Indeed, up close, Alina could see as Alexei and Ruby rowed her up to the Volkvolny that the ship had been greatly and artfully expanded upon and repaired.
Even in the dim light of fire and sparks, she could see that this was a truly grand ship, achingly familiar. She was certain that if she saw it in the daylight, that it would outdo even the richest merchant ships and the grandest battleships.
It wasn't very long before Alina was brought up to the deck, where a strikingly beautiful woman in a blue coat was waiting for them.
"Ruby, Alexei—what is this?" The beautiful woman gestured at Alina dismissively.
"Found her in the Governor's manor—says she wants to parlay with the captain," Ruby explained.
"And why should I allow this?" The beautiful woman folded her arms over her chest, her dark eyes sizing up Alina's small form.
"Zoya." Alexei nodded towards Alina, his intonation careful. "Look at her."
Zoya frowned, squinting at Alina—only to blink in surprise. "I see. I'll go find the Captain—he's bound to be around here somewhere."
"Right where you least expect, Zoya." Out from the crowd of pirates emerged a young man with a long teal coat, a face like a prince's in a fairytale, and shining gold curls.
He swaggered up to the group on the deck. "What do you three have for me here?"
Alina decided now was as good a time as any to speak."Are you the Captain of the Volkvolny, then?"
"I might just be." He carried about him a mischief, Alina decided, one often saw in spirits and fey. "Depends on what you're asking for."
"I've come to invoke parlay."
"Parlay?" He raised an eyebrow. "Can't say we've done that one before, at least, when we're already in the middle of sacking the poor sods. This should be interesting."
He stepped forward, and Ruby and Alexei took a step back, leaving him quite close to Alina as the commotion on the deck slowed. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to watch to see if she succeeded. Or failed.
"Go on then, make your pitch." He grinned. "Captain Sturmhond, at your service."
Alina could not falter, she could not shrink as she had learned to do in the past ten years. She let out a little cough, to clear her throat.
Shoulders back, chin high. Just like Ana Kuya taught you.
"You will call off your men and leave this port, never to return."
Pitying, amused laugh echoed amongst the pirates.
Captain Sturmhond's hazel eyes twinkled with amusement. "And why would we do that?"
Why indeed?
Alina's hand reached nervously for the medallion—only for her to realize Sturmhond was watching said medallion. She pulled it up toward her face—his eyes betrayed him.
It all clicked into place. The medallion in her hand, when she was just a shipwrecked child. The Volkvolny. Her past returned after a decade.
She wasn't sure why they wanted it or how they knew it was here—but it was the medallion they wanted.
It was a guess—wild and crazy. But by the second, Alina was sure that she was right.
"Because—" she removed the chain from her neck and turned her back on the pirate, careful to subtly maneuver the chain so she would have a hold on it, so she would not drop it entirely, but could give a scare and prove her point.
She turned back around, careful to hold her hand out, over the edge of the boat.
"Because, if you do not agree to my terms, I will drop this into the harbor."
Sturmhond tilted back his head and laughed, an arrogant sound.
"Do you really think we want your little trinket?"
Alina let it slip from her grasp, stopped by just one finger, the chain being long enough to dangle in the ocean breeze.
The pirates suddenly yelled, darted towards her. Including the captain.
A smirk curled up Alina's face. "Oh."
"You've made your point." Sturmhond approached, a little more care and cunning glimmering in those hazel eyes, a damper on his devil-may-care attitude. "You have a name?"
Alina could only hear her heartbeat in her ears. She'd made a fool of these men—and pirates were never the merciful sorts, not even the romantic men in he novels.
If they knew that she was one of the Governor's daughters, they might think her a valuable hostage. But she couldn't waste any time concocting an alias—so for the first time in ten years, she spoke her true name.
"Alina Starkov."
There was recognition in Sturmhond's cunning, handsome face.
"Starkov, is it?" He raised an eyebrow. He offered her his hand. "We have a deal, then."
Alina placed the medallion in his hands, a silent confirmation of their bargain.
The parlay had ended.
He turned to Zoya. "Call them all back in, prepare to leave at once."
"Aye, Captain." Zoya produced a conch shell from the satchel resting around her hips, and produced a song unlike any Alina had ever heard.
At the same time, Sturmhond turned, walking away from the rest of them.
Alina glanced about to the moving pirates, to Alexei, to Ruby—but none of them spared her a glance or moved towards the rowboats.
Panic surged through Alina.
"Wait!" She ran towards Sturmhond, who abruptly stopped and whirled around. "What about me?"
"What about you, then?" His tone was boyish, teasing.
"I need safe passage back to shore."
"The parlay ended, Miss Starkov—I suppose you should have recalled your own safety in the bargain."
He was about to turn around when Alina gabbed his arm. Like in the manor, her brain was whirring, trying to find something, anything that could help her fulfill her promise to Ana Kuya, to return home safely.
"What about the pirates' code?" Alina asked, with a note of triumph. "Doesn't it state that you have to provide safe passage to members of parlay?"
"There's a few problems with that strategy, Miss Starkov." He smirked. "First, you'd have to be a pirate for the code to apply, and you're lucky I've so generously agreed to your parlay in the first place—"
Alina snorted, an unladylike noise.
"I'll ignore that insult to my character." Sturmhond raised a finger. "And second—Second!"
He jabbed his finger in the air for emphasis. "That code's really a set of guidelines, not really rules."
He then glanced around, before his eyes locked onto Ruby and Alexei, who had somehow come up behind Alina without her noticing.
"Ruby, Alexei, if you would kindly escort Miss Starkov to my cabin?" He nodded towards Alina. "I believe we'll need to have a little chat once we're on the high seas."
"Aye, Captain." Ruby and Alexei each took one of Alina's arms and pulled her away and into the corridors of the ghostly ship of her past.