[i]Do not kill women or children, do not kill women or children.[/i] Alistair's smile turned profoundly false as the girl – supposedly one of his own family – stood and turned without a word. “How... disrespectful,” he said to Emilia when she ran over to Trixy, prompting him to run a hand through his own hair in exasperation. Sniffing the air, he frowned. Kingstons? Where? “Unfortunately I have more pressing matters to attend to than to chastise a little girl.”

Alistair picked out the leader, Mira, easily, meandering over to her through the sparse crowd. “So, I wonder what your little family could want from Tortuga – we have a strict no-fighting policy here, y'know,” he started cheerfully, readying his sarcasm. “I don't suppose you're finally converting to the traditional ways of our kind?”