Chapter 1
Prologue
The king rose from the ashes of his castle. He called out for his daughter, and was met with oppressive silence.
* * * *
The pyromaniac laughed darkly as his carriage trundled along the cobbled road. He had satisfied his urge for flame. He had even been paid for his enjoyment! It wasn’t even a challenge, considering the fact that the castle had suddenly crumbled from the inside, with the chief advisor gathering an army of guards and killing all of the other guards. Somehow, the king was hidden away before he was murdered or killed in the fire. Before the traitor could take the castle, he realized that the princess was missing. The only reason that that stopped him was that the castle was a living thing, and even after it was burned down, it would not let the intruders take over. They needed someone of royal blood to deactivate the castle.
* * * * * * * *
The pirate waited. He had no idea of what happened at the castle. If the king did not deliver the ransom soon, he would kill the girl. He was tiring rapidly of the princess’s constant whining.
After hours of pacing, he was done waiting.
“Ready the plank!” he shouted as he exited his cabin.
* * * * * * * *
The princess was sick of everything. The smell. The brutish men. The fact that she hadn’t changed clothes or had a bath for six days. The fact of the matter was, she was also sick of fear. It had haunted her like some malevolent spirit for the whole time she had been here. And as the words she had dreaded finally filtered through the grate blocking her from the rest of the ship, her blood ran cold.
“Ready the plank!”
* * * * * * *
The monster was waiting patiently. It would be fed soon ……
* * * * ** *
The band The pirates laughed as the princess fell from the boat into the sea, which was swarming with sharks. They were still laughing as she was ripped limb from limb by the creatures, her blood darkening the water. But Grimbeard was still not satisfied. He had a plan. The king didn’t know his daughter was dead.
“Men,” he roared, “tonight we feast!”
Chapter 1
The pyromaniac, Jack, trundled along in the king’s carriage. All of a sudden, the carriage was stopped. Just as Jack was about to stick his head out and ask the driver what was going on, he heard a bang. Jack thought all of the king’s guards had died in the fire. Besides, he told himself, none of the king’s men use guns. It was probably just a gun going off somewhere else. I ca-but Jack was cut off as the door was flung open.
A man with a brown beard grabbed him by the collar of his tattered jacket and slammed him into the seat.
“I’m only gonna ask once. Where’s the ransom?”
Jack stuttered, trying to find words explaining that he had no money. Then he remembered what he was riding in.
The pirate smashed Jack against the wall of the carriage. “Answer me!” When Jack stuttered again, Grimbeard threw Jack into the street.
“I don’t have time for this!”
As if to prove his point, a man ran toward Grimbeard, trying to pull him off Jack. Before he had covered half the distance, Grimbeard pulled his gun from his belt and shot the man dead. It was as Jack stared at the man lying in the street covered in blood, when he said the words he regretted for what was left of his extremely short life.
“I-I’m not the king.”
“Oh,” said Grimbeard. Then he shot Jack in the head.
