"Hold the shell phone!" Elise said, nearly falling back on the bed. "You don't wanna be queen, you want to be a pirate?!"

Chloe winked again at her newfound friend and curved her hand. "That really hooked you in. I wanna get my peg leg in the door!"

"But why would you wanna give up this lavish life?!" Elise asked and tilted her head.

Chloe put her hand around Elise's shoulder. "Look at me, starfish. Do you really think I fit in here?"

Elise took one look at the overfrilled bedroom and then at Chloe with her wild jagged hair and eye patch. She did have the beauty of her mother, but she was much too spunky otherwise.

Elise nodded. "No you don't!"

"Ya got a real moxy, kid," Tony said in agreement.

"So…" Chloe said, a mischevious look in her eye. "How about you and I blow frillsville and head out on the open sea with your pirate crew. I'm sure they're as salty as you are sweet."

"Ooh yesh they are," Elise smiled and nodded.

"I think I'm part anchovy," Tony added, "so I'm extra salty."

"Only one problem…" Elise said sadly.

"What is it?" Chloe asked, suddenly looking dismayed.

"They're in prison," Elise sobbed. "Like Tony said. And that sparkly pink warden is making everyone run in these big hamster wheels."

Elise reached into her dress pocket and removed the schematic, showing the sordid schematic with plans to recreate the naval ships.

Chloe's jaw dropped. "You could have showed me this before I brought you to the castle" she said impertinently, but when Elise frowned, she added, "This is terrible. I cannot even believe this is going on!"

"Can you do anything about it? These guys are mega mean!" Elise asked, but that only made Chloe look doubtful.

"I'm sorry, starfish," Chloe said, gazing forlorn at the floor. "I may be queen, but I don't make the decrees...I simply sign them."

"Why?!" Elise asked, "What for?" but before she could answer, an older voice called Chloe's name from behind the door.

"Quick," Chloe whispered to Elise, "Get beneath the bed. It's the Dingsworth, the Minister of Order!"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Dingswho the minist…?" Elise cried but Chloe covered her mouth and directed her beneath the bed.

Elise grabbed Tony and crawled beneath the doily shaped bed. She let out a squeak when she realized she forgot the schematic. She rose back out, but had to duck under the bed right before the door creaked open. She grimaced, realizing it was too late to grab the plans.

Peering out from beneath the bed, Elise saw an old man with the whispiest eyebrows ever. He was dressed in a gold and black robe and his facial hair practically floated off his face like a cumulous cloud. He wore a golden, bellshaped hat covering his bald head. He was funny looking, and Elise wanted to giggle, but his demeanor indicated he was fully serious.

"My dearest Queen Annabell," Dingsworth said in a yelping, elderly voice. "Where in the four, great holy oceans have you been? I haven't seen you all morning. There's been an outrageous hubbub in town involving an escaped and highly nefarious prisoner."

"Oh my," Chloe said, pretending to be more ditzy than she normally was. "My poor heart can't take the pandemonium!"

"That is why I thank the dickens that you're safe and sound!" Dingsworth gushed. "Please tell me where you were hiding."

Chloe swung her legs innocently on her bed. "I was in the castle garden, writing elegant prose to all the different kinds of daylillies and thinking what a dainty lady I am!"

"Blessed relief!" Dingsworth blew out a sigh and sat down on the bed beside her. "I promised your dear parents that I'd look after the delicate, young queen in any way I could."

"I thank you for that," Chloe sighed gently.

Elise wasn't used to Chloe speaking so softly and quietly.

The minister stood up and paced the room. "Ever since your parents were...murdered and your eye was infected by that demon pirate, I want to make sure the kingdom is running as smoothly as it was before the tragedy."

For once, Chloe's voice sounded a bit agitated. "Please don't remind me of that, minister. That day is still fresh in my mind."

"My apologies," the minister said, and moved closer to his queen. "I didn't mean to remind you of such a traumatic event."

Elise bit her tongue. So that's why Chloe wears an eye-patch, she thought.

"But onto pressing matters," the minister said. "I hope once this rascal pirate is back in the pen, you will be able to oversee the next trial for these ne'er-do-wells."

"Minister," Chloe whined in a voice very unbefitting of her. "You know I hate being at those trials."

Dingsworth stood up again and gazed directly into Chloe's singular eye. "Your ancestress, the first Queen Annabell Chime oversaw every trial of her people, making sure that the law was fair and just. It is important you continue this tradition for your people."

Chloe was silent again, and the minister continued. "I have already won the favor of your people with my orderly degrees. All I ask is that you attend and represent lady justice."

Chloe sighed. "Who must I oversee?"

Dingsworth cleared his throat. "You will be overseeing the trial of a most nefarious captain, Jonas Archibell and his sordid crew. We, the people of the Mainland shall host a fair and balanced trial that decides if it's the gallows for them."

Elise squeaked so loudly from shock the Minister of Order jumped to his feet. "Gadzooks! What was that? Did you hear that squeak?"

Elise covered her eyes, waiting for him to peer beneath the bed.

"Sorry, that was me" Chloe giggled. "That wasn't very ladylike of me."

"On that note," the minister said taking a step back. "I shall evacuate the premises. Enjoy the rest of your day, my queen and do prepare yourself for the trial!"

The minister picked up his feet and quickly ran outside, leaving Elise and Chloe alone. Elise squeezed out from under the bed, an uneasy expression on her face. "What was that, starfish?" Chloe demanded. "You almost got us both busted!"

"I'm sorry," Elise said, her eyes watering and Tony looking extremely dismayed. "You decide if my crew gets to live or die!"