She grins, and for a moment her eyes light up in the same
way they do when she’s joking with the other lackeys. “Don’t
get too chummy with me, Cas. I’ll eat you alive.”
I can’t help it. I snort, and it gains momentum until I’m
cackling. “Was that a
threat
? God, you’re the least intimidat-
ing pirate I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet.”
“Then clearly you haven’t spent enough time around
Varma.”
It’s like Swift’s room is a whole other world, a subdimen-
sion of the
Minnow
where Swift isn’t a pirate and I’m not a
prisoner. Here, away from the gaze of the rest of the crew, we’re
talking and laughing together as if we’re something like nor-
mal. There’s something that unlocks in Swift when she’s sealed
away from the rest of the ship, something honest. Something I
actually can respect.
