believe he did.

"Sure we do, sure we do," he muttered, then began rummaging around the clothes kept on the shelf behind him.

Rae was pretty sure he had forgotten that she was still there. Normally she would've taken it as an insult and would've left immediately. But this time she stayed with a motive. She kept herself on the sidelines and watched. While the owner of the shop sifted through the clothes, the girl herself couldn't keep her hands away from the display pieces. After a few seconds of them searching through the clothes and Rae coming up with a plan in her head, the girl suddenly squealed, making Rae wince.

The girl held up a long yellow dress which didn't feature any gems or anything like that but could be considered decently nice, compared to the others in the store. "I'm having this," she said. The man turned to her.

"Oh, wow, what a beautiful dress..." his voice drifted off as his gaze settled on the small pouch the girl pulled out from her handbag. She emptied the pouch on the table.

Seriously, you have a handful of coins and you are spending them on a dress? Are you planning to feast on sunlight tonight? And what a small pouch to carry. Is she really a royal? If she is really a royal, why is she shopping here of all the other places she could afford?

The man began counting the coins slowly, keeping track on his fingers. While him doing so, the girl just picked up her dress and turned to go.

"Wait, please, My Lady," the man called just in time. "You're a few dimes short."

She looked back at him, then at the coins, then at him again. "Aah..." she paused, then shrugged her shoulders. "But that's all I have."

He put on a sympathetic expression. "Then I'm sorry, but you can't have that dress."

She pouted like a rich kid throwing tantrums; Rae watched her like a hawk watches its prey. "That's not fair. I gave you the money. It was all I had."

"But you only paid half of it," he pointed out. Rae slid her gaze from him to the girl.

"But I told you I don't have it." Hearing that point made by the rich girl, Rae looked at the man again.

He looked like this customer was the first of its kind. Rae could feel this too, so she watched with amusement as the man argued right back. "And I told you that you can't have that dress until you give me the whole money." It looked like he was losing his patience arguing with a kid.

Her fingers still refused to let go of the dress. She pressed her lips together and fumed. "Stop it. You're annoying me."

Yup. Definitely a royal.

The man briefly closed his eyes and stared at her with a serious expression after that, all easiness gone from his face. When he spoke, his voice was dead calm. "And you are annoying me, Young Lady."

The girl threw her hands up in the air. "Aww, come on, I'm your princess."

Rae's eyes widened.

The girl shook her head in exasperation and the shawl from her shoulders slipped down lower, giving them a look of a magnificent, royal blue dress. "I own this shop, basically the whole marketplace. This trading center comes under the reign of Gontas, and I am its princess. I am your Princess." She stared at him intently from under her eyelashes, then added breathily, "Ligh."

Rae couldn't believe her luck. Not just any rich person, I got the Princess herself. The universe must be impressed by my commitment to loot.

Though Rae could tell that what the princess was saying was true because arrogant people never lied about the reason behind their arrogance, but the man remained doubtful.

"How can I believe you are the princess?" He asked.

Ligh's eyes bulged out at this, and Rae wanted to snicker just to spite the Princess of Gontas. "Are you-are you-" Princess Ligh sputtered. "-joking with me? I-"

The man shook his head. "I can't believe you are the princess until you give me believable proof."

She stared at him with her mouth hanging open, and then she looked down at her attire as if wondering if he needed any more proof than this. The man stayed unaffected. "Oh, Heavens above," Princess exclaimed dramatically. "I pray someone gives you a piece of their mind and tells you I am the princess. This shop belongs to me I am the daugh-"

"Ligh!" Rae heard a sharp voice cut through the Princess's words. They all turned to look. A woman stood at the doorway, her eyes dark, alarmed, and threatening at the same time. Her shoulders rose and fell with each strained breath she took. "We're leaving immediately," she said. "Come with me."

Ligh planted her feet firmly on the ground. "No, I want this dress."

The woman took a warning step forward and crossed her arms. "Ligh, don't make me repeat myself."

"No," Ligh repeated, crossing her arms too.

Rae couldn't understand what was going on from this moment precisely. Who was this bossy woman and why was she acting like Ligh's babysitter? All Rae could do was try to make use of the information at hand. Ligh was stubborn and didn't listen to her babysitter; she was a spoiled royal child who was born with a silver spoon but never realized that the spoons were silver until she ran out of cutlery and had to eat from steel. That pretty much summed it.

"Ligh," the woman gritted out, then grabbed Ligh's upper arm and shoved her out the door. The yellow dress Ligh wanted so desperately that it made her follow the immoral path, was now flung carelessly to the floor, and both Rae and the owner of the shop were left staring at the retreating figures of the two strangers who seemed to have created havoc in the shop.

While the man was still busy pondering over the recent episode, Rae quickly slipped out of the door and met Ermes.

"What took you so long?" He asked but got silenced when she draped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer.

"Now, listen carefully," she whispered mischievously. "We've got a new plan."