I have never slept so fitfully in all my life. The captain split us up; while the girls slept in one room with Elizabeth, Lydia and two other girls I hadn’t seen earlier, the boys slept in a room with all the sailors. It was the same room we had woken up in. Hammocks hung all throughout. William, Philip, Robin, Leo and I all chose the hammocks farthest from the door and in a small corner. Beside my hammock was a small window in whichI looked out into the ocean. Occasionally in the night, the seas would get rough in one part and the boat would bob up and down, giving me views of the surface at one time and dark water another time. The sailors slept with lamps over their head. Most of the time, they were lit, but in our small corner, it was dark. I couldn’t understand how the sailors slept with lights on.

When I finally fell asleep, I had a dream. In my dream, I was standing on the deck of the ship. To one side of me, a woman stood. She had nearly a hundred tiny braids in her brown hair, her eyes were angry and crazed. She held a cutlass in one hand and a rolled up paper in the other. On my other side, stood the captain of our ship, Serafina. She looked tired and worn out, but her cutlass was held out in front of her, ready for a fight. She glared at the woman and for some reason I knew who the woman was: Uthera. Suddenly I felt something touch my shoulder. I turned and came face to face with Serafina. She was staring at me, wide eyed. She looked like she wanted to tell me something but her eyes drifted to my chest. I looked down and just then noticed the sword tip that was sticking out of my stomach. I stumbled and fell to the ground, not feeling anything, but hearing Uthera’s wicked laughter echoing through my mind. Serah knelt beside me, frowning. Then she began to shake me, “Wake up.” She ordered. I tried to push her away, but she kept shaking me, “Wake up…Wake up or else you’ll die.”

I jolted awake. In the silence, I heard only the thumping of my racing heart and my heavy breathing. To my side was Leo. He lifted his head when I started, and stared at me. “You okay?” He asked, “You look terrified.”

I swallowed then nodded, “Uh…Where’s Henry?”

Leo waved towards the door, “Left a few seconds ago, night watch or something. Why?”

“I need him.” I whispered as I slipped out of my hammock. Curious, Leo followed me. We slipped through all the hammocks and out the door. Outside in the hallway, we glanced around. The hallway was empty and dimly lit. Doors lined it and I tried to remember which one the girls were sleeping in. Our door was the third from the end. Leo nudged me and nodded towards the last door. It was different from the other doors; the wood was more worn out and a complex lock was fit onto the door knob.

“Bet I can pick that lock.” Leo whispered.

“Let’s not try.” I replied, “Whatever’s in there might be important. Like, a treasure room or something.”

“Yeah.” Leo grumbled, “Or ‘something’. I bet they keep their prisoners in there.”

“I don’t think so.” Came another whisper. Both Leo and I turned and faced Robin who had followed us out.

“What are we doing?” He asked.

“I had a dream.” I whispered, “About the captain.”

“Ooooh already? Slow down there Perryn…” Leo said, making goggly eyes at me and puckering his lips.

“Not like that.” I hissed, “I mean, in the dream she was fighting Uthera.”

“The bad pirate lady?” Robin asked.

“I like to think of all of them as bad pirate ladies.” Leo grumbled.

“Yeah, that one. Anyway, in my dream she could see me, and it really freaked me out. Then she was going to talk to me, but Uthera stabbed me in my chest.” I tapped my chest for emphasis, “Then when I fell over, she was laughing and it sounded so terrible. Then the captain shook me and she kept telling me to wake up. She told me I had to wake up before I died…So I woke up.”

“Before you died?” Leo asked curiously.

Robin looked thoughtful as I nodded, “So it was like she was dreaming with you.”

“Or…” I said, “My dream was real and it’ happening above decks.”

“Maybe if you go up there now and Uthera is there she might stab you.” Leo murmured, catching on.

“Exactly.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Go upstairs.”

“Genius.”

We crept silently through the hall and up the stairs. Above deck, we were shocked. Below deck, it was quiet and peaceful, the boat rocked as usual, but above deck, the skies had opened. It was pouring rain. Sailors ran around everywhere, grabbing ropes and tying them down, steadying each other and just trying to grab everything that flew around in the wind. The captain had her foot hooked into a rope in the rigging, she had her arm hooked around the mast pole and was yelling orders to the sailors, while attempting to steady ropes that flew around aimlessly. She looked just like she had in my dream, tired, worn out and miserable. Her voice was hoarse as she yelled, but she was loud enough for the sailors to hear her over the roar of the ocean. Henry and Tanner suddenly ran past us, both holding onto a rope. They steadied themselves against each other and pulled tight on the ropes. Then Lydia appeared a few feet in front of us. Her smile from earlier was gone, and the stormy look in her eyes matched her brother’s. She yelled something at us but I cupped my hands to my mouth, “What!?”

She stepped closer, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING ABOVE DECK!?” She yelled into my ear.

“I want to help!” I cried.

She frowned, then grabbed my arm and dragged me along behind her, Leo and Robin scrambled after us. Then she led us up to the helm, where she forcefully put my hands on the rudder, “KEEP THIS STRAIGHT!” She yelled at me.

Then she motioned for Leo to help me. Pulling Robin behind her, she yelled backwards at us, “DON’T GO FLYING OVERBOARD!”

Leo and I struggled to keep the rudder straight. Contrary to how easy it usually was in calm water, it took both of us to just barely hold it straight. I didn’t know how much time had passed before the sea began to calm down.

The skies slowly cleared to the sunrise. Leo watched it quietly, “Feels like forever since I’ve seen a sunrise…But I saw the one yesterday.”

I nodded understandably, it felt as if we’d been on this ship for a long time, but we had only been here a day. Robin joined us at the helm, “Hey.” He said quietly. We stood there in silence for a long time.

Finally, Henry joined us as well, “I’m impressed.” He said simply, “You know, you’ve only slept for like two hours, so if you want to go down and hit the hay, feel free too.”

We nodded, turned the rudder over to him and headed toward the main deck. The captain was busy lowering herself from her earlier perch. She glanced over at us, hesitated, then approached us as we headed to the stairs. Out of nowhere, Elizabeth and another girl jumped from the rigging and took either side of her, like a pack. Leo whimpered, “Are they going to beat us up?” He whispered to me.

I frowned at him, “What?”

“They scare me.”

When they reached us the captain spoke, “Thank you…” She hesitated, and for a moment, I wondered if she was being shy, “For uh, helping last night.”

“Probably would’ve lost the rudder…” The other girl murmured. She noticed all three of us staring at her so she said, “I’m Lilly by the way, but everyone calls me Scarlett. I usually work the night shift, you know, steering, making sure everything’s going well. So that’s why you didn’t see me yesterday, I’m usually asleep in the day. Then there’s Kat, who also works the night shift. She’s asleep right now.” She smiled at us happily and reminded me of an older version of Lydia. Scarlett had bright red hair, probably why her nickname was Scarlett, and clear green eyes. She looked tired but her smile was genuine and not forced in any way. Hooked into her belt on one side was a slingshot and a small pouch, on the other side was a sheathed dagger. We introduced ourselves and she smiled one last time before heading below decks. When we looked back at the captain, Henry had appeared at her side.

“I’m going to get confused with the difference between Kat and Kate.” Elizabeth grumbled, “They both have red hair.”

Henry ignored her and spoke to us, “You can go to sleep.” He said, “Wake everyone else up when you get down there. Usually Tanner does, but I can’t find him anywhere right now.” He turned and began to walk around deck, looking for his best friend.

“I’m not tired.” Leo started.

The captain frowned at him, “Yes you are, you look very tired.”

“Not tired enough though.” Leo said, “Perryn’s a dump. You should sleep, Perryn.”

“Thanks Leo.” I said coldly as I made my way to the stairs. I stopped at the door, turning to face Leo and Robin, who both stood there quietly, watching me.

“What?” I asked, “Do I have something on my face?”

They both shook their heads then followed me down the stairs, “What is your problem?” I hissed as soon as we were alone in the hallway.

“She’s kinda cute.” Leo replied.

“Who?”

“The captain. I mean, when she gets flustered, like she did.”

“She didn’t get flustered! She just, doesn’t know how to, I don’t know, express thanks?”

“Yeah sure.” Robin said dryly, “I think she likes you.’’

“I don’t think so.” I replied, “And you’re both starting to sound like my little sister. She’s a pirate captain and I’m a prince.”

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I opened our door before they could continue arguing and walked in. The sailors were most still asleep. I swallowed hard, how was I supposed to wake them up? Suddenly, Tanner pushed in behind us through the open door. He glanced at us and I desperately prayed that he hadn’t heard the conversation, but from the glint in his eye and the smirk on his face, I guessed he had heard every word. He closed the door and reached behind it, pulling out a pot and spoon. I threw my hands up and covered my ears as he began pounding on the pot, “Wake up!” He roared, “It’s past sunrise boys, get up! You missed the fantastic storm last night!”

The sailors scrambled out of their hammocks, yawning. Then Tanner opened the door and they filed out, shaking themselves awake as they tromped out. When William came to us, he stopped dead in his tracks, “You look insane.” He told me.

“Thanks.” I replied, “I’m starting to think I like it.”

When the last person was out, Tanner returned the pot and looked at us, “Uh…Henry was looking for you by the way.” Robin said.

“I know.” Tanner replied, “I hear everything on this boat.”

“Listen,” I started, “Nothing that you heard from us was true…”

“Yeah, okay.” Tanner replied, “I’m just going to tell you it’s never going to happen. Like you said, you’re a prince and she’s a pirate. She’s kicked out one too many guys who come to her, why should you be any special?” He turned to the door, “You can have Elizabeth, you can try with the captain, but my sister is off limits.” He closed it in our faces.

Robin cursed, “I was starting to think she was hot, though!”

“Yeah I know.” Tanner’s voice came through the door, “But you heard me.”

We walked to the farthest corner of the room, where our hammocks were, “Jerk.” Robin mumbled.

“Respect the brother, brother.” Leo said, “Remember you told Philip to go soak his head when he asked if he could court Amber? Same thing here.”

Robin grumbled as he climbed into his hammock. We settled down quietly as we swayed in our hammocks along with the boat. “What do you guys suppose my dream meant?” I asked suddenly.

“I think you should ask Amber later,” Robin said, “because I have no idea.”

“Maybe you saw the future?” Leo asked.

But I shook my head, “Then why would the captain tell me to wake up before I died?”

“Maybe your conscience was speaking to you in the form of the captain. Maybe if we hadn’t gone above decks to help the boat would’ve sank.”

“It wouldn’t.” Came a sudden voice from the other side of the room. Instantly, the twins and I jumped in our hammocks and looked around. We hadn’t noticed him before, but lying in a corner, his arm and head bandaged up, was another boy. He waved us over.

“I’m Colten.” He said, “Colt for short.”

“Why are you down here?” Leo asked, “And what happened to you?”

“Fight.” Colt said, “With Uthera’s crew. I didn’t come out so well, so the Cap put me down here to ‘heal’.”

Colt had black hair and bright blue eyes, he reminded me of Elizabeth, with the same grin and carefree nature.

“Are you related to Elizabeth?” I asked.

But Colt shook his head, “We look alike and act alike, but we’re not related. People always think we’re siblings.” He lay back on the hammock, “So you’re the new guys, huh?”

We nodded quietly. Unlike Elizabeth, Colt had a look in his eyes that frightened me. He looked almost empty, afraid, lonely. He looked searchingly at us as we stood there, inspecting each other.

“Are you just alone all day?” Leo asked, “And why weren’t you here last night?”

“I usually sleep in my own room with Tanner and Henry, but the Cap put all three of us in here last night because the sailors were making a ruckus and she wanted it to be sorted out, but she didn’t want me to be alone in a room in case I fell out of a hammock.” He laughed at this, but his laugh was hollow, “She’s worries a lot, you know. She seems all tough and mean, but she’s a real sweetheart. Same with Tanner, I heard him chewing you out a moment ago. He’s protective over his sister after what happened to their family, and I can’t really blame the poor kid. He’s been through some rough stuff.”

“What happened to him?” I asked curiously.

Colt seemed hesitant at first, but when we settled into hammocks around him, he eased up, “Tanner used to live with his stepmom and father. Great parents, both of them. His stepmom treated both him and Lydia as her own children, quite contrary to what usually happens with stepmoms. Eventually, as his father grew older, however, he turned to drinking, gambling, the like. He stayed out late, brought home random women that set off Tanner’s stepmom, I mean, what wife wouldn’t be mad. Eventually she wanted to move away from him. She wanted to take Tanner and Lydia with her, as they’d live a much better life with her anyway, but his father refused. He didn’t care for either of them, but he was spiteful and he didn’t allow the woman to take them away from him. She didn’t want to leave either one of them alone with Tanner’s father, so she stayed and dealt with her husband’s infidelity. Eventually, one night, his dad became too drunk. He hit Tanner’s stepmom multiple times. Tanner was about fourteen at the time, and he stood up for her, so his father basically threw him and his stepmom out of the house, but he kept Lydia, who was about twelve. They both knew the father would just sell her or marry her off to some rich lord, because their family was rather poor, so they basically kidnapped Lydia from the house. The stepmom grew sick after a while, and she didn’t want them to be alone, so she dropped them off before she died at the best place she could find: The orphanage, which was where they met Elizabeth, Scarlett and Kat.”

“How’d they get there?” Leo asked.

“Elizabeth ran away from her mom, who was abusive. She was eventually caught by some people who dropped her at the orphanage. Scarlett and Kat are cousins, whose parents all died when they were young in a town fire, so they were left at the orphanage.”

“So how do the captain and Henry fit in?” Robin asked curiously.

“Henry’s story is a lot like Tanner’s. They were actually best friends at the time, so they’ve known each other since the beginning. But while Tanner was a poor man’s son, Henry was actually the son of a very rich lord. His father was like Tanner’s however, drunk, abusive and he married way too many women. But, unlike Tanner, Henry didn’t have a mother figure. He didn’t really have anyone to take care of him, even his servants hated him. When Elizabeth, Scarlett, Kat, Tanner and Lydia made plans to run away from the orphanage, Tanner wanted to take Henry with, because he was so miserable. So he did. As soon as they escaped the orphanage, they got Henry and ran to the sea, not really knowing where to go or what to do. They stowed away on a boat, which both the captain and I were working on at the time, except she wasn’t the captain yet. She found the stowaways first, but didn’t tell anyone except me. So we basically just made this big plan to overthrow the first captain, who was cruel. And we did. It was awesome too. And now she’s the captain.”

“What’s her real name?” Leo asked.

“Serafina.” Colt replied, “I don’t know her last name. Heck, I don’t even know if she has one. She doesn’t share much about herself. Not even with her crew. I just know everyone calls her Sareh.”

“Sharing all of our life secrets Colt?” Elizabeth’s voice echoed through the room. We turned and faced her. She stood at the door, watching us quietly, a smirk on her face.

“How long have you been standing there?” Leo asked.

“Not very long, I’m not like Tanner, I don’t really eavesdrop.”

“Don’t lie.” Colt replied, “You heard every word.”

“No, I really didn’t.” She laughed, “And what does it matter? I’ve heard it all before. You tell our life stories to every person we bring aboard this ship. It’s nothing new. Although you could elaborate more on the part where I threw you overboard.”

Leo barked laughter, “She threw you overboard?”

Colt scowled, “Once. It was once!”

“Why?” Robin asked, “What did you do?”

“Yeah, Colt.” Elizabeth asked, “What did you do?

“I did nothing! I just took some food from your plate and you exploded and threw me overboard. I was hungry!”

Elizabeth shook her head, “You never take food from my plate. It’s my food. You better be glad you didn’t do it to Cap because she would’ve literally killed you and fed you to the sharks.”

“Yeah but, I knew Cap before you guys and I knew she would’ve killed me. So I didn’t chance it.”

Elizabeth sighed, “Okay, well, the Cap wants you upstairs.”

“Who?” I asked.

“Colt.” Elizabeth replied, “She says the fresh air will be good for you.”

Colt blinked then slowly rolled out of his hammock, steadying himself as he stood. As tired as we were, we followed him and Elizabeth upstairs. Upstairs, it was the regular bustle. The sun was in full shine and the seas were clm. Most of the sailors were up in the rigging and climbing the sails, fixing any holes they could find. Perryn’s friends weren’t swabbing the deck anymore. Kate and Rachel were up in the sails, sewing the holes shut. William was up at the helm, where Tanner was showing him how to work the rudder. Philip and Amber were on one side with Henry, who was showing them how to load the cannons in case any ships tried to attack us. The captain ran around, inspecting everything and everyone. When she saw them, a hint of a smile played on her lips. She waved at Colt fondly then turned back to Henry, who had also paused his work to acknowledge Colt’s presence.

Suddenly Tanner appeared at my shoulder, “Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

“I’m not tired.” I replied.

“You’re lying. You should go to sleep, you need your strength.”

But I shook my head, I didn’t really feel like going back into the dark room again.

Tanner frowned momentarily, then he turned away from us.

“You know, he’s right.” Colt said, glancing back at us, “You look terrible.”

“We’re fine.” Leo said, I could see he didn’t want to miss anything either.

Colt shrugged then moved to the front of the boat, where he merely sat down on the deck and watched everyone.

Leo and Robin set off to go stand with William while I looked around mindlessly.

“Do you need something to do?” The captain asked, approaching me.

“Uh, yeah.” I replied.

She motioned for me to follow her, so I did. We climbed the rigging to the crows nest, where Lydia was perched.

“Show him what to look for.” The Cap told her. Then she glanced at me and climbed back down to the deck.

Lydia pulled a spyglass from the folds of her skirt and gave it to me, “You’re looking for dark spots in the water, where rocks, corral or shipwrecks could be. You also look for just ships in general, or islands. Basically, you’re looking for anything that isn’t water.”

I nodded, seemed easy enough.

“You see anything, and you yell down to one of us.” She continued. Then she climbed down the rigging, “Have fun.”

I grunted but raised the spyglass to my eye and inspected the water. For a few hours, nothing out of the usual happened. Occasionally, I would see a rock jutting from the water or some corral, I would yell down to the captain, who would then yell to William who managed to steer the ship masterfully around the obstacles. At around noon, the captain brought dinner for me. It was the same soup as last night, this time served with some crackers. I understood the captain better now. She had gone through a lot in her childhood, so she didn’t trust many people. But she worked alongside her crew, still the captain and well respected, but also as a friend.

I realized as she handed me my food, that I hadn’t eaten until the night before at supper. My stomach grumbled mercilessly and I glanced up at the captain, as she raised an eyebrow, sheepishly.

I sat down in the crows nest as Lydia combed up and took over ‘lookout’ business. The captain stood with her book to the horizon, watching me eat.

“Do you fight?” She asked suddenly.

I stopped eating and frowned, “Fight what?”

“Sword fight.”

“Oh.” I said, “Sometimes. I’ve been trained but I’ve never actually fought someone except for training.”

“You can train him.” Lydia said suddenly, “That way if Uthera attacks the royals can at least stand up for themselves.”

The captain nodded, then looked at me again, “Stay up tonight. You can train above decks.”

“What if I don’t want to?” I asked.

“Well, it’s either train and protect yourself or get kidnapped by Uthera and sold into slavery.”

“So, you’re not going to sell us?” I asked.

“No.” She replied, “I don’t get anything from it really. I’m just taking you back to Persia.”

I wanted to fall on my knees and thank her profusely, but I decided she wouldn’t really appreciate it. Also, she jumped down the rigging before I could say anything.

“Told ya.” Lydia said, “She won’t sell you.”

Maybe she felt like she owed me for saving her ship a few nights ago. Maybe she really didn’t get anything from selling us. Or maybe something else… I decided not to dwell on it, there was no way a pirate captain like her could fall for me. Sure, I was a prince, I considered myself to be pretty good looking, but I still felt as if something about her, held her way out of my league. It was then that I realized that Lydia was staring at me, “What?” I quickly asked.

She smirked, “Thinking deeply, are we?”

I frowned at her, “Not really.”

She raised an eyebrow, “Is that why you didn’t hear me say your name like five times?”

I scowled, “It’s none of your business.”

She handed the spyglass back to me, “I’m just going to tell you…”

“-Yeah, I know. There’s no point in going for the captain.” I snapped, “Your brother gave me all the details.”

“I wasn’t going to say that. I was going to say; the captain likes you. Well, she likes you and Kate. No one else really. So maybe there is a point in going for her. Stop listening to my brother, he’s all bark and no bite.”

“I feel like his bark is letting us know that his bite is really gonna hurt.” I replied.

She shrugged, “Eh. He’s killed a few people in his day. But both Henry and Tanner are like Colten: Big puppy dogs. Just give them a chance. It’s like the captain, give her time to chill out and figure out some things right now, then go for it.”

“And if she kills me?” I asked

“Then you’re dead and you’ll have no more worries. You only live once, you know. Go for the big things in life.”

“Are you done preaching?” I asked, sighing.

She grinned and wagged her finger at me, “Listen to my advice. I know the captain better than you. I’m trying to help you. But yeah, I’m done preaching now.”

Then she climbed down the rigging and left me to my thoughts.