But I’m also stronger than they’re used to seeing.

Draxen gets close enough to see my face clearly. “You killed one of my finest men yesterday. I should let Ulgin have you. But it won’t do to have the pirate king’s daughter unidentifiable once we swap you for the ransom. This will have to do.”

I ignore him, focus only on the three pirates descending to the ground. I wait for them to mold back into the crowd to ensure they can’t beat me to the top.

I needn’t have worried. Everyone’s too stunned to do anything once I start climbing.

“Oi, she can’t do that,” one pirate exclaims.

I don’t bother to look down at them; I focus on the movements of my arms. One hand over the other, relax, pull. Other hand, relax, pull. The chain length doesn’t allow me to gain much rope with each pull, but it is enough. I can still climb.

And I do, all the way to the top. I hitch a leg over the rounded wooden beam that rests below the sail. Then I sit, straddling the wood. I’m not even breathing hard. If only I could think of a brilliant plan for getting the chains off. But I’ve got nothing to work with from up here.

“Bring her down,” Draxen calls, face red—not that I can see it clearly, but it’s fun to imagine it all red and puffy, fuming with anger.

More and more men start to climb up the mast. But I’ve no intention of letting any pirate touch me. So I start to climb back down.

I stop when I’m halfway down the rope. The pirates hesitate at the top, no one seems to want to climb down and join me.

Riden steps up to Draxen, puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Alosa!” Riden shouts. “Come all the way down, or I’ll order the rope cut.”

I sigh and roll my eyes. Riden, Riden. It’s sad, really, that they all have to try so hard to make me behave.

I do as he says, though. I’ve no intention of gaining breaks or bruises.

I just really don’t want to clean the deck.

Hanging at the end of the rope, I wait. It’s the only trick I have left. It’s moments such as these when I’m truly grateful for my father’s blasted endurance tests. They made me strong. They made me aware of how much I can handle.

And no one has ever been able to outlast me at holding up their own body weight.

Minutes pass and still I hang. Everyone watches, waiting for me to sag from exhaustion. Curious to see how long I’ll be at this.

Riden coughs. “Captain, perhaps the men should get back to work while the princess suffers her punishment.”

“Aye,” Draxen says.

“You heard the captain. Back to your positions. Get on with it. Who knows? She might still be conscious when you’re done.”

The men laugh as they scatter to different areas of the ship. The muscles in my arms and stomach start to sting.

At least I don’t have so much of an audience now. It’s mostly Riden and Draxen. Draxen looks on with satisfaction. And Riden—Riden looks … I cannot tell. He just looks.

The sun moves in the sky. The wind changes direction. My body begins to tremble. It’s hard to breathe.

And then I can’t take it anymore. I drop myself. The iron pinches at my skin, digs into my bones. It hurts like hell, but I’ll not utter a word of complaint. Even if I agreed to clean, the captain would only keep me up here now. He wants me to suffer for what happened to Sheck. I can see it in his eyes. There will be no relief for quite some time.

Eventually Riden and the captain move on. They have duties to perform as well. I think they’re consulting in the captain’s quarters now. It’s difficult to tell. Turning my head involves too much effort.

“Miss Alosa,” a voice whispers.

“Yes, Enwen? Can I help you with something?”

He smiles, knowing very well I can’t do anything for him in my present condition. “It would take a hurricane to dampen your spirits, lass. I have something for you.”

“What is it?”

“The siren bracelet. I bought it from Belor after we woke up from the conk to the head you gave us.”

“I’m really sorry about that.”

“You already apologized, miss. Remember? No harm in trying to fight for your freedom. ’Tis a noble cause. I can’t fault you. Would’ve done the same thing. Now, here.”

He ties the leather string to my ankle.

“That’s a bootlace, Enwen.”

“Maybe so. Maybe not so. Important thing is that you have it anyway.”

“Why would you give me something you bought for yourself?”

“I stole some of your hair. And I had to be your prison guard. Kidnapping and mistreating women is not why I became a pirate. I’m a proper thief and good with a knife. Nothing more. It don’t sit right with me what we’re doing to Your Highness. Besides, I’ll steal the coins back from Belor tonight.”

He steps closer and whispers so softly now that I can barely hear him. “And between you and me, the men were laughing at me something fierce. The only thing that bracelet brought me was mockery.”

“Hmm. Then I think its powers were working on me before you tied it on me.”

“No, no, Miss Alosa. I already thought of that. This token is a bracelet. Bracelets are for women. It’ll bring you protection from the sea but not me.”

I laugh softly. “Thanks, then, Enwen.”

“’Tis a pleasure, miss. Be seeing you around.”

Blood starts to slide down my arms. Bah, now my clothes are stained.

Every once in a while, I’ll start to regain my strength enough to pull the pressure off my wrists for a brief moment. But always I end up back where I am, dangling above a ship full of barbarians. Except for Enwen.

Maybe Kearan, too. He hoists a flask up in the air, a question in the gesture. My returning look must be something like, How exactly would I drink that from up here?

He shrugs and downs the rum himself. I suppose it is the thought that counts.

At one point, I spot Theris through the mass of working pirates. He glances up at me a couple of times. It’s not sympathy or worry on his face, but curiosity. Like all the other pirates, he’s probably wondering what insane thing I’ll do next.

All I can wonder is when the pain will go away.

The truly agonizing thing is that I could free myself. If I didn’t have to hide what I can do, I could get out of this in no time. But I need to stay on this ship longer. I can’t give myself away.