He made her cry.

You’re a spoiled brat, he said.

It didn’t help that he coddled her. What she wanted, he gave freely. He treated her like the daughters he left behind; another life, another world. Silks, coins, candy. She wanted that pretty bauble, stolen from some noble off the mainland? It was hers. He would have found a way to give her the stars if only she had asked for them.

A princess had no place on the high seas, he insisted. She knew that, so she tried to be different.

Instead of the Princess of Tycoon, she was to be a pirate. But it was difficult when he wouldn’t let her get mussed in the brine and foam with the rest of the crew.

She was a pirate princess now, and that wouldn’t do at all.

You have to learn, he said, if you want to be a pirate.

But never told her what she needed to learn.

Someday, he said.

The day he died, she ran away. She left behind all the treasure he had given her, and instead made off with the worn old coat he always wore before anyone could catch her.

She wondered what she could do with herself. She wasn’t a pirate. She didn’t remember what kingdom she was supposed to belong to, and it probably didn’t matter anyway. She took the time to realize, before she returned to the docks.

Now that she could see through the tempest, Faris found that he had taught her everything she needed to know.