^“So, this is the deck,” Dante waves a hand over the deck of ship. The men I saw at breakfast are running around, two of the children are sitting on the benches reading old-looking books. The men glance my way, but they seem to be busy. The woman I saw at breakfast is polishing the wood by the two glass doors that must lead to the captain’s rooms. I can’t see anything but ocean for miles out here as I glance around, and it’s strange to be so far from land. The ocean seems calm, and some part of me, only a little bit, feels strangely happy here. I always wanted to be close to the sea. The stories Everly told me were not close enough to make me understand what it’s like, they weren’t enough. There is nothing like this, the smell of the sea, the breeze pushing small strands of my hair all over my face. The ocean air smells like salt, and the salty water can be tasted in the wind. I glance up at Dante, who is watching me closely but letting me silently take it all in. I just smile, and he runs his hand through his curly, brown hair with his own small smile. I wonder if he likes the ocean as much as me.

The ship has three large, black sails, and a mixture of smaller ones on the sides of the large one. The largest flag has a skull on it, with bones crossed behind the skull. At the helm of the ship, I can see Hunter behind the large circular wheel. Hunter looks every bit the pirate out of my books, with a black bandana around his hair and forehead. The blue feather is the only colour on him, and his long black coat seems to stand still against the wind. I watch as he turns the wheel slightly to the left, and when he looks my way, I turn to look at the ocean, so he doesn’t see me looking at him. The ocean is all you can see for miles; the deep, blue sea and bright sun in the sky, yet it doesn’t feel warm out here. I hold my arms around myself a little closer, as it’s freezing out here. 

“Here,” Dante says as he takes his large, black cloak off and wraps it around my shoulders. It smells like him, just like the sea. I remember wondering what he smelled like when I first met him, and now I realise it’s just the sea. The very sea he lives on. Dante’s hands slide down my arms as he lets go of the coat, and we both just stare at each other. We are too close; my heart is pounding too fast, and his lips look too nice. I’ve never been kissed, not once, but the thought of kissing Dante is going through my mind. I don’t know why I’m so drawn to him. To them all. Dante seems to see something in my gaze, because he lets go of my arms.

“So, what is the ship called?” I ask as he moves away.

“The Crimson Mermaid,” he tells me, and I smile.

“I read a book once about mermaids, well the fantasy of them,” I say. I always thought they were such unusual creatures. The mermaids are said to be half human and half fish. They are also said to have voices so sweet that you can do nothing but walk straight to them while they lure you into a sweet death. They live in water, so that would be walking straight into a death for any human. My father always told me that mermaids are just fairy-tales.

“Maybe they are all not fantasy,” he winks at me, and I surprise myself by laughing.

“Mermaids are not real,” I say shaking my head.

“How would you know?” he asks me and then takes my hand. His hand feels rough in mine, like he uses his hands a lot. I guess I wouldn’t know, I only have my books as knowledge, and there’s a chance he might know the answer.

“Do you know?” I ask. I’m sure my eyes look wide in shock as I stare up at him.

“Yes, but I’m not telling you the answer. You have to earn it,” he says, and I laugh again.

“How do I earn that answer?” I ask.

“I’ll let you know, but I would take a kiss in exchange,” he says as he winks at me, and I just laugh. The pirate is cheeky, I will give him that.

“So, over here are the captain’s rooms, well Ryland’s rooms,” he tells me as he points to the glass, double doors.

“There isn’t much more to show you up here. Let’s go below deck,” he says.

Dante leads me to the doors we came from and opens them up. I walk down, and he follows, closing the doors behind him. I let him take my hand when we get to the bottom of the stairs, and he walks us down the corridor.

“So, all of our rooms are on this corridor. You slept in Chaz’s room last night. He’s the ship doctor, if you didn’t already guess that,” he tells me. I feel even worse for hitting him now that I know he was the one that must have looked after me. I also know why that bed smelled so nice. It was Chaz’s bed, and it must have smelled like him. My mind flashes to the pirate in question, and I remember his soft, blond hair and light-brown eyes. The pirate doctor was extremely attractive, and I hit him on the head with a book.

“This is mine, and that’s Hunter’s room,” he points to the two doors opposite each other.

“Those are Jacob and Zach’s rooms,” he says when we move down the corridor and stop at two more doors. We carry on walking down the corridor, past the kitchen and dining room. There is another pair of stairs. 

“Down here are the rooms our guests use, and storage,” he says but doesn’t take us down there. 

“So, I’ll sleep down there,” I say.

He stops me from walking down by pulling on my arm gently, “No, you can sleep in one of our rooms. We take turns staying up at night to watch the ship, so one of our rooms is always free.”

I move away from him in shock. “I can’t do that,” I say, shaking my head, my cheeks going red.

Dante moves closer and places his hand on my cheek.

“You are so lovely when you blush, pretty girl,” he says, and I don’t know why but my anger disappears into laughter. 

“You are such a flirt, pretty boy,” I say through my laugh, and he only moves closer. The simple step tells me he isn’t joking around with me, and my laugh disappears as I look up at him. Every part of me is drawn to him, wanting to be closer, and I find myself leaning into his touch slightly.

“Dante!” a man shouts down the corridor, making me jump back as we break apart. Dante shakes his head, watching me for something.

“There will be a time where we won’t always be interrupted,” Dante whispers just for me as the man who shouted runs down the corridor.

“Ryland wants you,” the man says. The man is young, more a boy than a man, as I would guess he is around fifteen. He has a slightly spotty, pale face under a large hat, and his clothes are baggy on his thin frame.

“Roger, this is Cassandra,” Dante introduces us, and Roger bows low. I try to hide my smile, wondering why he is bowing to me. I’m certainly not any princess or queen.

“Hi,” I say, and he meets my gaze with a smile. I’m surprised, not used to seeing no fear when people look at me. Roger doesn’t even glance at my mark, which is a welcome relief.

“Roger is a permanent member of our ship,” Dante tells me. “I’d best go and see what Ry wants. Zach is in the kitchens. So, you’d best go and see what he needs you to do,” Dante says and walks away, his hand leaving mine slowly before he has to let go.

“You forgot your coat,” I shout down the corridor to him. 

“Keep it, it looks better on you,” Dante says, but he doesn’t turn around. Roger scurries after him after bowing for me one more time. I will have to tell him that he doesn’t have to do that.

I follow them down the corridor and stop at the kitchens. The sound of light humming drifts from the dining room, and I turn my head to look around the open door. 

Chaz is leaning over a book, humming away a soft song I have never heard. Music was not something my father liked in the house. I used to like to sing, until a man heard me once and came to the house. I was in the garden, and he was walking back from work I had guessed. I ran back to the house, but the man was stupid, he followed me and started shouting about me being a changed one when he saw my mark. 

My father killed him as I hid in the kitchens with my hands over my ears. I will always remember coming out into the garden, just to see my father kick the dead body of the man into a hole he had dug up.

I chose not to sing a word since.

“Should I hide the books?” Chaz says suddenly, and I find I miss the sound of his singing. Chaz has had a haircut since the last time I saw him. His hair is now short, and it suits him more. I feel a little more trickle of guilt that he might have cut his hair off because I hit him on the head with the book.

“I’m sorry about that,” I say quietly, and he smiles. Chaz has on a red shirt, and tight trousers. The shirt is loose around his chest, and I can see the necklace he had on yesterday. Now that I’m closer, I can see all the shells are different, and there are seven of them. I wonder if there is one for each island and why he wears them.

“I knew your pretty smile was a knock out, but I can’t say I expected to literally be knocked out by you,” he says, and I laugh.

“Well, I am sorry about the whole hitting you on the head with a book. I haven’t met many people before, and I was scared,” I tell him, being the most honest I think I can be. Chaz doesn’t say anything as he closes the book and leans back in his chair. I let him silently watch me, before he decides to speak.

“I understand. Where did you grow up?” he asks me. I guess I could decide not to tell him, I guess I could walk off this ship, but I don’t. My heart and mind want to stay.

“In my father’s home,” I say vaguely. 

“I thought hitting me on the head with a book was our bonding moment, and you might start to trust me,” he says with a smile, and it makes me chuckle with him.

“Sorry, it’s just–“ I start and find I don’t know how to explain why I’m still being secretive with them.

“How about I guess a few things about you and you can tell me if I’m right?” Chaz asks. I’m curious to how many things he could guess. It would give me a good idea about how smart he is.

“You can try,” I say as I lean against the open door.

“Your father was part of Onaya council,” he says straight away.

“How did you . . .?” I ask.

“Easy. When you met Dante, I was there. I was the one that called him over, and I saw you. Your dress was expensive, the face paint would not have been cheap that you must have on to hide your mark, either. Also, you managed to get a boat and escape to the sea, only the rich could do that,” he says, and he is right. No one could afford a boat in our town, and no one would have the money for the face paint unless they were well off. The only reason I survived as long as I did was because of my father’s money and power.

I nod, and he continues,

“You don’t trust people because you have met so little, you don’t understand life enough to trust it. As far as you’re concerned, you were hidden and hunted by people for a simple mark on your forehead. A mark that does nothing,” he says, explaining me with words I don’t have. I’m surprised that he knows my mark does nothing, and I wonder if he knows of any way for me to tap into my powers.

“You’re right. I only knew three people in my life. My father, my best friend Everly, and her mother who taught me everything I know. My father was on the council,” I tell him, and he smiles gently.

“Being around men, it is different for you,” he says, and I only nod as a response. It’s worse because I have no women to talk about my feelings to. Is it normal to have crushes on six pirates? Every single one of them is very attractive, and I’ve been so sheltered in my life, that this is confusing to me.

“Cassandra, you are far stronger than most, and you don’t have to hide here. That I can promise you. No one on this ship will condemn you for a mark,” he says, and I cross my arms.

“I do have to hide. I will always have to hide from the world, just so I can survive. The King has a price on my head, and the powers I am meant to have, I don’t,” I tell him. I’m not annoyed or angry at him, but I know my tone comes across that way. The world has given me nothing but a life full of hiding, a Sea God that doesn’t exist, and a King that hunts my kind.

“No, you don’t, and you will realise this soon. Live, Cassandra, or what is the point of all this hiding? You are finally free.” Chaz says and stands up. 

“I don’t feel very free, Chaz,” I say softly.

“You are. Cassandra, you are freer than most and more special than you know. It also helps that you are building friendships with pirates who are known to be protective of their own,” Chaz says and picks up his book. He stops right in front of me, only a breath away as I process his words. Would the pirates protect me? I can’t see it.

“Say my name again,” Chaz asks me softly.

“Chaz?” I say, mimicking his soft tone, and he closes his eyes.

“My name sounds beautiful on your lips, just like their owner,” he says with a small smile, and I take a deep breath. Feeling a fluttering in my stomach as his eyes meet mine. 

“Live, Cassandra,” he says softly and leaves.

My name sounds even more beautiful on his lips.