Prisoner Princess Read online

  When she finally let him breathe again, he said, “There's only one problem.”

  “What?”

  “Where are we going to find someone to marry us in Bordeaux?” Tobey asked. “I'm not even sure churches exist here, and even if they do... the city's half-destroyed. We might have a difficult time finding a priest.”

  “I've already thought about that! And we don't have to worry about finding a priest. We already have what we need.” An excited grin tugged at Lyneah's pink lips. “We have Doon.”

  Kitt was fully clothed, as always, sitting on the bed next to Francis Doon. His eyes were narrowed, his jaw was set, his teeth were clenching, and he wouldn't stop groaning. She had never seen a more sour expression in her life.

  “Doon...” Kitt heaved an aggravated sigh. “How long are you going to let this bother you?”

  “I don't know. Forever?” Doon's gaze never wavered as he glared at a single spot on the wall. “I've never lost before, Kitt. Never. Not a single duel. And then that had to happen.” The memory of the masked man—and Doon's devastating loss—would likely haunt him for the rest of his life.

  “Well, you shouldn't let it bother you. It's a big world. You were bound to find someone better than you eventually.”

  “No!” Doon roared, thrusting a finger in Kitt's face. “That man was not better than me. He caught me off guard. And I didn't have two swords! If I did, it would've been a different story.”

  “Maybe you'll get a rematch one day,” Kitt said with a roll of her eyes. To her, Doon's shattered ego was nothing but silliness. He needed to stop believing he was undefeatable.

  “Right. I'll track him down, knock on his door, and ask him oh-so-politely... can you spare a moment of your time for me? Can you stop destroying villages for a little while and humor me? That'll go down well.”

  Kitt plowed an angry elbow into Doon's side. “It was just a suggestion! You don't have to be rude! I'm trying to make you feel better!”

  “Well, it's not making me feel better! Talking about it is making me feel worse!”

  “It's kind of hard not to talk about it when you spend the whole day sulking!”

  “I'm not sulking!” Doon claimed, even as a pout overtook his face.

  “Yes. You are. You really are.” Kitt didn't want him to think she was arguing with him, so she lightly kissed his forehead. “Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?”

  Doon actually flinched when her lips touched his skin, which was hardly uncommon. Even after six months, he still struggled to give and accept affection. Slowly but surely, he was warming up to the idea of kissing and being kissed. Sometimes, he even wanted more.

  Perhaps it was time to make his move? He unbuttoned the top button of Kitt's blouse and waited for her reaction. When she didn't say anything, he unbuttoned another. Before he could try for a third, there was a knock on the door, and an eruption of curses poured from Doon's lips.

  “For the love of... bloody hell... of all the times in the world to be bothered...” With a snort, he shouted at their visitor, “Who the hell is it?”

  “Um... it's Queen Lyneah.”

  When he realized who it was, Doon tried to soften his tone. Kitt jumped from bed and buttoned her shirt. Doon readjusted his hat, checked his reflection, and gave his cravat a straightening tug. When they were ready, he called out, “Come in, Your Highness.”

  Lyneah flew into the room, sounding excited and urgent. “Doon... I need you to marry me!”

  His reaction was understandably confused. “What? Who? Pardon?”

  “Me and Tobias, I mean. I need you to marry us,” Lyneah clarified. “We've decided we don't want to wait another day. Will you do it?”

  Doon exchanged nervous glances with Kitt. After a short pause, he said, “I don't understand. Why do you need me?”

  “An airship captain who is legally recognized by his king or queen can perform marriages. Under my mother's reign, you were officially a privateer, and I don't believe that status was ever rescinded. You could officiate our marriage!”

  “But I've never done that before.” When Doon saw the smirk on Kitt's lips, he sneered at her. “I wouldn't even know how to do it.”

  “It wouldn't have to be perfect.” Lyneah gave him an encouraging pat on the arm. “You could just... make something up.”

  The sneer never left Doon's nose. “You really want me to fumble through a speech? That would be a nightmare. For you and for me.”

  “On the contrary, it would make it even more meaningful. I have faith in you,” Lyneah said. “You'll do it, won't you?”

  Kitt was nodding, Lyneah looked hopeful, and Doon could feel himself cracking under the combined pressure they put on him. It was easily the worst idea in the world, but he didn't know how to get out of it.

  “Al... right,” he reluctantly agreed. “I'll do it. If I must.”

  “Brilliant!” Lyneah kissed his cheek, which made him jerk back his head. “This will be wonderful, Doon! I can't thank you enough!”

  As soon as Lyneah was gone, Doon turned to Kitt and said, very quietly, “Is there any chance I'll be dead before this happens? Or is that too much to hope for?”

  A few hours later, the airship's deck was transformed into a makeshift aisle. Two dozen chairs had been carefully arranged, even though there were very few guests. Kieran, Bryce, Ben and Miles were there, as well as a few random pirates who didn't think attending a wedding was the most dreadful thing in the world.

  Lyneah asked Ella and Kitt to be her maids of honor. She didn't want to choose one over the other, and while she didn't know either of them as well as she would have liked, her options were limited. Tobias tried to choose Kieran as his best man, but the mercenary claimed his hip was too sore for the job—in reality, he just didn't want to take part in it. When everything was ready, Doon stood at the end of the aisle, grumbling and brooding. Not even the sight of Kitt in a pretty yellow dress could improve his mood.

  When Kitt made it down the aisle, it was Ella's turn. Her rosy pink bridesmaid dress was a bit more low-cut than anything she usually wore, and when she caught Kieran staring at her cleavage, he quickly looked away. It had been too long since he had seen a woman's breasts, and Ella's were quickly becoming the only pair he desperately wanted to view.

  When Lyneah appeared at the aisle's end, Tobey's smile spanned from ear to ear. Ella had assembled a small bouquet of wildflowers, which Lyneah handed to Kitt when she reached Tobias' side. So far, everything was perfect.

  Until Doon opened his mouth.

  “So, uh... we're gathered here today before, uh... before all these...” Doon suddenly felt strangled by his necktie, so he ripped it off and flung it over his shoulder. With a grunt, he finished, “Basically, we have witnesses.”

  Kitt was already wincing. To Ella, she whispered, “I knew he'd botch it, but honestly... this is even worse than I expected.”

  “This man and this woman... they've uh... they've decided to give this marriage thing a go,” Doon continued. “And they solemnly swear to love and protect each other and yadda yadda yai.”

  When Doon heard chuckling in the audience, he knew it was coming from Kieran McCray. Before he said another word, Doon glared at the mercenary.

  Sighing deeply, he went on, “They're going to be joined in their hearts and minds and uh... share in each other's mutual joy, and... um... stay devoted to each other until someone's a corpse.”

  Through the corner of her lips, Lyneah hissed at him, “just get on with it, please.”

  “If you have a little speech you want to recite to each other, now's the time to do it. I think they're called vows,” Doon said. “Make it short.”

  Tobias cleared his throat and spoke up. Taking Lyneah's hands in his, he said, “Lyneah... I adore you. You're the best part of my life. You're my soulmate and my strength. You've changed my life in so many ways, and in every possible way, I'm better because of you. You've made me a stronger person. I look forward to spending the rest of my
life with you, and I promise to love you unconditionally and exclusively for as long as I live.”

  “You didn't stutter at all,” Doon quietly pointed out. “Nice job, mate.”

  Then it was Lyneah's turn. “I love you, Tobias. In just a short time, you've become my world. I honestly couldn't imagine my life without you. For a time, I had no one else, but you made me feel loved and appreciated. When we're apart, I have nothing. When we're together, I have everything. You're my best friend, my lover, my joy and my life, and I promise to love you for the rest of my days on earth.”

  By the time Lyneah finished her speech, Doon's eyes were closed. Tobias had to nudge him awake to get him to speak again.

  “Ah... what?” Doon gasped. When he realized he was needed again, he cleared his throat and asked, “Does anyone out there have any objections? After all this, you better not.” The crowd was dead silent, so he continued, “Do you, Tobias, uh... Tobias...uhhhh...”

  Doon couldn't remember the groom's surname, so he turned to Kitt, who whispered, “Robb.”

  “Do you, Tobias Robb, take this woman to be your, uh... woman. To have and hold, in sickness and health and... all that.”

  Tobias answered resolutely, “I do.”

  “And do you, Queen Lyneah, uh... uhhh...” Pausing briefly, Doon whispered to her, “you're going to have to give me a little help with this, love.”

  “Phillipa.”

  “Philpa.”

  “Montbasur.”

  “Uh.... Mount Base Sore.”

  “Wyndsur.”

  “Windsa.” When he finished, Doon dragged a hand through his disheveled dark hair. “Do you take this bloke to be your husband or not?”

  While staring into the eyes of the man she loved more than life, Lyneah nodded firmly. “I do.”

  “Well then, by the power vested in me... which probably shouldn't have been vested to me in the first place, let's be honest... I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Doon said with a bow. “Kiss your bride.”

  As Tobias kissed Lyneah, in the back of the audience, a hungry Bryce bellowed, “Do we get cake now?”

  Some time later, after the crowd dispersed, Kieran found Doon on the back of the airship, secretly smoking a cigarette. When he saw the mercenary approach, Doon offered him a smoke, which Kieran graciously accepted. As Doon lit it for him, he said, “I hope this doesn't mean I have to get married anytime soon.”

  “I hear you,” Kieran agreed, bringing the fresh cigarette to his lips.

  “If Kitt sees her friend getting married... what if she decides she wants to get married too?” Smoke swirled from Doon's lips as he asked the question. “I don't know if I'm ready for that.”

  “When is any man ever truly ready for that?” Kieran added. “Even Tobias looked a little apprehensive, and he's a better man than us.”

  “He is.” Doon idly flicked his cigarette's ashes to the ground. “But... you know, McCray, you're not such a bad bloke either.”

  “Aye,” Kieran solemnly acknowledged the compliment, and after a few seconds of careful contemplation, he finished, “And you're not so bad yourself, Doon.”

  Thirty Nine

  Julian hadn't felt so relaxed in days. He was lounging in the world's most comfortable chair with an ice-cold lemonade in his hand. Featherstone Manor was behind him, in all its resplendent glory, and all his airships surrounded him. Life was good.

  Even Lettie seemed to like him, which was probably the biggest surprise of his life. He was trying to figure out if her feelings were genuine, or if their shared turmoil made her feel sorry for him. Either way, he liked her too, and if she wanted to kiss him again, he certainly wasn't going to complain. In fact, he leaned toward her chair and puckered his lips, hoping she would take the hint, but she didn't.

  “Julian...”

  “Yes, my dear?” He tried to offer her a sip of his lemonade, which she politely declined with a shake of her head.

  “I know you have a long and sordid history with women. Don't even try to deny it, because I know it's true. I was only with you for a couple of weeks, but I swear I saw you with at least a half-dozen women.”

  “Not a half-dozen, surely!” Julian nervously chewed his lip. “More like one or two.”

  “Well, whatever. It doesn't matter. My point is, you like women.”

  “And women like me,” a smiling Julian added, but when he saw her glaring at him, his smile flipped upside down.

  “Do you ever think you could be faithful to just one girl?” Lettie asked. “If philandering is your thing, do you think you could ever... stop?”

  “I wouldn't call myself a philanderer, exactly...” Julian was wincing as he tried to defend himself. “But to answer your question... yes. I could certainly be faithful to one girl, especially if the girl was you.”

  “I want to believe that. I really do. But I don't know...” Lettie could hardly deny her burgeoning feelings for him, but she knew she was safer with someone like George. Julian Featherstone, with his reputation for caddishness, would surely break her heart one day.

  “No. I mean it, Lettie.” Julian sat up and put his lemonade aside. “I think you're special. I knew it from the moment I saw you. I never imagined you would actually like me, not when you were so adamant about hating me, but--”

  “But what?”

  “But... what's that?” Julian directed her attention to the sky, where a pair of massive black airships were ominously drifting toward them. He might not have given it a thought, but they were flying low, as if they were intentionally descending at Featherstone Manor.

  “Oh my god...” Lettie murmured, leaping to her feet. “Those are Baltmoor Aerial Militia ships!”

  “Are you sure? Or are you more like eighty percent sure, but there's still a chance you're mistaken?”

  “No, I'm definitely not mistaken. And... oh no... Julian!” Lettie suddenly ducked and covered her ears. “They're firing!”

  “They're what?” Julian's eyes went wide when the leading airship opened fire on his ancestral home. A cannon hit the rooftop, blowing a hole straight through it. Naturally, Julian responded with a fit of hysteria. “Lettie Lettie Lettieeee! Get them to stop!”

  “What am I supposed to do? Scream at them? Shake my fist at them?” Lettie had to shout over the noise of a second round of fire, which blew apart one of Julian's airships. “It's not like I want them to keep shooting, but I don't think they'd hear me down here!”

  “But we have to do something!” Julian squealed. “We need a... a-a-a-a... a white flag or something! Do you have one?”

  With a roll of her eyes, Lettie replied, “Yeah, Julian, I keep one in my pocket. You never know when you might need a white flag.”

  “Wait, I know!” Julian shrugged off his navy blue greatcoat and pulled off his shirt. Waving the white shirt through the air like a flag, he dashed back and forth across his lawn. “Stoppppp!” Julian screamed when they hit the manor again. “Stop stop stop stop stopppp... oh god... Gram's going to be so angry!” When his makeshift flag failed to send the message, Julian chucked it into the air as hard as he could.

  Julian's panic subsided when the airships finally landed. He watched with bated breath as the lead airship lowered its gangway and a young blonde man came rushing out.

  “George!” Lettie exclaimed. “Oh my god... George! It's... it's been so long! It's--”

  Before Lettie could greet her fiance with a hug, his fist flew forward, landing in Julian's stomach. When Julian doubled over, George's fist sailed into his face.

  “George!” Lettie screamed her fiance's name again. “George, stop! Please!”

  “So this is the infamous George, huh?” Julian croaked through his pain. George Whitney was taller than him, broader than him, and arguably more handsome than him. Of course, Julian hated him already. “It's nice to meet you too. I'm Julian Featherstone.”

  Julian extended a hand, but George slapped it away and punched him again. When the right hook connected with his jaw, Julian dropp
ed to the ground. It was humiliating, to be sure, to let himself get trounced, but he didn't think fighting back would earn him any points with Lettie.

  “Please stop, George!” Lettie repeated, throwing herself between George's fists and Julian. “I don't want you to hit him!”

  “Why not?” George barked. “Isn't this the man who abducted you?”

  Lettie shrugged. “Well, in a sense of the word, I suppose he did... but I wouldn't really call it an abduction. It's more complicated than that.”

  “Isn't this the man who stole your airship?”

  “Um... yes.” She certainly couldn't argue with that.

  “Then he deserves it!” George sidestepped his fiance and kicked Julian squarely in the stomach. “He deserves this beating and more!”

  Julian gripped his stomach and tried to keep his whimpering to a minimum. He stayed on the ground and nuzzled his cheek against the grass.

  “George, I never took you for a violent person. I'm so disappointed in you!” Lettie said. “And you won't even listen to me! I swear, if you hit him again, I'm going to break up with you right here and now!”

  “Hit me again, please!” Julian chimed in. Since Lettie splitting up with her fiance was essentially his dream come true, he would have happily endured another punch or two to make it a reality.

  Before George could respond, Mae bounded down the airship's gangway and ran to Lettie's side. “Oh my god, Lettie! We found you! Are you alright?” As she hugged her friend, Mae's gaze dropped to Captain Featherstone. “Oh my god... what happened to Julian?”

  “Nothing.” Julian licked a bit of blood from his lip. “I feel fine, really. I'm just lounging. On the ground. In the grass.” He caressed the grass with his hand, pretending he was right where he wanted to be.

  “I mean, what happened to your eye?” Mae shrilled. “It's... it's...”

  It took Julian a moment to realize his eye patch had flipped up during his one-sided scuffle with George Whitley. As he shoved it back down, he casually told her, “Oh, yeah. I lost it.”