The pirates don't even lift their heads. They notice nothing wrong. Though, if Miguel does actually like me, I probably just set off all sorts of alarm bells in his head. Oh well.

My team however, at least they weren't the most obvious. That's about the only positive thing I can say about their reactions. Besides that I wish I had something to show it to them. It is a perfect example of what to not do.

They all had this deer and headlights look, and honestly looked as if they were going to ask me if I was sick or something. Zeev actually started to move to presumably do that, before Katherine caught his shoulder and pulled him back with a glare. Probably her version of 'if you mess this up you will not stay breathing for long.'

Can't say that I blame her either. She was barely around during the era of Brady and I, so she just barely knew how it was if I was around someone I liked; which is to say that I'm not a complete tyrant.

However, Brady died, and how I acted before paled in comparison. Kind of like the reverse order of Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth.

Or, if you're from my home area, an accurate representation would be Queen Sivella and King Xavier. Queen Sivella was an amazing Queen for Sasong, though very strict. Then, she met King Xavier, and was forced to marry him, which was actually the best thing for Sasong with strengthened bonds with Rivallyn, new ideas and technologies, etc. Their only rivals at the time were my country, but we ignore that, especially because Queen Sivella was probably my favorite queen. Then, Xavier died in battle, while Sivella survived, and let's just say things got bad for Sasong. They're still rebounding from the economic depression during those times.

Long story short, Sasong picked a fight with everyone, lost all those fights, had to pay tribute because of losing, didn't have the money to pay, drained all funds and potential lines of credit, had a drought happen, all this caused a shortage of food, some people tried to overthrow the queen, that didn't end well, and she still stayed on her throne. Finally, she met someone else, they married, but by then the people hated her so much they stormed the castle and killed her and her new husband, making her daughter take the throne, since they also killed her son in the battle.

Sometimes, I really do like history. It's kind of interesting, when you're not talking about all the peaceful times.

Though, side note over, Amelia responded the best out of all of them. Though, she grew up in Rivallyn; women there are trained to not let their true feelings show before they can properly talk.

She instead, smirks and walks straight over to me, before grabbing me by the arm and dragging me to the bow.

"Really? Isn't this sort of my thing?" I ask once she's happy that we're far away enough from everyone to not be overheard.

She pretends to think. "Um, no. Your thing is dragging us by our wrist; I grabbed your forearm. Two different bones, two different modus operandis."

I shake my head. "Alright, fine. Isn't it my thing to grab someone by their arm and drag them wherever I want them to go? What gives?"

"What gives is that you need to know to pay attention, because you are not going to blow it this time." She hisses, and I give her a questioning look.

"Do you know something I don't? Because-" I'm suddenly cut off by her putting one hand up, and the other over my mouth. She really has been taking lessons from me. I'm not sure whether to be happy, or upset.

"What I know is that you are in love with Miguel. You have been for a while. And he likes you. A lot. So, you two are going to be together before this is done. Whether it is married or courting is up to you two; but mark my words it will be one of the two and you aren't getting a chance to mess it up. And you know this, which is why you asked me for help.

"Now, we don't have the usual supplies: make-up, dresses, corsets, and beautiful jewelry to help you bring him in, but he doesn't seem like the type to like that so it might be for the better. Now, as for some minor personality adjustments..." She trails off, glancing over at him, trying, and failing, to not look suspicious.

I take the gap, because I know that if I don't it'll be too late. "First of all, I don't need to wear make-up. It contains lead and mercury, and in large doses is poisonous. I'm pretty sure corpses aren't attractive.

"Next, we know the rule. If you have to change your personality to make a guy like you, find a different guy. Better to not have your dream guy than not be able to be yourself. Besides, when he finds out, he will assume everything is a lie and hate you for it. That's just asking to be disgraced, and if there is one thing I do actually care about that society says I should, it's image."

I know I didn't make any headway. I never do with my group, but a girl can try. She shouldn't expect to succeed, but she can try.

Another excellent indicator is the look Amelia throws my way. There's no way I succeeded with that look, which is telling me exactly where I can put my talk about changing, image and why you should care about it, and deadly makeup.

"So, you were saying personality changes. Might I remind you that you changed your personality for Brady. Now, I have been making a small list of things you should think about changing. I'll have it to you tonight, and do see that you get to it promptly. I will also be doing your hair for the next couple of days, and you won't be getting out of it. I had also better not hear one complaint; it's for your better, and the good of the IEA." When she's done saying her spill and effectively ordering me around, she turns on her heel and goes back to the group, before pulling Maartje aside.

"So, you're just going to let her order you around?" I hear Miguel ask, honestly not knowing that it was him sneaking up on me. I'm going to have to memorize his walking pattern; him walking up on one of my private conversations could end badly.

"Would you dare deny her?" I ask, and he shakes his head.

"No, I get the feeling she's like Maartje when she gets her mind set on something."

"Impossible to stop." We stay together, and I smile.

"So, um, my jacket?" He asks, probably trying to fill the silence.

"Oh, yeah." I say and shrug it off. "Thanks for letting me borrow it."

"No problem," He says smiling big.

"So, any clue what the plan is?" He asks me, as we walk along the railing. All the others are helping set off, but haven't called for our help.

"More like a vague outline. We need to get to Love's Grotto, and hopefully the person who kidnapped Luna is there. If he is, we capture him, and get him to tell us where she is. Then, we go get here, and return before the deadline."

"And if something doesn't go according to your vague outline, emphasis on vague?" He asks, and I don't blame him. That's a shaky plan by my standards, but can't really do much with how much information I have missing.

"Lucky for us, I am amazing at adjusting plans on the fly. As long as I have a five minute warning, I can figure out our best move of action. Anything less and someone might get hurt, but we can deal with that. All of my people know enough surgeon knowledge to get by, and I'm hoping you guys do. If not, let's just hope not everyone is injured."

He shakes his head. "How did you guys survive? If you're the leader, and you think like this, how?"

"Pure luck and sheer will. After all, how would we be able to spite people if we were dead?"

"I have so many questions, and I don't know if I want to know the answer to any of them." He states, and I actually laugh.

"You don't. Trust me, you don't."

"And if I don't take your word for it?" He asks, amusement flickering in his eyes.

"I guess I would just have to tell you some stories of my childhood, with my group. Like how we scaled and repealed off cliffs because we heard we were going to be learning it tomorrow from a source that's not the most trustworthy, and because we couldn't stand someone, we decided to self teach. And we snuck out of home, to a secluded beach, where rip currents and undertows were common, and proceeded to free climb with old moldy rope that we found in a waterlogged shed." At his pained face, I smile and keep on talking.

"Or, there's the time that we decided to eavesdrop on all conversations, and so we planted listening devices in my mother's office so we could hear all conversations going on. Then, we stole a file that we found interesting and proceeded to solve the case ourselves, even though it involved infiltrating a cult."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up. Amelia infiltrated a cult?" He asks, and I give him a look.

"No, during that she was base command and was constantly listening for me to report in. I was the one who infiltrated the cult. You should have heard the chewing out we got for that one. I thought Catherine, my mom, the boss of the IEA, not the sweet thing we have here with us today, was going to wring our necks right then and there. I'm sure she thought about it."

"There are so many things wrong with that, on so many levels. I'm honestly concerned for you guys; did any of you have a normal childhood?" He asks, and I burst out laughing.

"Please define normal and childhood. I know I didn't have either of those, and I doubt anyone else's was normal. However, since you seem to be an expert, what do normal children do?" I ask, seeing his look at my bitterness. That is one conversation I do not want.

"They play with their friends, usually in places they shouldn't, such as the street. They push their parents' limitations, no matter how few they have. Most of the time they like to spend time with their parents, no matter how little they like to admit it. They secretly like their siblings, unless said siblings are awful psychopaths, but if they had the chance to make them leave the family, they will. Back to most of the time liking the parents. It honestly just depends on the child." He answers, and I give him the weird look.

"Okay, so what I got from that is unless the child has an awful home life they like their parents and siblings. They also like to play with their friends.

"The problem is that, according to this, my friends have a normal childhood. Amelia had normal parents for where she lived, however to anywhere else, even over here, it screams child abuse. Of course, it's a daughter so it doesn't really matter. Zeev was decently normal; his parents were spies and constantly gone so of course he's going to be one. He just had to worry about getting kidnapped or his parents dying on a mission when he was five. Katherine... I think she might actually be normal. Her parents had normal, boring, professions. She found the IEA by chance, also known as we found this insanely smart child and we brought her into our circle without hesitation.

"Then there's myself. My father was absent, and my mother was believed to be dead. Friends, until I got into the IEA, none." There's a pause as I realize what I just said.

"No, no, no, no. Absolutely not. I refuse to believe my friends had a childhood whereas I did not. That is completely unacceptable. We need to redefine childhood, now." I start ranting, and he laughs.

"So, I think we can safely say that you are the type to have never lost a card game," He says, and I smile.

"Believe it or not, I never have. Well, not any time that someone can prove at least. Solitaire shouldn't count, since you're not playing against anyone. Nor should the first four times when you're learning the game, especially a complicated game like poker, and it's many variations." I say, flashing him a smile.

"So you don't play that often?" He faux asks, playfully teasing me.

"Oh shut it. I play fairly often; my opponents are just terrible. Let me tell you, noblemen are the worst at poker. Now their wives; those ladies can gossip while dealing you your death hand, and do it while looking like the sweetest things in the world. I guess they get practice though; having to act like you like your husband all the time must be very difficult and tiring." I note, and he shakes his head.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to the life you've had; at least listening to you tell me about it." He says, and suddenly gets called away by Ruben, needing help with something.

He can't hear me whisper, no one can but the sea. "I can't believe it either. It shouldn't be my life; Brady stole my fate. Just like I stole his so long ago, and now I'm paying for it.

"I made him fall in love with me, after taking his spot as leader. I stole his fate. He stole mine by dying; that is the leader's job. And now I'm paying for it, by falling for another guy whilst heading off to die. To fulfill my promise."