--He began walking slowly, steadily towards Alice who felt uneasy yet determined to stand her ground. Fighting every limb in her body, she stubbornly planted her feet until the boy was less than a breath away, staring nonchalantly into her face. She narrowed her eyes. He suddenly flashed a grin. "You, little maid are going to help me with something of the utmost importance." His eyes glittered with the last remaining streaks of sunlight, never reaching the dark sea-green of his gaze. Alice's heart was racing. She swallowed, hard. "And what's that?"-- When Alice finds herself kneeling before a capricious boy on a leaky, wooden ship, she begins to wonder if Misfortune has taken a liking to her. However, Fate has brought together a bitter girl fleeing the coldness of a faraway home and a beautiful laughing boy who is perhaps not what he seems, in a tantalising jumble of drunken island festivities, an ancient magic amongst the ocean's tides, and wildly eccentric characters from near and far. Yet an undercurrent of something darker stirs beneath the waves, with the awakening of a personal vendetta against the throne, as the ship begins to turn towards the Palace by the Sea.