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The reaction when he removed the veil was everything Phichit had dreamed of when he and Celestino planned this. “Phichit? We heard you were dead!” Kannika’s whole being lit up, and she dropped her needle and the cloth she was embroidering to throw her arms around her big brother. “What are you doing here? Does Dad know you’re back? Does Rania?”
“I know you heard I was dead, but in reality, I found a barrel and managed to cling for long enough to get rescued,” Phichit explained, giving the short version. If this worked out the way he hoped, she could get the longer version at a more convenient time; if it didn’t, well, she’d have more important things to worry about with Phichit likely dead or disgraced as a traitor. “You’re the only one who knows I’m back, and the longer we can keep it that way, the better. Hence the veil.” He held it up, along with another one. “Before I tell you what I’m here for – are you married, and if not, is there any way at all Dad lets you go with me when I sail out again?”
Kannika flinched, pulling back and turning away from Phichit. “The first part of that question is incredibly complicated. I can explain later if you want, but no. There is no way Dad will let me go to sea now.”
He could trade the full story of his survival for the full story of her marital status later. Right now, Phichit needed to keep gathering the information he needed to know what signal to send his friends. “Right then. So your options are for me to kidnap you or you to stay here in whatever your incredibly complicated situation is, then?”
Kannika turned to stare. “You would kidnap your own sister? Why?”
“Because I’m sailing with a group of people who excel at that kind of troublemaking, so I feel confident that between their skill and my inside knowledge, we can pull it off successfully without landing you in a giant pile of buffalo dung.” Phichit smiled at his sister. “Because I remember how you and I shared the dream of going to sea and getting the hell away from Dad and Thongchai. I swore to take you with me when you were old enough. You’re old enough now.” He reached for her hands. “I won’t take you without your consent, Kannika. If you want to stay, I’ll slip out the way I came in by myself and you can go back to assuming I’m dead. The life I’m living, it’s probably not a bad bet.”
Kannika snorted. “Do I have ten minutes to throw some things in a bag?” When Phichit nodded, she started doing that. A change of clothing into something more practical, some jewelry, a doll, and her sewing and embroidery kit later, she was ready to go.
Phichit handed her a veil to hide her face and a flare. “If we get separated or attacked by more than what I can handle, throw this at the ground as hard as you can. It’ll launch a signal for help to the crew.”
Thankfully, stealth served them well, and Phichit only had to deal with one guard as he took Kannika to the escape tunnel he’d come in through. From there, it was smooth sailing until they approached the ship.
There, they were accosted by a young woman who was dressed as a widow and a prisoner. “Take me with you!”
Phichit narrowed his eyes. The voice sounded slightly familiar. He glanced at Kannika, but couldn’t see any reaction through her veil. He spoke in as deep a voice as he could muster, hoping it would be enough to keep him from being recognized. “Who are you, why do you want to come with us, and why should we take you?”
“I’d prefer not to identify myself until the possibility of you turning me over to the king for a ransom is smaller. I want to come with you because if I don’t, the king will either force me to marry despite me already having a husband or order me killed. I have until the end of the week. You should take me with you because… okay, that one I don’t have an answer to.” She held up her hands. “Because I’m no friend to the king and I know your crew is a pirate crew and I’ve got no problem getting my hands dirty?”
Kannika tugged on Phichit’s sleeve. “Take her with us,” she said in a whisper so quiet he almost didn’t hear her. “Trust me, if you can’t trust her.”
Well, Kannika would probably know who this was. There weren’t many women the king would be forcing to marry. In fact, Phichit had a pretty good guess at who this was, based on who the king might try to get away with forcing to marry despite already being married. “Fine. Come on. We need to get to the ship and alert the distraction teams to get back.”
Phichit took the two women to the captain’s quarters. Kannika scoffed. “What, the crew knows who you are and gave you the fancy room?”
“No, technically I have a hammock down below that serves as my official bunk. I’m just never there because the captain took a liking to me.” Another long story, one he was happy to get into with Kannika, but first he wanted confirmation that the other woman was who he thought. “So. Princess Rania, I presume?”
Rania unveiled herself. “I suppose there’s no reason to hide, then. Yes. I am Princess Rania. If you try to give me up for ransom, I will find a way to kill myself first.”
“Well, we’ll have to wait until the captain gets back for an official decision, but… I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t do that. He’s got good reason not to want to go anywhere near the king.” Phichit reached up and pulled off his veil. “On the other hand, he may have a problem with you specifically. After all, if my wife is here, all the time I spend in his bed might be…”
Rania put a hand over her mouth. “Phichit? You’re alive! So you could get my marry or die sentence lifted… or you could take me with you when you set sail with…” She looked at Kannika, who removed her veil and nodded. “You came to Thailand to kidnap your sister and make her a pirate too?”
“Well, if she doesn’t want to be a pirate, we can probably find her a legitimate ship to sail on that stays in the Atlantic,” Phichit told Kannika. “I will say you’re probably better off on a pirate ship, if you can find a good one like ours, because while the specifics differ there are a lot of legitimate ships that have problems with women sailing.”
“I’m staying with you, if your captain will allow it,” Kannika said. “You’ll have to teach me a lot, I’m sure.”
“You, Celestino promised to take in and get our crew to teach. We wouldn’t have kidnapped you if Celestino weren’t willing to keep you around.” He pulled out a bottle of rum. “While we wait, Kannika, explain the complicated marriage thing?”
Kannika snorted. “So Dad is insisting that Rania has to get married even though we had no proof of your death because he caught her with me. Or, more accurately, my fiancé caught her with me. He raised such a stink about it that it ended our betrothal, put Rania in a bind, and made Dad furious that he has to try to find someone willing to marry me who is both acceptable for a husband for a king’s daughter and willing to take on used goods.”
“Ew.” All three turned at the new voice. Celestino had just come in. “Phichit, as much as I appreciate your concern for keeping me out of trouble, I’m glad we came. Because that attitude is disgusting. Hello, Kannika, I’m Celestino Cialdini, captain of this fine ship. And your friend…?”
“My beloved, and Phichit’s wife, Rania,” Kannika said. Phichit snickered as Celestino’s eyebrows nearly shot off his head. “It would be incredibly poor manners for us to repay you by causing problems with your relationship with Phichit, so as long as you’re willing to ignore their marriage, we generally do.”
“Well then.” Celestino cleared his throat. “Phichit, we’ve got everyone on board. Chris and Georgi got hurt, but no one else, and Otabek thinks they’ll be fine. You might want to check on them and thank them for helping you out, and introduce these two to Mila and Sara to help them find a place to settle in. Princesses, I should tell you – while there’s no hiding that Phichit is Thai, only a very few trusted people know that he is a prince, and we would like to keep it that way. Lots of pirates go by false last names, or only by their first names or a nickname, so I am asking that you not give away Phichit’s secret by being overly honest about your own identities. We told the crew that we were kidnapping Phichit’s sister, and we can explain you as his sister’s girlfriend or wife, Rania.”
Kannika elbowed Phichit. “What name have you been using?”
“Just Phichit, although last time I was in port someone called me Mr Cialdini, which would really weird people out if you started calling yourself Cialdini too since it’s because I’m attached to Celestino.” Phichit put an arm around her. “Whatever name you want to use, go for it, and if you two want to share one, I’m all for it.”
“Welcome aboard. We can sort out specifics later, but for now, basic ship rules: if Michele’s being an asshole, don’t try to intervene. Stay out of fights. You can fight back if someone else starts something, but don’t be the one to start it. One of the officers tells you to do something, you do it. Don’t fuck with Phichit unless you want trouble with me.” Celestino paused. “Okay. That one, Kannika, I can allow you some grace on. I know what it’s like having a sister.”