There are many secrets aboard this ship, and I will have plenty of time to discover them all, starting tonight. I shake my right arm. I feel the metal slide down and slip into my hand.

It’s the key to my cell.

Chapter 3

I HAD AMPLE OPPORTUNITIES to snatch the key from Riden. The trick was finding a way to lock myself in the cell before switching the key with another one I’d brought on board with me. I guessed that the key to my own ship’s brig would be about the same size. Riden couldn’t have noticed the difference.

He’s not as clever as he thinks. And I am far more clever than he realizes.

Big mistake on his part.

Now that I’m alone, I rummage through my bags to find something suitable to wear. I can’t stomach this sailor’s outfit any longer. It’ll take an entire bottle of perfume to rid my skin of the stench of the last owner. Who knows when I’ll be allowed a bucket of water to wash? With Captain Draxen’s cruel demeanor, I’m sure it will be quite some time.

I select a dark blue corset with wide sleeves that attach with thick ribbons. I place these atop a white blouse. The corset ties up the front, so I’m able to do it myself. I never had ladies to wait on me like land-faring noblemen’s daughters. There are not many women willing to work for pirates. And the ones equipped for a life at sea are not wasted as maids. My own crew back at the keep is nearly entirely composed of women. A fact I am proud of.

I pull on a pair of black leggings and a pair of clean breeches atop that. My boots, perfectly snug and comfortable, go on next, extending all the way up to my knees. I sigh in contentment once I’m done. Looking good certainly helps to make one feel good.

Humming as I work, I grab a book titled Depths of the Sea from one of my bags. It’s an index of all the creatures known to live in the ocean. I memorized each entry long ago, and I’ve spent so much time at sea that I’ve seen more creatures than charted in the work itself. That’s why I had no problem hollowing out the binding of the book and hiding a small dagger inside.

Voices and footsteps reach my ears. I quickly place the dagger into my right boot and drop the book back with my other things. I sit down in what I hope is an inconspicuous manner as three men enter the brig.

“She don’t look like much,” one says to the others.

“But did you see what she did to Gastol and Moll?” another asks. “Dead as rocks.”

The third man remains quiet, watching me as the others do.

“Have you finished ogling?” I ask. “Or are you hoping I’ll perform tricks for you?”

“Don’t mind us,” the first pirate says. “It’s not every day you get to see the pirate king’s own flesh and blood.”

“And am I what you were expecting?”

“They say the pirate king is as big as a whale and as fierce as a shark. We weren’t expecting a tiny little thing.”

“I must take after my mother,” I say. I’ve never met my mother, so I couldn’t say for certain, but my father tells me I received my red hair from her.

The rest of the day is much like this. Pirates come and go, taking whatever chance they can get to see the pirate king’s daughter up close. After the first bunch, I stay mostly quiet.

It’s close to nightfall when my last visitor shows up. Whereas all the other pirates arrived in groups, this man comes alone.

He’s not much to look at, this one. Medium height and build. Brown hair and beard. He does look older than most of the other pirates on board. Maybe not quite thirty, but it’s hard to tell with the beard hiding the bottom half of his face. He’s got a gold coin in his right hand, which he moves over his knuckles with ease.

“Hello, Alosa,” he says. “Name’s Theris.”

I’d been leaning back on two legs in my chair, but now I swing forward, straightening myself. “I must have seen every man on board pass through here at least once today. Why should I remember you? Or care what your name is?”

“You shouldn’t,” he says, reaching a hand up and scratching his forehead. His fingers move fast, but the movement is unmistakable. He draws the letter K. “I’m not a very interesting man to know.”

The K is for Kalligan. It’s the signal men under my father’s employ use to identify themselves. Theris must be the man on the ship working for my father. He would have been the one who let my father know that the crew of the Night Farer wanted to kidnap me in the first place.

You never know when unfriendly ears are listening in, so I keep the conversation casual. “So it would seem.”

“Just wanted to catch a glimpse of the pirate king’s daughter.”

“And let me catch a glimpse of you?”

“Precisely. Sometimes survival isn’t about what you can do, but who you know.”

“Noted,” I say icily.

Theris nods before retreating.

I wasn’t expecting my father’s man to make himself known to me. We have different jobs on the ship. Theris’s is to provide my father with information about this ship and its captain. Mine is to play the role of thief. We shouldn’t need to help each other. In fact, we’re expected to be able to perform our tasks alone.

But my father is counting on me not to fail. Perhaps his desire to find the map is so great that he’s ordered Theris to keep an eye on me. On the one hand, I can understand why he wouldn’t want to take any chances, but on the other, I’m deeply insulted. I can handle this mission on my own, and I won’t be calling on Theris for help.

* * *

I have to wait until nightfall before I can start. I can tell when the sun sets because most of the pirates retire below. I can’t see them from the brig, but I can smell them. They can’t be far. I can imagine them sleeping in hammocks or on a straw-strewn floor. Whatever it may be, it’s bound to be better than the brown-caked floor I’ll be sleeping on. I cringe at the thought.

I start humming again as I shrug on my coat, which is fashioned similarly to the justaucorps men wear, but mine was made for a woman’s figure. Mandsy made it for me. She can wield a needle just as well as she can wield a sword, which is only one of the many reasons why I made her part of my crew.

Though the coat will help me look like any other sailor if I’m seen from a distance, I hope I won’t have much need to blend in once I’m above deck. I’m counting on the cover of darkness to mask me.