"What happened to our ship, boy?" an angry pirate asked. The hairs stood up on Cole's neck. He stopped in his tracks.

    "It's a long story. There was a storm and -" Cole started to explain.

    "You mean... YOU BROKE OUR SHIP?" the pirate yelled in Cole's face. Cole wiped the spit off of his face terrified.

     "No, the storm did. I'm sorry. I'll do whatever you ask of me!" Cole cried.

     "Well, there is one thing you can do for us." the pirate said looking to his crew. Cole tensed up.

     "What's that?"

     "Join our crew to pay us back for the ship. You work until your debt is paid." the pirate commanded.

     "No thanks, I'm good!" Cole declined.

     "I don't think you understand. That wasn't a question. You're going to work for us until every single coin is paid back." the pirate said.

     "But, sir! That can take years!" Cole argued.

     "Then you should get to work.." the pirate laughed. Cole turned away to grab a moop.

------------------

     Princess Heather panted as she ran. Her hands shook. A runaway horse trampled her. "Woah, boy!" she laughed.

     The horse stopped in its tracks calmed by the princess. "Are you lost?" Princess Heather asked. The horse rubbed its head on the princess's dress. Any other day, Princess Heather would have been disgusted, but today she just comforted the animal. "I'm lost too." Princess Heather said.

     "Yeah, he's pretty beat up." a voice said.

     "Who's there?" Princess Heather asked rubbing the horse's head.

     "Jay, the horse guy." Jay said rolling his eyes. Princess Heather laughed at his crappy self-introduction. Jay had known Princess Heather for years. He was the head stable hand at the palace ranch. "I had a feeling you wouldn't go far!" Jay laughed.

     "Believe me, you have no idea how far I've gone!" Princess Heather said.

     "How far?" Jay asked.

     "Dimmer's Island." Princess Heather said like it was nothing. Jay bursted out laughing.

     "Wait... you're actually serious?" Jay asked. Princess Heather nodded. Jay just stood there shocked. "Did you meet a... a...?"

     "Golden eye, yes." Princess Heather answered. Jay shushed her.

     "Don't say it out loud!" Jay scolded her.

     "Golden eye!" Princess Heather screamed. Jay covered her mouth. "What's so bad about them? They are just like us!"

     "Yeah, sure. They're just evil, that's all!" Jay rolled his eyes.

     "Not all of them are evil!" Princess Heather argued.

     "Wow, Heather! You've changed! So, what are you gonna do now?" Jay asked.

     "I... I think I am going to save my friends." Princess Heather finally said. "And you're going to give me your horse." Princess Heather commanded. Princess Heather didn't know how but she was going to get Prince Lucas and her friends back. She couldn't even bear to imagine what they were going through. "Well, are you coming or not?" Princess Heather asked. Jay was still shocked. Princess Heather read the horse's name tag, Ace. Jay looked up at the princess sitting confidently on the horse like she had done this a million times before.

    "I guess so." Jay shrugged.

    The two of them travelled for hours. "Where are we?" Princess Heather asked.

    "A few hours until we get to the coast." Jay reported. The horse was panting now and it's strides were slower and shorter.

    "Great." Princess Heather replied.

    "How are we going to get all the way to Dimmer's?" Jay asked finally getting used to the idea yet still hesitating.

    "Pirate ship," Princess Heather answered.

    "Pirate ship?" Jay questioned. Princess Heather nodded. "I know you're a princess and everything, and don't get me wrong your people love you. But, everyone thinks you're dead. How are you possibly going to get a pirate ship when no one knows you're alive?" Jay asked.

    "I know a guy," Princess Heather smiled.

    "You're scaring me," Jay laughed.

    The two teens set up camp in the forest a couple miles from the shores. Their horse dropped in an instance. Jay and Princess Heather snuggled together to keep warm.

    "I can't sleep." Princess Heather finally said.

    "Me neither," Jay admitted. He moved closer to the princess. Jay ran his fingers through Heather's hair. "Maybe we can stay awake together," he flirted. Jay's lips touched Heather's. Princess Heather closed her eyes. Then, she stopped.

    "I can't do this." she finally said.

    "Sure, you can." Jay's warmth breath tickled Heather's neck. The warmth made Heather's shivers turn into full-on butterflies.

    "No, I can't." Princess Heather told him. She started to slip her shoes back on. "I can't do this to Prince Lucas."

    "What do you mean? You've kissed a bunch of guys while engaged to him! Am I that bad? You can just tell me! I can try something different. What about this?" Jay asked kissing Princess Heather again. She pulled away again.

    "Stop!" she yelled in his ears.

    "What are you doing?" Jay asked.

    "Leaving!" Princess Heather told him tying the saddle onto the horse. "Look, I've made a lot of mistakes and I'm not proud of them. I'm a bitch, okay? And maybe I don't wanna be that girl anymore. Maybe I just... I don't know what I want. All I know is that I can't deal with the fact that I am being dishonest to Prince Lucas." she explained.

    "When have you ever cared about him? Aren't you doing this for the money?" Jay asked laughing about it.

    "I was. Now, I don't know. Seeing the way that he cares about people, I want him to care about me too. He does care about me. He's the only person that does. And I would never forgive myself if I hurt him more than I already have." Princess Heather said.

    "I care about you," Jay finally admitted.

    "Out of all of the people in this kingdom, Prince Lucas was the only one who cared. When I went missing, he found me and he helped me no matter how badly I treated him. No one's out looking for me. No one probably even cares that I'm gone. Yet, he saved me from myself. And I... love him." Princess Heather announced. She hopped on the horse.

    "Princess, wait! That's my horse! You can't-" Jay called out to her, but she was already gone. Heather was going to be the hero that she saw in Prince Lucas. She was going to get that ship even if she had to fight a million people for it.

-------------------------

    Princess Heather trudged through the village exhausted, it had been a long day riding. Her feet hurt so much she slid them to walk further. A little old lady tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me, miss?" the old lady said. Princess Heather snapped to her attention.

    "Yes?" the princess mustered.

    "Are you okay?" the old lady asked.

    "Yes, I'm fine!" Princess Heather assured her.

    "No, you aren't. I am going to get you some water. Stay right here." the lady instructed. Princess Heather shrugged and sat down on the dirt road in front of a fruit stand. A little cup of water didn't hurt anybody. The village gossipers were talking about the latest drama.

    "Did you hear that Princess Heather's funeral is this week?" a lady asked another.

    "No way!" the other gasped.

    "They are pronouncing her dead tonight at the palace!" the first lady told the second.

    Princess Heather gasped completely shocked. She didn't realize how long she has been gone. And she definitely didn't know that people were thinking she was dead. And she couldn't accept it either. She couldn't take it. She bolted out of there and hopped on her horse. No matter how tired she was, she was getting to her friends and setting him free.

    Her eyes closed like a feather falling to the ground in a matter of seconds. She could no longer fight herself. She had to take a rest. Yet, her slumber didn't last long. She fell a cold hand against her neck trying to get a grasp on her necklace. She screamed, grabbing the cold hand nearly snapped the person's wrist. She pinned the man to the ground pulling his hood off. "Cole?" she screamed completely shocked. The man rolled over and pinned her.

    "How do you know my name?" Cole asked.

    "It's me, Heather!" Princess Heather told him.

    "Heather?" he said to himself. "How did you.."

    "What are you doing?" Princess Heather asked. She snatched Cole's sack from his hands and dumped a whole village worth of jewels. She gasped. "Is this what you want to be doing with your life?" Princess Heather asked.

    "What life?" Cole responded gesturing to his clothes. He had the same outfit on from the day Heather met him only now it was torn to shreds.

    "Aren't you going to at least try to save them?" Princess Heather asked.

    "I can't." Cole finally blurted out. He pulled his jacket up so that his entire arm was visible. A huge tattoo appeared. The tatto was of the empire's greatest ocean, a sign that Cole was slave of the Northeastern Pirates. Princess Heather covered her mouth.

    "Why would you...?" she began to ask.

    "I owe them money and a lot of it." Cole interrupted gesturing towards the sack. He gathered the jewels together. "And if I don't pay..." he began to say but trailed off because Heather knew where he was going. Cole would be planning his own suicide if he weren't able to pay back the pirates. Cole was a slave, not a business partner.

    Princess Heather knew that his answer would be no to the question she was going to ask. There was no way he was going to agree to her proposal. Yet, she had to ask for the slim chance that he would help her.

    "I am going to go to Cara." she told him.

    "Why would you do that?" Cole laughed.

    "I am going to talk to Princess Abigail." Princess Heather said.

    "What? Why?" Cole questioned.

    "Because she is the only one who can possibly get Prince Lucas out of prison." Heather said. "So, you wanna come free Prince Lucas with me?"

    "What about Vera and Landon?" Cole asked.

    "We will get them out too. I promise. But, right now we need to focus on Prince Lucas." Princes Heather said she didn't look Cole right in the eyes. In the back of his head, he knew that Vera and Landon were truthfully not Heather's concern at all. "Are you coming?" Princess Heather asked. Cole nodded jumping on the horse.

thanks for reading! follow me for updates!! vote if you liked it!