Free The Black Shard by Victoria Simcox Page A

right, then—Kurdy," Kristina said, feeling a little more chipper than a few minutes earlier.
    Davina and Hester were standing by the foremast, watching Heerzek and Sepel do a final check on the sails. Hester eyed Kristina on the deck being greeted by the crew and she shook her head, disapprovingly. Then she whispered something to Davina, and the both of them turned their backs toward Kristina.
    "Want to see where you'll be staying?" Werrien said to Kristina.
    "Sure," Kristina said. She followed Werrien toward the bow of the ship where there was an opening in the deck floor. They climbed down a ladder to the next lower deck, and then continued down a narrow wood-paneled hall until they came to the end, where there were four doors, each labeled with a golden name plate, except for the one directly ahead of them. The first door on the left read
King Warren & Queen Lafinia.
Across the hall, on the left-hand side, the first door read
Guest,
and beside it, another door read
Prince Werrien.
    The ship rolled over a wave, and Kristina fell forward toward Werrien. He quickly steadied her.
    "Okay ... I can see that you're falling for me, but do you have to do it so abruptly?" he said facetiously. He noticed Kristina's cheeks flooding red and he smiled at her. "Don't worry; you'll get your sea legs soon enough," he added.
    "I hope so," Kristina said, feeling embarrassed for being so clumsy.
    Werrien opened the unlabeled door, and they stepped inside a cabin. "Sorry it's so small, but it's at least a little bigger than mine. And the plaque for the door, is still in the process of being made," he said.
    Kristina's stomach suddenly warmed. The cabin was so cozy and inviting, with curved walls made of dark cherry wood, and with portholes, one on each side, to look out at the sea. On the right-hand side was a vanity made out of the same cherry wood, and with a beautiful, gold-framed mirror. Straight ahead of Kristina was a bed covered with a ruby-red silk comforter. Underneath the comforter were ivory-colored silk sheets, and on top of the comforter were ivory silk pillows with ruby-red fringe around them. In the center of the two pillows was a smaller, round, ruby-red pillow with the name
Kristina
embroidered in ivory thread across it. Kristina grabbed this pillow and hugged it. Then she turned to face Werrien, who was leaning against the wall, taking in her bewilderment.
    "This cabin was made up especially for me?" she asked, looking delighted and uncertain at the same time.
    "Now how would you come up with an idea like that?" Werrien said with an austere expression on his face.
    Kristina's face paled. "Come on Werrien—be serious," she said.
    "I thought I was acting serious. At least I gave it my best shot."
    Kristina smiled and shook her head. "I said
be
serious not
act
serious."
    "Oh ... okay. Of course it was made up just for you," Werrien said. "The ship is named after you. I think it would only make sense that you had your own cabin on it."
    "This is really great!" Kristina said excitedly. She sat on the edge of the bed and ran her hands over the ever-so-smooth comforter. Then she lay down on the bed and for a moment stared up at the ceiling, thinking how lucky she was. She sat back up and stared at the wall ahead of her, where there hung five small painted portraits, three men and two women, encased in gold frames.
    The women's portraits were each paired, side-by-side, with one of the men, leaving the third man's portrait on the wall by itself. Kristina recognized one pair to be King Warren and Queen Lafinia, but she didn't recognize the other pair and the solitary man. "Who are these three portraits of?" she asked, pointing to them.
    "The couple beside my parents is King Sirus and Queen Navesa, and the other man is Prince Raspue," Werrien said.
    King Sirus had medium-brown, wavy hair, gray-blue eyes, and a slender face with high cheekbones. He looked to be in his early thirties, and the expression on his face was serious. Queen