“Papa’s going to make them for us,” Mephis whispered back.

“Oooh.” Peyton looked up at Saetan, his gold eyes sparkling with anticipation.

“If we’re ready, gentlemen,” Saetan said, handing the ship back to Mephis.

“And I suppose you’re going to end up muddy to the knees and smelling like pond water,” a female voice said.

Saetan turned to face the woman now standing in the doorway. He had no complaints about Lady Broghann, the Purple Dusk-Jeweled witch who was the boys’ governess and teacher, but he was feeling a little too raw to accept a challenge from anyone, especially a woman.

Then he saw the humor in her eyes that balanced the stern tone of voice.

“I expect some mud will be inevitable,” Saetan said solemnly.

“Yay!” Peyton said, only to be elbowed again by Mephis.

Puppy is going to be black-and-blue before he figures out when to keep quiet, Saetan thought.

“Now,” Lady Broghann said. “Don’t go drinking so much grog that you run aground.”

“What’s grog?” Peyton asked, starting to bounce with impatience.

“You would know if you had paid attention to the lesson about sailing,” she replied.

While Peyton’s face scrunched up in thought, Saetan turned away and coughed to clear the laughter from his throat.

Finally able to look suitably grim, he turned back to his captains. “Shall we go?” Then he noticed the boys’ appearance. The trousers were worn to the point of looking shabby, and there was a long tear on the left sleeve of Peyton’s shirt—neatly mended but still apparent. “Why are you wearing those clothes?”

“This is the attire of adventurous sailors,” Lady Broghann said.

Curious, Saetan studied her. “According to . . . ?”

“My mother. I have three younger brothers.”

And her younger brothers had a clever older sister.

“An unquestionable authority,” Saetan said with a small bow.

“What’s grog taste like?” Peyton asked, having circled back to something more interesting than clothes.

“It tastes like milk,” Saetan replied.

“Sailors drink milk?”

“Short ones do.”

While Peyton was working out why Mephis was snickering, Commander Saetan led captains Mephis and Peyton to the Phantom Sea, where they tested their ships against Murky Mists, Wailing Whirlpools . . . and sea dragons.

Chapter 2

2

Hekatah stood at the window of her mother’s private receiving room, rubbing her belly to soothe the whelp inside her while she stared at the back garden.