“Will we see the Prince?” This was all useless if they couldn’t get the Prince aboard Helbride. Had they been hit? Had they been killed? Without the Prince, Sulane might not respect the diplomatic flags …

“Of course,” Osa said, to Baru’s huge relief. “The Prince will dine with their honored hostages.”

They passed through a spice room clouded with blown-out cinnamon and drifting cumin. The Oriati artisans had ornamented the ship’s furniture with the shapes of ancient beasts: jellyfish with ruffled bells as long as cloaks, krakenflies perched on reeds, owls of calm and of fear, tigers and ruffed lions, gyraffes with falcons on their heads. From the deck above, the soft rain wept down through the pine-pitch caulking, and it made Baru remember, against her will, the clean air and autumn leaves of Duchy Lyxaxu.

Fascinated by everything, she forgot to swivel her blind spot, and so she stumbled rightside-first into the Prince Tau-indi Bosoka.

“Oh,” the Prince said. “It’s you.”

Yes,” Baru said, warily. “It’s me. Hello again.”

For a few moments they shared a mutual, tired wish: if only we’d never met before. Then the Prince stiffened, not with distaste but determination and pride, preparing themselves for an honest effort. They cupped Baru’s hands and kissed them, left and right, careful of her bandages. Their lips were warm enough to make Baru shiver in delight.

“Welcome to my home on the sea,” they said, “damp and bloody as she may be. You’ve come to our aid. I offer the great gratitude of my house Bosoka, and of all Lonjaro Mbo, the Thirteen-in-Three-in-One.”

“Your Federal Highness, we are honored by the welcome of your house!” Iraji cried. Baru and Iraji bowed together, and Iraji went a little lower than Baru, so Baru went a little lower than him, until they were both kneeling prostrate.

“You’re really going to do this?” the colonel asked the Prince over Baru’s kneeling ass.

“I really am,” Tau-indi said.

“You know I’ll try to take you away by force, if I must.”

“You may try, my dear Enact-Colonel. You may try.” The Prince looked down at their guests, bemused and smiling. “I think fate has brought me these two as a particular challenge.”

“As you say, Your Federal Highness.” The door creaked shut behind the colonel.

The three of them were left alone in Cheetah’s glorious sunroom, a cage of glass that looked over the ruined stern and the rising sea. The Prince offered their hands to help Baru and Iraji both up. “Before we go on,” they said, grunting against the weight, “I must give you one last choice. If you would prefer to break the hostage deal, return to Helbride, and sail away while Cheetah dies, then tell me now. You may leave freely. Understand that if you stay you may well drown in this room with me.”