“No,” I lie. “And there will be plenty of time for storytelling later. For now you’re to report back to the Ava-lee. And you tell Niridia that I order her to take the ship to the checkpoint and wait for me there. No more following me. I mean it.” I look each one squarely in the eyes. Mandsy nods feebly while Zimah looks disappointed. Sorinda looks as though she really couldn’t care either way. But she always wears that face.

“Aye, Captain,” Mandsy says on a sigh, “but what are you doing here anyway? Why aren’t you on the ship? Is there something we can help with?” She can’t hide the eagerness and enthusiasm in her voice. That’s Mands. Always optimistic and ready to help. Drives the rest of the crew bloody insane sometimes.

“No, I’m f— Wait. Actually, you can. I need to get a message to my father.”

“What is it?” Zimah asks. She has a perfect memory. She can recite back to me minutes of overheard conversation at a time.

“Tell him our plans for getting me on board the Night Farer went perfectly. I’ve begun my search for the map. No one suspects me. It’s my belief that Draxen doesn’t even know the map is aboard his ship, since he doesn’t hide it in his quarters. Searching the rest of the ship shouldn’t take me long. Be ready at the checkpoint. I’ll bring the ship to him soon.”

“Got it,” Zimah says. “Anything you’d like us to pass along to the crew?”

“Tell them I miss them all, and I’ll be home shortly.”

“Glad to hear it,” Mandsy says.

“Yes, yes, now go. And be quick about it.”

“Aye,” they say at once, and hurry back toward the shore.

Part of me wishes I could go with them. Another part is still eager for the hunt, for the game of finding the map. I long for the victory of finding something so important for my father. He will be quite pleased when I return.

And I am pleased that getting word to my father became easier than I expected.

Now I get to skip ahead to the getting caught part. Should be simple enough once I find Draxen’s crew. The difficult bit will be making it look like an accident. They’ll surely be suspicious if I simply hand myself over to them. The last thing I need is Riden getting more curious about my intent. I’m not too worried, but I’m also not careless. I may have lied to my father in my message about no one being suspicious of me, but Riden is simple enough to deal with. Father doesn’t need to know about him.

I pass by the large estates where the rich live, and have to stomp out the urge to go snooping around their valuables. For one, they’ll have many men inside, guarding their riches from all the pirates currently at this port. (Thanks to my father’s regime, there are always several crews in each port city, stopping to spend their plunder.) Such discouragement has no effect on me, save that I know the steal will take more time and planning, which I don’t have.

And secondly, I wouldn’t have a place to hide such valuables after I took them. Riden would be sure to notice and steal a new gem from around my neck.

Eventually I make it to the raucous section of town, the one that wakes once the rest of the city sleeps. You can tell it’s for the more unsavory sort, because it’s so very loud. Music pours out the windows onto the streets. Gunshots sound. Men and women laugh. Tables overturn. The streets are filled with the light of lanterns.

Any crime at all can be committed here, and the law of the land cannot touch us. It’s part of the deal my father has with the land monarch. The pirates get a district on land, free from the burdens of the law, and my father won’t blow excavating ships out of the water.

I know instantly when I’m in the right place. There’s a tavern on one side of the street, a whorehouse on the other. This is where most pirates go to spend all their spoils. They are men of simple pleasures. I, too, enjoy a good flask of rum from time to time, but I also take pleasure in longer-lasting rewards. I spend my earnings on good clothing and face paint. Appearance is important. I pay for information on big players on different islands. I enjoy meeting new people and learning their stories. The really interesting ones become members of my crew. But ultimately I always seek to win my father’s approval, to solidify myself as his heir and become the queen of sea thieves. I can’t imagine anything more fun than humbling stuffy land nobles as they cross the ocean. My ocean.

I approach the tavern first, since the men at the whorehouse are far less likely to notice me while engaged in their activities. Now, how to get caught without making it too obvious?

I go around to the side of the tavern and peer through a grime-covered window. It’s packed, and I can see several members of Draxen’s crew. They sit at tables, drinking and gambling and talking. I note that Draxen himself is not here. He’s probably over at the whorehouse. Riden must be over there, too— Wait, Riden’s in here.

I spot him in the back, at a table with a bunch of men. He has one hand full of cards, while the other is draped around some woman seated on his lap.

A snort escapes me. And he said he didn’t pay for female companionship. Although—I squint, getting closer to the window without actually touching it. She’s not dressed like a whore. Her face isn’t extravagantly painted—

The tavern doors groan as they open wide. Stars, I should have been paying attention to the door.

A body comes walking around to the side of the tavern where I stand. After a few moments, I recognize it as Kearan.

Perhaps walking had been too generous of a term. Stumbling’s more like it. The big oaf zigzags right past me. Then he stops, bracing himself against the wall.

Time to act.

I pinch my cheeks to bring red to them. I flick my head downward, rumpling my hair. Adding a slight tremor to my whole person, I rush forward, leaning against the wall right next to him.

“Kearan. You have to help me. Please. Help me get away from here.”

He turns his head slightly in my direction but says nothing.

“Please,” I say again. “I know deep down you’re not a bad man. Please get me out of here.”

My intention is for him to assume I misplaced my trust. He’s supposed to haul me back to the ship.

Instead he vomits and collapses to the ground.

I shouldn’t be surprised.

That’s when I’m grabbed from behind. Oh, excellent! I was worried I’d have to—

I feel hot breath at my ear. It smells of rum. The chest at my back rises and falls rapidly. Then my hair stands on end as a wet tongue starts at the corner of my chin and rises up my cheek.