Page 44 of Escaping Pirates (Legends of Neverland #4)

*ONE MONTH LATER*

“Hurry,” I urged Harlan, tugging his hand toward the prison. The engagement ring he’d given me a few days earlier caught the light and winked back at me. Each time I looked at it, which was about once a minute, it made me positively glow with happiness.

He laughed. “Doing the inspection quickly won’t get your family here any earlier, you know. You’ll just be standing on the dock for longer. We may as well occupy ourselves the last few hours before they get here.”

“I’d much rather spend that time waiting for my family than hanging out near Sugar and Blossom. I’ve had enough time with them to last a dozen lifetimes.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “I know the feeling. But I thought you’d like to see how the tides have turned for them. I hear they are the maids for the prison now.”

“Good.”

The guards stationed outside bowed to us as we approached and opened the doors. Harlan had been reinstated as crown prince, much to the relief of his younger brother, Ernst, who claimed he would much rather study than rule.

“Your Majesty,” the captain of the prison guard said the moment he saw Harlan. “It’s an honor.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Harlan replied, his voice steady. “I appreciate you having me. What’s the update?”

“We increased the guard rotations and implemented your suggested protocols for high-risk inmates. No major unrest since the last intake. The crew from the Fortune Hunter is being held in cell block C. We did recently separate some of them after a few minor incidents.”

“What incidents?”

I looked around at the prison cells here.

There was still the stink that always hovered around men who didn’t wash as often as they ought to, but there was no mold or mildew, and no rats scampered across the floors.

It was cool, but a similar temperature to what an infirmary would be kept at.

Compared to what Harlan and I had endured, this was paradise.

The guard cleared his throat. “I had to move one of the women closer to the guard station. I’m sorry to say that one of my sons took a fancy to her, and I needed to ensure nothing came of it.

See?” He nodded toward a thin, bespectacled teenage boy who sat on a stool, arms resting against a cell’s bars and a lovestruck expression on his pimply face.

I drew level with the cell and looked curiously inside, then bit my lip to avoid laughing out loud. Sitting in a corner and looking thoroughly disgruntled was Sugar. She glared at the ring on my finger, which I made no effort to hide, then she crossed her arms and turned her back to the hallway.

“You’re so beautiful,” the boy sighed .

Harlan and I exchanged gleeful expressions.

“Quentin, you need to get back to your studies,” the guard said, hauling his son to his feet and shoving him toward the door. “Remember what I told you about talking to prisoners.”

“Awwww.” The boy dragged his feet toward the exit.

“Sorry about that,” the captain said. “I also had to move her because she and her sister wouldn’t stop squabbling and all my guards complained of headaches. If you come this way, I’ll show you the other prisoners.”

Cell after cell held pirates. Some paced back and forth, others slept, and a few had books, cards, or dice for entertainment. “They can earn privileges based on good behavior,” the captain explained. “This is the last hallway up here.”

Ahead of us, the sound of Blossom’s voice grew louder the closer we got. “Now, as I was saying,” she said, with the air of someone delivering a royal decree, “I composed another poem for everyone, based on my own life.”

Groans came from the cells around her. “Not again!”

“Hold your tongues, men!” Harsh barked. “Go on, darling.”

Harlan rolled his eyes at me, and I was momentarily distracted from waiting for my family, eager to hear the sort of poem that Blossom had composed. She was facing away from us, sitting atop an overturned bucket, and hadn’t noticed our approach.

“This one is titled, ‘An Ode to My Tragedy,’ Blossom proclaimed, then cleared her throat and began.

Scurvyella was ugly,

her hair full of gunk ,

And dumber than barnacles

stuck to a trunk.

She deluded Harlan

with her grimy mystique,

But I was the flower,

so vibrant! Unique!

I saw her gooverboard;

a splash of glee!

I hoped she was gone,

just flounders and sea.

But Harlan said,

“Blossom, I love only her,”

So I said, “Then be gone,

you traitorous monsieur!”

He doesn’t deserve

my brains or my flair.

Let him be content

with her gunk-filled hair.

Harsh applauded loudly, and Harlan and I joined in. Blossom turned, and her face flushed a dark red.

“That was an unforgettable poem,” Harlan told her. He held my hand so Blossom would be sure to spot the engagement ring on my finger. “You must’ve put a great deal of thought into it.”

Blossom sneered at me. “It might take you a great deal of thought to understand it.”

“I actually won’t ever think about you or your poems ever again,” I told her. “But feel free to compose as many as you want. It will make your stay pass more quickly.”

Harsh grumbled under his breath, but Harlan and I didn’t wait to hear any more.

“Thank you, Captain, for the tour,” Harlan told our guide, then raised his voice a little. “But we must be going now. My fiancée and I are stopping at the port to greet her family.”

The harbor smelled like salt and sun-warmed rope, with the faint scent of citrus wafting from the crates stacked near the merchant stalls.

Seagulls wheeled overhead, screaming back and forth, while sailors called to each other as they unloaded barrels and tied off sails.

The air was thick with sound and movement, but all I could focus on was the horizon where familiar silhouettes crested into view, one by one.

Ships.

Not just any ships. My ships. Or rather, my father’s.

The flagship came first, carved with the familiar crest of the Arkwright trading company, a lion flanked by twin anchors, and behind it sailed the full fleet, strung like pearls across the water.

I counted an even dozen in all, each one etched into my memory from childhood visits to the shipyard, where I used to sit on my father’s shoulders while he conducted his business.

I hadn’t realized I’d been holding my breath until my lungs started to ache.

They’d finally arrived.Harlan wrapped his arms around me from behind and rested his chin on my head. I tilted my head back to allow him to brush his lips against mine before looking forward again, counting the seconds until the ships docked.

My heart thundered in my chest as the flagship eased into port with practiced grace.

Sailors leapt down to secure lines, and ramps dropped.

Shouts rang out and then I saw them. My father, tall and broad and still wearing his sea coat.

My mother, elegant as ever despite the salty wind tugging at her hair.

And behind them were Charlotte and Alexander, my younger sister and brother, both elbowing each other as they tried to find me amid the crowd.

I ran, waving and shouting for them like a madwoman.

Father saw me first and nearly leapt down the gangplank to catch me in a bone-crushing hug, lifting me off the ground like I was still twelve years old.

Mother caught up moments later, followed by my siblings, and we sank down into a mass of jumbled limbs, laughing and crying and talking all at the same time.

“I can’t believe we’re finally here!” Charlotte chirped, looking around with wide eyes at the sprawling city. “It’s a lot bigger than Haven Harbor!”

“You’ll be able to attend a new school,” Mother told her. “I heard that even Princess Tess goes there.”

“But I’ll be a princess too, won’t I? Since Elena is marrying a prince.”

“You’ll always be a princess to me,” I told her. “And speaking of Harlan—” I looked around to see where he’d got to and spotted him hanging back to give us time for our reunion.

“This is the prince?” Father asked, extricating himself to greet Harlan.

“Guilty as charged,” Harlan said, stepping forward and an easy smile on his face .

“I always said no man would ever be good enough for my daughter,” Father said after studying Harlan for a minute. “And for a long time, I was right.” He let the words hang for a breath, then extended his hand. “But you proved me wrong.”

Harlan took the offered hand, firm and respectful, and Father gripped it tightly with both hands.

“She wrote and told us everything you did,” he went on, voice thick. “How you protected her and kept her hope alive when most men would’ve given up. You risked your life for her and then you moved heaven and earth to bring her home to us safe.”

He blinked fast, once.

“You saved her and for that…I can never thank you enough.”

“I love Elena,” Harlan answered simply. “And she saved me just as much as I saved her. I would do anything for her, and that will never change.”

“I believe you,” Father replied. He clapped a hand on Harlan’s shoulder. “And if there’s anything I can do to repay you, you only need to name it.”

“You’ve already given me more than enough,” Harlan said with a smile, glancing at me. I beamed at him. I’d never imagined such a joyful reunion. But standing between my family and the man I loved most in the world, with a future wide open before us, it finally felt real.

Harlan and I walked around the perimeter of town later that evening.

My family’s new home was situated at the edge of town, close to the ports but still only a twenty-minute walk to the castle.

I’d intended to stay with them longer, but once their bags had been taken in, my parents and siblings had collapsed into their beds and instantly fallen asleep.

Harlan and I had snuck out, quietly closing the door behind us so they could rest and recover from their journey.

A nearby bakery sent out wafts of the delicious smell of pastries fresh from the oven, and I inhaled deeply. “There’s a smell that will tempt bears out of that forest,” I said, waving a hand at the woods beyond.

Harlan laughed. “There aren’t many bears in this area. It’s more likely to be bandits, if anything. The forest is full of them. See?” He pointed at a wanted poster, and I recognized Roderick Vane’s scarred and bearded face. “Just as dangerous as bears and probably more likely to harm someone.”

“I recognize him,” I told Harlan, squinting at the poster. “Tyrone had dinner with him one evening and he wanted to import some crates.” I puckered my lips. “Whatever is inside cannot have been legal.”

“Don’t worry about it. I have my rangers that are part of the Nightsworn,” Harlan told me firmly. “They handle capturing people like him.”

“Not if I get to him first.” Gil’s casual voice came from behind me. I jumped, unaware that anyone had been nearby. Gil tore the poster from where it had been nailed to the post, looked at it, then rolled it up and tucked it into her jacket. “This looks like a mission I’d enjoy.”

She bobbed along the thin, winding dirt trail toward the tree line, her short, golden hair winking out from beneath her cap.

If I hadn’t known her identity, I would have still assumed she was a young teenage boy.

She truly was a master of disguise. I hesitated, wondering if I could call after her, but Harlan gently squeezed my hand.

“If whatever Gil’s planning is illegal, then the Nightsworn will handle it.

Let’s just enjoy our future together. Come on. Let’s go plan our wedding.”

Without looking back at us once, Gil disappeared into the deep, dark woods.

THE END

Want to find out what Gil has planned?

Check out the next installment of Legends of Neverland: Seeking Revenge: A Villainous Goldilocks Retelling …where Goldilocks is a morally-gray bounty hunter with a vendetta to settle.