The chest is filled with various things. Clothes, a few daggers, and a considerable amount of bone charms. More than I care to count. Big ones, tiny ones, some bound to leather, some with mere pieces of string, each one more detailed than the last. His sister was right when she said he has enough of them. He has bone charms in abundance.
Someone behind me clears their throat. I turn, expecting to find a lightly amused yet rightfully annoyed Sable, but I am met with no one. I shake my head, turning my attention back to the chest, feeling slightly like I have taken yet another step towards madness. I rummage a little more before a shift of darkness flits by me out of the corner of my eye. Only when I follow it does it lead me to him, standing in the far corner of the room.
The ghost.
I exhale deeply, pleased it is him and not a figment of my own imaginings. A part of me wants to throw my arms around him and tell him what happened last night. To tell him what I have done. Somehow, I know that he will understand. He has yet to show any judgment towards men. And he has never been anything less than kind.
“I tried not to scare you this time. Did it work?”
A smile tugs at my lips as I shrug, trying not to let the rapid beating of my heart unsteady me. “You never frighten me,” I answer honestly. “These days, I am more scared of myself.”
The shadows curling around him do not leave the space he stands in, the faint outlines of his face moving, as if he’s shaking his head.
“I just came to tell you something—” A sound rises from the corridor. We both freeze and wait until it settles, my pulse drumming too loud in my ears.
“It was not your fault.”
I know what he means in an instant.
I do not reply. Instead, I go back to digging through Sable’s things, unable to focus on anything properly. My fingers meet what feels like the hard fabric of a bodice, and I pull the gown free from the chest.
“Ash has always been brutal. Believe me, I was beginning to grow quite tired of seeing his sour face on this ship.” He steps forward, but the darkness in the corner of the room stillsurrounds him, his figure blurring with the rest of it. “It was simply his time.”
Ash. That’s the name of the man I drowned. The man who now lies somewhere on the bottom of the sea.
“And I was the one who decided it was his time,” I spit, more angry at myself than him. “I am responsible for his death. I murdered him. Don’t try to defend me.”
“I won’t,” he says gently. Like in the orlop, his voice multiplies and hits the walls around me, his words softening the guilt coiling inside of me. “But I know you are kind at your core. Remember that, Risa.”
He withdraws and takes a step back, then another one. His features blend into nothingness, bit by bit.
“I must go. Don’t look for the captain.”
“No, wait!” I get up quickly and almost stumble over my own feet trying to get to him. But as I reach out to grab his arm, my hand is only met with air.
And, I didn’t even get a chance to ask him about the curse. Sighing, I pull the dirty gown over my head and slip into the new one, a powder pink one, then put on my boots. The fabric feels awkward and wrong against my skin, like I’ve stepped into a version of myself that doesn’t quite know who to be. What to be.
The room already begins to darken. Time is running out.
I rush out to the main deck. Lanterns and candles are distributed amongst the men and somehow mounted to the rigging, the railing, and on top of barrels. I take a taper from the hook by the mast, its wick already burning low. The flame gutters as the ship shifts beneath my feet. I cup my hand around it to shield it from the wind and step toward the nearest lantern.
Light blooms as the wick catches, filling the lantern with a muted glow. I close it and hurry toward the next one. Slowly, the deck begins to lighten. The lanterns swing in the gentle wind, casting their warm light onto the boards, imitating sunlight.Dozens of them, if not a hundred, make the Noctis look like it has been decorated with live stars.
If certain death was not creeping up on us, I might let myself think it looks beautiful.
“Lass,” I hear Grim’s voice behind me. He appears by my side and gives a short nod towards the sea in front of us.
The intermaria is straight ahead. The familiar dark blue water of the Sea of Bones stretches out before us and then simply… ends.
What lies beyond is different from anything I’ve ever seen before. It is darker, yes, but not in the way the night darkens the sea. It looks thick. Oily. Like a heavy blanket laid across the surface, swallowing reflection instead of returning it. The line between the two seas is unmistakable, and the Glim leads us right toward it. A sharp seam, as if someone has pressed two vast carpets together but hasn't bothered to blend the edges. The waters don’t mix. They remain separate, even as the Noctis slowly passes through.
“You need to go,” Grim says, the seriousness in his voice making me flinch a little.
When I turn towards him, I can’t help but focus on the lantern beside him, following the row of them as they flicker in unison. They suddenly seem muted, as though I’m looking at them through squinted eyes, their light fighting against the darkness. Out of the corner of my eye, there’s movement in the spaces the light does not fully reach.
Despite being told to leave, to retreat inside to relative safety, a feeling in my gut tells me I have to stay. Out here, with the crew. Before I get the chance to make any decisions, the remaining light from the Sea of Bones is swallowed by the void, leaving us in complete, all-encompassing darkness.
Chapter Twenty-Four
