I was born a princess, with a comfortable, meaningless life. My father doted on me, and my Nanny attended to my every want. I had a wardrobe full of embroidered silken dresses in every possible colour. I was nearly twenty, and at every ball I went to young men would beg for the opportunity of a dance. And they bored me. Reader, you may think I was shallow and stupid. In all honesty, I was. But if you spend twenty years being waited on hand and foot, and never knowing a moment of hard work or frustration, what else are you likely to be?
That all changed one night, when Nanny appeared in my bedroom with a lantern.
'Annabel', she whispered, 'we have to go.'
I sat up, yawning delicately and stretching my arms wide. 'Why, Nanny, it's still dark!'
'There's no time to explain. Get up, put these on and follow me.'
I looked into Nanny's homely face, framed by oversized ears. I trusted her completely, and the urgency in her deep brown eyes worried me. I obediently began to put on the clothes.
'But these are boys' garments!' I protested.
'There's no time!'
I pulled them on roughly, the tight trousers clinging to my calves and curvaceous bottom. I had never worn trousers before, not even for horse-riding, and they felt extremely strange. I added a white shirt and leather waistcoat. Nanny pulled my curly chestnut hair back into a knot, and stuffed it into the cap she was pulling over my head. Then, without saying a word, she pulled me into her bedroom, pushed a chest-of-drawers back, and led me down a secret passage I had never known existed.
We came out in the stables, where two of the older knacks were waiting saddled. And that was how I left my father's castle and all of my previous life like a thief in the night.
After thirty minutes hard riding, we had got down to the sea and arrived at a deserted cove. Nanny dismounted, so I followed suit and strode over to her, the sea lapping quietly behind us.
'Nanny!' I insisted, grabbing her brawny arms, 'stop and tell me this minute!' I'd started thinking the whole thing was a joke, but I was beginning to get scared.
'Sit, child,' Nanny replied, and we sank slowly into the dry sand. 'This is not easy to tell you, Annabel. I am truly sorry. But I have to do whatever it takes to keep you safe.'
'Is the castle not...'
'Your father.' Nanny said quietly. 'Your father.' I could see her throat swallow convulsively. On some level my mind jumped to what she was about to tell me, and yet even as she slowly spoke the words I could not believe it.
'Your father died in the night. Suddenly. You are the heir to the land and your life is not safe.'
'But my duty is to ret...'
'Hush! Your duty is to stay alive. As soon as you take that crown, men will fight to be the one to marry you, to take your hand and your land. They'll do whatever it takes. And your second cousin Martin,' Nanny spat, 'is by some coincidence staying nearby with the Duke.'
My stomach recoiled at the thought of oily, insidious Martin. The last time he had visited us, I had been eighteen years old. He had followed me everywhere, even on my daily horse ride, pretending he was a better defence than my personal guard. I had hated how he stared at me. When my father had held parties, I had been unable to refuse his frequent requests to dance. Each time, his possessive hands would pull me closer than necessary against his body, and he would stare down into my cleavage, making me feel unclean. Then, Nanny had come across him opening my bedroom door at one o'clock in the morning. By nine the following day, Martin and his entire retinue had disappeared. Apparently his stepmother had summoned him for a diplomatic event.
As my mind ran through these memories, suddenly everything clicked into place. 'Martin would force me to marry him, so he could take control of the kingdom.'
'Yes, sweetheart,' Nanny replied wearily. 'Or murder you. Or both.'
That was also true. Martin was second in line to the throne after me – until I had any children of course. Maybe he would rather make sure those children were his. The thought of him planting his seed inside me made me screw up my shoulders in disgust. I looked up at Nanny's broad body, a vague shadow in the dark. She had already risked so much to get me here.
'What – what shall we do? I murmured. 'Where can I go?'
'There is a boat coming. It will take us across the waters to Treeward,' Nanny said. 'Once we're there, I hope to get in contact with the Chamberlain.'
'The Chamberlain?' I cried out in surprise. He was dry man who had barely spoken to me since I had started wearing long skirts. 'What makes you think we can trust him?'
'I trust him. Do you trust my judgment, Annabel?'
'I – yes, Nanny. And, thank you.' We both gazed out into the ocean, searching for any sign of an approaching rowboat. Even when it appeared in the distance, it seemed to take forever to arrive at shore, and every minute I was sure I could hear horses' hooves approaching us from the road.
It was a long way up the rope ladder from the rowboat to the ship, and at the top I collapsed on my hands and knees, trying to get my breath back.
'Welcome aboard,' a deep, amused voice pronounced. I looked up, and standing over me, silhouetted by the moon, was a tall, dark figure with long hair that whipped in the wind. I stumbled to my feet.
'Thank you,' I answered, looking him in the eye. 'I'm grateful for your help.'
He chuckled. 'What a polite young boy you are!' He stared at me as he said it, and I could tell he knew who I really was. 'I'm an old friend of Mistress Broadshore,' he added quietly. 'I'm happy to help. Head down to your cabin and make yourself comfortable.'
With some relief I followed his order, and before I knew it was asleep once more.
The following morning, Nanny and I mainly stayed down in my cabin – we didn't want to draw any more attention to ourselves than necessary. Nanny seemed quite comfortable on board the ship, but I was confused by the constant shouts and running feet. In the afternoon, there was a knock at our door, and the Captain of the ship strode in. Tall, with wild hair, I immediately recognised him from the night before. I guessed that he was in his late thirties, and I was astonished to see him go over and hug Nanny, as if the two of them were old friends.
'I don't know what Annabel and I would have done without you,' Nanny said to the man.
'It's nothing,' the Captain said, with a flash of white teeth. 'I've spent enough time smuggling that it's not a problem to serve my king and country once in a while.'
'Will it be possible to drop us at Treeward?'
'It'll be fine,' the Captain replied. 'We should arrive tomorrow morning.' Then he turned to me. 'I'm sorry for your loss, Princess,' he said quietly.
His compassion had me at a loss for words. I gazed up and into his brown eyes. There was a hint of orange in them, like pottery with an expensive glaze. 'Thank you,' I said. 'I don't know how to repay you.' I felt very conscious of the fact that I was dressed in a servant boy's shapeless, stained clothing. I was sure I looked hideous.
'Just keep yourself alive for the next couple of years,' was his sardonic reply. 'I don't want to find out my work here has been wasted. Now, are you both comfortable here? Would you like a book to read whilst you wait?'
'You have books?' I couldn't stop myself from blurting out.
He looked amused. 'Yes. I do. You could almost call me a civilised man. Come over to my cabin later on and I'll lend you something.'
As he strode out, I could not help but compare him to the young men of my acquaintance. His clothes were a mess and life onboard ship must be harsh, but his words and actions showed him to be thoughtful. Three days before, if I'd seen him in the street I would have thought him a thief, yet at that moment I felt quite happy to leave my life in his hands.
I had slept on and off throughout the afternoon, but I awoke late in the evening feeling completely alert. Nanny was snoring loudly, dead to the world. I sneaked a peek out of the porthole, but it was so dark I couldn't see a thing. I lit a candle, and tried to decide what to do. Could I go and ask the Captain for a book now? I felt anxious about walking to a different cabin after dark, but to everyone else here I was just some unimportant brat of a boy. I couldn't bear the thought of just sitting and waiting for night to pass, so I got up and padded down the narrow corridor, wood creaking around me. At the end I could tell there was a light burning, and glancing through the open door I saw him, writing at a desk. I slipped inside his cabin, closing the door behind me.
The Captain looked up, and blinked in surprise when he saw me.
'Excuse me,' I gabbled, 'you remember saying I could borrow a book?' Suddenly my decision to come here seemed very reckless.
'Sleepless night?' he enquired, and I nodded in confirmation. He got up from his desk, and led me over to a tiny bookshelf in the corner. As I bent closer to see the titles, I was aware of how close our bodies were. I could smell his fresh sweat, and I could see black hairs on the back of his neck, found myself wanting to stroke them. In a panic, I picked a book at random, and headed back to the door.
'Hold on there!' He stood in front of me. As I leant back, he put one hand against the wall on either side of me. His arms were muscled hard, with a couple of scars tracing their way, and his face was tanned from his seafaring life. The Captain's clothes were roughly made, and nothing matched. He was different to any of the men I had ever danced with.
