Perryn POV:

It was around midnight when there was a knock at our bedroom door. Both William and I wearily raised our heads to stare at it. The knock came again.

“What?” William mumbled, stretching.

The door flew open and Colten stomped in, “Come on!” He cried, “You’re missing the party!”

“What party?” I asked, pulling the covers over my head. Colten pulled them away, “Everyone’s gathered in the kitchen except you two. Get up, let’s go!”

“I don’t wanna!” I mumbled.

Colten grabbed my arms, dragged me out of bed and began to pull me down the hall.

William followed quietly, yawning the whole way as we went down to the dining room again. This time, we went straight through the dining room to the kitchen. It was a large kitchen with counters fool of food and cabinets overflowing. A large chandelier hung in the middle of the room, and this was where everyone was. Serah and Elizabeth both lay on top of the chandelier, watching lazily as we approached.

“Why do they remind me of cats?” William whispered to me.

“Because they’re super judgmental.” I replied.

As we joined their small circle, a wonderful smell hit me.

“Is someone…baking bread?” I asked.

“I am!” Came Lydia’s happy chirp from somewhere in the kitchen. The others all had slices of bread in their hands and were hungrily wolfing it down. I glanced at Amber, who was stuffing her mouth with the bread. She frowned at me, “What? Don’t judge me, it’s good.”

Henry held out a piece to me and I took it. It tasted amazing compared to what we had been eating on the ship. On the ship we had been eating crackers, salted meat and every once in a while, a fruit or two that we picked up in some driftwood. It was what we had survived on on the pirate ship. But the bread was homemade and warm. Something I hadn’t tasted in a long time.

Lydia POV:

I happily watched as everyone ate the the bread that I had baked. It was a small feat, but it was an important one. Before my mom had died, I had always baked bread with her for dinner. She’d bury my hands in flour and make me pat the dough as she kneaded it. It was one of the only memories I had of her, besides the stories Tanner used to tell me. I looked at him. There was pride in his eyes, which made me flush happily. He didn’t express many emotions, but I knew what he thought all the time. I remembered that he had secretly been delighted in having the royals aboard our ship, although he had been cold to them. I often caught him stealing quick glances at Rachel. I told him to talk to her, but he was nervous, which I found cute. Henry teased him, saying ‘The Great Tanner Forrester is too afraid to talk to a girl! Such a pity!” At which Tanner would reply with a loud boom, “The Great Henry Black, vanquisher of sea sirens, is too afraid to talk to a girl whom he obviously is in love with!” At which we would all start laughing at Henry’s surprised face. I still had to find out which girl he spoke of. But it really wasn’t that hard as I thought of Kate, the only other single girl. I was pretty sure Amber and Philip were courting, but I still couldn’t be sure.

Elizabeth jumped from the chandelier, dropping next to me and plucking a piece of bread from my hand. She leaned against the counter and smirked at the royals’ faces. They all had faces of pure delight and happiness. I grinned at her when her face molded the same after taking a bite. She pushed me away, “Back off Forrester.”

Serah dropped beside me, silently and gracefully. I glanced around the circle and saw Perryn glance up at Serah, his eyes flashing with an emotion I could not comprehend. Normally, I could read everyone’s body and facial language. It was easy for me to see when people were angry, sad or gleeful. But this time, I couldn’t read Perryn’s or Serah’s. Serah didn’t show facial expressions, I mainly looked at her eyes and body language.

I remember nearly five years ago, when I had been only twelve, and Tanner and I had met her. Having Colten find us hidden on the ship had been one of the scariest moments in my life. He had retrieved Serah and revealed us to her. At first she had been cold, rude and bitter. But she eventually warmed up to us, Elizabeth especially, and it became easier to read her thoughts. When I had related my childhood with Tanner to her and Elizabeth, her turquoise eyes somehow seemed to change color to a deep navy blue as she watched me with pity. I remember how hard it had been for me to choke out my story, but then Elizabeth hugged me and Serah merely watched me with her blue eyes. She wasn’t much for physical expressions, but her gaze somehow meant more to me than any hug. In the first few years that we had known her, she had made it clear we weren’t to ask any personal questions. But eventually, she did share her story, but we swore to never reveal it to anyone.