Vanya's daughter no longer lives at court. I don't regret easing her into a different life. I don't expect her to come back. But you, Brother, I wish you would come back. I forgive you, for everything. Please return. Don't be dead. I need you.

Below her, Billy stomped through a carpet of pink peach flower petals. Spring was there with all its colours, filling the world and its wide open roads with the glee Sundale had never given her. The banter-filled rhythm of Lord Simon's caravan had taken her from the Hairy Cow Inn in Faithville, the Pool Inn of Beggar's Pool and further to the One-Eyed Willy in Williamstead. It was day four on the road, and the butterflies in her stomach were still fluttering around, feeding her waves of uncontrollable energy.

"Thinking of the Prince?" Lord Simon, who was riding next to her, asked. "I don't blame you. My daughters would find him handsome too."

"He kissed me, My Lord." She licked her lips, recalling the wet touch of his unexpected move. Not that she had found it unpleasant—not in the slightest. "I don't have feelings for him. Frankly, he can be a muttonhead at times."

"Hmm... yeah... he's a bit foolish. But he's still young, and given everything that has happened to him, I would say he's coping rather well."

Alex said nothing in return. When the right words failed, it was better to let silence talk—one of the many pearls of wisdom her mother had taught her. Seb was of royal blood; Lord Simon one of the many Lords who had to obey the crown.

If she could speak freely, she would say that the kind and joyful Laneby boy was gone, replaced by a young man whose mood swings she didn't understand. Him kissing her had made no sense. She may offer him the keys to her heart, but he would never give his in return. He was the Crown Prince. Marrying her would be beneath him.

No, when the summer roads would bring her back to Sundale and an arranged marriage, then pray Queen Crystal picked Nick as her husband instead of a stranger. She would gladly put him in an armchair by the window so he could read while she roamed the forest, hunting their dinner. The both of them could look after Billy, and teach their children to ride; the same way their fathers had taught them.

"If you can bedazzle the young Prince, I have no doubts the Pirates will fall for your charms too." Lord Simon snapped her out of her daydream. "But here's some advice—engage more in conversations. You're often quiet and listening in. The Jade Islanders are paranoid people. They'll find you suspicious."

"Is that so? Don't expect a quiet moment anymore, My Lord," she replied. "Is there any other advice you can give me? I must admit that the whole spying business is still quite new to me."

"First lesson, never tell the pirates that." Lieutenant Ron swatted away a fly, then scratched his bald head. "And learn to drink. Actually, learn to vomit so you can keep a clear head."

"How do I do that?"

Serjeant Benjamin stuck his finger into his throat and made a gagging noise. "Ron's right. They'll mock you for not being able to keep your liquor in, but you'll remember what you say and do. And, more importantly, what others say and do."

"That's disturbing." Alex squinted. "But I guess it'll be useful. The Pirates and their love for liquid moonshine have quite the reputation."

"Aye, their Palm Tears." Lord Simon grinned. The caravan arrived at a split in the road, the western path leading into a forest, the eastern one passing a cosy-looking wooden house a bit further. "We'll take the forest road. There are rumours of bandits lying wait on Sun Road, near Whiskerhall. Let us travel to Rabbitpaw instead. Ron, Benj, ride ahead and arrange lodging for the night. Tell the innkeeper we're travelling with a girl."

"Excuse me?" Alex arched an eyebrow.

"We'll get better beds that way," Benjamin said with a wink.

"I don't see why you bother. In two out of three inns you ended up sleeping on the table." She patted Billy. "And last night you ended up keeping Bills and me company in the stable."

"My wife's currently frolicking with my brother. Let me have some fun before I go back to my dreaded existence."

"And fun we shall have. Get going—Tonight we teach Miss Alex how real spies drink." The Lord smiled.

The young Serjeant made a strange face, appearing to wink like a drunk. "Arggh."

"Sounds good to me," Alex said as the men in the caravan guffawed. "I have to learn from the best. And you lot seem to be great drinkers."

"That's the spirit." Lord Simon nodded. He raised his hand as Benjamin and Ron galloped off, their horses kicking up dirt from the dry underground.

For the next couple of hours, they followed the endless forest road. In the shade of the blossoms, it truly dawned on her what the trip would entail. It wasn't about fighting the pirates. She was expected to blend in, become one of them, with a goal preventing future attacks on Greenlander cities.

She would have to do a whole lot of improvising—honour her father's name.

The forest grew thin; the trail leading them through a small village that looked like a smaller copy of Laneby. With small wooden houses and wide fields where farmers were planting the grain, potatoes, or whatever vegetable their village was famous for. Children stopped their game as they approached and gawked at them, a small boy with a hat too big for his head shied away behind a girl who was easily three inches taller.

The sight filled Alex with nostalgic melancholy, a longing for her baby brothers and a time she and the boys had spent their days playing and laughing. She hadn't understood the happiness of her existence until she had lost it all.

Perhaps, on the Islands, her father's childhood home, she would find again what it was like to live.

In the distance, a murder of crows flushed off a fence and flew towards the darkness of the next forest road. She didn't think much of it and recounted the tale of her father and Lord Brandon ploughing, sowing, and reaping Farmer John's corn and turnip fields after the man had gotten an infected leg.

"I swear it, Lord Simon. It was because of Lord Brandon and my father that Laneby had known a good harvest that year. Lord Brandon never shied away from hard work. He—"

"Hold that thought, Alex." The Lord raised his hand, halting the caravan. "There's something or someone down there. Load your weapons—all of you. Ricky, you go and look, but be careful."

As the older Serjeant—who had ridden at the front the entire time—departed, the rest of the Serjeants and Lieutenants circled around her and the Lord, their crossbows aimed in every direction. Lord Simon drew his sword. Alex grabbed an arrow from her quiver and nocked it onto her bow. Billy rode on, not needing the steering of the reins.

A bit further, where the road turned south, the crows were pecking at something or someone lying on the ground. The Serjeant returned from the scene pale as milk, in shock. "Benj and Ron, My Lord. Dead... Murdered."

"What!" bellowed Lord Simon. The sheer volume of his voice made the crows flew into the nearby trees, where they made a variety of click and bell-like sounds. "Who or what did this?"

"I can't say, My Lord. It's doesn't seem like an animal attack."

The caravan moved closer, in formation. Whoever had done this, could still be around.

Alex froze, sweat forming on her fingers, her arrow slipping slightly. Between the men, she caught glimpses of the mangled corpses of the two Lieutenants, lying in a pool of their own bodily liquids. They were but meat bags with missing eyes and torn off clothes. Their horses had shared a worse fate: their heads had been severed from their body, blood dripping from their necks.

"Why did they have to die?" she whispered. Before anyone was able to reply, Billy let out a loud neigh and dived into the gap between two of Lord Simon's men. With wild and powerful leaps, the horse darted off. She reached for the reins, but when she couldn't find them right away, she gave him a kick. "Hold, boy! Easy!"

The horse didn't obey. He crisscrossed past the mutilated bodies, whickering and snorting. Dropping her arrow, she managed to gain control over the reins. She gave them a jerk, Billy whinnying but finally listening; he halted.

She was still catching her breath when a man with a long, shabby cloak jumped out of the forest. His cross-eyes were going all places as he cackled. "Two gold coins for passage south. No..." He shook, his whole body following the movement of his head. "Make it three. It's going to rain."

Behind her, the thundering of hooves came near. Help was on the way, but she wasn't going to wait for that. She grabbed a new arrow and raised her bow. "Did you kill those two men?"

His jaw clacked as he opened his mouth. "All men must pay. Draco protects the roads, through wind and rain. From sunrise to sunset, and again from the dark night all the way to the new dawn."

"I don't understand. If you protect the roads then why are they dead?"

"Draco..." Lord Simon was out of breath as he joined her. "Did you see anything, Draco? Tell me if you did. They were my men. This girl is under my protection. She comes from Sunstone Castle."

"Lies, My Lord. All lies you tell Draco. I ain't mad—Old Billy dislikes having women in his castle." The mysterious man eyed her, patting her chest. "Told so himself. There ain't a woman who doesn't remind him of his Ophelia. Ophelia-Ophelia, Queen of heartache and sorrow. Sad little birdy who wished to soar to the sky." He stretched his arms. "And soaring she did when the Gods found out about her wickedness." He whistled. "Oh, how deep she plummeted, splashed to the ground." He made a splattering noise.

"I don't have time for this. His Majesty King William has been dead for nearly a decade. His boy Thomas rules from the obsidian throne." Lord Simon was losing his patience. "Tell me what you know!"

"Tom-Tom." Draco knocked his ear twice, cackling. "Bran-man and little Tom-Tom. The forbidden boy and the cripple. Draco knows their fates have been sealed a long time ago. The Gods have proclaimed—death comes for old Billy's boys when the lion sends his disciples to light the sun."

Alex couldn't bear it any longer. Drawing her bow, she released her arrow. It hit the strange man right in the heart. He fell backwards, twitched a couple of times, then the spark in his cross-eyes died.

He was her first human kill. And she felt no remorse.

"What was that for?" Lord Simon snapped at her.

"He scared me!" she argued. "He killed Ron and Benjamin, didn't he?"

"Draco's a fool, but he's harmless! I've been roaming these roads for years, Missy. Had he been dangerous, I would have asked my men. This was not your call to make."

"Yet I did. He was mad."

"There are far worse things roaming these lands than madmen, Alex!" The Lord sighed, finding the God of Patience with himself. "Did nobody ever teach you that violence should only be used as a last resort?"

"Yes, a day before Laneby went up in flames." She was sick of the discussion. "When I faced the magician responsible, I didn't attack, obeying Lord Brandon's final wish. But the magician got away and took a friend of mine with him. It's difficult, My Lord, knowing when you're running out of options, when you should keep talking or run away or let the God of Wrath win. I don't know why I killed that man—my instincts often get the better of me—but I did it because it felt right. I doubt anyone will miss him."

"You're cold and ruthless. The pirates will like you, Missy." Lord Simon turned his men. "Burry the fool. Fetch the bodies of Ron and Benjamin, but leave the horses for the crows and other scavengers. Keep your weapons close, but please, think twice before using them. I want the killers alive if you find them."

As the mood of the caravan dropped to a place below the Seven Hells, their anxiety spiked within the first couple of hours after the attack. After that, the rotting corpses attracting flies and spreading a sickly odour made people forget there were murderers on the loose.

In Rabbitpaw, the innkeeper sent them away. His official statement was that he didn't have the capacity to house all of Lord Simon's men, but Alex suspected he didn't want to have dead bodies attracting vermin. The caravan kept going that night until they found a clearing big enough to rest and close to water. Half of the men would stay awake until midnight, the other half until sunrise.

Instead of a drinking lesson and a stable full of fresh hay, she got a rock to lay her head on and wrapped Billy's blanket around her to keep warm. The horse laid down next to her, his head on her lap. She didn't have play guard tonight.

"Sometimes I think you're part-dog." She planted a little kiss just above his muzzle. "Time to sleep and dream of Nick. I bet he's doing the same."

He snorted a neigh and shook his manes. The silly horse. Yet she could not imagine not having him around; he was her comfort in the great unknown.

She slept like she hadn't slept in years. Ron and Benjamin's killers hadn't returned; perhaps that wicked man had killed them after all. Yes, she was sure he did.

The last town before reaching the Port of Diligence was Windermere where the air smelled of salt and seagulls screamed as they fought for the scraps of fish that had fallen off a merchant's cart. A white bird, with wings wider than her arm's reach, landed on the cart's wheel and stole a fish that could easily feed a family of five.

After the sign that read 'Port of Diligence—10 miles', they passed a plethora of small white houses that sold a variety of goods, from shark-scale armour to shell-necklaces in all colours of the rainbow. Her mouth watered as the scent of fresh cockles and oysters filled her nose.

"It's like we're even in another country," she said.

"Welcome to the south," Lord Simon said, a trace of pride in voice. "The northerners think we're Islanders, and the Islanders consider us stoic Greenlanders."

"Fish-eaters without a lisp," Lieutenant Jim emphasised each of the s's. His joke gave the people something to laugh about.

Lord Simon halted the caravan not long after. "Take the men into town, Jim. Pay them," he said to his Lieutenant. "Take Benj and Ron home, inform their families. Tell them I will come and visit them later. Alex and I will take a small detour first."

"As you wish, My Lord."

The Lord waited for all the carriages to pass. As the cart with the bodies rode by, Alex pinched her nose and held her breath when that wasn't enough to block the terrible smell. Lord Simon saluted them, then he beckoned her to follow him up the hill.

"Where are we going, My Lord?" she asked. No ship would be waiting for her in the mountains.

"You'll see."

They rode up the hill. On top, he got off his horse, patting his mares' manes. "The Sundalers can keep Sundale. This is what I call a real city." He ran his hand through his horse-tail-long hair. "I wish I had more time to show you the ins and outs of the Port. But for now, this will have to do."

The Port of Diligence was unlike anything she had ever seen. Beyond the crisscrossed white buildings and the ships larger than Sundale's stables, was the vastness of the Jade Sea. With its various shades of blue that grew darker closer to the horizon, it was grander than a lake, wilder than a river. The wind blew through her hair. She was standing at the edge of the world.

"It's beautiful," she said in awe.

"Do you see that over there?" He pointed to the west where five ships were anchored in line. "The one most to your left is the Acedia's Revenge. It's a brilliant ship. Only completed last summer—it will be her third voyage. She's faster than any ship built on Greenlander soil. And she's mine."

"How long does it take to sail to Mora?"

"With this eastern wind, two—maybe three days," he reasoned. "A north-eastern wind would be more favourable, but the God of Charity gives what he wants to give. Are you ready for the big adventure?"

"I think so, yeah." She nodded. "For the Greenlands, the Gods, and His Majesty."

"Or just the little Prince?" He winked.

"Him too." She bit her lip. " I won't lie. It's scary too—like I'm not fully prepared."

"His Majesty wasn't worried. There's something..." Lord Simon reached for the pocket his coat. He took out a scroll, bound by a Greenlander green leather band and seal bearing a crowned sycamore. "... something you ought to know."

"About my mission?"

"Yes." He kept the scroll in his hand. "But it's bigger than that too—something you might have wondered for a while."

Alex chuckled. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"You've never wondered why His Majesty picked you to go to the Islands."

"The Pirates may suspect the Greenlanders to send an army lad with Jade Islandic roots, but I'm a girl."

"You're not just any girl. You're Vanya's girl." The Lord handed her the scroll. "The letter explains it all. His Majesty knows more of how he died."

"I know that, My Lord. A bear killed him while he was out hunting with Lord Brandon."

"Oh, Missy." Lord Simon turned his back, facing the city instead of her. "There was no bear—it was a fable to disguise the truth. His Majesty told me it was Lord Brandon who killed your father."

"No! He was Father's friend. They went everywhere—the two of them. I just know... my father..."

"... was a Pirate, Missy."