“Lanna, can I get down now?”

“Yup.”

Tobin watched Lanna lift Ben off of her shoulders and set him down on the cobblestone before recapturing his hand. She had carried him most of the way to the docks and the entire time, Tobin hadn’t managed to come up with much to say.

As they stepped onto the wharf, their footsteps began to echo against the wooden planks, further punctuating the awkward silence. It made Tobin want to sink through the dock and disappear. He had endured awkward encounters before, but he’d never found himself quite this flustered before.

When Lescelli stepped forward to take the lead, he felt almost grateful, because Ben was eager to converse with her and at least it broke the silence.

“Which boat are we going on?” he asked eagerly.

For a moment, Lescelli didn’t answer, then she pointed out a wooden sailship that was docked next to the barge she had come in on yesterday. “This one,” she declared.

She led them around the side to where the ramp up was already in place. As she stepped onto it, Lanna stopped walking and it pulled Ben to a stop, so Tobin paused too. “A-are you sure this is alright?”

“Of course,” Lescelli responded. She was paused partway up the ramp and glanced back at them over her shoulder. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

Lanna shifted from foot to foot and began chewing on her lip. “Well…don’t you need permission from a captain to just board a ship like this?”

Lescelli nodded. “Yeah, you should never just invite yourself onto a vessel, especially if none of the crew are around, but we’re fine. This ship is mine.”

Lanna’s eyes widened, but she still seemed hesitant, so Tobin risked reaching out to touch her shoulder. He jerked his head forward. “Come on,” he urged. “We won’t get in trouble or anything.”

Even if Lanna had wanted to protest further, Ben took the invitation in full and charged up the ramp after Lescelli, yanking free of Lanna’s grip as he did so. She was quick to follow after him and Tobin brought up the rear. When he got up the ramp, Ben was twirling around in the center of the deck. “Woah, this is yours? It looks like a pirate ship! Are you pirates?” he squealed.

Lescelli chuckled and shook her head, but Ben didn’t appear to be paying attention.

“This ship is so cool! Can I go up there?” He tilted his head back and stretched his arm up to indicate to the crow’s nest high above all their heads. He didn’t give anyone a chance to answer before he was onto the next thing. “Will you let me steer? I want to drive the boat. Oh! You have a cannon! Can I fire it?” The young boy scurried up to the heavy weapon and reached out to brush his fingers over it with his eyes wide in awe. He was quivering like a leaf with excess energy.

“Woah now. Take it easy there, pipsqueak,” Lescelli laughed as she walked over. She placed her hands on his shoulders and gently steered him away from the cannon. “We can’t fire the cannons while docked, it’s dangerous and someone could get hurt. Besides, I think the cannonballs might be a bit too heavy yet for you to lift. And we aren’t going out to sea, I’m afraid. A crew of four is a bit too small to man this boat, and my crew is taking a well-earned day off.” She tousled his hair and gave him a pat on the back. “But perhaps we can go out another time if your parents say you can come. I’ll take you all for the afternoon and you can hold the wheel for a bit then, alright?”

“Okay.”

Lanna caught up with Ben and reclaimed his hand. “Ben, please do not run off like that. I do not want to have to try to explain to your mother if something happened to you.”

“I’m sorry, Lanna,” the boy offered. A lot of his energy seemed to abandon him as he wrapped his arms around her. “Don’t be mad at me.”

“I’m not mad,” she assured him. Tobin watched as she stroked the boy’s hair. “I just want to make sure that you’re safe is all.” She hugged him tightly before glancing up at Lescelli. “I’m sorry about that.”

“I’m sorry too,” Ben whimpered. “It was rude of me.”

Lescelli squatted down beside the boy and shook her head. “Nah, you’re fine, pipsqueak.” She balled her fingers into a loose fist and bumped him on the arm. “You were supposed to be having lunch, right? Why don’t you go plop down on the stairs there and eat, and I’ll give you a grand tour afterwards. Show you the brig and everything.”

Ben’s eyes lit up, but it was Lanna who spoke up. “That sounds like a better idea than climbing ropes or shooting off cannons,” she decided. “Come on, food first.”

She began leading him over to the stairs, and Lescelli rose to rejoin Tobin. As he watched her approach, Tobin couldn’t help but notice the demeanour change. Most of the time, Lescelli flipped from aggressive to saucy depending on the situation, but with Ben, she had been calm and gentle, and it was rather a surprising attitude from her.

As she reached him, Tobin inclined his head towards Ben. “You know, you’re rather good with-”

“Finish that thought and I’ll break your hand,” Lescelli warned. And just like that, she was back to the normal he was still adjusting to. Lescelli’s usual was far from truly normal and it was hard to keep up with her sometimes.

“What? You don’t like children?”

“No, I do. It’s just not something I want widely known is all. If it got back to my father…it would just reaffirm what he thinks my place in life should be. I like kids, but that doesn’t mean I want any of my own. If anything, I might adopt, but years from now. I’m not ready to settle for a domestic life.”

“I can’t picture you in one.”

Lescelli frowned. “Is that a jab? I wasn’t kidding about your hand.”

“I rest my case,” Tobin taunted. He elbowed her lightly in the side and then took an instinctive step back as her gaze hardened into a glower. When he sobered, he sighed. “I don’t understand your father…or mine. You’d think all a parent would want is for us to be happy. But the one thing I don’t get is all of this,” he admitted as he gestured around the ship. “Sailing seems like it would clash with his old-fashioned perspective. You do know how, right?”

Lescelli snorted and offered him a similar bump of her fist that she did for Ben, just with more force behind it. “Of course I do. I can man any of the barges too. Back home, the ocean is our main source of livelihood and resources. Everyone on the isles learns the ropes of sailing, man or woman. It’s one of the few things I can openly enjoy.”

Tobin nodded. “I’m sorry.”

When Lescelli didn’t reply, Tobin glanced at her. She was staring past him out at the water and appeared lost in thought.

He didn’t know her well enough to read her emotions from her expression, but she didn’t seem to be in any distress – at least not much more than she usually seemed to experience – and he doubted she would appreciate him prying anyway. She would say something if she wanted his aid or input. Instead, his gaze drifted over to Lanna.

She was hovering over Ben and rooting through the crumpled paper bag he had been carrying around. She pulled out a thick slice of brown bread crusted in seeds, and a slice of cheese to go on top. As soon as she handed it to Ben, the young boy dug into his lunch.

Lanna touched his shoulder before standing up and leaning against the rail of the boat. Ben hardly seemed to notice her in favour of his food.

“Now she has a nurturing instinct,” Lescelli pointed out as she prodded Tobin.

Tobin’s face flushed and on instinct, he hastily clapped a hand over Lescelli’s mouth. He stared at Lanna, but she gave no indication that she had heard Lescelli’s teasing comment. The heat was still burning in his cheeks as he stared Lescelli down. “That doesn’t matter. I don’t want…that is…I don’t want kids anytime soon either,” he protested.

There was a moment of silence before a glowering Lescelli swiped his hand away and then she began to laugh hard enough that she doubled over at the waist. “You are so easy to fluster,” she proclaimed. “I was only teasing. But you really should go talk to her. That was the point in all of this, remember? Do you feel ready this time?”

Tobin rubbed the back of his neck and nodded. Ben was distracted and things were calm for the moment. He took a breath. “Wish me luck.”

He made his way over to where Lanna was leaning against the rail of the ship. She wasn’t paying attention to him, but he took a breath and swallowed his apprehension. “Isn’t this supposed to be your lunch break too?”

“I’m not that hungry,” Lanna replied. There was a hollowness to her tone that made Tobin turn and examine her carefully. She had one forearm flat against the rail and her whole body leaned forward. From a distance, the pose had looked casual, but now that he was right beside her, he could see how the fingers of both of her hands were digging into the wood and her knuckles were turning white. Her head was bowed, with some of her hair falling to conceal part of her face, and she seemed to be staring down at the water directly below the hull of the ship. Her breathing was shaky and her shoulders rigid. It made him wonder what was distressing her. His heart sunk as he considered that his proximity had caused a demeanour shift.

“Are you alright?” he ventured.

A breath whistled out from between Lanna’s clenched teeth and she shifted her weight. “I just have mixed feelings about ships, is all.”

“Have you been on many?”

She shook her head. “Just the once…it was not a pleasant experience.”

“Bad weather?”

Lanna pursed her lips. “Something like that.”

“Would you rather leave? We don’t have to stay on deck if you’re uncomfortable.” He felt it unnecessary to add that she could also just leave on her own if she didn’t want to linger around them any longer.

Lanna’s gaze turned to his and her vivid blue eyes sparkled with a mild annoyance. “Have you ever tried to disappoint a six-year-old?”

“No?” Then Tobin flushed as he realized her implication. He ducked his head. “I suppose we did force your hand a little bit there,” he admitted. “I’m sorry, Lanna. It was never my intention to put you on the spot or make you uncomfortable.”

Lanna pursed her lips and shrugged. Her fingers drummed on the railing, producing a soft clacking noise from her nails. “It’s alright. I didn’t think you or your partner meant anything malicious by it…I am just not the greatest with people. I’ve never enjoyed crowds.”

“Lescelli and I aren’t partners,” he clarified. “We’re just friends. But I am sorry. I thought I was good with people, but I’ve been learning that I’m really not. It’s something I’m going to have to work on.”

Lanna clucked her tongue and hummed. “How’s your lunch, Ben?” she asked. As she turned pointedly away from Tobin to focus on the child, Tobin sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

This had gone far from well.

“Ith’s gooth,” Ben declared around a mouthful of food. He barely swallowed before he took another massive bite and continued chomping away.

“Slow down so you don’t choke,” Lanna scolded. She reached back into the paper bag and pulled out a small bottle of red liquid. “And drink this too.”

Ben made a face. “Yuck.”

“Cranberry juice is good for you,” Lanna reminded.

Ben stuck his tongue out again, then continued eating his meal. He was nearly done with it.

“Your mother would not have sent it with us if she didn’t want you to have it, so drink it or you’ll get us both into trouble,” Lanna laughed.

Her easy demeanour with the young boy was the only thing keeping Tobin from giving up. There was genuine happiness in her, rather than just the front she put on for customers, and he wanted to experience more of it.

Before he could think of something more to say, Lanna’s attention became fixated on the side of the ship, where they had first come up the ramp. Tobin turned to follow her gaze, and a moment later there were several sets of boots thudding against the wood as four new people boarded the boat. Three men and a woman, who moved with enough swift confidence that Tobin assumed they were part of the ship’s crew.

At the front of the pack was a tall, bulky man with a stubbled salt and pepper beard and a large, wide-brimmed navy hat that had a yellow feather arcing up. He immediately turned towards Tobin and Lanna, and then to Ben still sitting on the steps with his lunch. His brows furrowed and his lips pursed as his eyes darted up and down while examining them. “Sorry folks, but this vessel ain’t open to tourists. I’m afraid you’ll all have to scram now.”

Lanna rose immediately and began fumbling for Ben’s hand, but whatever apology she had been about to utter died with a croak on her lips as Lescelli pointedly cleared her throat.

Since she was still leaning against the rail across the deck, it wasn’t surprising that the crew hadn’t immediately noticed her, but they did now. The man who had spoken to them shifted his weight and dipped into a bow. “Lady Rizzet-”

The man cut himself off when Lescelli coughed again. “Spare me. My father is not here.”

The man paused and his gaze slid between Lescelli and Tobin before he cleared his throat and straightened up from his bow. “Lescelli,” he greeted. His tone had far more warmth now. “I wasn’t expecting to see you on deck this afternoon.”

“I do like defying expectations,” Lescelli reminded. Her comment caused a chuckle to ripple through the four sailors, but her focus wasn’t on them. “Lanna, please relax. You don’t have to leave. Argul, I invited them aboard and I’d like for them to stay if it’s not too much hassle.”

“Of course not, Milady,” Argul replied.

Tobin flinched instinctively as the man spoke and Lescelli scowled. It was only yesterday that he’d made that mistake and his hand still throbbed from the incident. “That’s a dangerous name,” he muttered. Based on Lescelli’s pursed lips and darkened gaze, Tobin imagined she agreed with his statement about calling her ‘Milady’.

Once he said it, another of the crew members indicated in his direction with a finger and nodded. He had one side of his head shaved, while the other half was spiked up with a gel. The sandy strands cast shadows over his bearded face, and he had several metal hoops pierced into one ear.

Argul merely began to chuckle. “Usually so, lad. Lescelli here is a rose with more thorns than petals.” He clapped her on the back as he spoke. Argul was a larger man and the blow had been firm, but Lescelli barely flinched. “But I’ve known her since before she could crawl or hold a rope, so I can get away with a bit more.”

“Only so much more,” Lescelli warned.

Argul nodded. “Then either fire me or introduce us to your new friends,” he baited.

Lescelli sighed and stepped forward. “This is Lord Warinford’s Heir apparent, Tobin. He’s also my escort for this trip, but as far as escorts go, he’s the least offensive so far. I might almost consider him a friend. And then this is Lanna and Ben Halliwin.”

“It’s nice to meet you folks,” Argul stated. He tipped his hat in their direction. “Our crew’s a bit scattered at the moment, but this is Hira, Dobex, and Crowface.”

As he introduced them, each of the crewmembers raised a hand in greeting. First was Hina, whose hair was pulled into a high tail and partially concealed beneath a blue and white polka-dotted bandana. She had a large gold hoop in each ear and the hand she waved at them with had been tattooed on the back to look like all of her bones were exposed down to the wrist. The tight cords of muscle along her bare arms made Tobin certain she could hold her own against any of the taller, broader men, despite her noticeably shorter stature.

After her was Dobex, who was dressed in all gray and had no visible tattoos or piercings, but his dark hair fell past his shoulders and was braided with colourful wooden beads hanging on the strands. They clacked together noisily as he moved his head. Tobin wasn’t sure he would have been able to tolerate that constantly, but Dobex clearly didn’t mind or he wouldn’t wear them.

Crowface was the one who had agreed with Tobin earlier, and he merely grinned now.

“Crowface is kind of a funny name,” Ben announced.

“Ben! Manners!” Lanna scolded.

Meanwhile, Argul began to laugh. “Aye. Even funnier when you know the story of how he got it,” he agreed.

“How did he get it?” Ben pressed, apparently unfazed by Lanna’s earlier warning.

“Ben here has been itching for a tour of the ship,” Lescelli announced. “Why don’t we show you below deck and we’ll tell you the story, pipsqueak?”

“That’s not my name,” Ben protested as he bounded over to them with a skip in his step. “It’s Ben.”

Lescelli clucked her tongue and waggled a finger at him. “When you grow up, then you get to contest me. For now, I call it as I see it, pipsqueak. When you’re aboard a vessel like this, you have to earn respect and a title.”

Ben huffed, but he took her hand regardless when Lescelli offered it, and followed her and the others down below without hesitation.

As they began to disappear from sight, Lanna hurried by him to catch up. He didn’t want to lose another granted opportunity to talk to her alone, so Tobin reached out and grabbed for her arm. “Lanna, hold on a moment,” he requested. His hand closed around part of her cloak and wound up tugging on it as she continued moving.

As soon as it pulled taut, Lanna froze. Her entire body went rigid, and she pivoted on her foot to face him. It was in the blink of an eye that she’d torn the material free of his hand and her gaze blazed with such an intense fury that Tobin felt rooted in place. His heart seized in his chest and his lips parted with dismay as every instinct and muscle locked up under her scrutiny. For a moment, he was almost convinced he could hear her growling – and it sounded inhuman – but that seemed ridiculous. Still, a girl who had seemed so sweet and calm initially was now terrifying to behold.

Before he could say anything, the rage in her gaze burned out on its own. She looked away and her posture slumped as she tucked some hair back behind her ear. “I am sorry, Tobin,” she murmured. She pulled her cloak tighter to her body. “This is just very important to me…I don’t like other people handling it.”

“I’m sorry,” Tobin offered once he’d recovered. “I didn’t know. I didn’t mean to upset you. It seems like that’s all I’ve done today. I just wanted to get to know you better. Instead, I’ve offended you and made you uncomfortable and put you in a tricky situation. I never would have brought you and Ben here if I’d known you weren’t so good with boats. Do you want me to invent a reason we all need to leave, so you don’t have to worry about disappointing him?”

Lanna pursed her lips and shook her head. “No,” she sighed. “It’s alright. I know you meant no true harm. Besides, I need to face my fears.”

“Why?” Tobin pressed. He took a step closer to her. After her silent outburst, she seemed a little more forthcoming and he hoped he could finally learn something more about her.

Lanna’s breath heaved from her chest all at once and she bowed her head. “I intend to cross the sea at some point. I don’t know of another way to do it than by ship.”

Tobin frowned as he mulled over the information. “You want to leave your family?” he clarified. “Why?”

Lanna shook her head. “The Halliwins have been incredibly kind to me, but I’ve only known them a few months. I’m not exactly a local.”

“Ah…Where is your family then? Where are you from?”

Lanna glanced at him again. This time, her gaze was clouded over, and her eyes seemed sunken in with pain. She shook her head and looked away.

Tobin winced. “Oh. Lanna, I’m-”

She held up a hand to cut him off. “Don’t apologize,” she requested. “I don’t want pity. I had to come to terms with it a long time ago.”

Tobin nodded awkwardly. They lapsed into silence for a few moments before he took a breath and gathered his courage. “Lanna, I know you hardly know me and I probably haven’t given you much reason to want to, but I’d really like the opportunity to be friends if you’re willing to consider it.”

Lanna hesitated. “Tobin, I don’t know. You seem fine, but I’m not very good with social engagements. People…make me nervous.”

“I understand,” Tobin acknowledged. “I’m not great at it either. But I know it can be lonely, just working all the time and never doing anything for yourself. Why not give it a chance and see?”

“I-” Before she could finish her thought, their conversation was interrupted as Lescelli returned with Ben in her arms. He was slumped against her torso and it seemed to spur Lanna into immediate action as she hurried over. “Is he alright?” she demanded.

Lescelli nodded. “Oh, he’s fine. I think he might just be up past his naptime is all. He was a bundle of energy right up until a few minutes ago when he crashed pretty hard. Got all quiet and droopy and started to sway on his feet. I’m sure he’ll be fine after a nap.”

“Don’t need…nap,” Ben complained sluggishly around a yawn. “I wanna stay.”

Lanna sighed and leaned forward with her arms outstretched to grab the young boy. “Come here, Ben,” she urged.

“M’kay.” Ben twisted to hug Lanna around the neck, releasing Lescelli in the process and immediately slumped down once more as soon as she had him settled in her arms.

“I should take him home,” she decided. “Thank you for inviting us along, I’m glad he had a good time.”

“It was no trouble,” Lescelli agreed. “The little pipsqueak is welcome back anytime. He might make half a decent sailor when he’s older. Certainly has the passion for it.”

Lanna shook her head. “I don’t think his parents will appreciate that knowledge much.”

“Do you need some help getting him home?”

Lanna shook her head once more. “No, I’m fine, but thank you. Oh, and Tobin?” She glanced at him and shrugged. “I’ll see you around.”

Tobin stiffened with surprise. He had been expecting her to refuse based on how hesitant she had seemed. However, she was already walking away, so he didn’t have a chance to say anything more other than to wave awkwardly at her back.

“Hey! Progress, eh?” Lescelli teased. She bopped him on the arm twice, once with each fist, and grinned ear to ear. “There might be hope for you after all.”

“Lescelli, are you playing matchmaker with your suitor?” Argul inquired from the top of the stairs leading down into the belly of the boat. He had his arms crossed and a brow raised. “That’s far from appropriate.”

Lescelli shrugged and her grin widened. “What can I say? I’m a meddler,” she laughed. She punched Tobin one final time. “Now, you owe me the beach tomorrow. It’s still summer and I like my odds.”

Tobin rolled his eyes and offered his hand out for a shake. “Deal,” he agreed.