When Antonia returned to the ship, she looked to find everyone staring at her. Wind hit against the sails, mixing in with the sound of water slamming against the boat. A burning smell filled the air -- a subtle reminder of the mermaids' ashes fluttering in the air around them.

Then, the silence broke.

"What the actual-"

"Reformer!" someone shouted, cutting everyone else off. Startled, Antonia turned to see a man kneeling. He was pale with shockingly colorful green hair. When he spoke again, it was in a language she didn't understand. A few people jolted back. Cretara rolled her eyes.

"No," Nema said, shoving someone out of the way to get to Antonia. She stepped between the stranger and Antonia, pulling out her knife. "Stay away." Her hand reached out to grab Antonia's wrist. "She is not the Reformer," Nema added sharply, puffing out her chest.

"Careful, guard dog," Cretara chimed in, though her eyes were bright with curiosity. "Are you sure you should be touching her?"

Antonia looked down, realizing some of the golden water had splashed on her and was beginning to drip on where Nema's hand protectively covered hers. Antonia jerked away to keep the necromagic off of her.

"I'm fine," Nema said, fixing Cretara with a cold look. "The necromagic is causing visions. We don't know what we've seen here."

"I think we all saw the girl turn the mermaids into dust," someone else said. There was muttered agreement. Nema's jaw set.

"What's a reformer?" Antonia asked. Her voice sounded small next to all the yelling, her uncertainty coming through. Despite the words barely leaving her mouth, the green-haired man seemed locked onto every word.

"You speak Romanovian?" he asked, brows raising. Antonia nodded. Why was that a surprise? "Htraehean?" he asked. Antonia shook her head. "...strange," he mused and stood up. Nema gave him a warning look. "I always thought you would be one of us. You're not a reformer. You're the Reformer."

Antonia wrung her hands together. This must be related to the Htraehean prophecy everyone kept going on about. With the pale skin and bright hair, the man certainly looked how she imagined an Htraehean would appear. An eagerness flooded his eyes, leaving Antonia a little relieved she had decided to take the boat to Cambria over Htraeh.

Giving a nervous laugh, Antonia shook her head. "I'm not," she promised. "I know this is unusual-"

"Maybe she's one of the envoys the Dualians speak of," someone said, and the Htraehean made a face.

"We should throw her off the boat," a woman said, grabbing two children. "Whatever she is, she's not human-"

"I don't think throwing her into necromagic would even kill her-"

"Watch it," Nema warned sharply. "You back up," she added to the Htraehean, who tried to speak to Antonia again. Anger began to rise. Nobody seemed to know what to do now that Antonia had revealed herself.

"She's coming with me," the man with the green hair was saying. "As the Reformer-"

"Have her take the rowboat and leave!"

"-stop it! She's a child!"

"Well, what do we do with her?"

"I'm not the Reformer," Antonia said, loudly this time. Everyone stopped speaking. "My name is Antonia Thalestris. I'm a princess of Romanov." The woman who had been arguing with the crew the previous night gasped. A few people exchanged glances as the woman touched her chest, dropping to her knees. Others followed suit while even more watched her suspiciously.

"A princess?" the captain asked. He stood where he had last night at the front of the ship, eyes narrowed. "I don't know about all that. The Revolutionaries caught the royal family weeks ago."

Antonia's hand went to the pendant around her neck. Wordlessly, she pulled it off and tossed it to him... or tried to. Her aim was off, and the pendant clattered a few feet away from him. A few people looked at her incredulously. Antonia couldn't blame them. Her magic could turn mermaids into ash but not help her throw straight?

"Um," she said, trying to find something to say. "Sorry."

A crewmember a few feet away snorted, rolling his eyes. The Htraehean scowled at him over her shoulder.

Cretara picked up the necklace and handed it over to the captain as Antonia tried not to cringe in embarrassment.

"There's an inscription on the back with my name," she said, watching carefully to make sure he didn't pocket the necklace. "Besides, after seeing my magic... do you think I couldn't escape the Revolutionaries?"

It was a cocky thing to say, considering she hadn't been able to escape. What changed? Why was Antonia able to defeat mermaids off of pure instinct but wasn't able to save her father from one axe? Guilt kneaded itself in her stomach.

"I bet the Thalestris family had the Occult experiment on her," one man said. "You're not welcome here."

"Ha," Cretara said, leaning against the ship's mast. "You think Morana Thalestris allowed the Occult near her daughter? She wouldn't even let my kind near her oldest when the girl was dying. She had the Chosen Family take care of that."

"What?" Antonia asked. When had Octavia almost died? That couldn't be true. Antonia's fingers twitched, trying to decide if this was propaganda or...

Octavia had wanted Antonia to find the Chosen Family. Was it possible her sister had kept something from her? After all, Octavia often didn't reveal the full extent of her schemes. Maybe she hadn't trusted Antonia. The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth.

From beside Cretara, there was a low mutter of agreement as others shot outraged looks at one another. Nema looked like she might have said a thing or two, but the captain stepped forward, waving all the disgruntled looks away. With far more flourish than necessary, he dropped Antonia's necklace back into her hand.

"I'll decide who is welcomed on my ship," he said loftily. His tone was friendly, but Antonia could see a hint of warning under all the scars slashed across his face. When nobody dared to speak again, he turned to Antonia. "Not the smartest move to reveal yourself, princess, but I'm honored all the same."

"Are you a Royalist?" Antonia asked hopefully.

The captain's lips twitched. "Come with me, child," he said and gestured her forward. "Let's talk over some food."