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Cai nods and heads to the helm. I sweep a look over the rest of my crew. Most of them have sailed with me for the better part of a decade. I know them as well as the back of my hand, and right now they’re looking at Juliette like she’s a particularly tasty morsel.
She is, but that’s beside the point.
“You have places to be.” I don’t have to raise my voice much; the snap in it gets them moving. I wait a beat to ensure everything is as it should be and then grab Juliette’s arm. “My cabin. Now.”
“Already taking me to your room. Maura, how forward.” Her teasing lilt doesn’t quite cover the way she’s shaking.
It makes me want to strip her out of her wet clothes and tuck her into my bed, but I can’t afford to do that. Having her in my coat is headfuck enough. She’s not mine. The fool who believed she could be died out on these seas a long time ago. I’m a different person now. “Let’s go.”
Even though I tell myself we don’t know each other anymore, I can’t help watching her take in my ship and crew as we walk up the stairs to the captain’s quarters. No, that’s a lie. I’m flat-out watching her. She looks good, her warm-brown skin glowing with health, her long dark hair wet down her back so it doesn’t show the waves I used to run my fingers through. She’s cut it, so it reaches just past her shoulders instead of most of the way down her back.
Juliette doesn’t speak until we step into the cabin and I shut the door firmly. She smiles sweetly. “You really did it, didn’t you? A ship of your own. A crew that looks at you like the sun rises and sets at your command.”
Despite everything, I flush, though I can’t begin to say if it’s in embarrassment or pride. “Those were the dreams spun by a foolish girl.” Once upon a time, we used to hide on the roof of the old inn near the docks and wait for shooting stars so we could make wishes.
I wish to be the greatest pirate captain the world has ever known.
Well, I wish to sail at your side and go on many grand adventures.
Where would you go, Juliette?
It doesn’t matter as long as I’m with you.
Except that was the most impossible wish of all. That a princess could ever have a life with a penniless orphan, even after that orphan became a pirate captain to strike fear into the hearts of men. We were so young. We thought if we just wished hard enough, the world would bend to our wills.
“And yet your wish came true.” She turns slowly, surveying my quarters.
I try to see it through her eyes. It’s roomier than the space most of my crew has, but I made changes to the ship the moment I had the resources for it, so it’s about a third of the size it used to be. The other two thirds are now designated for Cai as my quartermaster and Daichi as my navigator. I’ve outfitted the space as comfortably as possible. There is a small bookshelf filled with a selection of books that I change up every time we reach port, a magical navigating table that Daichi insisted we invest in and that I’ve never regretted, a desk, and my bed.
Best not to think about the last.
“You can get cleaned up in here.” I open the door to the bathroom I share with the other two. Another upgrade the last captain hadn’t bothered with but that was nonnegotiable for me. The crew has its own bathroom belowdecks as well. It costs a pretty penny to keep a special water reserve for bathing, but we all agree that it’s worth it.
Juliette pokes her head in and turns to me, brows raised. “Is this a normal thing for a pirate ship?”
Again, that flush of not quite embarrassment. I look away. “I already live in close quarters with the others for weeks at a time. No reason for us to stink, too.”
She laughs softly. “I think the captain of The Drowning Maid could take notes.”
I’m still processing that she’s here. Not hidden away in her castle. Not walking down the aisle to some foreign dignitary. Not training to rule Skoiya after her bastard of a father is gone.
Here. In my quarters. My ring still on her finger.
“Are you okay?”
She gives me a surprised look. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I can think of a few reasons.” I hold up my fingers as I list each one. “You were kidnapped. You almost drowned. Now I’m taking you away from your home, even if you will be returned there.”
“Oh.” She blinks. “Well, to the first point, he didn’t kidnap me. Or at least, he didn’t initially do it. I kidnapped myself.” She makes a face. “But then the kidnapping became far too real, which is why I called for help.”
