The Third Eye

Chapter 2

Lucas and I were not awakened because of those footsteps. And because we were not awake, we did not feel the young man carry us into a ship. That is until that very morning, when Lucas and I were standing looking out at the kingdom we left behind.

Prince Lucas tugged on my boot still damp from the morning dew. "Whose ship is this? I am Prince Lucas Cara of the Cara Empire and I expect answers idmetidately or else the kingdom's court will have repercussions. You will speak before me!" Lucas yelled at the top of his lungs.

The prince received an answer. An answer not of words but of sounds. The sounds of a whimpering young man too scared to move. Great. "Come out now and we won't hurt you!" I screamed taking Lucas's sword from his back pocket arming myself.

"You think he actually believes you?" Prince Lucas laughed quietly.

"I am not a person of promises, I never have been." I whispered back to him concealing my doubt and fear.

Our heads turned at the crash out of sword hitting the deck. Prince Lucas held his ears.

"I have disbanded my weapon and you will do the same," a young man's voice demanded. Lucas looked down at my hand. I dropped the sword at the man's request. "A golden eye! I haven't seen one of you in years!" the boy exclaimed looking straight into my eyes. I closed them wiping a single tear away.

"How do you know that I am a golden eye?" I asked. I walked forward slightly keeping an eye on my sword.

"Because I am not an idiot like most of the royals of Cara!" the boy laughed snickering at Lucas's presence. A Prince Lucas, that was still shocked himself.

"Shut your mouth or I will shut it for you!" Lucas threatened, still shocked.

"I would love to see you try," the man said.

"I demand to know why we are on this ship and where it is going!" Lucas yelled running up to the man.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing..." the man thought out loud. Now that I saw his face, I noticed that he was more of a boy than a man. He was no older than I was. "This is my ship, how did the two of you get on it?" the man asked.

"Your ship? You're a pirate?" Lucas asked sizing him up. It was quite hard to believe a boy like the one we saw could be a pirate.

"Yes, I am. Well, I'm a shipboy. The name's Cole." Cole introduced putting out his hand for us to shake. Lucas and I shook it quickly and sharply.

"I'm Vera and this is-"

"Prince Lucas, I'm aware!" Cole said rolling his big brown eyes. A ring of white made his brown pop. He was a white eye. "The crewmen must have put the two of you on the ship. They don't like witnesses when they steal from the villages." He shrugged.

"Where is everyone else?" Prince Lucas asked. 

"They probably found a better ship and stole it. Happens all the time," Cole said. 

"So, you're telling me that you have no idea where we are going?" I asked.

"Nope..." Cole confirmed. "However, we are just east of Hallingdale and I can get us there by dawn. I bet you have places to be, people's lives to ruin right, Prince?" Cole teased.

"We're not in a rush or anything. Take your time." Lucas told him.

"What do you mean? You're Prince Lucas of Cara! Don't you have a kingdom to attend to or something?" our new acquaintance asked.

"I have been banished from my kingdom. I was accused of being a golden eye..." Lucas started to say.

"Why would the people think that you were a golden eye? You're obviously a black eye!" Cole said. "I mean look at you! Smart, very smart but blind to the culture of everyone else. Fits you to a tee."