^“Morning,” a deep voice pulls me awake, and I lift my head from the comfy bed. I blink my eyes open to see Dante sitting on the desk on the other side of the room watching me. He has similar clothes on to yesterday but a different shirt; it’s tighter, showing off his chest. His blue eyes shine, as the morning light fills the room. His eyes really do look like the sea, so bright.

“How long have you been in here?” I ask him as I sit up. 

“Long enough to know you have a cute snore, pretty girl,” he chuckles, and I feel my cheeks going red.

“That’s creepy, pretty boy,” I say with a little grumble, and he laughs. I stretch my arms up, and my top rides up my thighs. I glance over at Dante who is fixated on the little part of skin that he saw, and he clears his throat, looking away.

“Breakfast is nearly ready, and I’m sure you will want to clean up. There are only three women on board and none of them are your size. So, we got the best we could,” he says. I wonder if one of the women on board is his wife. 

One of them must have a long-term partner on board or a girlfriend. They are very attractive pirates, and I bet they have their choice of women. I can’t see Zach having one, considering he’s on the run from the people of Sixa.

“Thanks,” I say, and he nods before he slides off the desk. I see the long sword on his back as he walks to the door. The blade is a strange green in colour, not silver like I have seen other swords. It’s massive and wide for a sword too. I imagine it must be heavy, and it’s in a leather holder on his back, the handle is a dark-green metal too.

“See you in a minute, pretty girl,” Dante says.

“I have a name, it’s Cassandra,” I tell him, ignoring the flutter in my belly every time he calls me that.

“So do I, but everyone calls me it. I think you are going to be special,” he says and leaves me with red cheeks as I watch him shut the door. 

Why do these pirates make me so flustered? 

I stand up on the cold, wooden floor, resisting the urge to climb back into the warm bed. The room is so much colder than I’m used to. Onaya is warm nearly all year, so it was never cold when I woke up. This room is cold, and it’s strange to get used to the rocking of the ship. I walk over to the desk, seeing the pile of clothes. The clothes turn out to be a very long, white shirt with buttons down the middle. The black trousers look a little better, as they look big. I can pull them up over my stomach and tie them with the laces. I pick up the clothes and look around the room for a bathroom.

There’s a small door on the other side of the room, and I open it to find a box with a hole in it on the left. I’ve read about these, they have a tube that goes out the side of the boat and the bucket of water on the floor next to it is for pouring down it to push it out to sea. We have something similar at home but there is a lever to push water down that comes from the sea.

I use the toilet while I look at the other side of the room, there’s a small glass enclosed unit with a floor with holes in. I glance up to see there’s a metal circle unit above it and I’m guessing the switch on the wall turns it on to let water out. There are also a few wooden shelves with soaps and shampoos in glass bottles by the door. Underneath it are piles of neatly folded towels. The bottles are tied to the wall with little pieces of string. I’m guessing that’s to stop them falling in bad weather, it’s actually quite smart. It’s not too far from what I had at home. I undo the bandage and leave it on the side. I brace myself after I pull all my clothes off and pull the switch. Cold water falls from the little holes, only in little amounts, but I soon manage to quickly clean up and wash my hair. I dry myself with one of the towels I find on the shelf, and I’m surprised how soft the towel is. We could never get them this soft on Onaya. I pull the clothes on after redoing my bandage, annoyed to find the shirt may be long but the first three buttons are missing. So, my breasts are easy to see, but I don’t have large ones, so it’s not too bad. The trousers tie up nicely, and I pull on my flat shoes by the bed.

I find a small hair tie on the dresser by the bed, which I use to tie my hair up. I leave out the feather that’s braided and tuck it behind my ear. Once I drink the water on the table, I move towards the door. I open it up and walk out, the loud sound of people laughing and dishes being moved comes from the kitchen and dining area. I mutter to myself about not being scared and that I can do this before moving my feet.

I walk down the corridor. The door to the dining room is open. When I walk in, it’s packed. The whole table is full of people I haven’t seen. Hunter and Ryland are sitting in the middle, an older lady with long, grey hair sits next to Hunter, and her eyes meet mine. She stands, and the room goes silent, 

“You knocked out one of my boys?” she says in a crackly voice.

“Yes,” I reply and cross my arms. I’m not going to say sorry for it, not to anyone other than Chaz. I resist the urge to look for him as the older woman stares at me. Even in her old age, you can tell she was once very beautiful.

“I like her,” she says, and her crackly tone fills the room. “I am Laura and the boss of this ship. Sit down,” she says, and a few people laugh in the room. Ryland’s laugh is loud, and I hold in a chuckle when Laura hits him on the back of the head with a large, wooden walking stick. For a small old lady, she can move fast.

“You and that damn stick,” he says as she sits back down. Apparently, she doesn’t care. 

“Here,” Jacob’s voice comes from next to me, and he holds a seat out for me to sit in.

The room is still silent as I take the seat and mutter out, “Thank you.” 

I glance around the table; all the guys and Laura are sitting in the middle of the table. The only one who isn’t here is Chaz. On the left side of the table are four men, all of them a lot older than me and eating their food. They don’t look my way, but my gaze goes to the pretty woman sitting next to Ryland. She meets my eyes briefly before looking away. I know that look, she’s scared of me.

The other side of the table has two women and to my surprise, three children. The children all look under ten, and they smile at me.

What an odd group of pirates.

The table has a lot of food I have never seen on plates in the middle. Most of them are fruits and vegetables. There are two large bowls with porridge in them. At least I recognise that and the bread. The purple, pink, and yellow fruits are new to me. I do see the bananas that Zach made me last night, and I see some apples.

“Eat up, and then we are having a little chat with you,” Dante says, making my eyes drift to him. He is sitting on the other side of me, and he starts eating straight away as I watch him. Everyone carries on with their food as I sit in silence watching them. It’s not an awkward silence, they just seem to be comfortable with each other. I try to catch the pretty woman’s eyes but she doesn’t look up. I do catch one of the other men’s eyes, and he nods at me.

“Did you sleep well?” Jacob asks from my other side.

“Yes, thank you,” I reply, keeping my tone neutral. I don’t want to be nice, but I can’t be mean to him. This pirate saved my life.

“Good,” he says and smiles a little at me. I look away as Dante fills my plate with porridge. Ryland picks an apple up and places it next to my plate. 

“Thanks,” I mutter, and he nods. This is weird, and I’m not sure what else to say to them. The table goes back to talking once I start eating. I listen to their conversations about things I don’t understand. Mainly about the running of the ship and how close they are to Sevten. The children giggle as they throw a ball between them and one of the mothers tells them off. It’s so, normal.

Once I’m finished, Ryland stands up. The room goes silent, and I put down my spoon. 

“Out,” he says, and everyone hurries out other than the boys. Laura doesn’t move until Ryland stares down at her, she huffs at him but does get up and leaves. Laura’s eyes meet mine for a second, and all I can see is worry. I have no idea why she would be worried for me, but she is.

Once the door shuts behind her, Ryland sits back down and leans back in his chair as I turn to watch him. The purple feather looks brighter in the day time against his black hair and black clothes. Ryland has this stern approach to him, which looks far more frightening when he leans forward and places his head on his joined hands. I feel like I have nowhere else to look as he speaks, other than to stare into his blue eyes.

“We have an offer,” he says, his words slow as he looks at me. I see his eyes drop down my body slowly before he looks back up. I can feel my cheeks burning red, and I force myself to keep my eyes locked on his.

“I do as well,” I say, and he raises an eyebrow.

“Do tell,” he offers as a reply, a small, crooked smile appearing on his face.

“I will stay on board, for now, and I can cook and clean for you. I’m sure I can find ways to help you if you don’t need those. When we stop off next, I will leave,” I say, and Ryland smiles, his gaze switching to Zach, who nods at me with a little wink.

“Zach does need some help in the kitchen,” Ryland offers, and I nod.

“So, everything is agreed,” I say as I stand up, wanting to get away from all the attractive eyes on me. 

“Not quite. We will be stopping off at Sevten first, and you will need to be hidden. Then we are travelling to Fiaten, where you can leave if you wish,” he tells me. That’s a long journey with them. If we are traveling to Sevten now, then we must be in the Middle Sea. I know enough from the maps to know the middle sea is one of the biggest and known for the number of pirates that travel the waters.

“Why can’t I just get off at Sevten?” I ask. Everly has travelled to the very top of Onaya, but she says you can’t do much when you get to that side as it’s much higher. There is a big cliff on Onaya that looks over the Middle Sea. Everly said it’s a blue water with a slightly green tone to it, but the skies are clear. So, it makes it easy to travel on.

“On the islands, changed ones are killed as babies, and Sevten has a slightly different rule.” Hunter says bluntly, and I look at him with a clear unspoken question. What could they possibly do with changed ones other than kill them?

“On Sevten, they are sold to the highest bidder. Changed ones are worth a fortune, a fortune many people would kill for. There is a price on your head, a very big one. I haven’t seen or heard of a female changed one in years,” Hunter tells me. I don’t get it, surely there must have been other girls with my mark born. I look around at all of the guys, wondering what’s stopping them from selling me.

“How do I know you won’t sell me?” I ask, stepping back from the table. They may have pulled me out of the sea, just to find out they have a big treasure to sell. It would make sense why they went to so much effort to keep me on board. Hunter keeps his dark eyes locked on mine, making me realise that even if he looks just like his brother, his eyes give him away. I don’t even have to look at the feather in his hair to know its Hunter, those dark eyes have such depth to them. Such hate. I don’t think the hate is for me, but it’s there.

“Never trust a pirate, little bird,” Hunter says with a slow grin. I grin back at him, which seems to make him a little concerned. The pirate should be worried.

“I prefer the saying, always kill a pirate.” I say just as slowly, and he smirks at me as his eyes drop gradually, looking at every part of my body. It’s like he’s just realising I’m a woman or something. I can’t say I don’t mind the attention from Hunter, he seems to draw me in with his snarky words and passion-filled looks. 

“Enough!” Ryland slams his hand on the table, making me look away from Hunter.

“You need to learn to trust someone, and I will prove that you can trust us in a week’s time when we arrive on Sevten. We will keep you safe and fed. There are few other pirates in these waters that will offer you the same deal. So, if you want to leave then fine, we will not stop you, but it would be a foolish decision,” Ryland says and storms out of the room.

“Impressive. No one ever gets a reaction out of Ry,” Dante comments into the silent room. I watch the door closely, wondering if I should go after him. I don’t know him, but I feel like he’s right. There are few people that would offer me the same kind of safe passage that they are.

“Should I go and talk to him?” I eventually ask.

“No. Ry is just worried about you and doesn’t show it well,” Jacob answers my question.

“Why would he be worried about me?” I ask.

“Ry thinks it’s his job to keep everyone alive that is on this ship. We all know you would be dead if you left now. None of the local islands can be trusted, and you would never get to Fiaten without a big ship to travel on. We may be pirates, we may have killed a lot of people, and we may not have the best morals but . . . .

“But what?” I ask gently.

“But, we will keep you safe, if you let us, Cassandra,” he says, his voice softer than mine.

“Okay,” I find myself saying, watching Jacob closely. I don’t know why but these pirates make me feel safe. Safer than I have ever felt, and it’s concerning. I really don’t believe they are planning to hurt me, they would have done so by now if they needed to. Jacob nods once before he looks down and walks out.

“Don’t worry, you can trust us,” Zach says to me before he walks out. Hunter and Jacob follow after him, leaving me alone with Dante.

“I’m your tour guide, but first, how’s your arm?” Dante asks me.

“Its fine. I took the bandage off to have a look, and it’s only a little sore. I wrapped it up again,” I tell him, being honest.

“It isn’t bleeding?” he asks, coming over and lifting my arm. I’m surprised he remembered which arm it was, but he turns my arm a little and seems happy with the lack of blood on the shirt.

“It wasn’t that bad of a cut,” I say.

“Still. I don’t want you in pain.” Dante says, and I finally notice how close he’s standing.

“So, you’re showing me around?” I ask.

“Come on, pretty girl. It’s about time you learn how to live on a ship,” he says and links our fingers before we walk out.

Learning about a ship is the last thing on my mind, I need to learn how to protect my heart from these pirates.