I sucked in my bottom lip and bit down to keep it from trembling. In that single look, the years ticked back, making me instantly feel like I was that little girl on the Lark he’d chastised for tying a knot wrong. My expression hardened as I took a single step forward, putting me a few feet away from the end of the line.

“While you’re aboard this ship, you will not step out of line,” he crowed. “You will do as you’re told. You will keep your pockets empty.” He paused, giving each of the Jevalis a silent look before he continued. I’d seen Clove give a hundred speeches just like it on my father’s ship. It, too, was painfully familiar. “You will be given two supper rations a day while you are employed on the Luna, and you will be expected to keep your quarters clean.”

He was likely repeating the terms on the parchment in his hands—the one Zola signed with the harbor master—and there was no denying it was a generous deal. Two rations a day was decadent living for any Jevali on the deck beside me, and they’d likely be taking home more coin than most of them could earn in months.

“The first of you to break these rules will be swimming back to Jeval. Questions?”

“We stay together.” Koy was the first to speak, outlining his own terms. He was talking about their sleeping quarters and I suspected it was to ensure they didn’t become targets for the Luna’s crew. Dredgers were every man for himself on Jeval, but this was different. There was safety in numbers on this ship.

“Fine.” Clove nodded to Ryland and Wick, who looked like they were ready to pull their knives out. They stepped forward, each setting a crate down before the line. “Take what you need for a two-day dive. Consider it part of your payment.”

The dredgers lunged forward before Clove had even finished, crouching around the crates to fish out picks and press their callused fingertips to the sharp points. They rooted in the pile for chisels and eyeglasses to add to their belts, and Ryland and Wick watched, disgusted by the way they fumbled through the tools.

I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed. Koy stood back behind the others, not taking his gaze off Zola’s dredgers. When they locked eyes, the silent tension that flooded the deck was palpable. I felt a shade more invisible then, thinking that maybe the presence of the Jevali dredgers was a good thing. It took the attention off me, if only a little.

“Fable.”

I stiffened, hearing my name spoken in Clove’s voice.

He took three slow steps toward me, and I drew back, my fingers finding the handle of West’s knife.