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but he felt he needed to follow her. Perhaps she was wandering off alone to escape this crowd. Just as he prepared to cross the lawn, Leaf reappeared.
    “And where do you think you’re going?” he asked, his mouth full of food.
    “Larkin’s left the party,” said Barren. “I need to follow her! She’s alone!”
    Leaf dropped the grapes in his hand. No,” said the Elf. “What if she’s not alone?”
    “I’m sure if she is meeting her lover, I can take him down easily,” Barren argued.
    “Or she could be luring you into a trap. You don’t know her! And she could have recognized you. Don’t think I don’t know what you were doing!”
    “Leaf, it flatters me that you worry about me so, but you have to let me do this.”
    The Elf’s features hardened, and he raised his head a little. “Mocking me for my concern is a little foolish, don’t you think?”
    “Look, you said you were tired of chasing cargo ships. I’m just trying to remedy your boredom.”
    “Do what you want, but when it all goes south, I’m going to remind you of my words. And by south, I don’t mean what happens tonight, tomorrow or the next day. But I swear by Saorise, you will regret toying with Larkin Lee.”
    ***
    Though the moon was full, it was hard for Barren to navigate the terrain outside of the castle, as he didn’t take the steps back down to the port—he followed Larkin down the side of an uneven hill. She held a lantern in her hands that bobbed about as she moved ahead of him. Now and then she’d stop to pull her dress free from brambles that caught it, but her determination kept her moving forward. He couldn’t help but be curious as to what she was hurrying toward.
    He sent Leaf to the ship to inform the others that they would be sailing soon, though the words the Elf had said before Barren’s trek were ever-present in his mind. You will regret toying with Larkin Lee. Even he couldn’t ignore the feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. So why was he going through with this?
    As he came to the end of the hill, he saw Larkin’s shadow disappear into the darkness of the embankment below where the shore met the ocean. Barren followed in a less than graceful manner, as the moonlight didn’t reach every crevice, or illuminate every rock. As Barren stumbled into the sand, Larkin’s voice rang out, alarmed.
    “Who’s there?” she turned, holding the lantern up and gripping at the scarf draped around her shoulders like a weapon.
    “S-sorry to startle you,” Barren said, holding up his hands.
    The girl regarded him for a moment, and he saw her eyes narrow. “You’re the man who poured wine on the Ambassador. You’ve been watching me all night.”
    Barren’s heart beat a little faster—maybe she was onto him.
    “You must forgive me. I suppose I let my shock get the best of me.”
    “Shock?”
    “Yes,” Barren nodded, walking toward her. “I had come to see what woman would take William Reed as a husband, and did not expect…you.”
    He didn’t feel like he needed to explain what he’d expected, exactly.
    “I am rather uncertain of how I should feel about that,” Larkin replied.
    “It is no insult, Lady.”
    “Perhaps not to me, but to my fiancé, it is.”
    Barren couldn’t stifle his laugh in time, and Larkin didn’t seem pleased with his reaction.
    “You seem very out of place in the company you just left,” said Larkin. “William didn’t seem to recognize you, and everyone in attendance was a guest of his.”
    “How unfair that seems,” Barren mused.
    “Well, as he made it so perfectly clear, it was his night,” she said sarcastically.
    Barren tried not to meet her gaze. He felt the less she saw of his face, the better chance he’d have of kidnapping her.
    “Do you come here often?” asked Barren after a moment.
    The rush of waves was a pleasant sound to Barren. The smell of salt hit his nose and he longed to rush into the water and swim away from Maris. He longed to forget the