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“I highly doubt you were told that,” he says with a sneer. “You were told the correct time, but your pea-sized brain couldn’t comprehend it, could it now?”

My smile falters slightly and I fold my hands demurely in my lap. He’s already stepped back into the bitter man he was. “My mistake. If it pleases you, I’m ready now.”

He frowns at me in the mirror, his eyes going to my chest. Before I have a chance to cover my necklace his hand is shooting out and grabbing the shark tooth.

“What have I told you about this foul thing?” he says, ripping it off my neck, the chain snapping in two. “I’ve told you not to wear it, it’s what a savage would wear, not a bloody princess.”

I cry out in horror, twisting around to try to grab it from him. My fingers curl around his hands, trying to pry his fingers open. “No, please don’t, you know that’s special to me, you know it’s all I have of home, I—”

“Oh, sod off,” he says and I know he’s about to backhand me seconds before he does it. The crack sounds like dynamite, my face thrown back and erupting in flames from the sting of his palm, but if this is all he’ll give me, then I’ll take it.

But then he’s storming over to the fireplace and throwing the necklace in and I’m yelling, staggering out of the chair, running clumsily to the fire to save it.

He holds me back, his breath hot and smelling of alcohol.

“You know I liked you a lot better when you couldn’t talk,” he whispers, leaning in and the fire reflects in his dark eyes, black as sin. “Even better when you could barely walk. Yes, I reckon I liked you much better then.”

With a grunt he kicks at my left shin and I yelp as my leg falls under me and I crumple to the floor. He knows how weak my legs are naturally and always goes for them.

He gives my side a firm nudge with his boot and I curl into a ball to protect myself further. “We set sail tomorrow morning,” he says to me, and I’m too afraid to say anything, I just keep my hands over my head, my chin tucked into my chest, lying at his feet. The shame I feel runs deep.

“I wanted my last night here to be a good one.” His voice is wistful now, but I don’t dare let my guard down. “All I’ll have of my time with Ferdinand is fond memories. That’s what you don’t understand, my Maren. You are too daft to ever understand what it’s like to be a man like me. To have the world at your fingertips and then have that world taken away. Never allowed to be who you yearn to be.”

I hear him turn and sigh, and only when the floor shakes slightly from his footsteps do I raise my head.

“Don’t bother with coming to dinner,” he says without turning around. “You could do with skipping a few meals from the looks of you.”

His insult does nothing to me. I rather prefer it when he finds me revolting.

I wait until I see him leave, then I’m getting to my feet, my leg sore but stable, and run over to the fire. The necklace is on the log, the tooth blackened. I grab the poker and fish it out, dropping it on the wood floor where I hear a slight hiss from the heat.

The metal of the chain doesn’t seem to have melted and the tooth is charred but intact.

The only reminder of who I truly was still remains.

CHAPTER2

Maren

The sun isrelentless and the air, smelling of salt and tar and incense, is becoming thicker and more humid as the morning stretches on. The faint breeze that ruffles the palm fronds doesn’t seem to reach us down at the docks and things are already running behind schedule, the crew and our royal troupe cranky from the heat.

Aerik is especially cantankerous. He’s red-eyed and pale from last night’s festivities with Ferdinand, who is here helping to see us off from the port at Butuan City. I’ve been avoiding my husband as much as I can. I’m lucky that he didn’t leave a mark on me last night but even if he had, everyone would look the other way, as they always do.

“Alright, let’s get underway for god’s sake,” Aerik says with a scowl, pushing past me and onto the gangplank that leads to the ship. It’s been a month since I last stepped foot on theElephanten, a ship of the line that belongs to the monarchy, which was lent to Aerik for his adventures. As much as I love being at sea and the ship’s size makes living on it fairly comfortable, the idea of being in confined quarters for such a long time makes my palms feel clammy.

His manservant Hodges follows, along with the cook and the rest of the troupe, and some of the crew who also look a little worse for wear. Their month or so on land seems to have lent itself to drinking by the looks of it.

“Always a bit chaotic when we’re casting off, ain’t it Yer Highness?” Daphne says, holding a parasol above me to shield me from the sun and taking my arm as we walk along the gangplank and onto the broad deck of the ship. “Though I don’t like the look of those clouds.”

I follow her line of sight to see a mass of dark clouds in the distance above the green peaks of the nearest islands.

“We should be fine,” I tell her. “That’s north, we’re heading west to the Sulu Sea.”

“Didn’t ye hear?” she says. “Plans changed. We’re making a stop at Manila to get supplies. North it is.”

“Manila?” I repeat. A surge of hope warms my chest. Even with wind in our sails and following seas it will take at least a week for this ship to get to Manila, but once there we’ll be going on shore. There’s a chance I might be able to sneak off and lose myself in the city. I could escape. Part of me wonders if Aerik would put out much of a search for me. He hates me, I know that much, but even after all these years I can’t tell if he needs me despite it.

“Yes,” Daphne says. “I reckon it will be a nice slow start to the voyage. Come along now, we must get yer trunks in yer quarters.”