Mink tossed and turned on his cot. Horrible images of swords danced through his head, and the sound of a battle he was destined to lose rang in his ears. A voice broke through the fracas in his head. "Cabin boy!" ordered the rough voice, "Be out here in five minutes or no breakfast!" Mink groaned softly and began to get out of bed. Ridding himself of the dreams, Mink began his duties, which consisted of bailing any water from the boat, feeding the prisoners in the dank, smelly brig, and washing the dishes, among other things. Mink's life was one laced with irony. Born a prince to a privileged family, Mink was captured by pirates at a young age and reformed to the pirating way of life. He'd come to enjoy his life, but there were times when his heart ached with bitterness from a lost life. The pirates had only captured him for the hefty ransom they knew would come from the king. But the ransom had never come. The king, it was revealed, could live without his only son. The fact that this prince, who could've grown up haughty and spoiled, grew up a working man, a fighter, was perhaps a good thing. Mink had been made a better person, one with toughened muscles to grasp a sword, one with a view on the world that no regular prince could know. But there were the bad aspects as well. That the king didn't care about his son, that Mink had no role model, and that Mink had grown up to be a vicious pirate. Mink wondered what he would be like as a prince. He figured his bandana, earring, and loose cotton shirt would be replaced with a crown, a moustache, and rich velvet robes. Mink had no desire to live that way, he thought. His only regret was... "You sloppy urchin!" roared the first mate, Rohl. "Look what you've done to my shoes!" Mink stared at the tattered leather, now wet with seawater. Nothing registered besides the fact that Rohl had called him an urchin. It was past time for Mink to live up to his ancestry. "I'm no urchin!" Mink informed Rohl, "I'm the prince." Mink felt a flash of achievement after seeing the shocked anger cross Rohl's face. Then he felt a hard slap upon his face, and everything went black.

Thank you Nilla, for this awesome short story. ^^