THE CAPTAIN KEPT LOOKING at Kit, and it was starting to make his skin crawl. It wasn't a bad stare, but it wasn't good, either. His eyes studied him as though he were trying to decipher him, or like Kit reminded him of someone and he couldn't quite figure out who.

He'd been trying so hard not to be paranoid, but this wasn't making it easy. At least he wasn't worrying about Morgana this time, but that was probably because he felt something entirely different whenever he looked at the Unseelie as of late.

"Don't mind him, he's just sizing you up."

Kit was startled by the velvety voice, and he turned to find Mahria standing next to him. She was a good two inches taller than him at the least, and she was gorgeous in the same way Léona was. If he still cared about girls like he used to, he probably would've spent more time checking her out. She was definitely his type, tan, mysterious, and intimidating.

"Does he always stare at strangers like he's seen them before?" Kit asked, eyes lingering on her profile a bit longer than they needed to.

He felt a trace of guilt in the pit of his stomach, but he stomped it out. There was nothing real going on between him and Morgana, he was allowed to look at beautiful women if he so pleased.

Mahria caught his gaze and met it with her own. He didn't look away, even as her slender finger traced along his jaw.

Her voice came out in a purr. "He stares at men who seem like they might distract his crew," she murmured. "Men like you. Clearly, though, it isn't his crew that's distracted."

Kit tossed a glance to the side, and his eyes met Morgana's. The faery's vicious gaze didn't falter, and it filled his stomach with butterflies. He was jealous, and Kit loved it.

"I don't think I'm intimidating Crane," Kit told her. "If he was simply trying to scare me, I don't think he'd study me so hard."

Mahria hummed. "Fair point. He look familiar to you?"

The captain was talking to Eurion, and their conversation seemed pleasant enough, but his posture was rigid. Somehow, Kit knew it had nothing to do with what the thief was saying.

"I guess he does," Kit murmured after some thought. It wasn't a striking recognition, but when he thought about it hard enough, he felt something tugging at him, like faint déjà vu. "But I've never seen his face before. So I don't know why, maybe I'm just tricking myself."

Mahria pulled his face back to meet her own, and he felt something burning in his throat. "Hey, you don't need to worry so much, yeah? If it's important I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually. Don't stress yourself."

"Is there any way I can get you saying that burned into my brain?" he teased, cracking his knuckles like he was preparing for a fight.

"I've got something that can help you destress a little, at least for awhile," she murmured, and Kit's eyes went wide. Her hand slid over his wrist and she pulled him towards the mast of the main sail.

Ah.

She gripped the rope, motioning for Kit to follow after her as she climbed upwards towards the crow's nest. Kit didn't exactly love heights, but Mahria was all legs and pretty eyes and he couldn't resist whatever it was she wanted him to do.

The crow's nest was way too high up. Kit found himself clutching the mast and looking down at the main deck like he might die at any moment.

"You're okay," Mahria assured him, taking one hand away from the mast.

"I don't see how this is meant to take my stress away."

She pulled both hands away, then tilted his chin upwards. "Don't look down. Look out."

Kit shook his head. "What am I looking at?"

"Just look." She moved behind him, putting her face next to his, and she pointed towards the sea. "Isn't it beautiful?"

He gave it a reluctant chance. He looked out over the blue water, the gentle waves that never seemed to end. His eyes wandered around, taking in the infinite sea and the endless sky, as though he'd never seen them before.

The sun was getting low, painting the clouds a gentle pink and reflecting off the water. A salty breeze pushed his hair back from his face, and suddenly, he realized what she meant.

"You're right," he breathed, taking a step towards the edge of the crow's nest and leaning over it to get a better view. He closed his eyes after a minute to take it all in, letting the wind hit his cheeks. For the first time since... well, since that morning, but that doesn't count... he was totally relaxed.

Beneath the ship, the waves rocked them back and forth like a cradle. Kit kept his grip firm, but he was calm. Mahria's fingertips trailed up between his shoulder blades like a gentle massage, and Kit felt every tense muscle in his body go limp.

"If you fall, I'm going to laugh."

That wasn't Mahria.

Kit whirled around, wide eyes landing on a very smug Morgana. Mahria was nowhere to be seen. He looked over the edge of the crow's nest to find her on the forecastle deck with her friends, laughing up at him.

"Traitor!" he called out.

"Sorry!" Quinn shouted back. "It was my idea."

He didn't think his first real interaction with the girl would be showing her his middle finger, but there he was.

"They did you a favor," Morgana murmured, pulling Kit back by the shoulder.

"How the hell is this a favor?"

He laughed. "What better way to distract you from Crane's creepy staring than a good fight with me?"

Kit turned around to face him then. "Why do you care about that?"

The faery's playful looked hardened. "Because I don't like it, either. Eurion says she trusts him but... I don't. Something is very wrong with that man, and not in the way something was wrong with Conrad."

His stomach twisted when Morgana pulled him closer, placing his lips on the shell of his ear. It didn't feel flirtatious, though. It felt like a deception, but this time, it wasn't Kit being deceived.

"When I used that spell on him, he wasn't dying. Not even close. I was about to reveal something he didn't want anyone to see, that's why he let us on," Morgana whispered. His hand pulled Kit closer by the small of his back, but it wasn't the reason his heart was pounding.

He played along. "So what are you saying?" he murmured, pushing Morgana back against the mast, hiding them from Eurion's cheeky friends. "Is he one of Connor's?"

Morgana threaded his wooden fingers through Kit's hair. "No. It's worse somehow. Connor's power was created to make him stronger, it's artificial. Crane... he's making himself weaker. He's already powerful, but for some reason, he's hiding it."

"He kept looking at me like he knew me." Kit tucked his face into the crook of Morgana's neck, breathing in the faery's scent. If he was going to pretend in front of everyone, he'd have fun with it at least. "Mahria said he was just sizing me up, but I know that look. He recognized me. I don't know how."

Before Morgana could say anything else, a wave violently rocked the ship to the side. Kit reached out to clutch the mast, trapping the faery in his arms.

"Shit," he hissed. He felt the hairs on his neck stand on end, and when he looked up, the sky was darkened by heavy clouds.

"A storm," said Morgana. "We need to get down."

"We'll finish this conversation later." Kit pulled away, but he kept his grip firm on Morgana's wrist.

It was a nearly impossible task, getting down from the nest. The ship was tossing back and forth in the forceful winds, throwing them every which way. He kept close to Morgana, shooting out a hand whenever they rocked too hard, but the faery's grip never faltered.

After what felt like an eternity, Kit's feet finally settled on the main deck. Morgana wasn't far behind, but just as he released the rope, he was thrown on top of Kit, and the two went sliding towards the edge of the ship. Morgana's hand shot out right before Kit's head could slam into the hard wood, and the prince couldn't help a smitten smile.

"Thanks."

"Shut up."

Morgana rolled off of him, but neither of them tried to stand again. The rain was pouring down now, and the sea spray had them soaked in seconds. Their friends were nowhere to be seen, everyone else on the decks were crew members, all doing something useful.

"Where's Giselle?" Morgana asked when he noticed the same thing. "Shit, is she okay? God, I--"

"Get in here, morons!"

It was Selene, opening the cabin door and waving them along. Kit scrambled to his feet, raising his arm to protect his face from the storm, pulling Morgana along with his other hand.

Selene slammed the door shut as soon as they were inside, and Kit reveled in the warmth. It was quieter, too. The water slamming up against the sides wasn't nearly as stressful as the thunder clapping above his head and the wind whipping in his ears outside.

Giselle was holding Lionel in the corner, wrapped in blankets, and Eurion was sitting on the desk with a grin. Kit felt his face heat up.

"Wanna explain to me why you idiots were up there when a storm was coming? In the middle of the ocean?" Selene's angry voice cut like a knife. Kit knew she was just worried, but it still made him shrink into himself.

"Ask Eurion's friends," Kit told her. "Mahria is very convincing."

"She's hot, you mean," Selene corrected.

He threw up his arms. "Listen, Morgana had to tell me something."

"And he couldn't just tell you without putting his hands all over you, right?"

Morgana thumped Kit's head with the heel of his palm.

"Ow! What the hell?"

"He's not lying," Morgana told her. "I didn't want Crane to even sort of suspect anything, so I thought it was best to make it think we were... messing around. Where no one else could hear."

Selene pinched the bridge of her nose. "That does sound like something you would do. But maybe next time, wait until there isn't a big storm cloud over your head."

"It was time-sensitive."

"Then what was it?" she asked. "If it's so important you're willing to engage in PDA to cover it up, the rest of us might want to know."

Morgana looked around the cabin. They were the only ones there, and the wind was still raging outside.

"I don't trust Crane."

Selene stared. "What, is that it?"

"No, I mean I really don't trust him. Something's off about him, and I think we might be in danger."

Eurion's smug look was gone. "Listen, Argerion is a little weird, yeah, but I've never felt in danger with him. He's just like every other southern captain."

"This is different," Morgana told her. "I would believe you were it not for what I did to him earlier. I felt it. He's dangerous, Eurion, friend or not."

The ship rocked again and Kit was thrown against a shelf. Selene gripped a pillar and caught Morgana before he could do the same. But she gripped his wooden hand and it came flying off, sending the faery careening towards a pile of wood.

"Dammit," he growled, tipping his head back against the logs. "I knew that was gonna happen sooner or later."

If he wasn't so anxious, Kit might've laughed. Selene looked horrified, staring down at the fake appendage she was holding.

"Selene," Morgana said. "Can I... have that back?"

"Right."

The Lady tossed the prosthetic back at Morgana, and he strapped it onto the stub of his wrist with one skillful hand. Kit found his eyes glued to his dextrose fingers, watching them work until the wooden hand moved to Morgana's will again. It was even stiffer than it'd been before.

"So what do we do?" It was Giselle, voice small and shaky. "About Crane?"

"We keep quiet," Morgana said, pushing himself to his feet. The rocking was slowing down, as were the vicious winds. "We don't say a word of this. We're here to get to the South, that's it. Keep a low profile, and as soon as we get what we want, we get the hell away from here and find the Grail. That's what we do about him."

He swallowed, and Kit didn't think he'd ever seen him look this afraid before.

"I think that's all we can do."