It felt rather good to make this girl laugh. Most girls didn't really appreciate his stories, he found. It was a shame she was in the Other Court. Jack wasn't sure whether his feet would be held to the flame in an all-out war or not, but he'd hate to be placed in that sort of position.

"Put a man and a barrel of fruit out on the sea for months, it's surprising what he'll come up with, lass. Me, I survived all alone on a tiny atoll in the middle of nowhere. Just my wits, you see!"

And a cache of rum and food and plenty of shade and even an old hammock that a smuggler had left behind. It had been marvelous.

"Though I don't want to give you any nightmares, what with the intense levels of excitement attached to any given story about my life."