As the men scrambled to their positions, I caught sight of the twins, pale and white-knuckled, peering over the edge of the deck.
“Below deck,” I said flatly.
They turned, startled, those hollowed eyes filled with terror.
“Stay down. Don’t come back up unless I say.”
They didn’t argue. Just nodded and vanished, boots pounding toward the hatch.
“Captain,” Thatcher called, climbing the steps toward me, soaked to the bone but steady as ever. “Corallure’s not far. If we cut southwest and holdcourse, we’ll beat the worst of it to port.”
He was only the same age as me. Young, but he never guessed. Thatcher did math like he was born for it. If he said we had it in us to get through it, we probably could.
“Good,” I said, eyes still on the sky. “Hold to it.”
Lightning split the clouds overhead. In the electric lighting, I thought I saw the shape of a whale tail in the distance, sinking slowly beneath the sea. It looked strangely more white than other whale tails I’d ever seen in my life. I rubbed my eyes. Was I imagining things?
Focus, Alaric.
Rain sheeted across the deck, and the panic among the men moved like a wave.
Not shouting. Not chaos. Just that sharp, quiet tension when every sailor knew the sea was about to test them.
“Steady, boys,” I said, not even a shred of fear in my heart. “We’re close.”
And just like that… we moved on.
The silence was so loud,my heart beat in my ears like cannons and gunpowder. It was a sensation I wasn’t used to, and one I did not welcome. The sails of my beloved ship, the Crimson Wake, hung in shreds. Every part of the ship ached and groaned, beaten and defeated from the storm.
It would take at least a week in Corallure to get her back into top shape.
All of the men moved like walking corpses, having done everything to fight the storm and keep the ship from turning over or getting caught off course.
The rain and the waves ripped through every seam, and every heart.
Lilo and Niko had since returned to the deck, their movements restless.
It was nearing midnight, and since passing the storm, it was eerily quiet, as if the waves were too tired to make noise.
I looked overboard to find the full moon reflected.
“Thatcher!” I called, and the bright blonde came running.
“Yes sir?”
“How close are we?”
“Not too far. We should see the lighthouse any minute now, Captain.”
I squinted ahead of us, knowing that somewhere… in that midst of darkness, there was an island, home to King Halstead and Queen Charlotte and their two sons, Crown Prince Damien and Prince Elias… the same prince that was married to Sereth but walked away from her years ago.
“Alaric!”
I frowned and turned to Destin. He only used my first name, as opposed to “Captain” or “Sir,” when he was really worried about something. The storm was over. What could he possibly be worried about now? A hole in the brig? Did we lose someone overboard? Everyone had been accounted for…
“What now?”
“Alaric, someone’s following us.”
