Megan Derr

I have found food general guidelines are: be polite, be pleasant, be brief. When even that is too much to manage, pick a quiet corner and look at everyone like they are the greatest of disappointments. Obey royalty, be respectful to those above you, ignore or indulge those below you, and always be generous to staff and tradesmen. One loyal servant is worth then kings.

Do not underestimate the strength it takes to be the hearth everyone turns to for warmth.

Though never as complex as we fear, life is also never as simple as we might wish.

I am naked, wrapped up in a dragon that should be a prince, I don't know how much of my crew is dead, and those mermaids could return at any time. Would somebody please say something that makes sense?

I want to keep you. I want to lock you up and not let anyone near you. I don't want others touching you, I don't want them to smell you. I want you hidden and safe. I want to hoard you and never share you with anyone again. I would shape my entire life around your every want and desire, around pleasing you and satisfying you, keeping you where I am not just the centre of your world but all of it.

Despair? I don't despair. I have never once in my life despaired anything. I make a point not to go further than resignation.

The entire place smelled like the bastard child of a florist and a perfume shop.