feet and acted as if nothing had happened, even though the princess was biting her lip to keep from laughing.
“So.” Nevis propped an elbow on the ship’s railing as he leaned nonchalantly against it. “Brody told me once that he had a mother and sister, but of course, I never imagined that you would be royalty.”
She twisted on the trunk to face Nevis. “Brody mentioned us?”
“Aye, and he said he’d sought out many witches to undo the curse, but he’d learned that the only one who could lift it was the witch who had put the curse on him to begin with.”
“Oh.” Her shoulders slumped. “All I know is that the curse began when my father’s ship was destroyed at sea. My father and eldest brother died, along with the crew. Brody only survived because he was able to shift.”
“It had to be the Sea Witch,” Lobby muttered.
The princess sat up. “Are ye sure?”
The old man nodded. “She’s the only one powerful enough to blow up a ship. That’s what she did to the ship I was on. When I lost all me mates.”
“And you say this Sea Witch lives on the Isle of Secrets?” Nevis asked.
Lobby’s hands trembled and he grasped the wheel tighter. “Aye, she’s there. If she sees us, she’ll destroy our ship. She’ll try to kill us.”
“Don’t worry,” Princess Elinor assured him. “She won’t see us.”
How could she be so confident? Nevis wondered.
“This is excellent news,” she added. “If we find the Sea Witch, then we can make her lift the curse and Brody will go back to normal.”
Lobby shook his head. “She’ll kill us first.”
“Nay.” The princess waved a dismissive hand. “We’ll be fine, believe me.”
Was the island really that dangerous? Nevis wondered. “I hope Maeve is all right.”
“Aye,” Lobby agreed. “We need to find the lass and get her out of there.”
“If Brody is with Maeve, we can rescue them both.” Princess Elinor finished her cider, then turned toward Nevis. “Do ye think something is going on between my brother and Maeve?”
“I-I’m not sure.” Nevis turned his gaze to the sea. “I know she cares a great deal for him, but as long as he’s cursed, I don’t think Brody will pursue her.”
“Then he is a fool,” the princess muttered. “If a man falls in love, he should be bold in the pursuit of his lady’s heart.”
Nevis slanted a quick glance her direction. “Even if one of them is royalty?”
“Ye mean because Brody is a prince?” Princess Elinor set her tankard on the deck by the trunk. “It shouldn’t matter. Not if he loves her.”
Nevis’s hand tightened its grip on his tankard. Should he pursue the princess, then? How could he? She and her mother both considered him a fool who made them laugh.
“Land ahoy!” Lobby announced, pointing at a strip of land barely visible in the distance.
“Wonderful!” Princess Elinor jumped to her feet to watch.
“I’m bringing us up on the eastern coast,” Lobby said. “Far enough away from the Sea Witch’s castle that hopefully she won’t see us.”
“She won’t see us.” Princess Elinor rummaged through a bag and withdrew a stack of papers. “I came prepared.”
“What is that?” Nevis set his empty tankard on the deck and approached her. The paper on top was a painting of the ocean.
She dropped the painting on deck, then scattered more paintings around them. The deck shimmered, then suddenly, there was ocean all around them.
“What the hell?” Nevis collapsed onto the trunk and held on. The trunk was still there. The deck was still there, but all he could see was ocean.
“Holy goddesses!” Lobby wrapped his arms around the wheel. “Are we all going to drown?”
“Don’t worry.” The princess crossed the now invisible deck and touched Lobby on the shoulder. “’Tis only an illusion. If anyone looks our way, all they will see is ocean.”
“Your . . . your paintings did that?” Nevis gave her an incredulous look.
She nodded. “Brody isn’t the only Embraced one in our family.”
He gaped at her. “You . . . you’re amazing.”
She smiled. “Thank you.”
“If you painted a cherry pie, could you make it become real?”
She laughed. “Yes, but ye wouldn’t want to eat it. It would still taste like paper.” She turned to Lobby. “We should find a place along the coast to hide the ship. This illusion will only last about an hour.”
Nevis continued to gawk at her as she walked toward him and sat beside him on the trunk.
“Colonel?” She peered up at him from below the brim of