Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 144411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Could the cursed crew have taken Sedge? Retribution for stealing their mermaid, as useless as she was? I try my best not to think of it. Sedge is part of my crew, but he isn’t part of the Brethren. The curse that befalls them would befall him if he became a part of theirs. We could lose him forever.
“Fuck,” I growl, my hands gripping the rail. This is my fault. I was so damn distracted by Maren that I didn’t even do a head count to make sure everyone was here before we sailed away. I blindly assumed that Sedge would have stayed in the galley as he always does, just as Henry and Lucas are ordered to stay away during battles, the three of them the most vulnerable on the ship. Pages John and Bart are also vulnerable, but they at least know how to fight.
At the thought of John, I make a silent prayer to whoever the hell is listening up there or down below for him to keep his wits about him. The last thing this ship needs right now is a monster like Maren on the loose. I doubt she could do much damage to the Brethren, but the Brethren could do a lot of damage to her and they wouldn’t hesitate. I don’t want to lose her.
And I don’t want to lose Sedge either. He belongs to me just as she does, and I have made an oath to protect him the same way I have to protect her.
“Belay! Turn the ship around!” I bellow.
“What?” Thane snaps.
I twist around to face my brother. “We’re going back to the skeleton crew. If Sedge is with them, we’re taking him back.”
“But if he’s with them he’s part of the crew,” Thane argues, his golden eyes flashing. “And there will be no hope for him if he’s cursed.”
“We don’t leave any of our crew behind, you know that, it’s part of our creed.”
“But he’ll be as good as dead and you’ll be leading us all back into battle! What about the crew you have now?”
“Quartermaster, you think the rest of us are a bunch of pussies?” Cruz barks out in a laugh. He looks at the rest of the crew. “We are here to fight!” He punctuates that by raising his cutlass in the air. “Are we not?”
Sam grumbles at that, a pussy in her own right, while everyone else erupts into cheers.
I give my brother a triumphant look. “We’re turning around, Quartermaster. We’re getting our Sedge back. Dear god, of all of us to take, he’s as vulnerable as your own son and no doubt we would do the same for him.”
Thane breathes hard through his nose, his lips pressed together in a firm line. Then he nods. “Aye. Captain.”
“Bosun, bring us round! Back the way we came!” I holler.
“Aye, sir,” Crazy Eyes says, and Cruz runs up to the aft deck to help him turn the wheel. Meanwhile Thane starts barking orders for the rest of the crew to adjust the sails. As the boat turns, the hull creaking as she goes, the wind appears now from behind, pushing into the flapping sails.
Thank you, Venla, I think. Her greatest gift to me was Hilla. After that, it was this wind.
I go to the forecastle, grabbing a spyglass along the way. Though it’s night, I’ll be able to spot when we get close, as long as the fog clears some.
I lean against the railing and look past the bowsprit to the ink-black horizon. Their ghost ship won’t have any lights, which makes things trickier, but the islands around the Reef City are still inhabited by natives. The fires from their camps will be the first things to appear.
“You did the right thing,” Sam says quietly, joining me at my side.
I glance at her. “You’re siding with me instead of your dear husband? I never thought I’d see the day.”
She gives me a faint smile. “Don’t get used to it, Bones.” She smacks me lightly on the arm. “But going back for Sedge is the right thing to do. I know he’s not truly one of us, but I consider him as part of the Brethren all the same. You’re doing what a good, fair captain would do.”
“And you’re saying the quartermaster isn’t any of those things?”
She sighs and tucks the windblown strands of red hair behind her ears. “You know how Thane is. Stubborn as the devil made him. I have no doubt he would go back for any of the Brethren, but you know how distrustful he can be of others. Even someone as harmless and helpful as Sedge, someone who is truly part of the crew. You can’t really blame him or any of us for possibly feeling that way. Not in this world.”
I know what she means. “Humans can be nice.”