On a list of things Victoria Song didn’t like, being confused would be in the top five, easily. As captain of one of the most notorious pirate ships on the sea, she had always exercised a level of knowledge about her crew and their whereabouts and actions that kept her from ever having to deal with the confusion of not being sure about something on her ship. And of course, she stepped foot off of her ship and a level of confusion she didn’t know was possible hit her square in the face like a ship crashing against the rocks in a storm and all she could do was stare at the man in front of her and utter a single word: “What?”

“I said,” he whispered, leaning in to brush his lips against her ear as he spoke. “‘Be my wife, and your crew goes free, Captain.’”

Before Tao or Luna had a chance to react Victoria’s fingers were curled around the Prince’s throat, fire blazing in the pirate’s eyes as she turned and slammed him against the wall. The air left his lungs in an audible ‘whoosh’ and all traces of smugness disappeared in the face of her anger. “I got a better idea. How ‘bout I kill you right here, snap yer pretty little neck, and then I kill her, maybe throw her out on the rocks outside, and then I kill that prissy little guard of yours and I take my first mate and your family’s gold and I sail out of here that much richer. Huh? What’s to stop me from doing that?”

“Even if you killed us,” Tao struggled, breath scarce from the fingers pressing against his windpipe. “Luhan would kill you and your man before you got a glimpse of his sword.”

Victoria pressed a little harder, the small gasp of pain from the prince and frightened whimper from Luna almost enough to let her die happily either way. “And what makes you think we couldn’t take him?”

“Luhan’s the best swordsmen in the entire kingdom. I’ve seen him take down five men twice his size in half a minute. Two measly pirates? He’d rip you two to shreds.”

Victoria scoffed. “Ask a woman to marry you then insult her and her friends? No wonder you need to force a wife, princey, you definitely can’t woo one. But that’s not really important here. Say I don’t kill you both. Maybe I just kill Luna, then I walk out of here with a knife at your throat and make my way back to my ship using you as leverage to keep me and Kris alive. I sail off out of here, and then I throw you to the sharks.” 

“You could try,” Tao said, shoulders moving a fraction of an inch in a small shrug. “But our archers are the best in the world, they’d shoot you both down without so much as scraping a hair on my head with an arrow.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Of course.”

“Sure enough to risk your life on it?” 

“Absolutely,Captain.”

Victoria growled in frustration, unable to stop herself from pulling the prince forward and slamming him back against the wall one good time before releasing him. “What, exactly, do you want from me?”

“Exactly what I said,” he answered, a series of coughs wracking his frame as his lungs worked to bring in the oxygen they’d been deprived of. “I need to get married and since you’re here, your entire crew is facing execution, and you aren’t the most hideous woman I’ve ever met, it doesn’t seem like a bad idea for you to become my wife so that your crew can go free.”

Victoria’s eyes narrowed on the brunet. “Why me?” The words were supposed to be biting, filled with rage, anything except the pathetic tone they took the minute they were in the open, old wounds aching as Victoria remembered the days before her escape into piracy. 

The prince’s eyes widened, just enough for Victoria to see it, before he schooled his features and shooed Luna out of the room as well. Neither spoke for a moment as Tao moved back to his original seat, rubbing at his sore throat absentmindedly. 

“Honestly,” he said finally, slumped shoulders making the prince seem older than his twenty years. “My parents have arranged a marriage for me and I can’t go through with it.” 

Victoria took the seat opposite him, defeat clear in her downcast eyes and quiet voice. “Why not?” 

“I don’t love her. Not like that anyway. We…we grew up together.” Tao sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose; he could feel a headache coming on just thinking about it. “She’s like a sister to me and I love her with all my heart but I just, I can’t marry her. I can’t marry her and give the kingdom an heir and know that even though she’s in love with me, I will never return her feelings.”

“You don’t want to hurt her,” Victoria muttered, hating herself for the surge of sympathy she felt towards the man holding her crew hostage. 

Tao didn’t reply and silence engulfed them once more. 

“How old is she?” 

“Seventeen this winter,” Tao replied.

Victoria opened to ask her name but was quickly cut off by the sound of Tao’s chamber doors being thrown open. The sound was enough to make the prince jump before Luhan stormed into the room with his sword drawn and a wide-eyed Luna following behind him. 

“How dare you threaten the prince’s life, pirate wench!” The guard yelled, advancing on Victoria with rage contorting his soft features. 

Tao and Victoria both stood as Luhan reached them and held the edge of his sword against the pirate’s throat.

“Is that any way to speak to your future queen?” Victoria laughed, all traces of the somber and understanding woman gone and replaced with the snarky pirate who could cut a man worse with words than a sword ever could. 

Luhan scoffed, blade pressing closer to her skin. “Filthy pirates with their idiotic lies. I ought to slice out your tongue be-”

“She’s not lying.” 

The guard’s jaw dropped, eyes locking on Tao in disbelief. “What?”

“She’s not lying. Victoria and I are getting married, Luhan. She’s going to be your queen one day.”

Whaaaa? An update?? For an Amy fic??? Yes, it is possible for me to actually update. /bricked. Anywhoooo~ it is way past my bed time but I stayed up to write this chapter so you guys should leave me some nice comments in return okay? <3