Voyage (Book 1 of The Pirate, The Professor And The Princess)

Stubbed Toe, The Chapter One

It began with a stubbed toe.

Seriously, no one would've believed that the beginning of one big action-fantasy saga began with a stubbed toe.

But it did.

Right in the middle of the coronation ceremony, under the gaze of hundreds of scrutinizing spectators and close family guests, Princess Ligh stubbed her toe. And there went all her chances of ever becoming the Queen. Not because of her stubbing her toe, but because of what came next. A rather objectionable and undignified word slipped past her lips, the clear sound of it ringing loudly in the throne-room chambers.

She heard sharp intakes of breath from all around herself. Hands flew up to cover mouths which were hanging open. Eyes widened.

And then, as unbelievable as it sounds, there was silence. Dead, raw kind of silence during which there became a type of anticipation in the minds of all those people present there, wondering what the King and Queen were going to do to their daughter now.

Ligh was starting to wonder that too with an increasing amount of anxiety. She swallowed and pressed her lips together after a sigh. It took all her effort to turn her gaze upwards at her parents.

She knew what that expression was. They did not look happy.

"No, no," Ligh tripped over her own feet again, then pulled aside the puff of her royal blue gown to walk faster. "Mother, listen to me. Father?"

The two of them walked ahead, all in their regal glory and glamor. The guards positioned on either side of the hallway bowed their heads the moment they came into view, but the same heads straightened up immediately after and did not bow again for Ligh. She noticed this disrespect, even knew the reason for this, had decided the punishment already, but this was not the day to bring this up.

She had to try to grab one last chance of getting the crown.

She might've messed up back at the coronation, and her parents might be furious, but maybe she still had a chance at being ascended to the throne.
"Please, listen to me, Mother and Father," she protested. "Don't make such a big deal out of it."

Ligh didn't think she would be further convicted of speaking rudely and out of place, but it turned out Their Majesties thought differently. They halted in their steps and Ligh almost ran into her father. He turned back to look at her and raised an eyebrow. "Make a big deal out of it, was what you said?"

Ligh sighed internally, then decided to initiate Plan B.

She jutted out her bottom lip and looked down at the floor, then mumbled something she couldn't even understand herself. It was all a nice pretence, and she thought she was doing a good job at convincing her parents by the innocent, was-once-your-little-girl act, but she just got disapproving glances from them.

Disapproving and dissatisfied.

And then someone snickered.

That was the last straw for Ligh. All her patience abandoned her and she turned to face the middle-aged guard near the wall. She scowled. "Shut your mouth, you vile scum." Her position of authority carried the power forward and the vile scum shut his mouth.

Her mother opened hers.

"Ligh," she said sharply, glaring at her. Then she glanced sideways at the King, and took a step forward, closer to Ligh. She kept her voice low. And deadly. "Don't forget who you're speaking in front of."

Ligh was defiant. She planted her feet firmly on the floor and stared up at her mother. "Why did you not hand me the crown? Why didn't you make me the Queen?"

"Sadly," her mother replied with equal amounts of scath in her voice. "You are our only choice for the throne, so of course you're one day going to be the Queen. If only we had another child."

"Ouch, that hurt." Ligh rolled her eyes. She knew she shouldn't be digging herself further, but it was almost impossible to stop arguing once she had begun and had established the fact that she enjoyed it.

"Watch your mouth," her mother said, then exhaled a heavy breath through her nose. "You will become the Queen...as...as unbelievable as that sounds."

Ligh's jaw clenched.

"But before that, you need to drill one thing into your brain," her voice got a little lower and even more hoarse. Ligh could understand pretty well how her mother was trying to block out any eavesdroppers.

Ligh smirked. "Down to whispers now, are we?" Ligh mocked. If she was to lose her chance of being the Queen right now, she might as well lose it like a rebel.

Her mother stared at her with an unreadable expression, as if confused, frustrated and furious at the same time. "Speak like a Queen if you want to become a Queen."

Ligh shifted on her feet. "Okay, okay, I get it," she held up her hands in surrender. "You want me to spend a night in the library and read literature. I can do that, honestly, if only you hand me the crown next morning." She saw her mother's eyes flash with barely disguised anger, and she was sure she had just crossed a line she was only balancing on top of before.

"A crown is not given away or handed over like a piece of pie," her mother gritted out. "It is succeeded, and moreover, earned, out of which you are not worthy of one and not capable of the other."

Ligh had to marvel at the creative insults. But she did not want to compliment, so she just pretended to accept whatever was in store for her.
"Okay," she sighed, nodding at her mother in resignation. "Mama's anger, I get that. Dangerous territory." She exaggerated a deep breath. "What do you want me to do?"

Her mother, the Queen, Her Majesty didn't answer, and just raked her eyes up and down Ligh's face a couple times. Ligh struggled to keep her face unreadable, and it wasn't that difficult to be honest: it was not like she felt any emotions or anything most of the time. Her mother shared a glance with her father, the King, His Majesty. They had a silent conversation, at the end of which they nodded to each other—or maybe themselves, Ligh couldn't tell—and turned. They walked away, leaving Ligh standing at the same spot, staring at their retreating backs.

Her shoulders drooped down low with the ever-growing doubt inside of her that Queen Ligh was not a title people were going to address her with anytime soon.

Stupid toe just had to get stubbed.