She stepped into the felucca with Tristan’s hand firm at her waist.
“Careful,” he said.
“I am always careful.”
“No.”
She smiled despite herself. “I am often careful.”
“Also no.”
“On selected occasions, when properly motivated, I have demonstrated excellent balance.”
“That I will allow.”
The sailors pushed off. Oars dipped into the blue water, and the felucca slid away from the quay. Warmth shimmered over the bay. The palace receded behind them, pale and grand above the waterfront, and ahead, the frigate waited, prepared to carry the Duke and Duchess of Stormhaven on their official journey to Sicily.
Marguerite lifted one hand to shade her eyes.
Then the felucca veered from its course.
Marguerite lowered her hand slowly. “Tristan.”
“Yes?”
“The frigate is in the other direction.”
“I noticed.”
“Did you?”
“I have an excellent sense of direction.”
“You once told me your sailor’s heart knew no north star.”
“That was poetry.”
His expression remained infuriatingly serene.
The felucca slipped along the coast, away from the busy harbor and into clearer water. The color changed as they entered the small bay, deep blue giving way to a brightness so pure it seemed lit from beneath. Azzurre, the Neapolitans called such waters, and for once the word was not an exaggeration. The sea shone turquoise over pale sand and stone, transparent enough thatMarguerite could see shadows of fish below, quick silver flashes vanishing beneath the hull.
A small wooden pier jutted from the shore, weathered and sun-bleached, and beyond it lay a strip of sand hidden from the sea road by rocks.
“What have you done?”
He helped her from the felucca onto the pier. “Nothing unlawful.”
“That is an unhelpfully narrow reassurance.”
“Nothing diplomatically catastrophic.”
“Better, but not sufficient.”
“Nothing that will prevent us from reaching the frigate in time.”
She glanced toward the open bay, then back at the sailors, who were suddenly very occupied with rope, sail, and not looking at the Duke and Duchess of Stormhaven. Lorenzo’s influence, no doubt. The man had infected an entire navy with theatrical timing.
Tristan removed his coat.
