MARCUS awoke to the faint creaking of floorboards, and the scent of ocean water filled his nostrils. Slowly opening his eyes, he looked around to confirm his surroundings without moving his head. He was lying in a room with a wooden floor and walls, a window somewhat high up on one of those walls, and a single door. Finally, he felt a slow, regular swaying. He silently, carefully got up.
Juliette was leisurely sitting in a chair and watching him. “It’s unfortunate that my invitation to you had to be like this, Prince Marcus,” she said, her voice filled with regret.
Marcus couldn’t help but laugh scornfully at her theatrics.
She continued, unbothered by his reaction. “My lady’s maids have done you a great disservice.”
“The greatest disservice here is you,” Marcus said. He shook his arms, rattling the chains of the magic cuffs around his wrists. His ankles were also bound, oh so thoroughly. With his high birth, being treated as if he were a common criminal was more humiliating than he had imagined.
“Oh, but if you weren’t in those cuffs, you’d go on a rampage.”
“Don’t assume that others have as little regard for those around them as you do. Though, you’re right; I don’t think I’d sit still after being taken onto a ship without any memory of being invited.” The regular swaying was a result of the waves, and from how the ship rocked, Marcus could tell that they hadn’t yet left port and could even estimate the ship’s size. He angrily glared at Juliette, and she furrowed her eyebrows.
“Please don’t assume that I planned this unseemly situation.”
Marcus raised an eyebrow. “You mean to tell me it was all your lady’s maids’ fault?”
“Yes. I had no idea that every one of them was so useless as to be unable to house-sit for a little while,” Juliette said, grumpily turning her face away. Her anger told Marcus that this situation hadn’t been part of her plan.