Won't you come out and play with me?

Chapter Nine

Midnight Welcomes a Princess

The saltwater spray of the sea hit Boa's face, as she leaned out as far as she could over the edge of the Wormwood. Her handmaiden, Aelda stood far away from the side, her arms and upper body wrapped up in a black drape. Her presence was almost eclipsed by the brightness of Boa's enthusiasm, but she was like a black spot to Carrion, blocking out his sun.

He knew the only person standing in the way of him and his princess being alone, was this young woman, with straw coloured hair and a timid looking face; and he knew there was also no way he could get rid of her. He had agreed to the terms after all.

Boa's head turned in his direction, and whether the smile on her face was for him or the thrill of the sea, he couldn't tell; all he knew was that he was lost in her face, and had the ship been sinking around him he would not have cared.

Boa watched the sky darken with a fascination. Finally she was going to see this mysterious place that she had heard stories about all her life. There were two sides to Midnight, the one that Carrion told her, and the one that was believed by most. The idea that she was travelling towards some kind of danger made her excited, and full of manic laughter.

She was frightened, but she was safe, and it was the most fun feeling she could imagine. Slowly, very slowly stars began appearing in the sky. The waves turned darker, and the teeth in the mouths of the fishes below got sharper. She stepped back from the water, it wasn't so inviting anymore.

"Miss, please, come and put on a cloak, I'm afraid you'll freeze. There is no light here remember," Aelda said beckoning Boa away from the edge.

She wished the princess would come off the deck and go back down below. It was too cold up here for her, and she was cold herself. But Boa couldn't feel the wind; her blood was warm with exhilaration, for in the distance she had spotted the first beams of light.

"Oh!" she shouted and pointed. "I see it, I see it!"

Boa was right, out of the pitch-blackness of the horizon had appeared a glow of lights, clustered together in what looked like a small dome. It grew in brightness as they approached, and with it the lights separated into colours.

Boa's eyes widened as the lights lit up her face, and the cheers, shouts and calls of the people seeing the ship approach filled her ears. She had arrived, it was time to become a princess once again and step out into the crowd. But her heart hammered, she was nervous and when she looked around for Carrion he had disappeared from view.

The ship was docked, and she looked up at the cast iron arch that span over the city entrance, reading: Gorgossium.

Slowly people began to point towards her, their excited faces becoming even more animated. She heard people asking each other who she was, pointing at her, all the while the noise was becoming louder and louder. Laughter, calls to friends, screams of joy.

The prince has brought a lady to visit us, a beautiful lady, a lady dressed like a princess.

Boa smiled nervously, and gave a shy wave to a gathering of wide-eyed children stood on top of crates to best see her. They giggled together and returned her wave, and somebody finally quieted the crowd with a trumpet blast.

All of a sudden, Christopher Carrion had her hand and was walking her towards the boat's exit. She allowed him to lead her in a daze, until she saw the fancy plank she had to walk down, and saw the people waiting at the other end.

They looked greedy, ready to rip her to bits in order to know who she was.

"No, no I can't," she declared pulling at Carrion to let her go.

"Don't worry, they won't harm you. They just want your picture," he told her not looking as if he understood her sudden fear.

But still Boa's heels dug in the wood of the ship, and Carrion was forced to almost pull her along.

"Don't show me up," he snapped at her suddenly, making Boa flinch. "I brought you hear like you asked me to, now you will not disappoint my people by refusing to greet them with me, and you will not disappoint me by entering my island in disgrace."

This shot through Boa like a knife, and she sucked in her breath and took a big step towards the plank. As soon as she had a foot on it, there came the rain of questions.

"My Lord, I'm from Midnight Papers, who is this beautiful woman?"

"Miss, Miss, give us a smile!"

"Come on sweetie!"

Boa tried to smile, she really did, but halfway down all she could do was cling to Carrion as he was met by two men who looked like they would flatten the whole crowd for him should Carrion click his fingers.

"The state of the island gentlemen?" he asked, as he waved at some people screaming his name, and pulled Boa closer to him as photographers snapped them over and over again.

"No worse than when you left My Lord, the hospital has been completed, it just awaits your approval to be opened, and the new housing is coming along ahead of schedule."

"Excellent. Where is the carriage? I have had enough of this," he said as he was handed a set of papers of some kind.

Boa tried to see what he was reading, but she was still being photographed. Finally the two men told the photographers to get out the way, and they ploughed a path through them all in which Carrion followed, and Boa did her best to keep up without being jostled too much.

"You didn't announce me!" she said as soon as they were safe in the carriage and the door was shut.

"I didn't need to, It'll be all over the papers tomorrow," he replied still reading.

Boa scowled and snatched the paper away from him. Her handmaid put a protective hand on Boa's arm as one of the men sat either side of Carrion made a threatening twitch in Boa's direction.

"You said I would be safe!"

"And you are, may I have my papers back?"

"I was almost crushed back there!" Boa said angrily, the stress of the past ten minutes coming back upon her.

Carrion was indifferent.

"Guard, I told you that all visitors should be protected, especially royalty," he said not looking at anyone but Boa.

"She was My Lord," the man insisted.

"There you are Boa, you were," Carrion told her, giving her a smile that communicated that he found her flustered state amusing.

Boa shuddered. There was something about his face when he smiled that wasn't normal, he wasn't smiling for the same reasons anyone else did, to make you feel better, or to include you. His smiles were for himself only.

Boa looked down at the papers in her hands.

"What are all these names for?" she asked.

Carrion Smiled again.

"Men and woman awaiting execution."

Boa's faced paled and she dropped the papers back on her lap.

"And the crimes?" she forced herself to ask.

"Treason."

There was silence for the remainder of the journey, but Carrion's eyes never left her face. And whilst Boa tried to look out of the window, she felt her face flush darker and darker with every passing second. She hated him, hated him, yet she couldn't bring her heart to do the same thing.

The carriage stopped and the two men each left via different doors, one on either of the carriage, and Carrion followed out of the door Boa assumed she was supposed to exit from too. As soon as she was out the shear size of the towers before her struck her dumb.

"Miss, I am instructed to escort all visitors to their quarters. Where you end up after that is not my concern," one of Carrion's guards said.

Boa looked him over scathingly. She disliked him; he had been the one that had made the threatening move towards her in the carriage.

"And you would be…?" she said haughtily.

"Lieutenant Burn, Miss, head of security on the island," he replied in a militant fashion.

Boa bit her lip and nodded. She took hold of her maid's hand, and nodded to the man to lead the way. Carrion had abandoned her, and she was feeling too tired to argue.

Lieutenant Burn led the way, and looked back at her now and then. He felt sorry for the girl. She had looked like a fighter until Lord Carrion had lied to her and caused tears for form in the backs of her eyes. He felt he had to say something.

"Miss, what was said on the way here, it wasn't true," Burn said knowing he could get into trouble for speaking to her out of turn. "The names were not people awaiting death, they are people claiming to have medical knowledge… they will be working in the new hospital. I mean, the only hospital…there has never been one before, so the Prince has had to recruit from scratch."

There was silence again.

"Oh," Boa said simply. She looked to Aelda to see what she made of it, but she was straight faced and said nothing.

"Well, here we are," he said stopping outside a door but not going in. "If you need anything, pull on the red cord."

Boa thanked him and stepped into the room. It was large, comfortable and boring. Boa shrugged and sat down on the bed. So she was here, what now? Surely Carrion wasn't going to ignore her forever? True she felt silly for her behaviour earlier, she should have been expecting that, what did she think would happen, that they would sneak round the back?

But surely he would ask for her soon? Surely?

Author's note: If you are wondering what happened between Boa and Finnegan, you'll have to wait a bit longer I'm afraid. But again thank you for all the reviews!