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The chair shatters the stained-glass, rain and sea water spraying inside. I pick my way carefully along the floor, avoiding the broken shards, then grab the end of my dress, the petticoats providing enough padding as I wrap it around my fist. I punch out the remaining sharp shards stuck in the window’s frame until it’s relatively safe, then I stick my upper body out of the window. A few wayward spikes of glass stab my skin, but I manage to ignore it.

Above the wind and rain and waves I hear splashing, people falling or jumping overboard, plus the occasional scream or hollering for god and mercy. As I stare down at the surface of the water, lit only by the lone lantern above that hangs at the aftcastle, I realizeElephantenhas stopped cruising. The pirates must have taken down the sails and mast, disabling the ship. If I jump, I have to make sure I swim as fast as possible to shore so I’m not detected. The pirates might not even know I exist, unless they targeted our ship on purpose.

I don’t have time to think about it.

I pull the rest of my body up, wiggling through the window, then turn around and slowly, carefully lower myself so that I’m dangling above the sea, my hands holding on to the windowsill as tight as they can.

I close my eyes and take in a deep breath.

Better to risk drowning and swim to shore than to spend a minute with whatever the men on this ship have in mind for me.

And that includes my husband.

I let go.

I fall through the air, my gown flapping around me as I twist my body away from the boat so as not to hit the rudder.

The water meets me like a slap to the face.

And everything goes dark and very, very cold.

CHAPTER3

Ramsay

“They’re Danish, Cap’n,”my bosun, Crazy Eyes, says as he walks over to me, folding up the spyglass. “Looks to be a navy ship from the Dano-Norwegian line, a big-un at that, but she’s a bit too quiet than she oughta be.”

I look around, my eyes scanning the waters in front and behind of the vessel that serendipitously crossed our path this evening. “For a supposed ship of the line, there looks to be no one else in her line. I’d wager she’s easy pickings.”

“Think she has anything worthwhile on board?” the bosun asks.

I shrug and give him an encouraging smile. “We’ll have to find out, won’t we, bosun?”

He laughs and looks through the spyglass again as I turn the wheel enough to bring theNightwindcloser to the mystery ship. She’s a beauty all right, and I can see with my own eyes now that she doesn’t have the crew of a naval ship in service. Either they’re transporting precious cargo, or precious people.

“What do you think, Captain?” Sam asks as she runs up the stairs to me in the forecastle. “Do we hold back?”

I give her a tepid look. It’s not often that Sam shows any restraint. “I think we’re going to politely ask the Norsemen to surrender whatever it is they have—and then themselves.”

She snorts. I am quite polite, but only after I’ve slit a few throats.

“Do you think that’s theElephanten?” she asks. “You heard of it, the one that the Danish prince and princess are on. They’ve been spotted about these waters on their travels. Could be their ship.”

“A prince and a princess?” Crazy Eyes says. He looks delighted. “Mayhaps they have treasures we’d never even imagined. A crown I could fix on me head!”

“Possibly,” I muse. In all my years sailing the high seas, I’d never intercepted a royal ship before. Our usual route across the Pacific only had us overtaking Spanish galleons and the occasional Chinese junk ship. “They might have jewels and crowns on board. Or they might have something more valuable than that.”

“What’s that?” he asks.

“Themselves.”

Sam smacks me on the arm. “Careful, Bones. We don’t need to bring any more people on board than we usually do. They start to smell after a while.”

I give my mariner another wry look. “My dear sister-in-law, this would be arealhostage. Not the ones you discard, but ones you can hold for ransom and negotiations. For money. You don’t think the King of Denmark will want his son and daughter-in-law back? He’d have to pay a hefty price, mark that.”

“So, this has turned into a legitimate kidnapping operation,” she says with a sigh. “You know I hate having to hold myself back.”

“You’ll manage.” I clear my throat and look across the ship at my crew, who are awaiting my instructions.