Cinder watched as Scarlet and Wolf emerged from the Map Room, and Wolf turned his attention back to his men.

"Change in plans!" he barked out. "We are going to aid Captain Thorne and- .. his crew on their venture and take part in their plundering and pillaging of one we all know and despise .. Queen Levana!"

"YEAH!!!" his crew shouted in approval. Their brutish, guttural cries reverberating over the ocean surface and shaking the Solstice slightly.

Captain Wolf quickly took control of his men again and added, "Five men will stay on this ship with me, while the rest of you will go back to the Lone Wolf and follow the commands of myself and Commander Rex." A soldier with dirty blond hair and a long scar across his face saluted to him. "Boars, Horus, Ares, Draco, and Lance, you'll stay on the ship with me."

Slightly annoyed, Scarlet bumped Wolf's arm to get his attention. "Why are five of your men staying on the Solstice?"

"You've already had one mutiny. I'm not about to let you have another one," he replied.

Scarlet scoffed and rolled her eyes. "What will you do if that happens? Light the ship on fire? Because that worked out so well last time." That retort hit Wolf hard, as he was hardly able to careen the men he hadn't told to stay off the Solstice and back onto the Lone Wolf. While Wolf was gathering the rest of his men and getting them back on their ship, Thorne stormed over to her as smoke fumed out of his ears.

"What did you do?!" he shouted. Yet, not at a high enough volume to catch the attention of any of the crew.

Scarlet shrugged him off and headed for the helm. Though Thorne was not so ready to give up his interrogation. "You promised to go back with him, didn't you? You said that if he helped us, you'd join his crew again?"

"Were you listening in on our conversation?" Scarlet asked, her glare growing hot with anger.

Thorne grit it teeth for a moment before saying, "I've known you long enough to know that you're reckless enough to do that. Do either you or your boyfriend understand that you'd be safer if you weren't on that ship with those soldiers? That you'd be safer in front of a loaded cannon than around those monsters? Or do you just like to think that it's better to be together and have fun slitting other peoples' throats in a cavern of zombies than actually be cautious?"

Scarlet held down her rage surprisingly well, and simply rolled her eyes at Thorne. "It's none of your business," was all she told him.

For hours, Thorne growled and kicked the walls and barrels of the ship. Cinder couldn't fathom why Thorne was so distressed, because for a moment, she thought he wanted nothing more than to have them talk out whatever problems they were having. Now, he radiated frustration and stress. Like having Scarlet trapped in the same space as Wolf was a bad thing.

Whatever the case, Cinder knew why Scarlet had struck the deal with Wolf. It was because of the thing that Thorne was trying to find. The item he'd lost, or was robbed of. Scarlet knew how much he yearned for it, how far he would go to retrieve it. So she gave herself up to Wolf so Thorne could have the chance to get it back.

Cinder just hoped that this item was worth it.

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

Kai rang his hands out behind his back and hoped he didn't show his distress.

Cinder had escaped the prison, which was amazing in his opinion. Apparently, the door of her cell had been blown off or something from the inside. Some of the guards suspected that she actually kicked the door down with sheer strength. This astonished Kai, and made him think more highly of her skills.

Yeah, she was wondrous like that. The only part of her escape that Kai had not approved of was that she took the pirate, Carswell Thorne, with her. The man that held him hostage and threatened to kill him and Cinder. Sure, he may have saved Kaito from drowning, but that did not give him the right to point a gun to Kai's head and use him as leverage. Or engage in a duel where Cinder could have been injured, or worse.

As Lieutenant Aimery told him, the two of them had also destroyed The North Star for their getaway. Two of the masts were cut down and the rutter change was disabled. Kai had to restrain himself from chuckling and keep a straight face as the lieutenant went on and on about how they had destroyed the ship and that he should be the one to go after them.

Had Kai's father not been under pressure, he would have denied Aimery and sent his own men after them. Gave them a fair trial for their crimes, and maybe even lessen their punishments for saving Kai's life, once for each of them. Well, maybe for Cinder more so than Thorne. As he was the reason Cinder was forced into saving his life after Thorne saved him from drowning and then handcuffed him.

Then again, Governor Rikan was under pressure. Queen Levana was right over his shoulder as the closed door meeting. And though Aimery had gone to Rikan for permission to pursue Cinder and Thorne, he was really asking Levana. Rikan dared not defy the queen while she was in Port Royal, or even a hundred miles within the port. While Levana was there, Rikan had no choice to do anything but bend to her will.

So, with Levana looming over his right side – where Kai was supposed to stand – Rikan said that Aimery could go after the fugitives, and that he would be provided more men and a ship to do so.

Satisfied with "Rikan's" decision, Aimery and Levana left the Governor's office to prepare for their search. When they were out of earshot, and the front doors of the building closed behind the two Lunars as they left, Kai turned to his father.

"You can't let them kill Cinder," Kai pleaded. "She didn't do anything to deserve a death sentence. It's not her fault that her parents were Lunars. She never did anything to harm anyone else .. and she even saved my life!"

Rikan sighed, "I know." His eyes dulled and he sunk into the chair he was seated in. "She is quite the skilled blacksmith I thought she would be. I never imagined that someone with her selflessness and valor could be a Lunar. But ... my hands are tied, Kaito."

Kai ran his hands through his hair. "Are you sure there's nothing you can do?" He distressed at the idea of Cinder being hung at the Gallows days before. Now, he was terrified of what Levana would do to her if she caught her. One thing was certain. It would be a far worse fate than that of hanging from the end of a noose.

Defeated and at a loss, Rikan told Kai, "If there was anything I could have done for either of them, I would have already. You have my word on that."

Confused, Kai inquired, "You would have helped the pirate?"

Kai's father stood from his chair and strode to the open window on the wall. His eyes not focused on any one part of the scenery outside of the four walled room. "That pirate saved your life, you know. Or do you forget that he was the one to pull you out of the water and rip that silly cravat off your neck?"

It had been days since that happened, days that felt like years. Yet, Kai still had the marks of the cravat etched into his skin, and his throat tightened at the memory. "I remember that, Father," he assured, rubbing his neck. "I just thought that you of all people wouldn't like pirates."

"Their less of crooks and thieves than Queen Levana and her court of corrupt Aristocrats." Looking down, Rikan fiddled with the ring that had remained on his finger for decades. A ring that Rikan would die before removing. His wedding ring, that matched the one Kai's mother had worn her entire life. A life that had been cut too short by the fates. "I saw something in that man's eyes ... the pirate's," Rikan elaborated. "Something I know well and still feel to this day."

Though his father was vague, Kai had the idea that whatever he saw in Thorne was related to his mother and father's wife. Or, more specifically, the loss of her, and the desperation he'd felt for years after her death. And the willingness to do anything to bring her back.

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

Again, she woke, and her head and heart were pounding so loud she was surprised that no one had come down to her little spot to tell her to keep quiet. Her throat was a desert and longed for her thirst to be relieved. A wish that would probably never come true.

The pool of water her torso was swimming in was clear and warm compared to the frozen air around her. Her skin was more pale than usual, and her lips so chapped it pained her.

Her story was that of the tragic heroes she'd read about, though her punishment was closer to Tantalus's. Since there was a crystal clear pool of water beneath her that she could not bow her head down far enough to drink from. Well, more like she couldn't move her head all the way down to her waist, where the water was at its highest. Her arms were chained at the wrists and her upper arms covered her ears. Her wrists were raw from the rusted chains that constantly tore at her delicate skin.

Once, she'd been imprisoned before, thought not nearly as torturous as the time she was spending here.

Her stomach growled, begging for food to calm it. She knew that her captors would only give her enough food to stay alive, and protested that as long as half of her body remained in water, she did not need a single drop.

The only comfort she received was that of the tattered poet's shirt that was slung over her shoulders and draped over her chest. The memories of life and light that came with it were nearly enough to warm her in the ice-cold cave she was trapped in. The other source was the torch, posted on the wall of the cave in a metal holder. It was far and out of her reach for miles. Somehow, it still provided her with a sense of calm and heat. It greatly reminded her of the sun, and the last time she was able to see it.

And for the sake of Captain Carswell Thorne, she hoped she never got to see the sun again.