Every morning, she watched them smile and eat their fill of something hot and far from any stage of rot. They kept to their duty schedule. They were healthy, well rested, and the ship was improving by the hour. It should make her happy, and on some level it did. But still, she woke feeling like she was trapped, suffocating, and heading toward the moment when she would once again find herself without her crew. She wanted to take everything Hesperus was offering and fight, but the task of asking the others to do the same was an ever-present weight on her chest.

She cut through camp toward the high canal ridge. Wind burned against her cheeks, and she pulled her thick jacket—yet another gift of the Sly King—more tightly around her waist. Her blood began to race and her thighs burned as the land tilted sharply upward. She reached her destination just as a band of the thinnest gold appeared on the horizon.

The overhang sat high on a sharp protrusion of stone that lunged over the canals below. As sunrise coaxed the world back to life, Caledonia felt her breath come more easily. She felt less trapped when she could see the ocean. When she could cast out her thoughts and let them settle.

The wind was layered with the scents of chalk, moss, and dry earth, and Caledonia took her fill of the rising sun as it set fire to the wide ocean. It wasn’t the same as standing atop the mizzenmast of the Mors Navis, the sun sail winging out beneath her boots. But it was closer than she’d come in a long while. She stood there, letting the quiet of the world before her fill her up completely.

Pisces was waiting for her when she finally left the overlook. She stood at the base of the path with steam curling away from the mugs in her hands. They smelled earthy and bright and the slightest bit sweet. Caledonia took one and brought it to her lips.

Pisces waited while she sipped. “You’re still not sleeping well.” It was a statement, spoken with a barely concealed undercurrent of concern.

“I’m sleeping enough.”

“Hmm,” Pisces replied, rolling her mug between long fingers. She opened her mouth, shut it, frowned. All within the space of a few seconds.

“Pi.”

Her frown plunged more deeply, then lifted away as she resolved some thought. “I want you to know that we trust you. We’re all with you.”

“But . . .” Caledonia began.

Pisces took a bold step forward. She placed a palm flat against Caledonia’s cheek and leaned in to kiss her lightly on the lips. “Cala,” she said. “Whatever is keeping you up at night, whatever it is Hesperus said to you while you were alone out there, it’s time. You need to let me in.”