One mont, Raven was beside him. The next, she was a physical barrier between Pierre and Alyssa, a blur that ended with her hand resting on the hilt of her concealed dagger.
"Are you insane? No. We’re criminals, not a rescue service for disgraced nobility."
Alyssa’s green eyes didn’t even acknowledge Raven’s presence. They stayed locked on Pierre.
"You want to sail the Great Sea?" Alyssa stepped around Raven like she was a piece of furniture. The fabric of her expensive clothes rustled softly as she moved closer to Pierre. "Your rowboat won’t last a day past the Dawn Sea’s edge. The storms alone would tear it apart. The currents would swallow you whole before you even realized what was happening."
The air around Raven seed to crackle, her stillness more dangerous than any movent.
"My father gave a ship for my eighteenth birthday. A military-grade sloop. The fastest vessel in the Dawn Sea. It’s called The Crimson Sparrow."
I know that ship.
"It’s fully supplied and waiting at our private dock."Alyssa’s chin lifted. The sun caught her blonde hair, a deceptive golden halo that warred with the smug, appraising glint in her eyes.
"Navigation charts. Military-grade weapons. Enough provisions for months. dical supplies, ergency equipnt, everything a crew would need. It’s yours... if I go with you."
Raven let out a short, ugly bark of a laugh, devoid of all humor. "Right. And what’s to stop you from turning us in the mont we’re aboard? Or leading us straight into a Navy trap? Your father is Commodore Hardy of the Dawn Sea Naval Base. Why should we trust the daughter of the man who just tried to kill us?"
"Because I burned my bridges when I spoke against my father." Alyssa’s fingers twisted together, her knuckles turning white. "Because I have nowhere else to go."
"Besides," she added, her eyes finding Pierre’s again, a hint of color touching her cheeks, "it’s not like Red hasn’t seen naked already. I wouldn’t betray him."
Around them, the celebration continued—fishern arguing over nets, children chasing each other through the debris, rchants hawking food to the hungry crowd—but in their small circle, everything went silent.
What...the...fuck...
Raven’s head turned toward Pierre slowly. Her eyes, narrowed to slits, did the talking for a full five seconds before she finally spoke, her voice dangerously quiet.
"You did. What?"
"It’s not—she was—I was hiding in her room." Pierre stamred, hands rising defensively. "There was nowhere else to go!"
"Her room?" Raven’s voice climbed an octave, drawing curious glances from nearby islanders. "Her bedroom?"
"From the Navy! They were searching for ! I didn’t have a choice!"
Alyssa watched the exchange, a flicker of cruel amusent dancing in her green eyes. She was enjoying this. "He was very gentlemanly about it. Barely looked." Her eyes slid toward Pierre. "A real sha, that."
"Barely looked?" Raven rounded on him, her hands planted on her hips. "What exactly does ’barely looked’ an? Did you or did you not see the Navy princess naked?"
"It ans I kept my eyes where they belonged!" Pierre’s voice cracked slightly. "Unlike so people who seem determined to make this sound worse than it was! It was an accident!"
"Oh, I’m making it sound worse?" The playful warmth in Raven’s eyes vanished, replaced by a flat, cold fury. "You sneak into Princess Perfect’s bedroom, see her naked, and sohow this is my fault? What next? Did you accidentally fall into bed with her too?"
"I didn’t sneak anywhere! I was being chased by—"
"Big Brother Red Hair!"
Mika appeared at Pierre’s elbow, her face bright with joy and completely oblivious to the tension crackling around the adults. Her dark hair was tied in ssy pigtails, bouncing as she moved. She grabbed his hand with both of hers, her small fingers sticky with what slled like honey cakes.
"Papa says you can’t leave yet! You’re our heroes!" Her dark eyes sparkled as she tugged on his arm, leaving sweet smudges on his skin. "You have to co eat with us! Mama’s making the victory feast! Everyone from the village will be there!"
Pierre looked down at her upturned face, so full of innocent hope it made his chest ache. Behind her, he could see other islanders gathering—the flour-dusted baker with his apron still on, the old woman with her fishing net slung over one shoulder, even so of the younger Navy sailors who’d thrown off their caps and joined the celebration, choosing the freedom of the mont over duty.
"Please? Mama’s gonna make special bread just for you! With the secret spices she only uses for important guests! And Papa wants to thank you proper! He’s bringing out the good wine from under the floorboards!"
Pierre’s gaze shifted from Mika’s innocent hope to Alyssa’s brittle pride. The forr Navy princess stood at parade rest, but he saw the faint tremor in her clasped hands, the way her eyes kept darting toward the harbor, toward her father’s lingering power. She wasn’t just desperate; she was cornered.
She was offering them a ship that could change everything. A real vessel, not the glorified rowboat that had carried them this far. Sothing that could take them beyond the Dawn Sea, into waters where real adventures waited.
I’ll never have to row again!
"We’ll eat first," he said finally, making his decision. His gaze landed on Alyssa. "And you are coming with us. We’ll talk about your offer over dinner."
Raven’s eyes narrowed. "Pierre—" she started, her voice low with warning.
He leaned in, his voice a low rumble that vibrated against her ear. "The ship is real."
"And the girl is a liar," she breathed back. "Hardy’s blood runs in her veins."
"And saltwater runs in ours," he countered, his gaze locking with hers, refusing to let her look away. "We won’t survive a real storm in that glorified coffin. You’re the navigator. Tell I’m wrong."
Raven studied his face, her blue eyes searching for sothing. Whatever she found there made her shoulders relax slightly, though her hand remained near her dagger. A small sigh escaped her lips.
"Fine. But if this is so elaborate trap, I’m stabbing soone. Probably you." She jabbed a finger into his chest. "And definitely her."
Alyssa stepped forward. "I swear on my mother’s grave, this isn’t a trap. I just..." She looked around the square, taking in the celebrating islanders, the shattered remains of her father’s monunt, the new freedom in the air. "I just want to be free. To choose my own path for once."
Mika clapped her hands together, delighted. "Yay! Co on, co on! Mama’s waiting!"
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