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The men groaned in disappointment as Esmeralda took my hand. Adrian’s eyes flashed red as she took my hand and followed me.
“She’ll return to you in only moments, my dear captain,” I added. “Never you worry.”
His shoulders slumped back as he took my spell, and I was able to get her away from the table without any riots.
“Thank you, Luc,” Esmeralda said as we left the table and started down the stairs to the kitchen. “That horrible captain just can’t keep his hands to himself. So many childish games…”
She trailed on, but I only half listened. There was something about her that was incredibly familiar. What on earth was it?
“The captain seems quite infatuated with you, little dove,” I said with a laugh, pretending to be joking. “He always wants you for himself.”
“And for what?” she replied in confirmation. “He doesn’t enjoy my company, really. I think he just likes to bully people.”
I cocked my head to the side in thought and then shook it.
“It doesn’t seem that way to me,” I said. “It seems like the captain has a bit of an infatuation.”
She gaped her mouth in disgust. “Don’t make such vile accusations, Luc. Even if that were true, I wouldn’t accept such horrible affections.”
She started ladling soup into bowls, seemingly trying to distract herself. I bounced up behind her, my curiosity piqued.
“You must have this trouble often,” I said. “I bet men flock to your side on land as well.”
“I’ve had a fair share of suitors,” she replied plainly. “None of which measured up to my father or his standards.”
“You think of your father pretty highly.”
“The highest,” she replied.
I scratched my chin, eyeing her. There had to be something that would break her.
“Do you really have no interest in rebelling against his wishes and marrying anyone of your own choice?” I asked.
I put my hands on each side of the counter, trapping her. She turned to face me, raising an eyebrow in disapproval. I smiled in return.
“What if I asked you to run away with me?” I said. “Abandon your father’s expectations and marry the man who can make all your dreams come true?”
She shrugged her shoulders with a laugh and frowned at me. “I won’t abandon my family, nor the standards laid out for me.”
“You have no interest in defying your father?”
She pressed her lips together, shaking her head slowly from side to side.
“My father is my greatest strength and my most important love,” she said softly. “I could never betray him. It would break my heart more than it would his.”
I held my breath.
Not only did she not respond to charmspeak, but she always obeyed her father to the point of personal sacrifice. That wasn’t a human trait. The humans were always thinking of their emotions first, not their duties. They didn’t speak like Esmeralda spoke, as if she was betraying the king of the spiritual realm instead of a man.
She didn’t respond to charmspeak.
She didn’t follow her own desires.
Her heart didn’t race when I spoke.
And Adrian and Henrik were obviously both infatuated with her even though she had only been on the ship a short time.
That meant…
