“Alright, stop playing around,” he said once he had shut the door and they were inside the room with a table and charts. “Where did the two of you really come from?”

“We told you,” said Nuthea. “The Empire captured us because we have powers of elemental projection.”

“Yes, I can see that in your case. But what about you, Nobody?” He jabbed a finger ar Ryn’s face.

“He’s just a bit newer to his powers,” said Nuthea. “But from what he reports, he definitely has them. It makes sense. The Empire wouldn’t have spared his life otherwise.”

“And you’re really just a Nobody from some backwater village?” the Captain continued, still looking at Ryn.

Ryn nodded.

“Fine then, but what about you?” said the Captain, switching back to Nuthea. “You don’t look like a Nobody from Nowhere.” He eyed the golden band that encircled Nuthea’s head underneath her hair. “Where did you come from?”

For a while Nuthea did not reply and her bottom lip disappeared underneath her upper. Then, eventually, she said, “My name is Princess Nutheanna Kaleuthea, of the Matriarchy of Manolia.”

The Captain’s eyebrows raised above his eyepatch. “A princess! The boys will be pleased…” he added to himself. “What are you doing all the way out here? We’re miles away from Manolia!”

“I was on an undercover diplomatic mission in Imfis when the Empire discovered my abilities and captured me.”

“A diplomatic mission? What kind of diplomatic mission?”

“An undercover one.”

“Yeah, but who to? About what?”

“That is my business.”

“Tell me!” demanded the captain, his face turning red again. “Tell me or I’ll run you through!”

There was a quiet crackling sound and sparks of electricity played across Nuthea’s fingers. The hairs on the back of Ryn’s neck stood up.

The captain held up his hands. “Alright, alright! This is going to get tedious quickly… Fine. Well, whatever you were doing, whoever you are, the pair of you sure as hells can’t stay on my ship. I can’t be having you undermining my authority all the time with this lightning nonsense. Soon as we put into the next port, you’re off.”

Ryn breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t like how tensely things had been playing out on this ship, and he would be very glad to get back onto solid ground. He had no idea what he would do there of course, but he knew that he preferred solid ground to skytravel.

“I thought you might say that,” said Nuthea. “But I have a different proposition for you.”

“You do?” said the Captain.

“You do?” said Ryn.

“I do. I have learned things on my journey that I need to report at home. I demand that you fly me to Manolia as quickly as possible.”

This time the Captain actually drew his sword with a ring of steel as his temper flared. Ryn and Nuthea both hopped back. “Look lady, I’m the one who does the demanding around here! I am the Captain of this ship, and I won’t be bossed around by some arrogant girl, princess or not!”

Electricity crackled around Nuthea again as the top corner of her lip pulled up in anger too.

“Nuthea…” Ryn said, looking back and forth between them, “please, be careful…” He was tired of violence. Mother. Father. Hometown.

“You can’t rely on your party trick forever, wench!” The captain spat. “I have a few tricks of my own up my sleeve! Even if you kill me before I kill you, my crew will overwhelm you! They’re the firecest band of cutthroats that you ever laid eyes on! They’ll gang up on you all at once! They’ll overpower you! They’ll murder you in your sleep! And I’ll bet you don’t know how to sail an airship!” he said finally, presumably as a last-ditch attempt to intimidate her into backing down.

Nuthea let out a deep breath and the sparks that had started to crackle around her dissipated into the air.

“I know…” she said at length. “That is why I am offering you a proposition: My homeland is very wealthy, and the royal family are wealthiest of all. Fly me back to Manolia, and I am sure you will be rewarded handsomely. With gold.”

Captain Sagar lowered his sword. This time just one eyebrow, the one above his good eye, crept up. “Gold, you say?”

“Gold. And gemstones.”

“Gemstones, you say?”

“Gemstones galore. And there are many beautiful women in Manolia.”

I find it hard to believe they’re half as beautiful as you, Ryn thought. He missed his most recent crush, Carlotia. He missed his mother. All dead.

“I am sure,” Nuthea continued, “that my mother, the Queen, would be very grateful to whoever rescued and returned their lost princess to her...”

The Captain’s eyes had gone somewhere else. “Gold… gemstones… beautiful women…” he said quietly to himself. He shook his head and his eyes refocused. “How can I be sure of all of this? What guarantee can you give me?”

“An understandable concern,” said Nuthea. “My lightning projection is a guarantee of my word, in more ways than one: Only Manolian royalty are crystal-touched. Only we have lightning-projection powers. But I appreciate that this is not common knowledge.”

At this, Nuthea tugged the collar of her faded-white dress forwards slightly, and reached down inside it with her other hand. Ryn felt himself blush, and managed to look away. When he looked back, she had produced from somewhere about her person a short silver chain, and on it a large diamond set in a yellow gold pendant.

“Here,” she said, holding it out to the Captain, “take this as a down payment and a guarantee of my good will. There will be much more like this--when you return me safely to Manolia.”

Sagar stepped towards her and took the pendant with his free hand, holding it up to his face between two fingers to inspect it.

“Gold… gemstones… beautiful women…” he murmured.

He looked at them again.

“Alright. You make a persuasive offer. I’ll do it. I’ll fly you to Manolia.”

“You’ve made the right decision.”

“I know I have. Could...could you please just do me one favour?”

“What would that be?” Nuthea asked.

“Could you tell the crew that I fought you and tortured you into surrendering to me, then ravished you?”

“Absolutely not,” said Nuthea at once. “I’ve never heard anything so base and ridiculous in my life. And Ryn’s been here this whole time too.”

“You could say that I beat him unconscious?”

“Out of the question.”

“How about that I tied him up in the corner?”

“No.”

“He cowered in the corner?”

“Look, said Nuthea. “Fine. If only to shut you up, I’ll tell them that you threatened me and that I gave in and offered you a reward if you took me back to Manolia. That’s sort of true, I suppose.”

“Done!” said the Captain. “Pleasure doing business with you,” he added as they made their way back out onto the deck.