The steps creak as someone descends them. Draxen comes into view not long after. Three men trail behind him, carrying my effects.

“About time,” I say.

The faces of the three brutes carrying my bags are red, their breathing rapid. I smile. That probably means they got it all. I do not pack lightly.

Each one of them huffs as they drop the bags to the floor.

“Careful!” I snap.

The first pirate is rather tall. He almost has to duck in order to traverse belowdecks. Now that he’s dumped his load, he reaches into his pocket and fumbles with something there. A string of what looks like beads peeks out. Some sort of good luck charm, perhaps?

The second stares at me as if I’m a tasty morsel of food. He makes the skin at the base of my neck crawl. Best to stay away from that one, I decide.

The man at the back of the group is Kearan. Stars, he’s ugly. His nose is large, his eyes too far apart, his beard too long and unkempt. His belly hangs over his belt to complete the look.

I think that my opinion of him can’t get any lower when I notice what’s in his hand. He tosses a couple of my dresses onto the heap at the floor.

I clench my teeth. “Were you dragging those? On this filthy floor? Do you have any idea how hard it was to find a girl my size to steal those from?”

“Shut your trap, Alosa,” Draxen commands. “I’m still of half a mind to toss this lot overboard, my word be damned.”

Kearan pulls a flask from his many-pocketed coat. He takes a large swig. “Might keep us from sinking, Cap’n.”

“Oh, hush,” I say. “It’s not too late for me to kill you.”

He has the decency to look troubled before taking another drink.

Draxen turns around. “Gents, go above and make ready the ship. I want to leave immediately. Kearan, to the helm with you. Await my return.”

As they depart, Draxen strolls up to Riden and slaps him on the back. “How did it go, brother?”

Brother?

Draxen’s hair is darker, but his shoulders have the same broadness as Riden’s. They have the same dark eyes, but Riden is more handsome. No, not handsome. Rivaling pirates are not handsome. They’re bilge rats.

“Well enough,” Riden responds. “She’s very much loyal to her father. She’s confident in his ability to rescue her, since his reach upon the sea is so vast. Her words lead me to believe he’ll be looking for us in open water, so I recommend we stay close to shore.”

Hurriedly, I think back to our conversation, realizing the all-too-revealing mistakes in my answers.

Riden’s more clever than he seems. He smirks at my startled expression, or perhaps at the look of death I send him afterward. Then he continues. “She’s got a fiery temperament that matches the red hair atop her head. She’s intelligent. I’d guess she’s had some sort of proper schooling. As for her fighting and such, I’d wager she was trained by the pirate king himself, which means he truly cares for her and will agree to pay the ransom.”

“Excellent,” Draxen says. “So the blackhearted pirate king would indeed come for his daughter.”

“Probably in person,” Riden says.

I’m careful to keep my expression the same. Let them think my father will be looking for me, rather than sitting safe in his keep, awaiting my report. However, Riden's spot-on about my training. My father would only trust this mission with someone he had trained himself. And he’s only ever trained one person.

“Anything else?” Draxen asks.

“She’s a dangerous one. She should be kept locked up at all times. I also wouldn’t let any of the men be alone with her, for their sakes.” Riden says that part jokingly, but then he returns to seriousness, taking a deep breath while he collects his thoughts. “And she’s hiding something. More than the secrets we already know she keeps. There’s something she really doesn’t want me to find out.”

I stand from my chair and step up to the bars, my mind reeling. He can’t know my darkest secret. Only my father and a select few know it. “How could you possibly know that?”

“I didn’t.”

Draxen laughs.

I ball my hands into fists. I want nothing more than to strike Riden’s cocky face again and again until each of his teeth fall out of his smile.

But, alas, his face is too far away. So I settle for grabbing the sleeve of his long shirt. Since he’s still sitting, he flies headfirst toward the bars. He braces his hands against the bars so his face doesn’t connect. That’s fine by me, because it gives me the time I need to use my free hand to pluck the key to my cell from his pocket. Once I’ve got it, I place it in my own pocket and back up to the wooden wall of the cell.

Riden grunts as he stands.

“Perhaps you shouldn’t be left alone with her, either,” Draxen says.

“I can handle her. Besides, she knows that the longer she holds on to it, the longer she’ll have to enjoy my company.”

I remind myself that I’m on this ship by choice. I can leave anytime I wish. I just need to find the map first.

I unlock the door myself. The two men allow me to haul my bags into my cell. They don’t bother to help. They wait as I make the three trips. Not that I want their help. I’m in a mood to break bones. Riden’s, mostly. Father would no doubt admire my restraint. I lock myself back in the cell once I’m done.

Riden holds out his hand expectantly. I hesitate for only a brief moment before tossing the key at him. He catches it effortlessly. A look of skepticism crosses his face. He grasps a bar of the cell and tugs. It stays firmly in place, locked.

“Can’t be too careful,” Riden says to Draxen. “Did you check through her things?”

“Aye,” the captain says. “There’s naught but clothes and books in there. Nothing of danger. Now, I think we’ve had enough excitement for one day. Let’s go above and decide the best location to stall the ship. And it would be best not to tell the lass where we’ll be. Don’t need her gettin’ any ideas.”

Draxen makes for the stairs. Riden quirks up the right side of his lips before following.

Once they’re out of sight, I smile. Riden isn’t the only one to have gathered information during our little chat. I’ve learned that Riden and Draxen are brothers, sons of the pirate lord Jeskor. I’m still unsure as to what happened to Jeskor and his original crew for Draxen to inherit the ship, but I’m sure I will learn that later. Riden’s a good shot, and he has his captain’s confidence. How else did he manage to convince Draxen not to kill any more of my men? I wonder what he whispered to him back on the other ship and why he bothered to step in, in the first place. Riden’s concerned for the men on this ship, not just with the normal concern that a first mate might have for the men he oversees. I think back to when he told me all the men on the ship are killers and how saddened he was by it. He feels responsibility for something. Perhaps it is tied to whatever happened to the original crew of the Night Farer.