“It’s not an immediate problem.” Celesta seemed hesitant to give an actual answer, and there was a tightness around her mouth and eyes that was at odds with her normally bubbly and bright personality. “We can discuss it later. But first,” she straightened and looked at the wizard expectantly,“Drosselmeyer has been looking into the situation with the Flying Dutchman, and I reminded him that he might find some of the answers he’s looking for up here. He seems to be seen frequently in this area.”
“But never on land,” Sienna pointed out. “Any encounters with him usually take place out at sea. In fact, yesterday was the first time I’ve ever seen his boat come close enough to be seen from shore.”
Drosselmeyer set his saucer and cup to the side and leaned forward in his chair. His eyes were bright with curiosity. “Yesterday?”
She nodded. “I believe so. I was walking with Devri along the shore when we saw her brother Doryss’ ship come in. There was another, a little further out, and it was black with tattered sails. I can’t think of what else it might have been.”
The wizard hummed thoughtfully. “Interesting. This Doryss—what kind of business is he in?”
“He’s a fisherman. He recently started working under Erik.” She swallowed past the uncomfortable lump in her throat that continued to appear whenever her thoughts conjured up the image of the handsome elf she had thought to spend forever with, despite her best efforts to push away the emotions.
Celesta’s eyes narrowed. “I thought he said he wasn’t interested in expanding his fishing business.”
Sienna shrugged and dropped her eyes to her tea. “He just wasn’t interested in expanding it with Papa.”
“The nerve of that elf!” Celesta leaped to her feet, her dancer’s grace the only thing that kept her cup from sloshing all over the place. “I would like to have a few words with him!”
Sienna blinked in alarm. “No! You don’t have to say anything at all. It’s fine. Really, Celly.” She sighed inwardly when the queen resumed her seat. Celesta’s face was still stormy, and she pressed her lips together into a tight line. “At least this way Idon’t have to worry about bumping into him every day. And the lighthouse has forced Papa to slow down, which he needed.”
Drosselmeyer redirected the conversation, much to Sienna’s relief. “This ship you saw, were there any other distinguishing characteristics?”
She narrowed her eyes in concentration, doing her best to recall the scene in her mind. “I only remember the black hull and sails. It was too far away to make out much else. Why? Is there something in particular you’re looking for?”
“Just trying to separate fact from legend.” He leaned back again, crossing an ankle over his knees. “I’ve admittedly left this matter alone for too long, as I was focusing on more pressing matters in the other Courts. Now that things in Autumn and Summer seem to be well in hand, I’m finding that this Flying Dutchman seems to have become somewhat larger than life.”
Celesta giggled, her good humor once more returned. “An interesting word choice to describe someone widely rumored to be a ghost.”
“But ghosts aren’t real,” Sienna argued practically. “Which means that if the ship I saw really was his, he has to be a real fae, too.”
“Not fae.” Drosselmeyer steepled his fingers together in front of his long gray beard.
“What?”
“According to the few sources I could find, it seems our ghostly captain is from the human realm.”
Sienna nearly spit out her tea. “He’shuman? But how? I thought that travel between the realms was nearly impossible. I thought you were the only person with magic strong enough to do it.”
“That is one of the answers I am trying to find.”
“You don’t know? How could you not know something like that?”
Drosselmeyer raised his eyebrows with just the slightest hint of exasperation. “I may be old, child, and possess a great deal of experience and knowledge, but I am not the Almighty. There are still secrets of this realm and its magic that I am not yet privy to.”
“Oh. Right. Of course.” Sienna regretted her hasty remark. She looked back down at her tea, which had now grown tepid. She set it to the side. “So, he’s a human?”
“He is.”
“But why is he here?” Celesta jumped in. “And why the terrifying ship? There must be a reason he continues to sail the seas, frightening sailors out of their wits. Do you think he does it for enjoyment?”
Drosselmeyer looked to Sienna, as if waiting for her to answer first. She shook her head. “I don’t know for sure. From what the stories say, he seems to have specific targets in mind. A fishing boat, for example, might see him from afar but never make contact. It’s the merchants and trading vessels that he boards.”
“Ah, he’s a pirate.”
Sienna wagged her head back and forth. “Kind of? But even with as frightening as he is, there aren’t any deaths associated with his name. And even the ships that claim to have had run-ins with him are still in possession of everything on their manifests. If he’s plundering the cargo, I don’t know what he’s taking.”
Celesta looked at her curiously. “How do you know all this? I didn’t realize you had such an interest in rumors and gossip.”
She shrugged. “I was on vocal rest for a number of months, remember? When you’re not contributing to the conversation, you end up doing a lot of listening. And sailors do love sharing stories.”
