SOLVED. YA fantasy - princess runs away/is kidnapped, navy captain sent to rescue her & adventures ensue. [s]

[Erin]

Read around 2007-2010. Cover was probably blue--maybe the ocean?

SPOILERS


I remember this book so vividly the fact that I can't remember it is killing me:
A princess living in essentially western Europe decides to run away from home with the help of the untrustworthy adviser/duke/sinister courtier, who promptly sells her as a slave (or possibly he just kidnaps her). She ends up being taken to basically fantasy China, where she's kept in a harem with lots of other women. The king stages a competition between the women in the harem every night, and the losing woman is sent to his chambers and then is never seen again. The princess has been lucky, but one day, the courtier who abducted her appears in the palace, she loses the competition, and is to be sent to his chambers that night.

Meanwhile, the princess's parents have sent out search parties to scour the earth to find her. This includes a young naval captain, who wants to save her to make a name for himself. He arrives just in time to save her from the courtier guy, who was trying to kill her, and he and the princess set off towards home. However, they end up getting lost in a fantastic archipelago of magic islands fraught with riddles and traps, and the two of them begin falling in love as they navigate through the dangers.

When they do finally emerge from the magic islands and get back to their homeland, they discover that what seemed like weeks to them was actually decades to everyone else. The princess's mother is dead and her father is old and dying. She realizes it's time for her to grow up, and get ready to take over. It all seems set for a happy ending--until the courtier shows up again, and kills the naval captain. In the epilogue, the princess (now the queen) is going down to visit the captain's old nurse to hear stories about him.

I thought for years that the book was called The Princessa, but now I'm not finding anything with that. Any help would greatly appreciated!

[Jess]

The Princess And The Captain by Anne-Laure Bondoux?

[Erin]

Jessica wrote: "The Princess And The Captain by Anne-Laure Bondoux?"

That's it! It looks like it had an alternate title of The Princetta, which explains my confusion. Thanks so much!