Page 18 of Ballad of Sea and Sky

The captain clicked his tongue in reprimand. “Threatening me with my own knife is not a good choice, Princess,” he chided, holding out his hand as if he expected me to give up the weapon.

“Answer my question,” I commanded, feeling my heart thrash. I clutched the handle tightly, pulling it into myself a little closer. In a move I couldn’t have followed even if I had known it was coming, the captain had my wrists in a vice-like grip, the dagger clattering harmlessly to the ground where the female crew member kicked it away.

“Get off of me!” I shouted, panic rising again. His body was too close, the scent of sea and salt and spice making warmth coil uncomfortably in me and my heart pound.

“Easy, Princess,” the captain said, letting go of my wrists and holding his hands up as if to prove he was harmless. I slumped a bit against the wall, unable to retreat. “This is Zephyr, my first mate and second-in-command.” He nodded to the slight female next to him, and she flourished her hat in an elegant bow. “And as you can see, reports of my crew’s demise were greatly exaggerated.”

“Your first mate is a female?” I asked, relaxing a fraction as I looked between them. Part of my brain told me I was focusing on the wrong things, but the captain laughed.

“Yes,” he said, looking amused at my incredulity. “I know things are done differently where you’re from, but surely aprincessmust recognize that females can hold power?”

“Apologies for Astraios,” Zephyr said, tilting her head to study me. “He’s a bit of a jokester, despite the fact that he is second mate and should know better!” She shouted this last part, presumably so Astraios could hear, before turning back to me. “I assure you, Princess, it won’t happen again.”

“Why apologize?” I asked, feeling irritated and humiliated and—for some bizarre reason—ashamed. “You’re pirates. Isn’t kidnapping and humiliating females part of your job description?”

Zephyr raised a quizzical brow at the captain, who laughed again in that deep way. The sound held little mirth, and he regarded me somewhat coldly.

“We do what must be done,” he said, stepping closer to me. “Now will you return to my cabin of your own free will, or will I be forced to carry you?”

This male touching me was clearly a terrible idea. I nodded, adopting my demure daughter act for now until another chance to escape presented itself.

“Very reasonable,” said the captain, sounding relieved. “Make sure the watches are set and then get some rest,” he added to Zephyr.

“What areyougoing to do?“ she asked, looking between us, a brow raised in question. I was surprised that the captain would tolerate his first-mate questioning him, but he seemed more amused than annoyed.

“Nothing, Zeph,” he replied with a roll of his eyes. “I’m just going to make sure our guest doesn’t try anything else unwise.”

Zephyr nodded, giving me a faint smile before turning on her heel for the other end of the ship. I took a moment to try to get my bearings on the sea, but it was too dark to make out anything but miles and miles of rippling ocean.

“Princess,” the captain said, gesturing between us toward the open door of the cabin. “Is your breathing still bothering you? I can send for a healer.”

“What? No,” I protested, irritated that he had read my panic so easily. “A moment of anxiety, that’s all.”

He looked at me for a long minute; those golden eyes trying to peel back my layers to get at my marrow. He nodded, gesturing toward his cabin door. “After you, then.”

“How do you have a new crew so quickly?” I asked, desperate for answers to at least some of my questions. “How did you escape?”

“I told you,” he replied. “My crew was not killed. Your father lied.”

“What?” I asked, pausing as I entered the cabin and turning to look at the captain in shock. “Why would he lie?”

“Do you truly have no idea?” he asked, closing the door with a click and leaning against it, his weight an immovable object in my path. A new sense of dread rose up in me.

As if sensing my fear, the captain kept his back to the door as I moved away from him. “No one on this ship will touch you, Princess,” he assured me, frowning at me as if a little insulted he had to say as much. “Despite what you’ve been told, we’re not monsters. I intend to return you in one piece to your family, whole and alive and relatively happy.”

“And whenexactlywill that be?“ I asked, flushing. “Cas.”

The captain shrugged noncommittally, smirking at my irreverent use of his nickname. “It’s Caspian, actually. And whenever your father is ready to meet my demands,” he replied. “Until then, you’ll be my guest indefinitely.”

“Captain Caspian?” I asked, scoffing at the name and his use of the wordguest.

“The one and only,” he replied, tilting his head to the side and holding out a hand to me. “Pleased to meet you, Princess Marina.”

“How do you know who I am?” I asked, not taking his hand as I sat on the bed. “And what exactly are these demands?”

Of course, this must be a ransom. Whether his escape and capture of me was planned or fortuitous, he was planning to use it to his benefit.

Caspian smirked. “Inquisitive little urchin,” he commented, the smile not truly reaching his eyes. “I want what was stolen from us centuries ago. A home. Security. A place in the Silent Isles.” He pushed off from the wall and sat gingerly in the armchair, hissing as his broken wings hit the plush upholstery.