“I want to tell you a deal, a deal I made up for you the moment you were born and I placed a single kiss on your forehead,” the Sea God says as I sharply open my eyes and see us inside the waterfall again. It’s the same as before; I still cannot turn and look at him, but I feel his eyes on me, his words floating around my ears like whispers with power laced throughout them.

“Tell me?” I ask, knowing I won’t wake up until I find out what he wants me to know.

“A deal is sought after, a deal will be made.

The price is clear, the truth will not be forbidding. 

The true heir of both water and land must take the throne. 

The fire-touched king must fall at the hands of the water-touched pirate.

Changed ones must never have the throne and only a changed one can give the crown to the new queen.

The crown needed to win, can only be found where life lives within water.

Only ice will bring the map, if she does not fall.

If the deal is not agreed, then the sea will never be saved,” he says, and there’s a pause between us as I think over the words he said. They repeat in my mind, fire-touched king, true heir of both land and water must take the throne and a changed one can give the crown to the new queen? Only ice will bring the map?

“I can feel your thoughts. You shout them in your mind. There is another deal, one I have never offered anyone or will ever do again,” he tells me.

“There is no deal sought after, though,” I say.

I hear him laugh. “The deal has been sought from the moment you were born. You did not know it, but it’s only you that I would make a deal with.”

“What is the other deal?” I ask.

“I will tell you when you fall, but the price is higher than I believe you could ever pay. I paid it once, and I do not wish the same on you,” he says, speaking in riddles again, and I have to shake his words out of my mind.

“Who is the true heir of both water and land?” I ask him about the first deal instead, seeing as he will not tell me about the second deal.

“She already knows,” he whispers.

“But I do not,” I reply. I wish I could turn to look at him, but my body feels like it’s made of ice.

“No… It is not time yet and the deal must be made before you will find that answer, Cassandra,” he tells me in a strict tone, like time makes all the difference here.

“When will it be time?” I ask.

“Time is a difficult one to measure for me…time passes different where I am. I only see the important factors, what a god needs to see,” he explains.

“You want me to make a deal with you?” I ask, needing him to tell me. I don’t know if I want to hear his answer, but I stay still and listen anyway.

“Yes, Cassandra,” he replies, a simple answer.

“No. I don’t want the deal. I do not trust you or know you. I’m not stupid enough to make a deal with a god I do not trust,” I reply to him.

“Trust is earned…in time…with time,” he says, and the water opens a gap. Light floods through it and blinds me into closing my eyes.

“Bad dream?” Dante asks, shaking my shoulder a little as I sleep on his chest. I don’t remember lying down on top of him, but I’m pressed tightly against him, his arms wrapped around my waist. I lean up, my hair falling down the side of my face as he wipes his eyes as he looks up at me. I take a quick look around, seeing Everly sleeping on the floor in her cage and then over to Zack who is sleeping sitting up with his head bent down as he snores gently.

“Can I tell you something?” I ask Dante as I turn to look back at him, not moving off him as he is warm and comfy, but he doesn’t seem to want me to move anyway.

“Anything. You can tell me anything, Cassandra,” he tells me. His hands slowly slide up my back, underneath my top, and trail down slowly as I look down at his face and he watches me. There is affection written all over his eyes, such love that I never thought I would have someone feel for me.

“The Sea God keeps coming to me in my sleep, offering me a complicated deal and whispering to me,” I tell him, and he sighs as his hand stops in the middle of my back.

“We know changed ones are kissed by the Sea God. It would make sense that he comes to you now. I have heard rumours of him speaking to people, and I’ve even spoken to changed ones in the mountains of Fiaten who swear they have met him,” Dante tells me.

“I don’t know what to do, Dante,” I admit. “All this magic, all this talk of gods and kings is way above my knowledge. I feel like I have to make so many choices, but I don’t know the right answers.”

“Do you trust the Sea God?” Dante asks me, his hand moving once more, pushing my top up until his hand is on the back of my neck and our faces inches away from each other.

“Does it matter?” I reply. The snarl in my tone is hard to miss.

“Every little thing about you matters to me, pretty girl,” he says and leans up to kiss me. The way Dante kisses me is anything but innocent. No, it’s passionate, demanding, and leaves me unable to even remember where I am. I let Dante roll me onto my back, his body covering mine as our lips battle against each other. I push as much frustration, desire, and love back into the kiss as his hard body pushes into mine, making me gasp. Dante feels right like this, as he holds his weight with his arms and yet, somehow pushes his body into mine with every stroke of our lips. He moves his lips to the edge of my mouth and down my jaw, towards my neck.

“Why did you stop?” I ask quietly when he suddenly pulls away, but keeps his eyes locked on mine.

“If I didn’t, our first time would be in a dirty dungeon and that’s not happening, pretty girl. That will be me and you together, alone, for when you scream my name in breathless moans,” he tells me as I slide my hands up his chest before resting them on his large shoulders, feeling the muscles under his shirt.

“Who said it will just be me moaning your name? I bet I can make you say mine,” I whisper, and his eyes widen as I know he didn’t expect me to say that, “but it is a little public in here.” I change the subject quickly, making him chuckle.

“I don’t mind the audience, but not for our first time together,” he whispers as he pushes the hard part of his body into mine, making me gasp once more.

“Who says you will get another chance?” I say, flirting with him a little more.

“I say, because I love you, and you love me,” he says, making me go silent and just stare into his blue eyes. I reach up and smooth my hand over his slight beard and into his soft brown hair.

“Do I?” I ask him.

“Yes,” he replies with such confidence that I can’t do anything other than smile at him. I lean up, brushing my lips against his ear.

“You’re right, pretty boy,” I whisper and move away to rest my head against the stone as he looks down at me. We don’t say anything to each other, both of us comfortable to just stare at each other for a long time.

“Morning,” I hear Everly say. Dante quickly moves off me, sitting on the floor and covering his lap up as he flashes me a cheeky grin.

“Morning, Ev. Did you sleep alright?” I ask her, looking over to her cage where she is rubbing her eyes as she sits up.

“Better with a full stomach,” she replies. “You must thank your pirates for the food.”

“Good, and when I see them next, I will,” I reply, and she looks between us both with a small smile.

“I forgot, we smuggled more food in,” Dante says, reaching into his pockets and getting out a selection of wrapped up flat bundles. Dante hands me four of them and I pass two to Everly before taking one over to Zack. I gently reach through the bars, shaking his shoulder, and he jerks awake, grabbing my hand. My eyes widen as he looks over at me and loosens his grip on my hand before linking our fingers and relaxing a little.

“Bad dream?” I ask, looking over to see Dante and Everly talking quietly.

“No, I just don’t like being woken up. My parents used to wake me up by cutting my hands,” he tells me. I look up, feeling angry at his parents for ever hurting him. I’ve seen all the scars, and I know it must have gone on for a long time.

“How long did your parents punish you?”

“Long. I would have died, but I had, have, some friends on Sixa,” he tells me.

“Would you tell me about them?” I ask and slide the food into his hand. He accepts the package and holds it in his lap as he looks at me.

“Shan, he was a friend I grew up with and kept me alive through the worst of it. And his wife, Eowynn,” he tells me.

“What was it like on Sixa? I know it’s mainly made of snow,” I say, thinking back to the lessons Miss Drone told me.

“It’s cold. Deadly cold at night if you go out without heavy furs on. The houses are made of ice, and there are deep holes of freezing water all around the village,” he says.

“It sounds amazing, I would like to see your old home one day,”

“We should go in winter, when blue and yellow lines of light shine across the sky. I read a story once that said the blue light is the power of the sea and the yellow light the power of the land. Only one month in a year they are allowed to touch with their powers, and light up the entire sky,” he tells me.

“Do you believe in the gods? The Sea God we are told about, who apparently gave me this?” I point at my head.

“I believe this world is full of old magic, magic of gods, and can be a truly wonderful world with the right person to rule it. To guide it,” he says.

“Old magic?”

“The magic of soulmates. The magic of the chosen and changed ones as we have come to know them,” Zack tells me.

“What is a soulmate?” I ask, not familiar with the term.

“Two souls destined to fall for each other. Two souls that can never be torn apart, even by death,” he whispers, and I lean my head back against the wall, turning on my side so I can still look over at him. I find Zack staring at me, his expression unreadable.

“What are you thinking?” I ask.

“Little fighter, I was wondering how you still look so beautiful after weeks of being held hostage?” Zack says, lifting his head.

“I wouldn’t say I look good. In fact, I know I smell bad,” I say, making him chuckle.

“No, you don’t. No worse than I do,” he says, and I laugh. I slide down to the floor and open my own package, seeing the cheese slices and meat slices put together like a sandwich. Dante comes over and sits next to me, as he opens his own food and starts eating.

“What did the Sea God say in the deal?” Dante asks me.

“The Sea God?” Everly asks, and I stare at Zack’s worried expression as I answer her.

“He whispers to me, comes into my dreams,” I tell her and Zack.

“Cassandra…,” Everly whispers, making me look at her. The horror in her voice is impossible to miss.

“He spoke of an heir to both land and sea. He spoke of a map and a crown…,” I say, knowing there was more, but those are important.

“I’m guessing you said no, as you’re smart enough not to make a deal without thinking it through,” Dante asks me.

“I said no, but he told me making the deal is the only way to save the sea. If the sea falls, so does the land and everything we know,” I answer him. The sea is needed to make the land grow, the rain fall, and everything to survive and live. They say the sea is lost, but I don’t believe that anymore. The sea is maybe owned by pirates, but the people on the land need the sea more than they realise.

“You want to make the deal?” Everly asks, and I look towards her. She brushes her curly blonde hair out of her face and pulls her knees up to her chest, keeping her eyes on me.

“I have no choice, not in the end, and I know that. It doesn’t mean I won’t find out everything I can to make sure I don’t pay a bad price for the deal, though,” I say, knowing it’s the only smart thing to do. I catch a glance of my father in his cage behind Everly, his eyes watching me, but he disappears into the shadows before I can even say a word of hello to him. He hasn’t come forward to speak to my pirates, and it hurts that he won’t introduce himself, that I can’t show my father the men I love and care for. The men who saved his daughter from dying alone in the sea.

“You can’t put an heir you don’t know on the throne! The king isn’t even dead and the heir might not want a kingdom of nightmares!” She shouts the end part at me before walking away into the shadows of her cage. I frown at her, wondering what caused such a strong reaction. She wasn’t usually like that, not my friend that I remember, and I don’t understand why she cares so much about whoever will be on the throne anyway. For all I know, the new queen I need to find could be a well-trained, protected woman who knows how to rule. They could be a good person and have a natural lead. That’s all I think you need to rule, but then, I have no idea. The only people who might know are Hunter and Ryland. I imagine they were trained for the throne.

“She isn’t usually like this. She just lost her mother and has been here since I escaped to your ship,” I tell Dante and Zack, who nod in understanding, but they look behind me to her cage. I don’t think they believe me, or they also just don’t know why she reacted so badly.

“It must be difficult to be trapped for so long in the place you lost your mother,” Dante comments. Everly needs to escape here to clear her head a little, or a lot. This is all too much for her and that must be the reason for her reaction. We are all so stressed, under so much pressure to escape this place with our lives, that nothing else matters. The king is doing a good job of tearing us all down, and making me as weak as he thinks I am.

“We know Hunter and Ryland are the heirs to land, but not water…what could that mean?” I ask them, and they spend a while thinking like I do.

“Water must mean the mermaid throne. The water heir is a mermaid, a prince from rumours, but he would never be the heir to land. And he is not going to be king for a while; there is a mermaid queen who rules the sea. The king has a deal with her of some kind,” Dante says.

“How do you know that?” I ask. He rubs the back of his neck and looks nervous.

“Let’s just say that Dante met a female mermaid, and she told him a lot,” Zack tells me. I don’t know why, but I have to run away as the thoughts of Dante with another woman swim through my mind. I know I’m jealous, but I’m not going to admit that.

“Don’t be jealous. My past is forgotten with every moment I spend with you,” Dante whispers as he stands behind me and wraps his arms around my stomach. He presses a kiss to the top of my head as I silently calm down, knowing I’m not being rational. We all have a past. My pirates just have more complicated ones.

“Then it makes no sense about the land and sea heir,” I mutter, changing the subject back to what we need to be talking about.

“We should ask Laura, or get her to find out. She might know something, since she has been alive longest in this castle and was taught a lot of things as a child,” Zack suggests, as Dante steps away.

“Problem is we are locked in the dungeons and the only people outside are the two princes, who are watched all the time; and Jacob, who has to pretend to be a guard,” Dante says, stroking his face with his hands.

“Chaz still isn’t here. Maybe he has escaped and is working to help us in some way,” I suggest, needing to see him and believe that he is safe.

“I don’t like that he isn’t here. He should be,” Dante says gently.

“I hope he is alive. I can’t deal with him not being alive. I won’t lose anyone else to this castle,” I say, looking away from them both. Dante sighs, coming to my side and holding me close. “It would break me, and what little hold I have on my emotions and keeping myself together would be gone”

“We know. But Cassandra, we need something right now from you,” he pleads, and I look up at him. “We need our strong, hitting people with a book, jumping off ships at sea, woman we met. We need you to be strong and we need you to work with us,” he tells me. “Trust us.” I think about what he said, and it doesn’t take me long to realise he is right. I know I need to trust them. I do trust them.

“Don’t forget chair-hitting also,” Zack adds.

Dante looks surprised. “You never told me about a chair. What happened?”

“I may have tried to hit him with a chair when he came to see me. Only after you all decided to lock me up,” I say, crossing my arms because it was their fault, but they both laugh.

“I was lucky to have caught it. Otherwise, that would have been two pirates you managed to knock out in just a few hours,” Zack chuckles.

“I didn’t trust you back then. What can I say?” I laugh.

“Do you trust us now?” Dante says, his tone more serious now.

“Yes,” I reply with a single word and smile.

“Then be strong. We need that from you. You make us strong,” he says. I give him one sharp nod before straightening my head and looking at the fire burning in the middle of the cages.

“There’s only one thing fire fears…water,” I say and look down at my hands.

“That is true,” Zack replies.

“Water-touched pirate,” I whisper under my breath, but Dante hears me.

“That name suits you,” he says, and I look back at the fire.

Yes, it does.