"Blisters!" Deryn swore, then stuck her bleeding thumb into her mouth, sucking at the new sharp pain. She realized she had stabbed herself with the sewing needle. Poking it through the tough leather of the jacket was hard work and she had poked it a little too hard and into her thumb by accident. After a few moments she checked to see if it was still bleeding, then continued to sew.

Thank god she was almost done with the blasted jacket. It had been Alek's, and he had gladly given it to her when she admitted the other day that she had no more dress clothes. He had simply pulled out his trunk, removing dozens of wealthy, princely outfits, and handed her a beautiful leather jacket with gold trim. When she refused to take it, he insisted, saying he had plenty.

Awful difficult being a barking prince. She thought to herself. After a few more painful stitches she stood up put the coat on. It fit almost perfectly. Except when she tried to button it in the front, it was too tight.

"Damn." She swore again. Her breasts had doubled in size over the past month. They still were nothing huge, but it was enough to make her need to re-sew all her uniforms. On top of that, her monthly cycles had started for the first time. So, not only did she have to tie a tight cloth around her chest to hide unnecessary bulging, but she was also extra irritable and plagued with nasty tummy cramps. It was as if her body was destined to betray her secret after she had worked so hard to keep herself as a boy.

Luckily no one had figured it out yet except Volger. And even having him knowing was too much. She swore to herself again, imagining how easy it was for him to blackmail her. Carefully she removed the coat and sat on the floor to continue her stitches.

"Sewing again Mr. Sharp?" Someone asked from the doorway. Dr. Barlow had let herself in. She was dressed in her finest dress and her hat was adorned with a bright peacock feather. "It's awful early to be working so hard."

Deryn jumped. "Aye ma'am," she said, "but one needs to be ready, and I was too excited to sleep anyways." The boffin smiled.

"I can see that. But I would ask you to hurry and finish your work. We're to be landing shortly, and we wouldn't want to keep the ambassadors waiting." With that she turned and clopped on her fancy heals back down the hallway to her own bed chambers.

Deryn sighed. It had been two weeks since they left Istanbul, and finally, this afternoon they would be landing outside of Tokyo. She stood and put the jacket back on. It wasn't much better, but it would have to do for now. She had to look presentable for assisting the lady boffin when she met with the ambassadors of Japan. Apparently there were three of them; one from Britain, another from France and surprisingly a man from Germany. Dr. Barlow planned on meeting with all three in order to discuss a new peace treaty, and Deryn was supposed to accompany her. After stuffing the sewing kit into her duffel bag, Deryn took the remainder of her sparse clothing and folded them in as well. She then headed down to the mess hall, hopeful to grab a bight to eat before the arrival.

The ramp from the Leviathan to the ground was crowded with the majority of the ship's crew. Everyone was trying to catch a glimpse of the ambassadors and hopeful of something as posh as the clanker contraptions that had welcomed them in Istanbul. But there were no lavish elephantes or tall walkers on the dock, only a simple horse drawn carriage with a few people walking along side it. Deryn shoved her way through the crowd to stand beside Alek who was waiting with the boffin and Volger at the bottom of the ramp.

"Dylan," He beamed, "It's good to see that you have joined my family!"

"What?" She sputtered. He giggled and pointed to her chest. There, beside the large gold buttons over her heart was a large Hapsburg crest embroidered into the leather. "How….?" She was speechless, how did she not notice the stupid barking emblem now blatantly stretched so close to her chest. Be it her to have something so large and obvious emphasizing her new disgusting boobs.

"It's alright." Alek grinned. "We are visiting some old family friends today, I'm sure they will not care."

"I thought we were going to see the ambassadors?" She asked.

"Make that just one ambassador." Dr. Barlow suddenly interrupted. "The others refuse to meet if the German ambassador is present." She looked very annoyed.

"Just one!" Came a small squeaky voice. Bovril was perched on Alek's shoulder looking quite delighted with the new setting. Volger gave a disgusted snort.

"I doubt that the ambassador of Germany will even consider meeting with us if we keep carrying around godless monstrosities."

"Well, he's already here, so we best make a good impression." Barlow replied, scratching Bovril on the head. Beside her, Tazza gave an agreement with a chipper bark.

Deryn moved her eyes back to the horse drawn buggy before them. The doors of the carriage were opened and a young woman, dressed in a beautiful pale pink gown gracefully discharged herself from the vehicle and walked over to them. She had lovely dark brown curls and porcelain skin, and when she moved closer, Deryn noticed that she had large crystal blue eyes. Also, to Dylan's heartache, she noticed that Alek was blushing.

"Lady Elsie!' He grinned, "It is wonderful to see you again!"

"As are you, Alek!" She curtsied and smiled back. Volger gave a polite bow.

"I see that your father is not present, Miss Elsie?"

"No, I'm afraid that the ambassador had another matter that he had to attend to. I'm here in his place to escort you to the manor." She then said something in German, in which all of them, except Deryn, laughed at.

Deryn looked angrily at Alek. "Who is she?" She muttered.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he flustered, "Elsie this is Dylan Sharp, a midshipman aboard the Leviathan, and Doctor Nora Barlow you have heard about." The boffin gave a small nod and Alek continued. "Dylan, Miss Barlow, this is Lady Elsie Adaliz Eberhardt, and my err,….. betrothed."