The fish market stunk. What with the rain, the mud and the mountains of dead fish there was barely any fresh air to breath. Deryn wondered how much of the stink was coming from the market, or from herself. She had run the entire day through the roads and alleys of Tokyo, stomping through puddles of water and horse clart. It had been stupid of her to leave the mansion without even stopping to change out of the dress. She had been so angry and in such a hurry to leave that she had forgotten she was even wearing the old tattered wedding gown until she had reached the fish market. Now it clung to her body, wet, grey and miserable and barking see-through to boot. People would stop and stare at her, and she could understand why. She must have looked a proper ninny with her diddies showing through, her feet bare, and no stockings to cover her legs. Be it her rotten luck that she had put a dress on in the first place. The closet where she had pulled the blankets had plenty of jackets and pants, but she hadn't been thinking and grabbed the dress instead. And on top of that it was a bloody wedding gown!

She sighed. It seemed she deserved to be discovered this way. The world was out against her now.

Stupid Dr. Barlow and her stupid assumptions! She thought. If the boffin hadn't been so angry about the Goliath she may not have blethered her secret out so quickly. Not that it mattered, what with the dress and all. Alek had to simply look at her and everything had turned to hogwash.

Alek….

The look on his face when he found out and the things he had said had been so heartbreaking she had been forcing herself not to think about it. She had been so happy he had survived she had kissed him. He had even enjoyed the kiss! Until he found out she was a girl. Blisters it wasn't fair. Part of the reason she had run so hard was to forget about him. Now that she couldn't run anymore the pain was flooding back to her. Plus her feet would never forgive her.

Her boots were back at the abandoned mansion next to the fireplace as well as her middie uniform and jacket. They may have been soaked from the river, but they would have been loads better than what she was wearing now.

She grabbed mournfully at her feet. They were completely covered in cuts and bruises from the rocky roads and almost half frozen. She couldn't walk anymore they hurt so much. After running all day and through the night she saw that the sun was beginning to climb in the sky again. It was still raining, but not as hard as before. The Japanese fishermen were pulling out their carts and booths to sell their catch that morning. They at least didn't seem to mind the rain. Smiling at one another and comparing fish while standing happily beneath tents and umbrellas, the men didn't notice a wet miserable Scottish lass hiding under one of the carts.

She would have continued to sulk there but was distracted when a man came buy pushing a buggy of hot food. He was screaming his wears to the passerby in Japanese and ringing a bell to attract attention. Deryn felt her stomach rumble angrily and watched the man with a new found eagerness. Slowly, she came out of her hiding spot and followed him down the road for a bit. He didn't notice her at first because she was behind him, but eventually she caught up with his dragging pace and tapped him on the shoulder.

Deryn had never seen anyone look at her with such disgust. The man was of height with her, but he still managed to look down on her like a rat. She held out her hands in the universal symbol for begging and put on the most desperate face she could muster up. Which wasn't too difficult, seeing the state she was in.

He considered her for a moment, stopped the cart and took a good look at her. Then without even an answer, turned around and continued pushing his cart up the street. Without thinking, she followed him more and began to pester him in English.

"Please sir, you have so much, and I haven't eaten anything in two days." He ignored her for a few more steps, then finally pulled the cart over to the side of the road and stopped. From his front pocket she saw him remove a few coins and throw them at her feet. Not exactly what she had in mind, but she'd take anything at this point. She quickly bent down to pick them up and when she looked up at the man to thank him, she noticed a strange new look in his eye. It was a hungry gleam and it scared her.

He bent down beside her and brushed his hands through her hair. He didn't look at her in the face but instead at her torn white dress, which was even more transparent now that it was wet. She tried to pull away but he had grabbed her wrist and said something in Japanese that sounded very dirty.

"LET GO OF ME!" She yelped, but he was stronger than her. If she hadn't been running all night, or if she had her rigging knife still she could have easily beat him down. But the world was against her now, she was sure of it.

He grabbed her other arm when she tried to hit him and attempted to pull her toward the buggy when something long and shiny snapped down on his elbow with a nasty crack. He fell down on the ground and held his arm miserably in pain. She could tell that it was broken by the way it was bent and how much the man was screaming. For a moment she stared at him in confusion, wondering what had happened, then she saw the fencing saber above her face.

She whirled around to see Count Volger standing behind her. He was taller than she remembered and his face was so angry that she almost considered running again. But his anger was directed at the salesman, and not her. He had lifted the saber to the man's throat, said a few short words in Japanese and then picked Deryn up off the ground with one hand. Suddenly she was being pulled away from the food cart and back down the road and out of the market.

Volger didn't let go of her arm for one moment. Nor did he speak to her. Instead he pulled her along behind him through the roads of Tokyo and Deryn had to do her best to keep up. Her feet felt like she was walking on knives and she could see them bleeding, but she didn't slow down once.

At last, Deryn started to recognize the buildings around her. The simple elegant gardens and tall trees were exactly the same as the neighborhood Lady Elsie lived in. Sure enough, within a few more blocks, Count Volger had pulled her through a gate and up to the back door of Elsie's home where she collapsed on the doorstep. He knocked impatiently at the wooden door and then finally looked down at her.

"Are you alright, Mr. Sharp?" He said, as if they were still on the Leviathan and this had been one of her fencing lessons.

She just glared at him, not bothering to grace him with an answer. He was nothing but a large bag of yuckum in her mind and she had no intention of amusing him, even if he had just saved her.

A moment later the door opened and a large round face was looking down one them. Elsie's cook was a very tall German woman, nearly six inches taller than Volger. Deryn remembered her from the kitchen before and how unhelpful the woman had been when it came to cooking Austrian desserts.

The cook looked down at them both with a strange mixture of curiosity and worry. She was very plump and each of her breasts was the same size as Volger's head. Deryn couldn't help but smile when she saw a trace of fear in Volger's eyes when he looked up at her. She was certain the cook could snap his saber in two with one hand tied behind her back.

The Wildcount cleared his throat and asked politely in Clanker if they could come in. The cook gave them one more terrifying glare before opening to door all the way and letting them slide through.

Deryn followed the Count into the kitchen and was quickly lifted like a sack of potatoes and thrown over the shoulder of the cook. The woman began to shout at the Count loudly in German. Deryn could make out a few words such as feet and blood but most of it sounded like curses. She couldn't see Volger's face but could hear him anxiously apologizing.

She heard the patter of small feet and saw the image of Elsie, upside-down and behind her. The ambassador's daughter also began to yell, but this time in English.

"Dylan? Is that you? What in heavens is going on? Count Volger, what are you doing here this early and for God's sake Minnie, put the poor boy down!"

Slowly, the cook lowered her into a kitchen chair and Deryn almost fainted from the blood rushing back out of her head. When her eyes cleared she saw Elsie staring at her, her dress, and her feet.

Barking spiders this was going to take a lot of explaining.

Luckily Count Volger did all of the talking, and it was mainly loud mouth Clanker so Deryn couldn't follow very well anyways. She held her head in her hands and looked down at her disfigured feet which were stinging from the sudden heat of the house.

"Get him…umm I mean her upstairs. I'll draw a bath and get Niles to find her some dry clothes." With that, Elsie turned on her heal and marched out of the kitchen.

Moments later, Deryn was carried potato style back up to her old room. She was stripped out of the dress and dumped into the bathtub where Elsie herself scrubbed her hair and back. Afterwards the cook wrapped her feet in linens and Elsie helped her into a silk nightgown.

Elsie asked her a few questions about dressing as a boy, but Deryn wasn't listening and didn't reply. The girl seemed to get the hint and continued to help her into bed in silence.

They brought her up a hot bowl of broth and tea and Elsie insisted on watching her and making sure she ate the entire thing. Deryn wanted them to leave and let her sleep, but the Count had come back and he and Elsie were not budging until they got some answers.

Where was Alek? Why had he run away? Was the boffin with him? If so, why had she run after him? And did any of this have to do with the Demon? Why was Deryn in a dress? Did she know anything about the British Embassy? Where was British Ambassador now? And why on earth was Deryn running around Tokyo half naked by herself?

She answered what she could, which didn't seem to appease their curiosity. Elsie continued to look confused and Count Volger just looked angry. Eventually she got them to leave when she started to yell at them.

"I don't know why he did it! I just woke up and he wasn't in the hotel room anymore so I got up and looked out the window. He was running toward the river so I decided to follow him and make sure the blundering ninny didn't hurt himself."

"But he did hurt himself." Volger said.

"Aye, he was shot with one of those humming birds." She grumbled. She really didn't want to talk about Alek.

"And he killed the Demon, you're sure of that?" Elsie repeated for the fifth time.

"I don't know, I didn't see him do it! It was already in the river when I got there. Now would you stop badgering me and go away! I told you everything, now let me sleep!"

They seemed to finally understand her and sat for a moment just staring at one another. She watched them stand and quietly exit the room while looking back at her suspiciously. Deryn found that she didn't care anymore. Let them think all they wanted about her with those clart filled noble heads of theirs.

She realized that Alek was probably in a whole lot of trouble, which made her feel a bit better. Another thought came to her and she wondered if she would have to talk to Alek again. That made her shudder. Her whole point in running away was that she needed to get away from these people. She didn't belong with the Archduke anymore, especially now that she was a girl again. Her time on the Leviathan was over because Dr. Barlow was going to kick her bum off the ship and her only option had been running away.

It was true that she hadn't come up with where she would go yet. Something inside her crushed as she realized she would never fly again. And another heartache descended upon her when she thought of never seeing Alek again. But it was for the best, she knew.

However, now that she was at Elsie's house with Volger here as well, she may be stuck with the seeing the prince again. She couldn't tell if this made her happy or not. Her stupid girlie feelings wanted to see Alek more than anything, but Alek had been such an arse the other night that she didn't think she could take seeing him again.

With a groan she turned over on her stomach and threw the pillow over her head.

Damn stupid barking prince! She thought, trying without success to push the idea of his dark green eyes and soft lips out of her mind.

"And you had to go and kiss him too, you dummkopf!" She grumbled to herself.