To say that the Prince of Eblan was startled was an understatement. Viera were apparently unheard of in this part of the world, so my partner's appearance seemed to stun the young man.

Some Prince, I thought at first. I know my fair share of royals, and Prince Edward Geraldine didn't have a lick of gravitas about him. But I supposed that I myself had tired of the stoic countenance I'd had to wake up beside on that freedom fighting journey a few years back. It was refreshing to see someone with a bit of personality in their face, even if everything below the nose was concealed by a lavender scarf or mask, whatever these Eblanese adorned themselves with.

"She has ears like a rabbit!" the young man stumbled out, and I watched Fran smirk in that adorable way she always did before ripping out someone's vocal cords in a pub brawl.

I wanted to defend Fran's honor, I really did, but the shackles chaining me to the cold and damp stone wall of the Eblan Castle dungeon prevented me from such an act. And so I used the only weapon I possessed on my person at present. "Your Highness has never seen a Viera? I daresay you need to concern yourself more with learning about the world than with the needless imprisonment of sky pirates."

He smarted at that, as I expected, marching over to me in a huff. "Prisoners don't get to dictate terms to Princes. No matter what their ears look like."

I shrugged. "We'll agree to disagree. As I see it, you are guilty of having lax security. Those baubles were nearly begging to be liberated."

The Prince narrowed his eyes at me, and Fran gave me a look that begged me to keep the young man's temper in check. We didn't need to be executed. Hopefully a slap on the wrist would be all the Eblanese would decree for first-time offenders in their territory.

"Lax security, says the man chained to my dungeon wall?"

I grinned, ignoring the subtext of THAT particular reply. "Prince Edward, can't we come to some agreement here?"

"It's Edge," he retorted, and I rolled my eyes at yet another royal with a cutesy nickname. Perhaps Edge and Ashe had more in common than I'd initially realized. Although Ashe had the common sense to put guards outside her treasure room. "And I don't make deals with thieves."

"Are you not a thief yourself, Your Highness?" Fran inquired. "Or so it is said where we come from. The Prince of Eblan is a warrior...and a rather skilled pickpocket."

He was probably scowling at the pair of us, though I could not see his mouth. "Then if that is what they say where you come from, perhaps stealing from a thief has gotten you what you deserve?"

I smiled. "What is it you really want, Edge? You were practically begging for thieves to come here." It was true. Word had reached as far as Balfonheim that Eblan Castle, far far away, was unguarded most nights due to its Prince's own vanity and arrogance. "Are you lonely without more of your kind?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You think I wished for two villainous pirates to lay siege to my treasury? To what end?"

Fran was warning me again with her ruby eyes, but the stories that reached Balfonheim weren't only about the Eblanese Prince's arrogance. His...appetites were also well known to us. I could never say no to a challenge such as this.

Stealing from a man's home laid him bare before you - where he kept his money, the items stashed beneath a pilllow, under a mattress. That which was for his eyes only. But Prince Edward Geraldine WANTED someone to come to his castle. Enough that rumors had made it to my ears at least. He wanted someone who WOULD dare to invade his home. And here Fran and I were, shackled to the man's dungeon walls.

"I can see no others in the dungeons of Eblan. Are Fran and I your only tenants this night?"

Edge was trying not to smile, I could see it in his eyes. I could tell he was fighting it. "You think my intentions so transparent, pirate?"

"I was told the Eblanese are a ninja people praised for their stealth and quickness. They live in shadow, concealing intent. Yet you sir...you lay open your treasury door and have a temper that does not befit a man of such secretive origins. I cannot help but question you."

The Prince turned to Fran. "Does he ever shut up?"

Fran shrugged. "No, I've never known him to be reticent."

"Shall I silence him?"

I wish he'd been more subtle. I prefer to play the game a bit longer, but from what I could gather, Edge had been in relative isolation in the castle for some time now. He was probably itching to get things underway. My partner had initially been uninterested in the whole thing, but even I could see her resolve melting under the charming, if impulsive, Prince's gaze. Fran couldn't seem to avoid that type of man, having put up with me for so long.

Edge knelt before me, running his fingers where the metal shackle met my wrist. "I see you don't like being caught. You prefer to be the one doing the trapping."

I was intrigued now. It seemed that I was not the only one conducting an analysis of character this night - it appeared that the Prince of Eblan was attempting to decipher the way of me as well. His hand was almost too gentle, his thumb rubbing at the skin that was already growing raw from the restraints. He had kept us waiting for some time, after all.

"Once I'm cornered, though," I informed him, "I usually accept the repercussions in due time."

Fran cleared her throat then. "Am I to watch all of this?"

Edge inclined his head to her. "Do you wish to?"

My partner, bless her, was not a voyeur. "No."

"Would you rather participate?" I asked her. "Because I'm sure our good host is as accommodating of two guests as he is of one."

Edge moved his hand from his wrist to my thigh, almost possessively though we'd only been acquainted these spare moments. He was rather lonely, wasn't he? "Now, if you promise never to thieve in this country again, I might let you both go without incident."

"But Balthier prefers incident," Fran noted as I shifted a little so Edge's hand slid elsewhere. Within a second, he was aware of my thoughts on the situation.

"I see," Edge mused. He stood, producing the keys to the shackles from inside of his baggy trousers. "If there is to be an incident, I trust that you made yourselves aware of the palace layout when planning this little excursion?"

"Memorized every crack in the wall."

He tossed the keys just within reach of the tips of my fingers, but I didn't move to grab them yet. "Then if you know me so well, pirate, then I will see the both of you soon."

I licked my lips, trying to ignore my desire to rip the damn chain from the wall and discover the mouth beneath the ninja mask that he wore even at home. "What's to stop us from getting in our airship and leaving before you get what I think you want?"

Edge shrugged. "Oh, nothing. But you won't leave. Not yet."

Fran beat me to the keys and was already undoing her shackles. She was far better at masking her interest, but even she was faltering. "Your Highness, we are quick with such implements of imprisonment. If you wish to give chase, perhaps you shouldn't dally here?"

Edge nodded. "I suppose you're right. You're free to go."

With that, he turned and left us, and by then, Fran was already out of the restraints. She tossed me the keys and I set about freeing myself. "I would have thought a man with his reputation would leave us in the restraints."

I undid the cuff and smiled. "He's traditional, even in these matters, I suspect."

"Taking a pair of sky pirates to bed is traditional?" Fran asked me and helped me to my feet.

I brushed off my trousers and adjusted my cuffs. "We're giving him quite a head start. He's captured us...I think we ought to return the favor."

"Will you share?" she inquired, knowing my selfish tendencies all too well.

"Why don't we let our host decide?" I replied, and we made haste to the Prince's chambers in Eblan Castle's highest tower.