Prin smiled. “Oh, I wasn’t looking at him for that reason. I used to scrub decks on a ship, and I was thinking back to those times.”
“Ah, good times remembering your youth? What was it, thirty years ago?”
“Oh no,” Prin said before she realized she’d made a mistake in the age. She appeared fifty, so thirty years ago was about right. But, she had contradicted the woman and now felt she had to correct her denial. She also realized the woman was asking a lot of questions.
The woman turned to her, a false smile leading the way. “No?”
Prin met her inquisitive gaze and calmly said, “I just meant that I hadn’t thought of so many years passing. It was a protest of those lost years, not a denial.”
The woman settled back into her chair and pulled her hat lower over her eyes, a clear dismissal. Prin stood and continued her walking the deck. When she circled the ship again, the woman was no longer sitting in the chair. Was she searching for me? Trying to trick me into revealing information? Or am I paranoid?
There was no reason that all the people working for the rewards offered for her head were men. It was just another indication of how careful she needed to be, and how many mistakes she was already making. She should thank the woman for putting her on guard. Prin fell back into the same chair and watched the ocean slip past, like her time running out. Each wave on the ocean she passed brought her one wave closer to Wren and her destiny, but Prin knew she was not ready. Not yet.
CHAPTER SIX
Prin sat in the chair outside and brooded about how unprepared she was to face the future. She still sat there when the young mage strolled past. His eyes paused on her, but quickly moved on, as did he. No words passed between them and her heart stilled, but there was part of the problem. She continued to think of him as her enemy, which he was, but he was far from the only one.
Is everyone my enemy? She paused at the thought. Perhaps that was a key to climbing the insurmountable wall in front of her. She should begin acting as if everyone was her enemy unless she knew otherwise. Her eyes drifted to a sailor hurrying about on some task on the deck below. Enemy.
The idea both chilled and warmed her. Chilled because it scared her, but warmed because the new outlook provided a measure of comfort that she wouldn’t make an elementary mistake because of not knowing the reason a person sailed with her. Every person on the ship was suspect.
Sara took the seat beside her. “Scared?”
“More than you will ever know, but not as much as a while ago.”
“What changed?” Sara asked.
“A woman sat where you are. She started asking questions.”
“And?”
Prin hesitated. “Too many questions. She was a woman, so I assumed it was safe to talk with her, at first. Now I know different. I have only two friends on this ship and no need to make any more.”
Sara settled back into her chair and lifted her face to enjoy the last warmth of the setting sun. “You will wear the crown, you know. I’ve never seen anyone who can adapt to circumstances as quickly as you. Now that you’re eighteen, you have experience, ferocity, and determination.”
“And I make too many mistakes and don’t know what to do once the ship reaches Indore.”
“I thought you had a plan,” Sara said without lowering her eyes to meet Prin’s.
“I did.” Prin glanced around the deck and determined nobody had managed to creep closer where they might hear. “Now, I’m rethinking it.”
“That is why you will succeed. You will send for me one day, won’t you?”
Prin shook her head as if refusing. “No. You will hear when I am Queen, and you can come join me at any time you like. Take a year. Or ten.”
“I plan to be there to protect you and help where you need it.”
“Then, come with me now,” Prin heard the pleading in her voice and despised it.
A thin man of forty who could use a full meal and a set of clothing that fit him wandered out onto the promenade deck and took a seat. He was five chairs from them, nearer the stern, and hadn’t so much as looked in their direction.
Prin glanced at the potato-of-a-nose Sara wore, the streaks of gray in her hair, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and mouth. Her skin had the pallor of an unhealthy woman. Yet, the thin man had been able to see them through the row of windows and knew they were there. An innocent man would have said hello or introduced himself.
His seat selection was also suspect. Prin knew sound carried fore to aft on a ship. Sitting where he did, he could probably hear their every word as they drifted in the sea air. She said, “Sara? Did you ever get over that contagious rash?”
Sara turned to her with a look of confusion.
Prin continued, “Don’t worry, I wore my protective skin cream. Besides, I’m sitting upwind, so I’m not going to catch it.”
The thin man hastily stood and slipped inside.
“That story will soon be all over the ship,” Sara said.
“I knew he was listening to us.”
“My, you are getting paranoid. And careful. I’m impressed. I have always loved sunset at sea.”
“And I’ve always been amazed how fast it gets cold when the sun goes down. Where’s Brice?”
“Sitting right inside, watching us.”
Prin should have known better. It was where she expected him, and if she hadn’t run off the thin man with the story about the rash that spread downwind, Brice would probably have intervened. While young, he was four years older than her but still inexperienced. His dedication made up for part of that. But it was not up to him to see her through—despite his intentions.
He might help, but it was up to Prin to do whatever was needed. She had to take control and eliminate the doubts plaguing her. “I’m going to the cabin.”
Sara held up the door key but remained sitting. As Prin entered the dining room and descended the stairs to the main deck, she heard Brice’s footsteps behind. Once in the cabin, Prin climbed into the lower bunk and ignored him entering and climbing to the top. She refused to cry and used her sleeve to wipe her nose more than once.
The night was cool, as were most in Gallium, and Prin wore her clothes to bed. She traveled light, for this trip. The cabin came with two thin, clean blankets and those would be enough. She placed her back against the wall and closed her eyes, but sleep didn’t come.
Prin waited for the steady breathing of Brice, but that didn’t come either. “Why aren’t you asleep?”
“It’s my duty to guard you.”
Prin waited, then said, “We may have to change our plans.”
“I expected that.”
“Why?”
Brice seemed to be choosing his words carefully. “Because, if you go directly to the palace, your enemies will be waiting and kill you. They have probably put their own servants in place to poison you, or worse. The King and others will accept you and support your position. But others have worked for years to make sure you never become Queen.”
“Then what do you think I should do?”
Brice’s face appeared over the edge of the bunk above. “It is no longer my place to think. I obey my future Queen or that damned one-footed man who taught you to fight says he will run me through with a dull blade.”
“He’s so sweet.”
Brice rolled back onto his bunk and despite his stated good intentions, fell asleep almost immediately. Prin listened to his regular breathing and still found she couldn’t sleep, so she slipped from her bunk and went in search of Sara.