Drawing a deep breath, she stepped into the carriage.

The seats were made of soft leather. The interior was covered with dark wood and smelled like fresh wax.

The curtains were freshly woven and pushed to the sides to admit as much sunlight as the little box windows allowed.

It was a beautiful carriage.

"I can see that you like it. I knew you would."

She smiled.

But how could he afford it?

"I didn’t buy the carriage. Someone who had been unable to pay for their ride in my ship gifted me this carriage in place of coin."

She blinked. "This carriage is obviously worth more than a few piece of coins."

He nodded. "But the carriage he had gifted me looked nothing like this one. The wood was rotting, the beams and wheels were rusty and threatening to fall away. But much to both our surprises, I accepted his little gift and began to work on it myself and this," He gestured at the interior, "is the result."

Oh.

It made more sense. But the decorations must have cost him quite an amount of coin.

But she said no more lest he think she was hinting at something unpleasant.

They enjoyed the pleasant ride even though it wasn’t exactly sunny outside.

They passed through a farm before entering a road with dense forests on both sides.

Then they emerged at the docks finally.

The salty tang of the air hit her first. The wind was cooler here and the skies were much darker and gray.

The dark expanse of the sea took her breath away.

She had never seen the sea from this angle. The closest she had seen of it was when she had tried to get away with Arlan.

But that memory had been shoved away and hoped to be forgotten.

"What do you think?" He asked as he led them towards one of the biggest ships there.

There were others, but his stood out with the unique craft of the wood and the sails.

She had never been on a boat that big before. They left their guards behind with the carriage and followed him.

"And I want you to meet my men." He held her hand and took her down to the entrance of the boat.

Aurora ascended the stairs first, literally running up with excitement.

Claire was more hesitant.

Zach was patient, urging her gently and offering his warmest smile until she reached the top.

The view from the upper deck of the ship was magnificent.

"Raise the anchor!" Zach leaned over the tell his men who were gathered below.

There were four crewmen on his ship. And all of them, especially the two who looked alike and both had dark brown hair kept staring at her and Aurora strangely.

Zach brought her forward so the men below could see her properly.

"This is Lady Stenly, the lady I dream about anytime you catch me dosing off in the middle of the day." Everyone laughed, except her.

Even Rory giggled. Then he introduced Aurora.

The tension seemed to have eased from the men - they all looked like they were wary of strangers.

But she could see the respect they had for their Captain.

Her heart sank further.

He clearly still had hopes of being with her if he was confessing before his men so openly.

She should not have come in the first place, she thought. Part of her knew that something like that was bound to happen. But she could only pray that he wouldn’t try to touch her... she was not ready to tell him about her relationship with the King just yet, even though she knew he suspected there was something going on between them.

Thunder struck above them and Aurora ran to embrace Zach.

Claire watched Zach smooth her little sister’s hair. Hard work hadn’t taken away his patience and gentleness, she noticed.

"So, do you want us to set sail, or you just want to enjoy the view?"

Claire glanced at Aurora. Her eyes were dancing with so much excitement that she couldn’t bring herself to reject the offer as she very much wanted to do.

"I say we set sail, Captain Zach."

He chuckled and patted her nose affectionately before heading down to give his men orders.

Claire noticed the stairs leading downwards and peered inside. There was a little bed with a candle stand and a writing table inside. Then to one side sat a wash basin and a drying cloth. The bed looked hard, since it wasn’t a feather bed, but it seemed to serve its purpose.

Zach placed a hand on her shoulder, startling her from her thoughts.

"Since you arrived, you have been very silent. You don’t like the ship?"

She heard the hurt in his voice and ached to soothe it. "I love it, I’m... I’m just afraid of the... sea."

He narrowed his eyes at her but didn’t question her anymore.

"Would you be so kind as to honour me?" He asked, handing her the rope that bound the sails.

Colour crept up her cheeks at his intense gaze.

Aurora had been begging to do the very thing he had just asked her to do. So it was not surprising that Rory stood to the side with her arms folded over her chest and her mouth pulled into a pout.

Zach chuckled at her expression before returning the full weight of his attention to Claire.

"I don’t know what to do... I have never been on a ship this large before, much less assisted with anything."

He grinned. "I’m glad you’re finally letting down your pride to ask for help. Should I show you what to do?"

She nodded slowly, looking between him and Aurora.

He came up behind her, and guided her hands around the rope.

She could smell the scent of ale, sea and leather on him as close as he was.

At first, they were barely touching, she could only feel the intense heat radiating from his body. Then, when she fumbled with the knot, he came even closer, pressing his chest against her back.

Claire fumbled with the knot again. Not because she didn’t know what to do this time, but because she felt something very... disturbing.