CHAPTER 39: [39] A CAPTAIN’S QUARTERS

The Crimson Sparrow glided through dark water, but the adrenaline had long since bled out, leaving a cold, heavy exhaustion in Pierre’s bones. Each step down the narrow stairs into the ship’s belly was a conscious effort.

Three people.

Two rooms.

One ship.

The common area was a study in compact utility. A curved wooden table, bolted to the floor, was hugged by built-in benches.

Across from it, the brass fixtures of a small galley gleamed in the warm lamplight, hinting at the expensive craft of the vessel. Two doors led off from this central space.

Alyssa stood before the larger door, her hand resting on the brass handle like she was claiming territory. Her platinum hair caught the amber glow from the oil lamp mounted on the wall, and those pale green eyes held the same imperious gleam they’d carried in the restaurant back in Hotaru Town.

"This is the Captain’s Cabin," she announced. "It’s my ship. It’s my room. I’ll be taking it, thank you very much."

Pierre raised an eyebrow.

"Hold on there, Princess." He leaned against the doorframe of the smaller cabin, crossing his arms. "Last I checked, you gave this ship to your Captain. Is it not tradition for the Captain to get the Captain’s Quarters?"

"Tradition? You’ve been on a boat for exactly six hours. Don’t lecture me about maritime tradition."

"Six hours longer than you’ve been free of Daddy’s leash."

The color drained from Alyssa’s face, then flooded back in a rush of crimson that made her look like she might spontaneously combust. Her fingers tightened on the handle until her knuckles were white. The brass handle gave a low, metallic groan under the strain.

"How dare you—"

"Oh, aren’t we precious."

Raven stood at the bottom of the stairs, one hip cocked against the wall, arms folded beneath her chest.

"You two are arguing about who gets the fancy bed?" Raven’s grin was all teeth. "That’s adorable. Really. But here’s the thing—the only person on this floating palace who can actually sail it and navigate us to our destination without running us aground on some rocks is me."

She pushed off from the wall. "And I sleep best with a proper mattress and enough room to spread out. So you two can figure out who gets the floor."

Pierre scrubbed a hand through his red hair, massaging his temples. "Wait, so you’re staying? Permanently?"

Raven’s cocky expression faltered for just a moment.

"I..." She glanced away, studying the brass fittings on the galley counter. "That depends on a lot of things."

"Such as?"

"Such as whether me and Miss Princess two can go five minutes without trying to murder each other."

Pierre looked between the two women, noting the way Alyssa’s jaw was still tight with anger and how Raven kept avoiding direct eye contact. The ship creaked gently around them, riding the swells with the easy motion of a well-built vessel.

He sighed. "Alright. Fair solution. I’ll take the guest cabin. You two can share the Captain’s quarters."

Alyssa’s head snapped toward him, those pale green eyes wide. "Share? With—" She gestured vaguely in Raven’s direction. "With her

?"

"Problem, Princess?" Raven’s grin returned, sharper than before. "Afraid I might steal the silverware while you sleep?"

"I’m not afraid of anything." Alyssa lifted her chin. "If Red insists on being reasonable, then fine. I’ll share the Captain’s quarters with him."

"Red?" Raven’s eyebrows climbed toward her hairline. "Oh, that’s precious. You’re so willing to share a bed with a man whose name you don’t even know? How wonderfully bold of you, Princess."

The color rushed back to Alyssa’s cheeks. "I—that’s not—his name is obviously—"

She faltered, her mouth forming the beginning of a word, then snapping shut.

"Pierre," he supplied helpfully. "Though ’Red’ works too, I suppose."

"Pierre." Alyssa tested the name like she was tasting wine. "Pierre..."

"There we go." Raven clapped her hands together in mock celebration. "Now that we’ve established that Princess here was ready to sleep with a complete stranger, shall we move on to the part where she realizes how ridiculous that sounds?"

The color flooded Alyssa’s cheeks, a blotchy, furious crimson that crept up her neck and burned at the tips of her ears. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

"You—you absolute—"

"Careful," Raven interrupted, her voice dropping to a purr. "Your breeding is showing."

The silence that followed was the kind that preceded either violence or complete social collapse.

"Fine!" Alyssa spun toward the smaller cabin door, yanking it open so hard it bounced off the wall. "Fine! I’ll take the guest quarters. At least there I won’t have to listen to your insufferable—"

She disappeared into the smaller room, and the door slammed shut behind her with enough force to rattle the brass fixtures.

Raven burst into laughter. "Oh, that was even easier than I thought it would be."

"You did that on purpose."

"Obviously." She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "Princess types are so predictable. Poke their pride in just the right spot and they’ll do exactly what you want while thinking it was their idea."

Pierre shook his head, but he couldn’t quite suppress a smile. "You’re terrible."

"I’m effective." Raven stretched, her arms reaching toward the low ceiling. "And now you get the fancy Captain’s cabin all to yourself. Congratulations, Captain."

She moved toward the curved bench by the common table, testing the padding with one hand. "This’ll do fine for me. I’ve slept in worse places."

"You don’t have to—"

"Pierre." She looked up at him, and for a moment her expression was serious. "I’m crew, not cargo. I’ll earn my keep and my space. Besides, someone needs to take the night watch, and I doubt Princess Tantrum in there knows port from starboard."

Through the thin wall of the guest cabin came the sound of things being moved around with unnecessary force, followed by what might have been muffled cursing in a language Pierre didn’t recognize.

"She’s not that bad," he said, though he wasn’t entirely sure why he was defending Alyssa.

"Just you wait," Raven said, pulling off her boots and setting them neatly beside her feet. "You don’t un-learn a lifetime of being a princess in one afternoon. She still thinks ordering people around is a personality."

Pierre pushed open the door to the Captain’s cabin and was met with a wall of cloying floral perfume—Alyssa’s ghost. The room was easily twice the size of the guest quarters, dominated by a massive bed covered in silk sheets and pillows.

A built-in desk sat beneath a row of portholes that looked out over the dark ocean. Oil lamps in brass sconces cast warm light over polished wood and expensive furnishings.

It was, without question, the most luxurious sleeping space he’d ever seen.

It was also completely empty of anything that felt like him.

He sat on the edge of the bed, the mattress soft enough to swallow him whole. Through the walls, he could hear Raven moving around in the common area, the soft sounds of someone settling in for the night. From the guest cabin came continued bumping and what might have been someone repeatedly punching a pillow.

Pierre pulled off his boots and set them beside the bed, then reached up to touch the sea-blue stone hanging around his neck. Mika’s gift felt warm against his fingertips, a reminder of solid ground and honest people and the kind of simple goodness that seemed very far away right now.

He stretched out on the silk sheets, staring up at the ceiling where shadows from the oil lamps danced and shifted. Outside, the ocean whispered against the hull of the Crimson Sparrow, carrying them toward Orellia Village.