Kai looked over to the shore of Port Royal from the balcony he was standing one. If he angled his head just right from the farthest edge of the stone wall, he could see the entrance sign that was dangling over Cinder's Blacksmith business. How Kai wished that he could go and spend the rest of his day there rather than in this party.

His neck growing stiff and a cough forming, he loosened his cravat to hang an inch below it should have. He hated wearing it, that cloth around his neck. But it was "The height of men's fashion" at the moment. And Torin wouldn't let him leave the house without it.

He kept looking on, watching the wind push the sign of the shop back and forth. All he desired was to go back to the shop and talk to Cinder again. She was so intelligent, kind, respectful, and diligent. She was amazing at what she did and didn't seem to know it. Humble and strong, something felt warm and soft in his chest when he thought about her.

"Kaito!" a feminine voice beckoned. Upon hearing the noise, he froze. He knew that voice anywhere. More than that of his closest friends'. Carefully, he cocked his head to the side and glanced at the origin of the sound from the corner of the eye. Oh no, he thought.

Forcing the crowd to part around her, one of the worst, most vial, cruel and despicable woman Kai knew was walking towards him.

Queen Levana Blackburn.

Of course, she technically wasn't a queen yet. That was just the title she'd given herself and forced others to call her by. Her ancestor had overtaken a providence from the King's and ruled it as their own. Of course, the King of Great Britain had not moved to take the island back. It was practically useless, with its lack of resources and size. Still, the treaty that had almost been formed with Levana's older sister fell through, seeing as how she died. And her daughter had been killed in a horrible fire.

Yet, Levana didn't mourn for a day. She'd been more than happy to claim her sister's thrown, and shed no tears for the death of her niece. She was a wicked witch that deserved to burn herself.

And she was courting Kaito, in hopes of becoming his future wife.

The mere thought brought Kai to the point were he wished to vomit. The rumors about the Blackburn family were enough to turn anyone's head away from them. Especially the tales of Levana's sister, Channary, participating in acts of Piracy. A queen for stars sake! But also that Levana had a legion of her own scalawags sailing the seas at her command.

If anything, Kai was not exactly a supporter of pirates, but he didn't hate them as much as Levana claimed she did. Kai thought they were somewhat fascinating.

Now, he was going to have to make small talk with that crazy woman.

She finally got her giant hoop skirted dress through the crowd and stood as closely as she could to him without bumping him with the hem of her dress.

"It's been far to long, young sir," she smiled. But to Kaito, it looked more like and evil cringe. He swallowed his disgust and took her hand. Hesitantly, he pecked it, and turned from her to he could wipe his lips without her looking.

When he looked back to her, she was frowning. She hands reached up and towards him. By instinct, he backed away, but she only drew closer. Sadly, she managed to grip him by his cravat and tugged it. Good news, that's all she wanted to do. She tightened it, forcing the air to escape his throat.

"This must be snug to you neck at all times to look appropriate." When she was done, Kai moved to loosen it a tad. Aggressively, Levana gripped Kai's cravat and yanked it, making it even tighter. "I would hate for you to disturb my adjustment to your cravat," she growled.

Not wanting to anger her further, he pressed his hands to his sides and nodded. Unable to speak, he leaned away from her as she released him. She gladly took his silence as an excuse to talk about nonsense. Why she did this, Kaito had no idea. All he could think about what how he couldn't breathe. His fanned his hand by his mouth in attempt to catch some air through his lips, but to no avail.

While Kai was failing to fill his lungs with oxygen, Levana muttered something about "her getting older", "Suitors", and a "marriage alliance". All of while sounded faintly familiar. Still, nothing could fair to his ears since he didn't have enough will to use them.

Levana rotated her skirt, and in doing so, backed up into him. The slight bump pressed his fainting body into the stone wall. And because he had no will to stand or regain his posture, he bent over backwards, and fell over the wall and into the bay.

................

"And then they made me their chief," Thorne said proudly. The guards who were trying to stop him from stealing a ship were an amazing audience. Not one of them interrupted once, and both were very intent listeners.

Thorne smiled proudly at the tale of his past he'd told. Which was the story of the time his ship and crew hand been stranded on an island, searching for a way back to his ship. And a group of crazed islanders captured them. They all thought that Thorne was some kind of god, and tried to burn him alive. They'd barely escaped with their lives.

Suddenly, the guards and Thorne saw something rather peculiar. A body splashed into the harbor, creating waves and uplifts of the water. As Thorne saw the figure sink, they made no move to save themselves.

All three of them rushed to the side of The Solstice. The figure was a young boy, or man, who'd fallen in from the party taking place over the wall. Thorne guessed that the party was finally kicking it up a notch.

Thorne looked between the guards. "Will either of you be saving him then?"

"I can't swim," the stout one replied. The other nodded for the same answer.

Snarling at himself, Thorne remarked, "Part of the King's navy you are." He stripped himself of his pistol, hat, belt, jacket, sword, and pouch. "Do not lose these!" he ordered as he handed them to the guards. Next, Thorne dove into the water to retrieve the man who fell.

It took him a moment to adjust his eyes to the water, but he got to that point soon enough. He saw the boy floating towards the bottom of the bay. Thorne swam downward to grab him and pull him up. After a bit of struggling, Thorne hooked his arm around the guy's chest and used the rest of his limbs to pull them up.

After he reached the surface, he made sure that the boy's head was above water as well. Yes, the captain is considerate of people he doesn't even know sometimes. It comes and it goes.

Thorne dragged the two of them through the water and to the nearby dock. He hauled the kid up first, allowing the two guards that had run over to help get him breathing again.

"Not breathing!" the stout one shouted. Thorne got onto the dock and shoved him aside. Instantly, he saw the problem. Damn cravats always strangling poor gentlemen. He ripped the cravat from the boy's neck, and he immediately regained consciousness and coughed up all the water that had gone in his lungs. "Never would have thought of that."

"Clearly you've never been to Singapore," Thorne added shamelessly.

As Thorne started helping the kid up, a mob of anger aristocrats marched onto the dock to meet them.

"Kaito," one man said, relieved. The man was older, and could have been the boy's father. The man had a blanket that he draped around Kaito's shoulders to warm him. He then glanced at Thorne, and faintly smiled. "Thank you," he seemed to say.

Thorne humbly bowed his head to the man. Asking for nothing in return. Though, he was going to need his stuff back from the guards.

One of the lieutenants came up to him with a sly smile. He could tell he was a lieutenant by his slick uniform and breast side decorated with medals and certifications. "I believe thanks are in order." He held out his hand for Thorne to take. The captain knew that this guy had an angle, but no wanting to be rude, he took the man's hand.

The lieutenant took his hand, and then yanked it closer to himself. He pulled up Thorne's sleeve, and Thorne winced in response. On his, a brand in the shape of a "P" and his tattoo of a Thorne bush resided. The man couldn't help but smile. "Thank you for saving the Governor's son ... pirate."

Thorne smiled awkwardly and cringed on the inside. Of course saving someone like the Governor's son from drowning would get him noticed. But he didn't really think that it would lead to that much trouble.

"Clay, fetch some irons," the lieutenant ordered. "We've got a pirate to lock up."

The guards Thorne had been talking to before ratted him out, saying that he'd come to commandeer a ship, and giving his things to that guy who was now arresting him. "Clay" brought over the irons and clasped them around his wrists. Giving Thorne exactly what he needed to begin his escaped strategy.

"Finally," he sighed as the cuffs clicked. He whirled the chain of them up and over Kaito's head.

"NO!" his father shouted. Kaito gave little resistance. Maybe because he was too weak from nearly drowning, or he was just not up to it. Either way, it made Thorne's task easier. He backed up to the start of the docks and held the chain firmly to Kaito's throat, feeling a bit bad about placing more strain on the kid's throat.

"I'd appreciate my things back, especially my hat," Thorne announced. When they group around him hesitated to answer, he pulled the chain back quickly, forcing more water out of Kaito's mouth. "Lieutenant!" Thorne wanted nothing more to get out of her. But he needed his to do that. Begrudgingly, the lieutenant handed Thorne's things to Kaito, who turned around to start putting his things back on Thorne. The hat when on first, then his pistol and belt. While he was buckling it, Thorne felt to need to comment, "I'm getting no pleasure from this whatsoever. So I hope you're not."

Kaito glared at him with pure rage. The sight made Thorne's nose scrunch and lips curl back into his mouth. Kaito turned around, ready to be released. A twinge on the back of his neck made Thorne do something he rarely ever did.

He changed his plan.

Thorne held up his pistol to Kaito's head. The whole crowd gasped. "If you all want Kaito here to live another day, you won't follow us!" He used his free hand to draw his sword and stuck it out so that the end went through the key ring on the lieutenant's belt. After all, he'd need those to get free. He plucked the ring off his sword and slid his weapon back into its sheath. Cautiously, he backed away, holding Kaito against his will to follow him.

They made it into the street before some of the soldiers began to shoot them. That was further than he'd expected them to go. To seek cover, Thorne dragged Kaito around through a series of alleys and areas to find an empty building. Not wanting any of the passing soldiers to catch him, he went inside.

The sign above the shop had a depiction of a hammer striking an anvil, with the name "Linh" beneath.