Page 18 of A Princess, Stolen (A Kiss of Revenge, Blood, and Love #1)

He laughed mockingly. “Really? Fine. Then you won’t get anything either.

I had bread here for you… Strangely enough, you always seem to say the opposite of what you mean.

” He held something in front of my nose that smelled like wonderfully fresh bread.

But, he would have had to feed me and I didn’t want that.

I would rather go hungry for three weeks than accept bread from him—and I didn’t know if it contained traces of nuts.

He went and closed the door but didn’t turn the key. “Let me know if you want anything. You won’t last three weeks without food.”

Exhausted, I rested my forehead on my bent knees. He was right, of course. But then I would have to tell him about my allergy and he could use that against me later.

Days passed. At least, in my universe. I had no idea how long I had actually been on board the ship. I cowered in a corner and froze. When I did fall asleep, it was on the floor, curled up like a hedgehog. I stared into space, dazed by fear of what would happen next.

The blindness was particularly hard on me.

Again and again, I heard footsteps, men talking to each other and walking past, sometimes, even laughing.

It was wearing me down. All of it: the smell of fish and sea, men’s sweat and salt, and the concentrated testosterone wafting around like stifling dung.

My fear that one or more of them might touch me increased every time they strolled by and I felt their pressing gazes on me.

However, nothing ever happened. The only one who came in was the leader, who regularly took me to the bathroom and made me drink water from the straw.

He hardly spoke to me, just kept asking if I wanted something to eat, but I always said no. Sometimes, I thought of the genuine shock in his voice. Hey—you don’t honestly believe that, do you?

At least, he didn’t sound like they had anything cruel planned for me. He wouldn’t give me water if they planned to kill me. And if the men had truly wanted to touch me, they would have done so already. Why would they wait?

I told myself all this to calm myself, not knowing if any of it had any meaning. The leader could be lying, but my gut told me he had been honest. Still, it didn’t make my situation any easier. I remained blind, tied up, helpless, and hungry, and I was cold and everything hurt.

The engine roared somewhere below me, otherwise, all was quiet.

I had no idea how long I had been awake, but it felt like an eternity.

Was it evening? Or midday? In my mind, I was painting pictures to pass the time.

First, a green swamp and then the indigo hyacinths of Rosewood Manor, but eventually, the pictures became nothing but black brushstrokes.

Since then, all my thoughts were gloomy.

To distract myself, I started to list the men I knew.

There was Troy, the Orlando Bloom type, who apparently cooked burgers for the men from time to time.

Then there was, of course, the angry leader, and Pan, the man with the accent, and Sparta, the man who smelled of camphor.

That made four. However, I had heard three more voices, so there had to be at least seven, though my gut feeling told me there were many more.

Maybe ten or twelve. I had even picked up another name earlier.

Taurus. I imagined him as a bull, but that was only because of the name, which I associated with the Minotaur.

“Hey, princess.”

The words startled me since I didn’t hear footsteps. “Troy?” I asked in a thin voice.

“The devil himself!” He laughed but then continued speaking softer. “Why did you tell the boss?”

“Tell him what?”

“You know what! Don’t act so innocent!”

“Tucekilemeur?” I didn’t want to talk to him because even if he was nice, he was one of them. And maybe he was only pretending to be sympathetic toward me.

“I got into a lot of trouble. I should be furious with you.” But he didn’t sound like that. Quite the opposite.

“I got into trouble too,” I said to myself. And how!

He laughed again. “Then we have something in common. Really…I’ve rarely seen the boss so angry. He almost hit me… I mean, he’s not the epitome of cheerfulness anyway…”

“What’s he like?” Just so I can judge him better .

There was that sound again, that clang-clang-clang, like metal knocking against metal. It was getting on my nerves, which were already stretched to the breaking point.

“Cynical. Angry. A man without dreams.” Troy seemed to be thinking. “He doesn’t let anyone tell him what to do, and when he decides something, it’s unalterable, but that’s normal at sea. Backtalk or believing you should have a say is unthinkable. Both border on mutiny.”

I had to swallow. Basically, that was good for me. The leader didn’t want to cut off my fingers, so none of the others would either. “What else?”

The metallic knocking stopped. “When he promises you something, he always keeps his word.”

“Really?” I replied anxiously because that could be good or bad, depending on the promise. “How do you know?”

“From Isaac.”

Goose bumps involuntarily crawled down my spine. “Isaac.”

“The one who called you.”

I didn’t realize that I had said the name aloud. “When…when is he coming on board?” I asked after a moment of endless wrestling with myself.

The knocking restarted, metal against metal. Troy was probably wearing a ring or a watch, which he was tapping against the bars. “I’m not allowed to tell you.” Clang-clang-clang.

My heart suddenly started beating faster. “Why not?”

“You shouldn’t know too much about the plan. Understandable, right?”

I took a few shallow breaths, in and out. “What’s Isaac like?”

Troy didn’t answer. “Say…the boss says you’re not eating. Aren’t you hungry?”

With my lips pressed together, I shook my head. Not since he mentioned Isaac’s name. The darkness before my eyes suddenly seemed even deeper. “What’s he like?” I whispered after a while.

“Hey, I’m not the help desk even if I’m the only one in this monkey house who doesn’t constantly give you a hard time.” He was silent for a while and then finally said, “You asked me how I know the boss keeps his promises. Isaac told me. Do you want to hear it?”

I didn’t want to hear anything at all anymore. I just wanted to go home, eat something, and crawl into my warm bed, but Dad always said you had to gather as much information as possible about your enemies, so I nodded.

“Okay, come closer, then!” Clang-clang-clang.

“What…why?”

“I don’t want to shout like this—and I certainly don’t want to come in. The boss would kill me if he caught me.”

At first, I wanted to get up but then decided to remain seated. Maybe Troy was the one planning a mutiny.

“Fine, if you don’t want to know…if you don’t trust me…then I’ll leave now.”

“No, wait!” I needed more information, but for a few seconds, I hesitated. Maybe I could take a step or two in his direction. Demonstrate my goodwill without putting myself within his reach. But what was his reach?

Carefully, I stood up and, for a few seconds, everything spun even though I couldn’t see anything.

I was so dizzy from the rocking, the situation, the hunger, and the fear.

I leaned against the wall behind me and waited a moment before taking two small steps in Troy’s direction.

“Close enough?” I asked. If only I could stretch out my hands to feel the bars!

“Just a little further.”

I shook my head silently. I felt like I was in the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel as if Troy wanted to lure me to him and put me in the hot oven, although, the hot oven could be anything.

He sighed. “Okay, I see…you’re still afraid of me. I’ll allow it. I’ll tell you anyway. By the way, I could grab one of your pretty braids, you’re standing that close to the bars.”

I quickly took a step back.

Troy took a deep breath. “So, the boss once had a little sister. She died when he was eleven.”

Behind my blindfold, the colorful dots of the Palace of Shards suddenly danced. Nathan’s voice surged through this memory . I come here to talk to my sister. With Lea .

“He was incredibly attached to her. As much as a person can be attached to someone. She was everything to him. Really, everything. His life, his breath, his soul. The most beautiful thing he had ever seen.”

His poetic words sounded melancholic as if he felt them, and they touched me deeply even if I didn’t want them to.

“She became seriously ill and he promised to take her to the bayous.”

“To the bayous?” I asked, irritated, and for a second, I forgot my fear of him.

Bayous were slow-flowing rivers, lakes, and streams. In Louisiana, this meant the entire Mississippi delta, but not only that, the entire coast was covered by this swamp landscape that I loved so much.

My room, my southern room, was a reflection of this landscape!

Green water, ancient bald cypresses, and Spanish moss like silver tinsel.

“He had told his sister about the bayous, repeatedly. They are home to the persecuted, displaced, and ostracized. He always told her that they would find a new home there, that there would be enough to eat, and that they would no longer have to steal because they could make a living from crabbing and hunting…no more running away. She was supposed to see the bayous at least once, but…”

“But?” I repeated cautiously.

“She died before that, somewhere along the Mississippi. But he kept his promise. He took her there after she died and buried her between two lonely swamp banks even though he was still a child himself. Eleven years old. It’s hard to imagine.

” He was silent for a moment and then he added softly, “He never forgave himself for not getting his sister to the bayous so she could see them with her own eyes… She was deaf and mute…that was why it was so important to him to show her something beautiful.”

My heart was pounding hard in my chest. The leader of this group had to be Nathan. There was no doubt about it.