1 year later

How fitting is this? Akira thought. I present to the world my father’s legacy a year to the day after he died.

She took a deep breath.

I’m not going to make it through this, she thought panicing.

Levi pressed himself tighter to her leg. Kairos nudged her from behind. Since her father had passed Levi had become more attached to her, unless of course Ehren was around and then not even she could get the wolf-dog away from him. Though Kai didn’t like crowds or new people, he was here with her. He’d more than likely stay hidden while Levi walked out on stage with her but if she had Levi she’d be ok. But her hands were shaking. She knelt down, despite her finery, and burried her face in Levi’s coat. Somehow, even a year later, his coat stilled smelled like her father and that gave her peace.

She inhaled deeply, then stood and straightened her shoulders.

Mum would be glad I learned that much at least, she thought.

She was pulled from her thoughts by a pair of arms snaking around her waist. She leaned back into the embrace.

“Excited?” the man asked.

“So excited,” Akira replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

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“Hey,” he whispered in her ear. “Your father would be so proud of you. And a touch jealous that you were the one to finally prove once and for all that The Bloodshed exists.”

“He wouldn’t be jealous in the least. He’d be too absorbed scouring the ship!”

She laughed at the image that thought gave her and turned in the arms that encircled her waist. Prince Ehren looked positively……well, royal. His onyx hair gleamed in the faint light that made it backstage. His whiskey eyes swirled with emotion.

Throughout the past year, he’d done nothing but scour the records with her. Ferros, his brother, sketched and painted the ship numerous times in order to make her presentation more grounded in reality. Neither had complained in the least about helping her with her research. In fact, if it hadn’t been for them, Akira would’ve most likely looked like a skeleton right now. In other words, they made sure she ate at least two meals every day. And they made sure she went outside and moved around. According to Ferros, if she spent much more time in the archives, she’d become a ghostly part of them.

“What are you thinking about, mon petite pirate?” Ehren asked her.

“How grateful I am that you and your brother helped me accomplish my father’s dream,” she replied.

Ehren raised an eyebrow at her. She laughed.

“I’m thinking about how grateful I am for your help and your brother’s,” she replied. “I don’t know how I would have made it to this day and looked this good.”

Ehren chuckled then kissed her cheek.

“It’s my pleasure.”

Akira wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest.

“Besides, didn’t I promise Freyja that I’d look after you?” he whispered in her ear.

Before Akira could reply, a throat clearing broke into their happy bubble.

“I hate to break the two of you up, but it’s time,” Ferros said.

Ehren kissed the top of her head before letting her go and making his way to the wings of the stage that had been specially constructed for tonight. Akira didn’t watch him go; her eyes were on the ship in front of her. The Bloodshed. Eight years had she haunted her waking hours. She smiled. It was time to show the world the ship that haunted their nightmares all those years ago.