“Cool.” Elizabeth said simply.

“Cool?” I demanded. I was not happy.

“Tanner.” Lydia growled quietly.

“I still don’t get it, though. I thought you trusted us enough to—“

“Listen, neither you nor Lydia have been completely honest with us either.” Elizabeth snapped, “We all have our secrets. I mean, you never told us exactly why you left your mom and dad.”

“Mom died.” Lydia said quietly, “Then Father remarried a wonderful woman who had a lot of children, but she still loved us.”

“So why did you run away?” Serah demanded, “As far as we’re concerned, you two had the best childhoods out of any of us, and here you are complaining with me about my own childhood that I don’t want to share. If you haven’t felt what I’ve felt, then stop complaining because you don’t understand my reasons.”

“Our father was a drunkard.” I snapped, “He killed our stepmother, who raised us by the way, in front of us and all of her children.”

“What happened to her children?” Elizabeth asked.

“They were all older than us.” Lydia said quietly, “They left after their mother died and just abandoned us with our insane father. So we…ran away. But someone caught us and we were thrown into the orphanage.”

“Was that so bad?” I demanded, “We just told you about us without flinching.”

“Okay.” Serah sighed, “Well, now you know everything so no more questions need to be asked.”

“I actually have one last question.” Henry spoke up, “What happened to your father?”

Serah shook her head, “As far as we know, he’s still ruling the kingdom.”

“Are you the heir?” I asked.

“No. Sam is because she’s older.”

“Is Sam…” My anger faded as I glanced back at Sam, still lagging behind.

“Trustable?” Serah finished for me.

Hesitantly, I nodded.

Serah shrugged, “Yeah. I’m not going to make you like her, Tanner. I’d like it if you guys got along, but it’s okay if you don’t.”

Changing the subject abruptly, Lydia asked, “What will we do with the royals, Serah?”

Serah seemed surprised by this question, a confused look flashing across her face, “What do you want to do with them?”

“I think they should go home.” Lydia replied haughtily.

“Rachel didn’t mean that she wanted to go home…” I started, but Elizabeth interrupted me.

“I agree. You told us yourself the first day, Serah, ‘Don’t get attached.’”

Serah seemed to mull over this for a moment, “What do you think, Tanner? Henry?”

Henry shrugged, “I mean, they are kind of taking over my house right now. But they’re not a real threat.”

“Yet.” Elizabeth sniffed, “Keeping them here would be selfish and would endanger our lives, as well as theirs, Serah.”

“Let Tanner speak.” Serah snapped, silencing Elizabeth.

I desperately tried to make up my mind. On one hand, I had become attached to the royals. They were kind and not in any way snobby, as most royals were. They even seemed to like the idea of living on the edge, fighting through the rough seas and being around us. On the other hand, however, what Elizabeth said was true. Keeping them on the island would only endanger all our lives. I shook my head, “I don’t know, Serah. You’re the captain, you decide.”

Serah sighed, unhappy with my words. Then she turned slightly and faced her older sister, motioning with her head for the girl to join us.

Sam’s face lit up slightly and she trotted into line with us.

“Sam.” Serah said simply, motioning to us, “This is my crew. Tanner, Lydia, Henry and you know Elizabeth.”

Sam flashed a brilliant smile at each of us.

“Guys, this is Sam.”

Henry, Lydia and Elizabeth smiled back at her, but my gaze remained steely and cold, instead I simply nodded a greeting.

“Can I join the party?” Leo suddenly appeared beside Lydia, grinning like a madman, “We’re already almost home. How have we traveled so fast?”

“Because this time, we’re not looking out for horse-sized wolves and fearing for our lives.” Lydia said stiffly.

I noted that Leo had said ‘home’ as if it was his.

“It’s our home.” Serah’s voice was cold and sharp. I hadn’t heard her speak like that in a long time. “It’s not yours.”

Leo recoiled as if he’d been slapped, “I-I know…I just meant-“

“I know.” Serah interrupted coldly. Leo fell back into line with the other royals with a sorrowful glance at Serah.