Just then, Lann saw Fleya emerge from below decks. ‘Fariz is worried,’ he said, hurrying over to her.

‘He has every reason to be. The other ship is a pirate vessel.’

As a young boy, Lann had held romanticised notions of pirates, picturing daring and audacious men and women who roamed the seas looking for adventure. But as he grew older and heard tales of pirate attacks, he realised the truth behind his fanciful imaginings. Pirates terrorised merchant ships like the Ra’magulsha, taking what they wanted and killing everyone aboard. It was said that King Mirvar had driven them all away to ply their bloody trade in other waters. If that was so, it had not taken long after the king’s death for them to return.

The other vessel was at least twice the size of the Ra’magulsha and moving towards them at a terrific speed. Even from this distance Lann could make out figures on board the other ship. Many had ventured towards the front of the deck and were holding grappling hooks and ropes in their hands. Others had drawn their weapons.

Fleya reached out and grabbed his arm, her fingers digging into his flesh as she turned him round so he was looking directly at her. ‘Look after this body while I’m gone,’ she said. Her eyes went from the advancing ship to the body of water separating the two vessels and back again.

‘What do you mean? Where are you going?’

‘Just do it.’ She offered him a brief smile. ‘I’ve become rather attached to it over the years.’

Lann was about to say something else, but the words stuck in his throat at the sight of his aunt’s eyes rolling back into her head. At the same time, her legs, arms and everything else simply gave out, and her body folded up beneath her as she collapsed towards the hard wooden deck. He caught her as she fell.

Fleya was in the darkness. She reached out with her mind and sank further and further into the freezing waters, searching for the thing she knew was there. The spirits of the deep were everywhere, and they were unhappy that this interloper had dared to enter their domain uninvited. There would be a price to pay for this intrusion. But that was not her main concern now.

Deeper and deeper she went, into the dark.