Scoundrel - Prinxiety [COMPLETED]

Chapter XVIII

Luis smiled to himself as he picked up the box he'd been given. He and his crew had made their way to the Kingdom of Ruze; he'd trusted a friend of his with the amber key. Virgil had told him not to keep more than one key in the same place, so he'd decided to give it to someone he knew he could trust.

"Thank you, Thorn," he said gratefully as he opened the box to find the amber key lying safely inside. 

The princess nodded in a to say 'of course' with a smile on her face. He returned it as he removed the key from the box, slipping it into his pocket as he stood up. "I wish you didn't have to leave so soon," she said, sounding remorseful. 

"I know, Thorn," he replied in agreement, rounding the small table between them. "Once Virgil's got what he needs from the chest, I'll have more time to travel on my own. I'll come back and visit you, properly. I promise." 

She smiled, blushing a little. Luis leaned forward and pecked her on the cheek briefly. "I've gotta go," the pirate murmured. Thorn nodded again with a sigh. "I'll be back before you know it."

With that, he left the room, feeling a tugging in his chest with each step he took away from the princess. He rejoined his men at the bar they were drinking in; he'd instructed them to wait for him while he retrieved the amber key from Thorn, knowing it wouldn't take him too long to get it and that it would just attract attention for a band of pirates like them to be seen in the palace. He could blend in well enough on his own. 

"I've got the amber key men, now we've got to get the sapphire key on the east side of the mountain," Luis told them, showing them the key. "It's hidden behind a waterfall, so it shouldn't be hard to find, and we should be able to start heading for Virgil's location by sunset."

They nodded and picked themselves up off the bar stools. Being the captain had perks, including the fact that they didn't question him. They trusted his judgement and obeyed his orders without question.

"Don't worry men," he reassured them. "We'll back to pillaging and plundering in no time. This is the last key my brother needs. Then we're back to finding all the gold and jewels you could ever dream of!"

They cheered and quickened their steps as they exited the bar. Luis led them back to the boat and sailed them around to the east side of the island. Weighing anchor, they disembarked the vessel and headed out toward the mountain. The captain had the trail memorized: north to the boulder he marked, then follow the path down to the bay where there's a smaller trail that leads behind the waterfall. He'd written the trail down in an encrypted message, but he'd lost it in some small sea port. 

"Are you sure this is the way out, Patton?" a voice asked, pulling Luis from his thoughts as he approached the trail that led behind the waterfall. 

"Positive!" a much more cheerful voice answered. 

He raised his hand to signal his men to ready their weapons as he waited for the source of the voices to reveal themselves. Their footsteps and voices grew closer until they emerged from the corner of the mountain trail. 

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" the pirate yelled. 

They both froze; one was holding a piece of paper and yelped upon seeing him and the other simply gasped and held his hands up. Luis approached them with his gun locked and loaded. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"W-We were just looking for something," the one who was clearly more afraid stammered. 

"Looking for what?" he demanded. His eyes traveled down to the paper he was holding, recognizing his handwriting and the encrypted message he'd recorded the path to the sapphire key on. "Where did you get that?"

The man looked at the paper nervously and placed it in his outstretched hand. "I found it left behind in a room at the inn I stay at," he explained. 

"Pardon me for asking, but who are you, exactly?" the calmer one asked. 

"The name's Captain Luis Black," he answered, raising his chin to be intimidating. 

The two men's gazes widened and they looked between each other in shock. "Wait, Luis Black..." the calmer man murmured. "You wouldn't happen to be related to a Virgil Black, would you? I would think you two would be related. You do look alike from my memory of him."

"Memory of him? Have you met my brother?" Luis asked, lowering his gun in confusion. "Wait, who the hell are you guys?"

He cleared his throat and straightened his glasses. "I'm Logan, this is Patton," he said, gesturing to his companion. "I'm the royal advisor of the prince your brother kidnapped a couple days ago."

The pirate's eyes widened as he recalled the prince on Virgil's ship. "We'd heard rumors that he was after certain keys," Patton said timidly, swallowing nervously as he gained Luis' full attention. "I figured out that message, and figured that if Logan wanted to find the prince, he could find the keys or at least one of them, and trade it for him."

"Well, I don't know if my brother will agree with that idea," he said, crossing his arms. 

"Okay, how about this," Logan intervened, taking the sapphire key out his pocket and holding it up. The captain looked at him in surprise, glaring at him as he listened. "I'll give you this key, and you take us with you to Captain Virgil. You get what you want, and I can discuss with your brother about what needs to be done about his Highness so his father doesn't have my head on a silver platter when I return without his son."

Luis looked him up and down; he had to admit, the advisor did have a point. What was the harm in bringing two passengers with him on their way to the island to meet Virgil?

"Fine," he said, outstretching his hand for the key. "The key in exchange for safe passage to Captain Virgil and your prince."

He nodded and dropped the sapphire key into his hand. With a nod, he turned around and started to lead the way back to their ship. Patton exhaled with relief, leaning into the man next to him like he was unstable on his feet. "That was so nerve wracking," he murmured to Logan as they walked. "You were a lot braver than me. I thought we were goners."

"Well, one of my specialties is being able to turn off my emotions when the time calls for logical thinking," he replied, looping his arm around the man's waist to help him walk. "And I wouldn't have let him hurt you either way. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you got hurt trying to help me fix my mistake."

Patton flushed but smiled to himself as they continued to walk in silence. The advisor hoped that this nightmare was almost over and that Prince Roman would be safely on his way to his wedding within the next forty-eight hours.