Valkyrie walked back to her cabin without turning a single time, since she knew that if she did just that, she would regret her decision and run straight into Skulduggery and his waiting arms. Instead, she forced herself to do nothing else but just looking straight ahead and ignore everything that existed around her. It wasn't until she saw the door to her own cabin that she dared to slow down and to take a look around to make sure that Skulduggery had not followed her.

She opened the door and walked straight to her dressing table where she sat down on the chair in front of the dressing table before picking up her hairbrush. She slowly began to brush her black hair to occupy her shaking hands with something. Normally these simple and mundane movements used to calm her down, but not today. Her pulse thundered in her ears, she felt faint, her head pounded with an oncoming headache and pent-up tears burned in her eyes.

Unwelcome and forbidden thoughts slowly began to creep up on her which she tried (in vain) to push away, but which persisted in constantly surfacing. She couldn't stop thinking about the look on Skulduggery's face the second before she had walked away from him. At how much she had wanted that kiss he had tried to give her. How close she had been to actually be letting him kiss her. How she now sat here in her cabin fantasizing about how it would have felt, how she would have pressed Skulduggery against her body before grabbing his neck to…

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door opening. In the mirror, she could see her fiancé coming toward her with a brown jewelry box in his hand. He had a big smile on his face and his eyes were twinkling. Valkyrie felt her cheeks heat up with shame at her erotic thoughts and she concentrated on continuing to brush her hair in an effort not to show Caelan what she had just fantasized about.

Or reveal the fact that only minutes ago she had defied his demands not to see Skulduggery again…

"There she is! My future wife," Caelan said in a soft voice, walking up to Valkyrie. He placed the jewelry box on the dressing table before leaning forward and brushing his lips against Valkyrie's cheek. "You are so beautiful, Valkyrie. Especially in this light."

Valkyrie gave Caelan a careful smile as she met his gaze in the mirror. "Thank you so much, Caelan."

Caelan grabbed Valkyrie's chin and turned her head so he could look into her eyes. Neither of them said anything. Valkyrie didn't dare because she didn't know what Caelan's intentions were. The slightest word or movement that he could misinterpret would probably result in her receiving more of a beating, which was something she wanted to avoid at all costs.

"I can't believe how lucky I am to finally have you to myself for once…" Caelan whispered, leaning forward so their lips could touch.

Valkyrie froze before forcing herself to relax and let the kiss happen. She closed her eyes and imagined that it was Skulduggery kissing her instead of Caelan. The kiss deepened and Caelan let his free hand wrap around her neck so he could pull her closer to him. He explored Valkyrie's lips with a hunger he had been keeping hidden for a long time and now that Valkyrie was letting him show her how much he wanted her, he was going to seize the opportunity.

Valkyrie was surprised that she could enjoy this kiss as much as she actually did. Caelan wasn't a bad kisser; she had to admit that. She found herself giving in to Caelan more and more. When his tongue touched her lower lip, she opened her entire mouth to him. A moan escaped Caelan and Valkyrie could feel the vibration of it in her own mouth, making her shiver.

"Valkyrie..."

"Caelan…"

Caelan gave Valkyrie one last kiss before reluctantly pulling away from her. His eyes glowed with pent-up desire. "If we only were already married..."

"It won't be long now. We'll be in New York soon and then I'll be yours forever," Valkyrie said with a smile she hoped seemed genuine when all she wanted to do inside was run out of this room straight into Skulduggery's arms.

"I can't wait," Caelan said. He gave Valkyrie one last kiss before caressing her cheek and placing his hand on the jewelry box. He opened it and gave his future wife a big smile. "I have something for you."

"For me? You don't have to…" Valkyrie began, but Caelan held up a hand telling Valkyrie that it would be unwise to continue.

"I want to apologize for how I behaved this morning. I shouldn't have stormed off like I did, and I certainly shouldn't have put my hands on you. This is my way of proving to you how much I love you and only want the best for you."

Caelan took a diamond necklace out of the box. The necklace was decorated with a heart and in the heart was a blue diamond. As the necklace was placed around her neck, Valkyrie could feel the weight of it, and it made her gasp in surprise. She let her fingers slowly touch the necklace and couldn't help but be enraptured by the beauty of the piece of jewelry. It glinted from the light of the lights in the cabin and Valkyrie knew without asking that it must have cost Caelan a small fortune.

"It is called the 'Heart of the Ocean' and I give this to you to show you that my heart belongs to you and only you, Valkyrie. I will do everything in my power to make sure you will have everything you ever want. You should never have to go without anything, but what you want I will get. Nothing is good enough for my wife."

"I… don't know what to say," Valkyrie answered truthfully while unable to tear her eyes from the diamond around her neck.

"You don't have to say anything, Valkyrie. I see in your eyes that you are just as enthralled as I was when I laid eyes on the Heart of the Ocean for the first time. When you wear this piece of jewelry, no one will be able to take their eyes off you. You will be the center of every party and the most beautiful woman in the room."

Valkyrie continued to caress the necklace slowly with her fingers while fighting not to show Caelan what she really thought of the piece. She couldn't help but feel like she was slowly being suffocated to death by the weight the necklace gave her. She didn't see a beautiful piece of jewelry, but a tool whose sole purpose was to weigh her down even more and give Caelan yet another reason to make her stay with him.

If he could buy a piece of jewelry like this without so much as raising an eyebrow at the price, it was just further proof of how rich Caelan really was. It was yet another reason why so many in their circle would consider Caelan to be perfect for her and her family, as Caelan would save them from poverty and also give her father a good start-up capital to start a new business idea like in their luck would allow them to stand on their own two feet instead of having to ask others for money, which was not looked on kindly if you were part of the first class.

Caelan let his fingers slowly caress Valkyrie's shoulders in small circular motions before letting his lips brush against her neck. "Unfortunately, I must leave you now, Valkyrie. I have a meeting I must attend. Ideally, I would like to cancel and spend the rest of the day with you, but duty calls."

"I understand, Caelan," Valkyrie replied, giving him a pitying smile. "Perhaps we can meet for a while after the meeting, if it doesn't take too long?"

"Do you really want that?"

"Of course. I want to get to know my future husband and since there are not many days left until our wedding; I want to take advantage of the time we have left."

Caelan looked surprised at first, but soon his face broke into a big smile. He leaned forward and gave Valkyrie a passionate kiss before reluctantly pulling away from her. "Glad to hear that, Valkyrie. I will try to speed up the meeting as best I can. Hopefully we'll have time to talk a little more tonight, otherwise I'm looking forward to tomorrow when I'll have the opportunity to have you to myself."

"I'm glad too, Caelan," Valkyrie said, giving Caelan a kiss on the cheek.

Caelan gave her one last smile before exiting the cabin and closing the door behind him.

As soon as Caelan was gone, the smile left Valkyrie's face. She felt completely drained and had to support herself on the dressing table to keep herself from falling to the floor. How would she be able to keep up this charade for the rest of her life? This brief moment with Caelan where she had done nothing but lie had left her utterly exhausted. She suspected it would get easier and easier the more she lied and kept up the facade, but would it all be worth it in the end?

Could it be that if she went through with this, she would die prematurely due to misery? She had heard stories of both men and women (mostly women) who had died due to broken hearts and depression, so what was it that said that she too wouldn't be able to suffer the same kind of fate?

The weight of the Heart of the Ocean brought Valkyrie back to reality. She stretched and settled back into the chair. She let her hands wander back to her neck where she let her fingers unclasp the jewelry and open it so she could take it off. When the necklace was in her hand and she was able to take a closer look at it, she couldn't help but marvel at how beautiful it was. Any other woman would probably have been overjoyed if her fiancé gave her this piece of jewelry.

But Valkyrie was not like any other woman.

All she wanted to do was throw the diamond right into the mirror, even though she knew that the only thing that would result in was that the mirror would break, and the diamond not have so much as a scratch on it.

A lump formed in her throat and Valkyrie desperately tried to swallow it down but couldn't. Instead, it seemed to grow, and she could feel tears burning in the corners of her eyes. She faced her own image in the mirror and let the tears flow silently down her cheeks. She had gotten very good at crying silently over the years, because a woman of her circle wasn't allowed to cry in a way that others could perceive.

Valkyrie placed the Heart of the Ocean back into the brown jewelry box as tears continued to flow silently down her cheeks and onto her dress. She couldn't stop images of what her future together with Caelan would look like. In these images she saw herself, alone in a gigantic mansion where she did nothing during the day but walk around the empty rooms with only her own thoughts for company. Perhaps now and then she would be joined by a servant or maidservant, but they would not be there because she asked them to come with her, but because they wanted to talk to her about something.

She saw herself sitting alone at the dinner table while Caelan was away on yet another business trip and the butler standing a little way from the dinner table, waiting for her to eat up so he could clear the table and pass the dishes to the kitchen counters. How she would then go up to the bedroom to await Caelan's return and prepare for their marital obligations as husband and wife.

How she would lie awake after the act feeling soiled, maybe even a little bruised if Caelan proved to be rough in the bedroom as well.

"No!" Valkyrie stood up so quickly that the chair slid backwards across the carpet. "No, I cannot allow any of that to happen! I'm not meant to live my life that way! That's not me, I'm so much more than a housewife! I am supposed to look around the world and experience it. I am supposed to be free and make my own decisions!"

Valkyrie met her own gaze in the mirror and the person looking back at her was not a helpless, scared and defeated young woman. No, the person in this moment looking back at her was a determined, strong and brave woman who would not let anything stand in the way of her dreams.

"Time to make a final decision, Valkyrie Cain. Either you stay here, or you go out on deck and go the way you've wanted to go for years now. Are you going to remain a gray mouse who is nothing but prey, or are you going to break free from your chains and show everyone that you are a hunter?"

Valkyrie wiped her tears, took a very deep breath which she held inside for a few seconds before slowly letting it out. She closed her eyes and the first thing that appeared inside her eyelids was the image of the person who had changed her life and had made her realize her own worth. The person who had stirred so many emotions within her, even though she had only known the person for two days. The person she was only now beginning to realize she had developed feelings for and who for some inexplicable reason she wanted to spend her time with.

She opened her eyes, again meeting her own gaze in the mirror before nodding and giving herself a smile. She went into the bedroom, retrieved a cardigan which she draped around her shoulders and exited the cabin.

The sun was setting, casting an orange-pink glow over the sky and the Titanic as she flew across the water. At the front of her was a young man looking down at the sea with a sad expression on his face. His arms were crossed over the white railing, and he had a forward leaning posture.

Skulduggery Pleasant couldn't stop thinking about Valkyrie and their last meeting. He was both pissed off and disappointed in himself that he hadn't been able to reach Valkyrie and make her understand that she was entering a life of contempt, hatred and violence. That she would be extremely unhappy if she took Caelan as her husband, as Skulduggery knew very well what he was capable of and what he would make Valkyrie suffer, just because he owned her and because he felt it was his legal right.

Valkyrie not reciprocating his feelings had saddened him, but not devastated him like many other men probably would have. He'd had his heart broken once before, the same summer he'd had an affair with China Sorrows. He had been nothing but a fling to China and she had made that abundantly clear to him just a few days before his summer job ended.

He understood very well why Valkyrie had no romantic feelings for him, as they were complete opposites on a social level. She was born in a completely different world than himself and had a completely different view of how the world worked, although Skulduggery understood that she was still partially aware that not everyone had it as good as those in her class, which pleased him.

He was not like any of the other men she had met before, nor did he act like a man "should". He wouldn't be a bit surprised if Valkyrie found him "too wild", way too honest, brusque and forward. She was used to the men around her mostly only talking about her beauty, what womanly duties she had to perform and whether or not she had behaved decently during an event.

Valkyrie was unlike any other woman he had met before, and he suspected that was what had drawn his attention to her. He had never felt this strongly for another woman before and all he wanted was for Valkyrie to be happy. If she chose to go through with the engagement, she would definitely not be happy with Caelan.

Footsteps approaching him from behind caused Skulduggery to snap out of his depressing thoughts. He stretched, started to turn around and just had time to wonder who it could be that wanted his attention when he froze in surprise the second, he saw who it was that was coming towards him.

Valkyrie Cain came walking towards him with a smile on her face. "Hello, Skulduggery. I… changed my mind."

Skulduggery felt immense relief and joy when he heard Valkyrie utter those four words. He gave her a relieved smile before extending his hand to her. "Do you trust me?"

Valkyrie looked him in the eyes before answering "I trust you completely."

She took Skulduggery's hand in hers and let him pull her up onto the railing. Skulduggery positioned her in front of him so Valkyrie could look out at the sea ahead. It was only then that Valkyrie realized that it was in this exact spot that she had been standing two days ago and that it was in this exact spot that she had met Skulduggery for the first time.

"Close your eyes," Skulduggery whispered in her ear and Valkyrie did as she was told. She could feel Skulduggery grab and lift her arms.

"What are you doing?" she asked with a laugh.

"You will soon see." Skulduggery wrapped his arms around Valkyrie's waist before whispering softly in her ear "Okay, now you can open your eyes."

Valkyrie did as she was told and the moment, she did she could feel the wind passing through her body and how high up in the air she was. Looking down at her body, she could see that Skulduggery had stretched her arms out from her body so that she resembled a T, giving the illusion that she was flying. Valkyrie felt light as a feather, and she couldn't help but laugh with happiness and joy.

"I… I'm flying, Skulduggery!"

Skulduggery laughed behind her and Valkyrie could feel the vibrations against her back. He let his hands find hers before he began to sing a tune that Valkyrie had never heard before but that made her body fill with joy. Skulduggery played with Valkyrie's hands and fingers as he sang, making Valkyrie smile. She could feel how goosebumps filled her body from Skulduggery's caresses and a shiver running up her spine.

Skulduggery chuckled as he felt Valkyrie shiver and stopped his singing to whisper "Do you like this?" before continuing to sing as if he hadn't said anything at all. Valkyrie didn't trust her own voice, so instead of answering, she just nodded while leaning back against Skulduggery's chest to get closer to him.

Skulduggery let his fingers slowly wander away from Valkyrie's hands and fingers. He began to wander upwards until he reached Valkyrie's upper and lower arms where he slowly let his fingertips caress the sensitive skin. A gasp escaped Valkyrie, and she couldn't help but think about how it would feel if Skulduggery let his fingers wander to other, more sensitive places…

Skulduggery let his lips brush against Valkyrie's ear as he sang the last words of the song before letting his hands once again wander down to Valkyrie's where he let his hands cup hers. He lowered their entwined hands to Valkyrie's waist as he looked into her eyes. Their faces were now only inches apart and the smiles they had both been wearing disappeared. They looked into each other's eyes for a brief moment to make sure they understood what the other wanted.

Skulduggery leaned forward and let his lips wrap around Valkyrie's for the first time. At first the kiss was gentle and a little hesitant as they both wanted to make sure that this was exactly what the other wanted. As they continued to kiss, they became more daring, and it was not long before they were both fully engulfed in a passionate kiss that neither of them wanted to end…