Amina leaned in, a new light filling her eyes. “Then this has to be the start of something even bigger. We fight and then we grow. I know there are those among my people who would join us, perhaps would even share their tech with us. The colonists merely lack the means to take to the water. And the Slaggers surely have the resources even if they aren’t inclined to fight.”

“That’s hardly enough people to fight a war.” Nettle’s voice was thinned by fear. “Who else is there?”

“Bullets.”

They all turned to Pisces. She sat at Caledonia’s side, one knee tucked up against her chest. Her eyes were tired and serious.

“Bullets,” she repeated. “The Blades left. Oran left. Ares left. There will be others. We just have to keep showing them they have a place to go.”

“It’s a good hope, but it’s not a plan.” Caledonia spoke softly. “The plan has to be this: we call Aric here and we take him down. We kill Aric Athair and his entire empire crumbles behind him.”

“How?” the five of them asked at once.

Caledonia paused. They weren’t going to like this plan. She didn’t like it either, but it was the best option. The trick would be to make sure Aric had no choice but to come to them himself.

“We know what he wants,” she said, echoing Amina’s statement from earlier.

Now they protested. All five rose up against Caledonia, telling her it was a terrible plan, a bad plan, a plan that could never work.

When they quieted, she held her voice steady and repeated: “We know what he wants.”

The only sound in the room was the pulse of their breath. Caledonia turned to each one of her girls, meeting their eyes and holding them long enough to convince each of them that she was committed to this course. Instead of making herself a stone, she made herself a flame, burning in the middle of them, fed by their breath and their steady friendship, stoked and fueled for the fight ahead.

“On the back of the seas, who do we trust?” Caledonia held out a hand, palm up.

One by one, five hands found hers until they’d formed a tight circle, shoulder to shoulder. Dawn light ghosted over their faces, lighting their eyes as they answered together, “Our sisters.”

A chord of deep trust rang among them, louder and stronger when they were together. For the space of a breath, it was overwhelming.

“We have a lot of work to do, and not a lot of time to do it in,” Caledonia said. “Let’s get ready to draw fire.”

Chapter Forty-seven

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN