It had really only been about three weeks since the last time Elodie had seen Libertalia. But it looked so different now that they had returned, four days after they'd fled New Aubrais. When she and Ventus had swam to the makeshift shores, she'd thought it a frightening monolith, expanding out into the ocean where it did not belong, a den of thieves and ne'er-do-wells who sought her harm.

That wasn't exactly incorrect, she decided as she looked out over the railing. It was a den of pirates—some of them with the Black-Sail Fleet and seeking her capture, and others not so much.

But it was also her father's vision, his life's work, according to Ventus. There had been a time when he and Captain Hawkins of the Black-Sail Fleet and many other pirates like her mother had worked together to make this sandbar into a place that was free of kings and empires. A place where the world had turned completely upside-down.

As unfathomable and as strange as that sounded to Elodie's ears, it gave her a fondness for the ragged shoreline, the ramshackle buildings and the labyrinth of docks filled with pirate ships. This was her father's kingdom once. It might have been hers, had things gone differently. If her father had evaded the pirate-hunters, if the Bonny Calico and the Flying Gang had survived, if her mother hadn't been trapped in the mansion in Port Augustine.

Who might she have been then, if she'd grown up here?

She could not quite imagine that, for how she tried. She somehow couldn't see anyone living here all the time, although she knew some must, like Bertha of the One-Winged Parrot. There wasn't exactly the pitter-patter of little pirates running up and down the docks, after all.

But there might have been, if her father had lived.

Perhaps she might have grown up to be more like Jade, or even like her mother, the bold and spirited sort of girl who defied marriage and a normal high-society life. The kind of woman everyone admired, the kind that men might even follow.

Elodie frowned at her own train of thought. She wanted a normal life, a well-off husband, the mansion in Port Augustine, the parties of a socialite.

Didn't she?

She never would have admitted to anyone, but the wind in that moment, that the vision of another her that could have been, the pirate lass born and raised on Libertalia by a pirate king and queen—a part of her wished she might have been that girl.

It was only for a moment.

But her heart was traitorous for that moment all the same.

She was a gentlewoman, or would be. She was just here to save her mother—and now, the entire Sea of Gales, it seemed. But she would return before her birthday party, and she would marry someone like Theodore Edgeworth, and would go back to the safety of everything that came before.

She had to remember that.

"I thought I'd find you here."

Elodie glanced over her shoulder to find Kas approaching. She looked back to Libertalia. "I like the view."

"As do I." He joined her by the railing. "Will you be disembarking this time?"

"No." Elodie shook her head. "Given how it ended up the last time I was here, I think it's best I stay on the ship for the time being."

"That's probably for the best," he admitted, tilting his head. "It's a shame, though. There's parts of Libertalia that are much more lively. It would be worth shooting any man in the head to take you there."

"I'd rather no one else has to die for my sake." Elodie's voice dropped low.

She knew why Carina had to do what she did—and if it was truly between the Albatross and the Foxtrot, between Elodie's freedom and Captain Reynard's victory, then the choice was clear. The feral part of her heart that kicked and clawed like a pirate queen's daughter should knew that.

But it kept her up at night, sometimes. They'd died like that, an awful death by fire and water alike, because they'd been looking for her.

"They died the way they would have wanted to." Kas's fingers brushed over her shoulder—only to retreat, as if he thought better of the action. An uncharacteristic bit of hesitation. He then reached for the pocket in his long garnet vest and withdrew a deck of painted cards. "Anyway, if you're going to stay onboard, you should play a round with Hawkins. I suspect you're a card shark, so you might give him a run for his doubloons."

He then winked as he pressed them into her hands.

Elodie marveled at the cards. "These are beautiful, did you get them while we were in New Aubrais?"

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Not this time, but a year or so ago." He shrugged it off. "But you have a good eye, noticing that they're New Aubraisan specifically."

"Oh, well, thank you." Elodie felt her cheeks going warm. She looked anywhere but at Kas's eyes—and so found herself staring at his glove, on his right hand. He always wore the black leather glove with the fingers cut off.

"You know, I've never seen you wear your other glove." She pointed out as casually as one might the weather.

The trap was set—and Kas took the bait.

He might have kept the easygoing smile—but there was something in those hazel eyes that darkened.

"Perhaps I lost that one, darling." His smile in fact only brightened. "Or perhaps I want to make a fashion statement, like the Aubraisians."

"Perhaps." She stared straight into his eyes—a silent assertion that she did not believe a single word he said.

"Or perhaps it's a story for another time." He tipped his hat and took a few steps back of retreat. "Anyway, I'll be joining the Captain for the disembarking party. Try to get into some trouble while I'm gone, will you?"

"We'll see," was all Elodie said with a coy smile as he ran off.

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She found Ventus and Carina in the netting high-above with the sails, where he had taken her when they'd returned from the Windward Isles.

"You two aren't going ashore either?" It surprised her—almost everyone was taking the time to disembark and enjoy a round in the tavern while Captain Jennings went about her errands.

"I don't think it's a good idea for me to be there either." Ventus looked out to Libertalia, and something sad and uncertain crossed his face. "I'm sure that by now my father knows that I betrayed the Black-Sail Fleet."

Elodie did not know what to say to that, so she looked to Carina. "What about you? I'm sure there aren't any Manoans in Libertalia?"

"Probably not," Carina admitted as she drew her knees to her chest. "Not many Manoans would resort to piracy. But it wouldn't be unheard of either."

She then sighed, touching the magical crystal dangling from her neck. "But I think I've had enough onshore excursions for a while."

"That's fair." Elodie withdrew Kas's deck of playing cards from her pocket. "Kas lent me his deck. Fancy a round of cards—he tells me you're quite good, Ventus?"

This drew Ventus's attention back to Elodie and Carina.

"I've just had a lot of practice." He shrugged.

"What about you, Carina?" Elodie locked eyes with the princess in exile.

Her blue and green eyes flashed and she smiled, adjusting her seating position. "I'm game."

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Unfortunately, Kas's prediction as to Elodie being a card shark was far from true. She did know more of the card games played in places like gambling halls and pirate ships, courtesy of Keira Fleetwood's education. However, Carina was the far better player, and even she only got one over on Ventus once.

"You're amazing at this," Elodie declared as she took back the cards to reshuffle for another round. "Kas wasn't kidding!"

"Kas is on an entirely different level," Ventus said as he looked away, his cheeks turning red. "I've only been able to beat him a handful of times. He knows it too, the cards always go his way, or so he says."

Elodie frowned and looked down at the Aubrasian deck. "Do you think it has something to do with this deck?"

"No." Ventus looked back to her. "I've tried with multiple, borrowed from other crew mates. He even asked me to—but the same thing happens. I've never seen anything like it."

"Well, you're no pushover yourself." Carina grinned—only for her triumph to give way to curiosity as something caught her attention beyond the world up high in the makeshift hammock of netting. "I think the crew's returned, and they've got something."

"What?" Elodie turned to see that Carina was right, Captain Jennings and several of the other sailors had returned. And Jade and Kas were trailing behind, carrying an elaborate-looking trunk, like the kind a dressmaker might use.

"Shall we go down and investigate?" Carina asked, a twinkle in her eye.

Ventus had already gotten to his feet. "We shall."

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"Ah, good, you're here." Captain Jennings's eyes narrowed as they locked onto Elodie as she, Ventus, and Carina approached. "I've got a mission for you."

"What do you mean?" Elodie frowned, looking to the trunk that Kas and Jade had set down. "I thought I wasn't supposed to be involved in raids."

"Don't worry, you're still not." Captain Jennings reached into the pocket hidden within her jacket and removed an embossed envelope, with careful calligraphy addressing Captain Elizabeth Jennings on the outside. "Bertha had this waiting for me with my mail. Seems that the King has finally gotten suspicious of Hawkins and his voyages, and wants us to investigate."

Elodie blinked. "They know then, that he's the Pirate King?"

Captain Jennings snorted. "I wouldn't go that far. They've only just begun to suspect that all of his gains aren't just due to his business doing well. They want us to go in also as additional security, since several nobles have been invited to this particular party his wife is throwing."

She then dropped her voice, so not even the wind could carry its secrets away. "It also might provide a good opportunity to find the map he's been keeping to the other crystal keys like yours, Carina."

"Where do I come into this?" Elodie asked.

"Oh, no, it's not just you—although you will be an important part of this," she admitted. "The other officers will be keeping an eye on us, but they aren't exactly aware of the younger crew. As long as you look and act like the well-to-do socialites and gentry's children, you should be able to move around with less suspicion."

"Oh." Elodie nodded. "We're going to steal the map, then."

"Yes." Captain Jennings pressed her lips into a thin line, and gestured to Kas. "You two would be the only ones who have had the proper training for such an event. You'll need to help Jade, Ventus, and Carina."

"Oh, do I have to wear a dress?" Jade wrinkled her nose. "I wish I were one of the navy cadets like Eric, then I could wear a uniform like you do."

Captain Jennings's eyes flashed like lightning in a storm, but her voice remained calm all the same. "You are not, for the time being, and I'd prefer things stayed that way. And you of all people should understand the importance of a spy fitting in."

"Fine, whatever." Jade rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

"In here we've gotten some of the right clothes for the night." Kas thumped on the top of the trunk. "Might want to try these on and figure out who's getting what before the night of."

"Take the thinly-veiled attempts at flirting below-decks please, where such uncivil behavior belongs," Captain Jennings chided. She then sighed heavily, looking at the letter again. "There's less and less for actual privateering against Cartagena every day. More often nowadays, I'm a pirate hunter and not a pirate."

With that, she walked off, but something somber and bitter lingered in her wake.