Three and half days away from Whitecliff Bay, where the hills grew into the first white peaks of the Horseshoe Mountains and away from prying Silvermark eyes, Kaisa found an old, abandoned river barge buried in a hole covered by a pile of rocks. Kaisa's curiosity for the strangely stacked stones had not only given the Krakens an alternative to haphazardly walking to Sundale but thanks to the tools that the previous owner had left, they had something to do other than grieving for their losses.

It took a week to replace the rot-gnawed planks. Another one to stabilise the hull. Those able to hold a hammer worked on the ship while others recovered in the freshness and unexpected twists of the late Silvermark spring where the principle of four seasons in one day was the rule instead of a strange phenomenon.

Alex mostly steered clear from the Pirates. During the morning she built traps and laid them for the plethora of rabbits and hares that called this hilly shrubland miles from any settlement their home. In the afternoon, she sneaked around until she had scared at least one animal into her snare.

Providing food didn't stop the questions of how she had come to have such powerful ties with the Greenlander royal family, but at least a fully belly made the vengeful looks in some of the Krakens' eyes fade.

When the barge was placed into the water, and they were ready to continue their journey, Alex no longer needed to fear a stab in the back when Captain Ilona wasn't looking.

"Why all the sour faces? We could row back to Malva with this." Nagi chuckled. His white teeth gleamed in the sunlight.

"Pray to the Goddesses of Kindness and Charity that we'll make it to Sundale." Ilona's worried gaze was on the shallow water.

The wood croaked and groaned as the ship slipped over boulders.

There came no crack.

They were safe.

Not comfortable though.

Thirty-four Krakens had made it out of Whitecliff Bay. Too many people too tightly packed in a ship that in its glory years housed not even half.

Pan's theory was the barge had once belonged to a smuggler of magicians. Someone who would take people from one small river to the next. He or she had been a magician too, so Pan claimed—that was the only explanation they had found the ship in the middle of nowhere. Nagi believed the ship belonged to the Silvermark army, then left behind when there weren't enough silverlings to keep the barge sea-worthy. Not long after that, Rico came with a third theory that there had once been a village in this region but that a magician had come to destroy it all.

Alex didn't say anything though the story physically hurt her with a yearning to a time before Katla had set fire to Laneby. Nearly thirteen and a half, and yet she had seen too many people die; not only at the hand of magicians.

But whatever the story of the mysterious barge was, it kept the Krakens from thinking too much about what would be waiting for them in Sundale.

Alex wasn't sure either what to expect either. There was so much to tell, and so much she didn't want to tell. Would she mention Fox? Or would he be the key to convince the King to listen to her?

She wished she didn't have to worry so much; a yearning for simpler times.

Two nights and many more worries later, when they had returned to the sea, the wind came down from the mountains and dangerously rocked the barge. Ilona ordered the Krakens to bring the boat to shore and wait out the storm.

One by one, the Krakens laid down in the sand and closed their eyes.

But not Alex. She couldn't sleep with while the imaginary sword of marriage dangled above her head once more. She wasn't ready to exchange the wild pirate life where no day was the same for the boring stability of a husband who expected her to cook, clean, and bear him children. Preferably sons.

She walked up to Pan who was still awake and carving into a piece of driftwood.

"There's something I need to ask." She sat next to him, biting her lip.

"Other than the complete trust for you and my mother's insanity?" He dug the knife deeper into the wood.

"King Thomas might be able to help. But I don't know what he'll ask of you," she said. It was the truth. Pan couldn't blame her for that.

"That royal ass will chop our heads off. Or worse... he'll turn it into a spectacle. Find the sharpest diamond-coated greatshield in his treasure chamber, then use that to behead us. Three—BAM—dead, then the next ones. We'll be entertaining his people."

"No, he uses a broadsword," she said.

"That's not very reassuring, Greenie," he mumbled. He sniffed. "But... er... you've seen him do it? Execute people?"

"No, I'm a girl. The Greenlands is... different." She twisted a strand of hair around her finger. "And that's why I have to ask you this... it may seem strange."

Pan sighed. "It can't be stranger than us walking away from the one King promising us silverlings and heading straight towards the man who wants to see all Pirates dead."

"Alright." She took a deep breath. "I want you to pretend to be my fiancé."

"What?" Pan raised his voice. "This is a joke, right? I'm going to wake up any minute now in the Cove of Elo with the mother of all hangovers."

Alex pinched Pan's thigh. "This is real, but our engagement isn't. I just want you to confirm that you're gonna marry me. You don't have to do... it's just that..."

"That...?" He shuffled away from her.

"I'm well aware of what I'm asking." Alex rubbed her temples. How was she going to explain this without revealing too much? "I made this arrangement with the King and Queen that allowed me to travel to the Islands, but if I ever returned, they would marry me off to one of their friends. I wanna bring your mother in contact with him, but I don't want to get married."

"It's not my problem."

"You'd be the husband-to-be of the Pirate Boyar..." Alex suggested. When she saw his pensive eyebrows, she added, "See it as extra leverage. A safety measure to bargain a better deal. Have better cards in our hands."

"What if the crazy royal couple wants to conduct the marriage?" Pan said after a while.

Alex hadn't considered that. She said the first thing that came to mind. "You steal a horse and run away?"

"Steal a ship and sail away—that's more my style," Pan mused. "But I don't know..."

"You'd make the Greenlander Crown Prince very jealous," Alex said, hoping the Goddess of Envy would descend on Pan.

"Is he in love with you?" He narrowed his eyes.

"We kissed."

"And will I get to kiss you too?"

"N..." She swallowed. "You're my fiance—I don't see why not."

"Good." He nodded. "Then you can count me in."

The journey south took a few more weeks with regular breaks to hide from bad weather and other humans alike. They passed Burnfirth-By-Sea on a moonless night, then took a smaller river road the long way around Fortmouth to avoid the common traffic heading towards the capital via the River Fortitude that turned into the River Faith after Faithville. Instead, they would take the meandering bends of the river Hope that ended a two-day walk from Sundale.

Along the way, Pan was eager to show the Krakens that he and Alex were a couple. The more people believed it was real, the more the King and Queen would be convinced it was real. That was what Pan said, anyway.

Though annoyed by his sweaty arm pulling her tight to him and the bad taste of his kisses, Alex played along. For now—if she had to turn on him to save her own skin, she would.

Summer came with all the green that gave the country its namesake. Corn and potato plants grew high in the fields. From time to time, Large willow trees provided shelter from the blazing sun. Oak and birch trees housed pigeons, squirrels and other tasty animals that ended up spit-roasted. Not a mile passed without finding a berry bush or some wild grape ranks.

Then the river became too narrow to continue. They buried the barge beneath leaves and branches—in case they had to return.

They only had to follow the noise to find the road to Sundale. It was packed with sweaty people and carts stacked until they were almost too heavy to carry. Horses and wagons rode alongside gallivanting children who were singing songs and laughing with an innocence Alex knew she would never regain.

"I don't care so much about the summer games," said a woman with a babe resting against her bosom. "The market will twice the size of a normal Feast of the Dead festival. They've got people from everywhere." She gesticulated at them. "Even Islanders and Scorians."

"We need to blend in," Pan whispered to her.

"No need," Alex whispered back. "And be quiet. Large crowds are the best place to learn new rumours."

"Why do you care?" Pan asked.

"Welcome to my world," she said. "Greenlander women pay for friendship with gossip."

An exaggeration. But she mostly wanted to know what she had missed in the moons she had been away from Sunstone Castle.

The people on the road didn't disappoint. Lana was still unmarried—much to the dismay of some older ladies, but more importantly, Seb had run away from home. A young boy and his brother—both not older than five or six—reenacted with wooden swords and a lot of groaning and laughter how Prince Sebastian had slain the rogue officer who had abducted the General up in the mountains. Seb had gone to the base all by himself.

The smaller of the two tugged at his father's hand. "Now you have to come, Father. You have to play King Thomas who led the army to free General George."

"It wasn't the King who led the army," the man said. "Captain Stephen did."

"I heard it was Lieutenant Bart," said another man.

"No." The small boy puffed up his cheeks. "It was the King. Everybody listens to him."

Alex smiled. Not everybody. Seb, Lana, and especially Queen Crystal rather argued than listened to King Thomas.

Though the crowd moved slowly, and her feet began to ache, Alex was learning a lot. Stephen was Captain now that Captain Jonathan had assisted in letting Sebastian go to Whitepeak. Nick's patrol leader had been promoted to Lieutenant. And General George would be making his first public appearance since his liberation. Most doubted that he had made a full recovery, though nobody seemed to know just how injured he had been.

She would soon find out.

After spending the night in a crowded tavern where they shared two rooms with the entire crew and drank away the remainder of the pouch Nagi had stolen, the Krakens left as soon as Ilona was awake. She wished to meet the King today.

"It's best that I talk to Prince Sebastian alone," Alex said to her.

"No way, Greenie." Ilona tilted her head back, not looking at Alex. "I'm not going to let you slip back to your old routines. My son has told me about the deal you made with him. And since you're so good at making deals, I propose you arrange that you, me, and him can see King Thomas. Together."

"For that, I would need to speak to the Prince." Then Alex added again, "Alone."

"I'm too old to fall for tricks like that. King or Prince—I don't care. Wherever you go, I and Pan go."

Alex flicked her head towards the Captain. "Fine. But don't whine when Seb and I  discuss topics you know nothing about."

"As long as you arrange me a ship I'm not going to complain."

"Oh, and one more thing," she said casually. "If you betray me, I'm taking you down with me, Boyar."

"I would have expected nothing else, Captain," Alex replied.