Message lizard.
It was in the dark of the night and Deryn only had a lamp to guide her through the shadowed maze of corridors of the Leviathan. For a while now, she has kept her identity a secret from the British Air Service, from the crew, from Dr Barlow and from the hitchhiking Clankers. Especially Alek. She had given him all but two of her secrets, ones that she would never reveal. The first was that she was a girl and not some airboy. He revealed his royal secret to her and she kept it a secret until he spilled it in Constantinople. She never told him her secret though she had dozens of opportunities which she all blew because she was afraid that he might be furious with her since he gave her every last one of his secrets.
Another secret was that she was in love with the prince. Yet she was powerless about it as she was a mere commoner and he was royalty; it would never work out. Of course that would also reveal she was a girl. Everything seemed centred around that secret. After a long self-deliberation, she decided she would tell him that she was not Dylan Sharp, but Deryn Sharp. She would talk to him in the confines of his room, convince him to not be angry, and perhaps confess her love and hope for the best. That last one needed working on.
As she walked along, she bumped into the person she wanted to see: Aleksander of Hohenberg. She was startled to see him and he was startled to see her yet relieved. "Dylan. Listen, I have to talk to you about something." Glancing around to make sure no one could see them he gestured into a doorway. "In here."
Deryn was confused as to what Alek would want to talk to her about. Is it about boy-things? She would struggle to keep up the façade that she had built to stay in the Air Service. They entered the room but the lamp-light was not strong enough to illuminate the whole room. They could make out brass and copper pipes but that was it. Deryn put the lamp on an empty shelf. Turning to face her, Alek drew a deep breath and exhaled. "Dylan, I haven't told you all of my secrets. There is one more which Volger swore me to secrecy. No one else other than my companions and you must know about this." Was it just her or was the young, runaway prince's voice getting a little squeaky? He bit his lip and blurted out. "I'magirl!"
Deryn was perplexed. "What?"
Alek shuffled her feet. "I am a girl. I wanted to tell you but I was worried that we might not be friends anymore. You, you're a dashing airman and I am a girl. It would feel awkward if you were close to me, knowing my gender."
Deryn looked at her friend. Only now did she see feminine featured that were covered up by grease, oil and the way Alek's hair was styled. It was a near equivalent to her own. "Barking spiders. Why didn't you anyone?"
"My father told me to hide my identity should I ever need to go into hiding. That way, if anyone comes after me, they would be looking for a prince and not a princess." Aleks eyes were cast down. "When I first met you, I had to don on the guise of a boy again so I wouldn't be taken hostage by the crew. I never seen a ship's crew before but I heard of stories of what they do to women. But you proved different and I – I eventually fell in love with you."
The girls looked at each other. On the one hand, Deryn was in love with Alek and on the other, she was in love with her alias, Dylan. Alek must still not know Deryn's secret. The British girl figured the phrase 'It takes one to know one' was not true after all.
"If you're not Aleksander, then who are you?" Deryn questioned.
"My name, my real name, is Aleksia." Deryn took a breath in.
"Well this is a bit to take in."
Aleksia looked at her in the eyes. "Sorry if it's too much…"
"No, it's not that." Deryn interrupted. "Barking spiders Aleksia, I'm a girl too."
The princess looked up. "Really?"
"Yes! My name is actually Deryn Sharp. After me da's accident, I just had to fly. So I decided to pull one over the whole barking British air service." She giggled a bit. "Funny thing, I was in love with YOU!" At this they both lost it and began to laugh until their lungs burned. They laughed so hard that they weren't aware of what was behind them until Aleksia toppled backwards and crashed into a piece of wood. Deryn stopped laughing and grabbed the lamp, adjusting its brightness to better illuminate their surroundings. What they saw was dozen of messaging lizards scurrying about, repeating bits of the conversion the girls just had, since their escape from the prison Aleksia just broke.
They soon found the pipes that lead to all over the fabricated air beast and crawled inside. The girls looked at each other as the last one left, both wide eyes. "Crud!" was spoken simultaneously.
Mr Rigby was busy attending to the other midshipmen, angry that Mr Sharp had left his post for reasons unknown and has yet to return. The middies were to catalogue the ships provisions and equipment. HE was still waiting on the order to end this continuous monotony.
Newkirk came up and spoke to him. "Sir. We have been checking the inventory four two hours now. I can literally tell you them off by heart. We need a break."
Mr Rigby gave a gruff. " Orders are that you should carry on until the captain says otherwise. Not a minute sooner."
"But sir. The men are demoralised and I fear of a mutiny. We need to do something for ten minutes."
"Ten minutes you say, well then, for ten minutes, you can do something as long as it is inside this room!" Mr Rigby bellowed for all to hear.
Just then, at that very moment, a message lizard came crawling out of the pipes. It began to play the message it recorded. "Dylan, I haven't told you all of my secrets. There is one more which Volger swore me to secrecy. No one else other than my companions and you must know about this."
"Woah! isn't that his royalness?" Asked one of the other midshipmen.
"Yeah, though why does he sound like a girl?" asked another.
"I'magirl!" came the short yet snappy cracker that got their attention. "I am a girl. I wanted to tell you but I was worried that we might not be friends anymore. You, you're a dashing airman and I am a girl. It would feel awkward if you were close to me, knowing my gender"
"Well she be right." came Newkirk's voice. He, like all the others, were shocked at this revelation.
"Barking spiders. Why didn't you anyone?"
"My father told me to hide my identity should I ever need to go into hiding. That way, if anyone comes after me, they would be looking for a prince and not a princess. When I first met you, I had to don on the guise of a boy again so I wouldn't be taken hostage by the crew. I never seen a ship's crew before but I heard of stories of what they do to women. But you proved different and I – I eventually fell in love with you."
Everyone, even Mr Rigby, did a great imitation of a goldfish before one of them shouted out "Come On! She can do much better than Mr Sharp! And what do they teach royalty about us!"
"If you're not Aleksander, then who are you?"
"My name, my real name, is Aleksia." They could hear Dylan take in a breath.
"Well this is a bit to take in."
"I'll say!" exclaimed Newkirk.
"Sorry if it's too much…"
"No, it's not that. Barking spiders Aleksia, I'm a girl too." If it were possible, half of the crew would hear their jaws drop onto the floor, whilst the other half just looked on with a facial expression only a fabricated beast could pull off.
"Really?"
"Yes! My name is actually Deryn Sharp. After me da's accident, I just had to fly. So I decided to pull one over the whole barking British air service. Funny thing, I was in love with YOU!"
After this, the men heard laughter, followed by a crash and a chorus "Crud!" before the message ended. The men knew that at that point that the two they just heard hid out in the messaging room, and that the crash signalled that the whole ship must probably know their little secret.
"Wow, sir." Newkirk started. "To think this whole time, we had girls, excluding Dr Barlow, on board this whole time!" The midshipman received no answer. "Sir?"
Turning around to face his superior, he was met with an angry, lava faced man who had steam rising steadily from his ears at the noise of a whistle. The midshipmen covered their ears and braced themselves.
Volger and Dr Barlow were in the middle of a game, sipping tea all the while, when the messaging lizard arrived. It played the message for a good five minutes, the duration of the conversation between the two girls, before it ended. The two grownups were at first shocked like everyone else but quickly regained their posture and acted nonchalantly toward this.
"Well I must confess that I was completely blind sighted by this news of your majesty being a girl, though I did have my suspicions about Mr Sharp." Stated Dr Barlow.
Volger nodded his head in response. "As did I."
"I imagine this will raise complications in the future when the crew finds out about this deceit."
"Yes." The count replied. "Aleksia's father entrusted me to keep her safe in any way. Though I believe I cannot simply kill the crew and take command of something I know nothing of."
Dr Barlow gave a small smile. "No I don't believe you could. How long do you think until the Leviathan learns about this?"
Suddenly, they heard the shout of Mr Rigby from storage. "WHAT!?"
Count Volger grimaced. "I think they know."
It was one thing to be yelled by an officer for slacking off. Deryn understood that completely. She herself would be mad if she was in charge and someone wasn't doing their job.
It was an entirely matter to be yelled at for deceiving the Air Service right in front of the entire crew.
"What do you have to say for yourself Miss Sharp?" the word sounded foreign in the bosuns mouth. "You have lied to the Air service, cheated you way into the military and if that wasn't enough you slacked off on duty to tell some royal your secret, who had almost no power to keep you on board!"
Deryn winced. She feared that the day the crew found out that she would be kicked off the ship. And it just so happens it was that day.
The captain gave a sigh. "Miss Sharp, as you know we cannot have a woman amongst the crew. Dr Barlow is our guest so it doesn't matter for her. Unfortunately for you, that is not the case and as such, you will be taken back to England. We shall stop over Madrid in three months, and I recommend using that time to be touring the city. It will the last one you will be visiting with us."
Deryn looked down but was shocked to hear Count Volger speak up for her. "And just why would Miss Sharp not be able to continue her journey with us? As far as I can tell, she is perfectly capable of performing any task as anyone else and what's more, pushed the Ottomans out of the war in a single week, with help of course from the locals and the princess."
"I-It's because- because…" The men who had told Deryn she would no longer serve as midshipman was silenced by this statement until Mr Rigby found his voice again. "Because it is regulations, Count Volger."
"If I am not mistaken, wouldn't regulations also prevent you from using Clanker technology to aid you? If that is the case, then where do you think those engines you have been using for the past few months were manufactured?" Volger allowed himself a grin as the bosun once more made the terrific expression of a goldfish with his mouth opening and closing like one.
With a sigh, the captain said "Very well, Miss Sharp may continue to serve as an acting member of this crew though her position as midshipman will be denounced as penalty for her deceit. I have a low tolerance for it."
Deryn couldn't believe her luck but then something snagged on her mind. "Sir, if I'm not a midshipman, then what role will I be playing on board?"
The captain thought for a moment. "It would stand to make you a cabin boy. However, as her majesty, princess Aleksia, trust you the most, withstanding her company and Dr Barlow, then you shall be given the rank of lieutenant to better protect her. Of course that would mean to give you a cabin, but we have one room spare for additional storage."
Those were attending at this display gawked at Deryns promotion to a higher rank. Never mind that she was a girl, she had just blasted through three ranks!
"What?" Mr Rigby exclaimed. Being a bosun, he was considered as a sub-lieutenant and as such would now have to answer to the girl whom he was just berating.
"Do we have a problem Mr Rigby?" asked the captain.
The man grumbled. "No sir."
"Good. Now before we end this little assembly, is there any more questions?" A few of the crew members raised their hands. "Yes Mr Anderson?"
The midshipman asked. "Your royal highness… What do the – pardon my language – Barking bum rags teach you that made you think that we would hurt anyone?"
Aleksia blinked before replying. "I was raise far from the ocean amongst millions of others. We had to rely on stories from at least 640 kilometres away."
Newkirk raised his hand. "How should we treat you now that we know of your secret?"
The princess thought for a moment. "Well, since I don't have to hide my gender from the crew anymore, I will stop trying to look like a boy and thus, making hiding much more easier. Though outside the Leviathan you will treat me like as though I am a guest aboard your ship and not a princess."
Mr Rigby raised his hand and asked, more like yelled "HOW DID NONE OF THE CREW NOTICE YOU AND LIEUTENANT DERYN SECRET!?"
"Actually, the good count and I had our suspicions but without any evidence, we couldn't simply stroll up and say to Miss Sharp that we knew of her secret.
This caught Deryn by surprise. "Wait, Count Volger are you saying that you bluffed when you said you will reveal my secret back in Constantinople?"
Volger gave a chuckle. "Yes Miss Sharp. I was bluffing."
The captain cleared his throat. "Well then that is enough questions. Everyone back to your duties. Miss Sharp, will you please relocate your belongings to the spare cabin just down the hall?"
As everyone dispersed, Deryn couldn't help but gave a sigh of relief. Looks like life made lemonade for her.