The commotion was unbelievable. Nevertheless, Anna found herself being pulled along as her brothers headed straight for the castle. Muskets were firing, bullets zinging through the air with frightening consistency. Upon seeing their leader fall unconscious to the ground, the soldiers had exploded. Only speed had gotten the small pirate band through that hail of lead and sparks.

They ran through the deserted streets, past the emptied market and through the Soldier’s Gate. Luckily for them, nearly all of the palace guards had been dispatched to the harbor that morning and not many stood in their way. Luke and Jesse rammed past them, but were careful not to leave any death in their wake.

“Go on! I’ll catch up to you!” Jesse called, veering off the path. He slashed at the ropes anchoring the door open, and with a heavy thud the great gate slammed shut. Luke seized Anna by the wrist and kept going. The morning air was growing warmer all the time, as the sun rose higher in the sky. Anna struggled to match the pace, which was unrelenting. The pirates who had come through the gate with them had all lagged behind, some accosted by guards and some helping Jesse to close as many gates as possible. Anna realized that this had all been planned, and wondered just how much of that plan involved herself.

Suddenly, they came to a halt. Luke swung her roughly behind him, his cutlass drawn in the blink of an eye. Anna, heart pounding, saw what blocked their path: Lee, and the palace’s elite guard.

“Luke, this isn’t good! We’re completely outnumbered, and I don’t even have a weapon!”

“Never mind that. Just stay behind me, alright?” Luke took a step forward. Slowly, he lowered the cutlass and set it down on the ground. “I’m not here to fight,” he called out. The guards shifted warily, but Lee moved in front of them and set his own weapon down. He spoke to Luke, but his eyes were on Anna.

“What are you doing here, then? I doubt all this trouble was necessary. You could have taken her and gone.”

“This isn’t just about Anna. We came to get her, but we also came to bring something back. I need to speak to the Princess.”

“Then speak,” came a voice, from behind the guards. Jal, co-regent in the absence of the King and Queen, emerged. She was composed and unafraid. She nodded at Lee, who moved to the side, and then walked slowly to where Luke was standing. “What has brought you here? Pirates have not dared to sail these waters for decades. Not even your father had the audacity to approach the royal city, not after his failed attempt at stealing the throne. What’s this? You are surprised that I recognize you for who you are? I have lived many years, lad. Your father’s face is not one I would forget.”

“Lady, I need to speak to the Princess. It’s important. Once I have spoken to her, my men and I will return to our ship.”

“I stand for the Kingdom, and whatever you may have to say to Her Highness, you may also say to me.”

“I will speak to no one but the Princess. This matter concerns her alone, and not you.” Luke’s voice had grown cold once more. Anna couldn’t remember it ever being so commanding in her entire life. Even this woman, with her hair the sharp gray of steel and her posture so erect and undaunted, seemed to diminish in the sound of that voice.

“The men will attack you, should you choose to force your will. This can be settled without the presence of the Princess. I will not allow her to enter into such danger. If you wish to die, then by all means, continue on this path. But you have no power here.”

Luke laughed. “The reach of the Pirate King is longer than you think, old woman. And if the Princess wishes her beloved to die, then by all means, delay me further.”

Anna gasped, and the guards lifted their spears. Jal stepped back, her poise shattered. There came a loud cry, and the Princess had pushed her way to the front, eyes wide with tears on the brink of being shed. Jal had told her to stay on the steps, out of sight. But this, she could not ignore. Barely able to choke down her fear, Dawn spoke.

“Where is he? What have you done?”

“Tell your men to stand down, and I will take you to him.”

“My lady! This could be a trap!” Jal was holding the Princess back, and several of the guards now angled their spears towards Luke. “Do not go with him, pirates cannot be trusted and it would be foolish to think otherwise.”

Dawn showed no hesitation. Rather, she turned her gaze to Anna, an idea flickering across her face. “I will go, but she will take me.”

The commotion at the dock was enough to distract everyone from another ship slowly pulling into port. By the time the gangplanks had been lowered, it was already too late for the Port guards to intervene, and in any case a good number of the guards had been called to accompany the Princess and Anna to where Matanza had been moored; a small fleet of rowboats paddled across the bay to the great ship with its battered sides and menacing figurehead. Luke and Jesse, forced to wait on the docks in accordance with the deal they had stricken with Princess Dawn, were the only ones to notice the Corona’s sailors as they busily went about following the orders they had been given.

“Who are they?” Asked Jesse, staring as a man, evidently the Captain, stood on the deck speaking to another man clad in dark armor. His sharp eyes picked up a flicker of green—the insignia of Leiden, emblazoned on the armored man’s breastplate.

Luke turned as well and squinted with his good eye. “That’s funny. Only a bodyguard would wear that armor, in Leiden. And if there is a bodyguard…someone very important must be on board…”

“Look! They’re coming this way!”

The man in armor, accompanied by the Captain and a hooded figure, were walking with great urgency in their direction. Luke began to step forward…and then the three turned down another path, towards the palace. Jesse shrugged, turning his attention back to the bay. But Luke watched as the three figures grew smaller in the distance, still wondering.

The ship was deserted. Dawn climbed with some difficulty to the Matanza’s deck, its wood planks still warm from the sun even as the moon began to rise in the darkening sky. Her heart was pounding. She hardly noticed the absence of pirates on the ship, although she heard faint coughing coming from the areas belowdeck. Anna, meanwhile, moved on past the pirates with her brother’s grimly whispered words in her ear. “Don’t breathe the air in that room, Anna. Don’t let the Princess breathe it either.”

“Your Highness, please…there is something I must tell you.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“This is the room where he is. But please, you can’t breathe the air in there. Do you have a handkerchief?”

“What? Why…why can’t I…?” Dawn’s eyes widened as she realized the only reason for such a precaution. It hit her with all the force of a tidal wave. Sobbing, she ran to the door and opened it before Anna could even blink.

“Princess! No! You can’t---!” Anna tried in vain to catch the Princess before she disappeared behind the door, but it was too late. Wanting to cry herself, Anna kicked the door shut.

“Luke! She went in, I couldn’t stop her, and now…!”

“WHAT?” Luke strode to where Jal was. “Well. Now the damage is done,” Luke said. Jal, eyes narrowed, turned her icy stare to him.

“Where is the Princess? You will tell me immediately or there will be a price to pay.”

“Prince Alexander of Barinesh came to us floating on a piece of driftwood, delusional and half-dead from being on the water for who knows how many days. The men who assisted him were hallucinating within hours. He has the Fever, and any who come into contact with him, breathe the air he breathes, will contract it as well. Because she did not follow the directions I gave to Anna, your Princess might very well die with her beloved. And if she emerges from that room, this country is ruined. The epidemic will spread from the heir to the throne herself. How ironic.”

“This was a trap! You sent her there knowing this would happen!”

“Pardon me, lady, but who was I to guess that the Royal heirs would be stupid enough to disobey an order as simple as that? Anna warned her not to breathe the air. What did she do? Rush in there and inhale the whole room. That isn’t my problem. I will not answer for her mistake.”

“Why! Why did you even come here, bringing him with you?”

“To make a proposition. We will do our best to keep the Prince alive, on the condition that we are given asylum by the King and Queen. We will go to the Southern Oracle to beg for an audience, and with luck she may be able to point us to a cure.”

“I don’t see why you would be interested in finding a cure for a man you don’t even know and countries you bear no allegiance to.”

“Ha. We have no choice.” Luke glanced at Matanza, and the faint outline of Reina riding the choppy surf behind it. “The entire crew of Matanza has been infected with that Fever. If I don’t find a cure, I lose nearly half my men, and it’s only a matter of time before the disease spreads to our ship as well.”

When she had said goodbye to Luke and Jesse, who had refused to stay in the palace, Anna collapsed on her bed and very nearly fell asleep. The day had been exhausting, and too many problems were running through her head. She couldn’t sleep though, because a nagging feeling told her something more was waiting to pounce, before the day finally came to an end. She concentrated so much on not falling asleep that it was a while before she realized that someone was knocking on her door.

Anna went wearily to answer it, baffled as to who could be knocking at such a late hour. She was even more baffled to find a man in armor standing in the doorway. “Who are you? What do you want?”

A voice came from behind him. “Orris, please. I will speak with her.”

That voice…! Anna took several steps back, her heart threatening to explode out of her chest. Orris made a move to follow her inside, but was intercepted by the hooded figure who nodded at him to step aside.

“No, this doesn’t make any sense! I’m dreaming!”

“Not dreaming,” said the girl in the dark hood. “It’s okay, really. I won’t hurt you.” She raised her arms to pull the hood from her face, and Anna stood transfixed…for she was staring with wide eyes at a mirror image of herself.