"Frida!" I hiss. "Wake up."
Frida's eyes fly open and I press my hand to here mouth. "We have to be quiet."
She wriggles out of my grasp. "Why?"
I hold up the handcuffs. "We're getting out of here."
Frida's eyes widen. "Are you crazy?" She whispers. "May I remind you that we are in the middle of the ocean. We can't exactly run away."
I roll my eyes. "I know, but there must be some way. You're always good at coming up with plans and this is probably the most important one yet."
Frida purses her lips into a frown. She's always frowning lately I realise, even before being kidnapped, and for a split second my brain flashes back to the previous day. Dressing up, pretending to be posh, high-class ladies. In that moment I realise how much I missed my best friend.
"Frida, I'm sorry for everything that's happened, but if we can hide from them until we reach shore then we can get home."
For a split-second I saw the familiar, mischievous grin that I knew so well flash across her face.
"Fine, but let's hurry before I can change my mind."
We slip down from the bunk and crept soundlessly to the door where Maverick slept. I don't even breathe while Frida cracks open the door, hoping that it won't creek. We get out and begin searching for a place to hide, somewhere safe. The handcuffs are heavy in my pocket and I hold them tightly to stop the jingling sound as we walk through the wooden halls. When we reach the top deck I pull Frida behind some barrels.
"What do we do?" She hisses.
I watch people running around and I can hear the captain shouting order, it's a hive of activity and I don't know how we can get past without being seen. I'm just about to suggest we turn and go back the way we came when an idea comes to me.
"Are there rowing boats here?" I ask
"What?"
"Look over the side and check if there are any rowing boats."
Frida leans cautiously over the side before slumping back onto the deck. "There are some latched to the side." She whispers
"Great," I peer over the top of the barrels, but there is no one near us that I can see.
"Kam, what are you doing?"
"Hiding," I say, climbing over the side of the boat.
She grabs my arm. "We can't just climb out of the ship."
"Sure we can," I drop down and land in the lifeboat with a soft thud.
"Well come on." I exclaim. "We haven't got all day."
Frida looks down doubtfully, but follows me, clambering into the small space.
"Look," I tell her. "There's a sheet, we can pull it over and no one will have any idea we're here."
She sighs and grabs the fabric, tugging it over our heads. In an instant the space is stiflingly hot and I blow a puff of air up into my face to cool it. The captain is shouting now, telling the crew to prepare and that we would be docking within the hour. I glance at Frida and she smiles back, it won't be long now. The boat glides along and we stay silent, waiting. I peek out and see the harbour approaching. There are sailors at the docks and when we pull in, they catch the ropes, securing them with practised ease. The crew are dismounting and through it all, Frida and I crawl out, landing on the ground. No one notices our arrival and we tug the hoods up around our faces, keeping our heads bowed low. For a split second, my mind jumps to Maverick and the hood that's permanently pulled over his head.
I push the thought out of my mind.
Frida ducks into an alley and I follow. "What's the plan?"
I purse my lips together in thought. "The ship we were on- will it go back to Valeria?"
"I think it will," She says. "If I'm right, and I usually am, we're in Montfrair now. All of the stock they were shipping should be going across the mainland."
"So all we need to do is sneak back on the ship."
Frida nods and we creep out of the alley and back towards the boat. I keep my eyes on the ground dogging past people and carts. We reach the gangplank, and begin slinking up, when a hand yanks my arm, spinning me around. I meet the gaze of a burly man in a dark coat and hat.
"Yes?" My voice is strong, despite the fear rising in my chest.
"I don't think you're meant to be here, Miss," The man growls, his hand still firmly gripping my arm.
"Kam," Frida whispers in my ear, "we have company."
I look up and see two men cutting through the crowds, one of them looks up and my heart sinks.
Carlos and Maverick.
"Miss, I think you should come with me," The man says
I turn my attention away from the boys and focus on him. "That really won't be necessary."
I can feel a violet fear burning away beneath me and I know if I don't get away soon, things are going to get very ugly, very fast.
"Both of you are coming with me."
He reaches for Frida and, in an instant, I kick away from his grasp and push Frida behind me. The man sneers and lunges forward as a purple flash leaves me. He yells and the gangplank wobbles and cracks. Through the fog, I see Carlos and Maverick, before the plank breaks completely and we tumble into the icy waves.
I can't breathe, can't see. The water bites me and ice seeps into my veins. I try to force my way up, but the boots Maverick gave me as well as the heavy cloak drag me down. I try to summon some kind of power, something to save me, but my magic deserts me. I kick frantically, as darkness fills up my head and I see shadowy arms reach towards me, before I slid away.
***
I sit up with a gasp. My lungs are clogged with water and I shiver with cold. Everything is dark around me and, for a moment, I wonder if I've died. That is until Maverick's voice cuts through the air.
"So you decided to wake up?"
My eyes adjust and I realise it is just the night, crowding into every nook and cranny to plunge the forest into darkness. Across the space Maverick and Carlos are sitting around a roaring fire they have built, sipping soup from tin mugs.
"Where's Frida?" I ask immediately.
Maverick sighs witheringly, as though even answering my simple question is too much effort, but then again, he might just be trying to cause me pain.
"She's asleep beside you," Carlos tells me.
I turn to see her small form, curled up next to the fire. Her hair hangs in rat's tails and her lips still have a faint blue tinge to them.
"What happened?"
Maverick's lip curls with anger. "You ran. You thought you could escape and when you were confronted your powers caused chaos."
My brain links up the memories and I remember the man, the gangplank breaking. I remember the icy water, slipping beneath the waves, unable to break the surface. I remember the arms saving me.
"Who saved me?" I wonder
"Carlos," Maverick says quickly.
I turn to him. "Thank you, Carlos. You saved my life, even if the two of you are the ones who have endangered it in the first place."
"You can't say one kind word to us, can you?" Carlos frowns
I raise an eyebrow. "Of course I can. I just thanked you, didn't I?"
Maverick snorts in disgust and takes anther swig of soup from the can.
"Here," Carlos sighs, passing a can to me.
I reach out to take it and realise the cuffs have returned to my wrists. I think they might be becoming a permanent feature.
"Thank you," I reply, and I don't say anything else just to prove that I can in fact be kind.
"At least with the two of you asleep we were able to make the rest of the journey in peace," Maverick grunts
"You mean, we're in Alkarda?" I say
"Just another hour or two and we'll meet the guards at the drop off point," Carlos explains
Maverick smirks. "Scared yet, Princess?"
I glare at him. "Obviously not."
I don't think he believes me.
"I'm guessing neither of you are going to tell me what's going on then?"
"No- and if you had any sense you wouldn't ask any more questions," Maverick tells me
I shrug. "It's a shame. I'm not known for my sensibility."
"Clearly. You're known for you're strange hair and psychotic tendencies."
I bristle at that and Carlos makes a noise somewhere between a cough and a laugh. My hand strays to my hair which is a birds nest of tangles and I grimace.
"Aw, I bet you're missing having Frida brush your hair a hundred times each night," Maverick says, fake-pityingly.
"Actually, it's two hundred," I quip before rolling my eyes in despair. "Don't be ridiculous, I am not that vain, but this is just horrid. You'd hate it too if your hair was like that."
He just leans back and reaches into a satchel beside him, pulling out a brush and tossing it to me.
"Thanks," I mutter, wincing slightly as I tug it through the knots.
Beside me Frida begins to wriggle and squirm.
"How are you?" I ask
She smiles slightly. "Cold… hungry."
Carlos passes me another can and I give it to Frida, helping her into a sitting position.
She blinks, still slightly dazed, wrapping her hands around the can and taking a sip. "So much for our escape plan."
"Yeah, it didn't quite work out."
"How did we get out of there?" She questioned. "It must have been pandemonium at the docks."
I turn to Maverick and Carlos, I had been wondering the same thing.
"Well the smoke show provided by you made it easy enough for to get you out of there and to the cart," Carlos says. "Everyone was so confused- it was rather funny actually."
"Sounds like it," I reply drily. "Did really no one notice?"
"Not that I could tell. You're really lucky, if we hadn't been able to get you out of there…" Maverick trails off, but we already know what he was going to say.
"Maybe you shouldn't have kidnapped us then," I retort, "and besides, you couldn't have really believed I would follow you willingly like a little dog."
"I think it's offensive to dogs putting you on the same level as them," he snaps
Frida laughs at that and I gawk at her. She notices my expression and purses her lips together, ducking her head.
"Sorry."
Carlos seems to decide it was time to shut down any other potential arguments and he says it is probably time to get some sleep.
"Good idea," I say
"Something we can both agree on," Maverick grunts.
I roll my eyes and pull my blankets closer to the fire. Carlos heads into the tent and Maverick slumps against a log, his face guarded.
Stars are poking out of the sky and I lie on my back to watch them. I've always loved the stars. When I was younger my mother had a telescope and on clear nights she would take me outside to show me the constellations. I can still remember what it was like. She would scoop me up in her arms, lifting me high, it would feel like I was flying. Frida's breathing has evened out now and I smile. Despite everything that has happened, she is constantly loyal to me, even when my plans are absolutely mad.
The night is strangely warm despite it being the frost quadrant of the year and I sit up pushing the blankets away from me.
Maverick is still sitting there and his eyes darken when I move.
"Don't you ever sleep?" He asks, quietly
"Only if I feel safe and, funnily enough, I don't a lot of the time- especially in a situation like this one."
"You get into situations like this on a regular basis."
I shrug. "Usually it's at a better time of the year, the way things are going I'll be spending my birthday in a prison cell."
He cocks his head slightly. "It's your birthday soon?"
"Just over two weeks time," I tell him
"How old will you be?"
"Eighteen," I reply. "Technically it would be time to assume some sort of crown princess role, but if father has his way I'll be trapped in my room and kept away from anything to do with the kingdom. Either that or I'll be married off to some horrible prince who believes I am nothing more than a vase to decorate his world."
Maverick looks surprised and I realise this has been the longest we've made it without descending into sniping at each other. I feel stupid now and I wish I could snatch back the words. They feel too personal, too real, too sad.
"I don't expect you to understand," I say stiffly. "Your brain might not be big enough to comprehend those sorts of things, and you certainly have never had to deal with those issues."
He simply blinks and I feel as though he has realised my thoughts.
Then again maybe not.
"You must have it real rough, princess," he sneers. "My heart bleeds for you."
His words are cold and cruel and I lie back down, turning my back on him.
His opinions mean nothing to me, of course, so I cannot figure out why his words hurt so much…