Vee passed through with ease, glaring people out of the way when necessary. The wealth on display—those crystal chandeliers, the diamond jewellery, the gem-encrusted walking sticks—none of it seemed to impress her or make her stare after it with longing.

Knigh frowned. Again, not what he’d have expected from a pirate.

FitzRoy’s reaction was more like it. His lifted chin, shoulders back, pride written across his features—it all added to his swagger as if he wanted to proclaim I belong.

But his eyes gave him away. They lingered on the riches, bright and covetous. Knigh had already warned the lieutenants he’d met to keep an eye on Vee and FitzRoy at the ball to ensure they didn’t overstep any bounds.

Knigh had enough to worry about keeping himself in check. Long, deep breaths had helped so far. And he’d pushed his shoulders down and back—walking at attention was still tense, but it felt more controlled than having them hunched around his ears. Just knowing Mercia was here was bad enough, but if he could avoid the man, then—

“Captain Villiers,” Mercia said, voice carrying from the centre of his crowd of hangers-on, “here.” He dismissed them with a flick of his fingers. There was no sign of George.

Well, that had been a foolish hope. Knigh bit back a sigh as his pulse jumped and he angled their course towards the Duke.

They exchanged niceties. Again, Vee acquitted herself with an admirable nod to etiquette, despite her dips into humour that were perhaps a little too casual for a prince of the realm.

At least until the subject of the Queen arose. With far more enthusiasm than Knigh would have expected from an outlaw, Vee explained to FitzRoy. Thanks to the change in law some years ago, the Duke didn’t stand to inherit the throne over his elder sister simply by virtue of being male.

“… if Your Highness will forgive me pointing out,” she added, flashing him a disarming smile. “But it is quite a momentous shift for Albionic law—women having equal inheritance rights with men. I believe Queen Elizabeth I tried to pass a similar bill, but parliament blocked her.” She raised her glass. “It’s a law centuries in the making.”

“Indeed,” Mercia said, mouth rising in what might have been a smile except that his eyes glittered as bright and hard as the chandeliers overhead. “Madam appears to know a great deal more about Albionic law than one would expect from a pirate.”

Knigh gripped his glass, white-knuckled, torn between pleasure at seeing Mercia’s irritation and horror at Vee for causing it. No doubt she thought it didn’t matter, that this was just casual talk at a ball, but Mercia was not a casual man. Not when it came to his pride.