A sudden thrill zipped through the crowd at the prospect of a real fight. Cheers and whistles rose into the chilled morning air, and a circle tightened around them. Harwell’s eyes widened with concern. An appraising smile flitted across Mint’s face. Pine just smirked, clearly eager for her defeat.

A spike of adrenaline raced through Caledonia’s blood, making her feel light and grounded. This was the thrill she craved—the moment a fight moved from controlled to uncontrolled, the line between study and practice. She’d studied Sledge enough to know that when he fought, he wasted nothing—no movement, no breath, no thought. He would force any opponent to come to him and then overwhelm them with brute strength. In theory, that meant she need to stay agile, keep him moving. She was ready to test that theory.

“I claim the challenge!” A new voice rang out. “Do you consent, Caledonia?”

Disappointment landed briefly in Caledonia’s chest. She’d been so eager to fight Sledge that she hadn’t stopped to consider how her challenge would be received. But as the crowd grew louder and Triple stepped into the center of the ring with a staff braced against the ground, her disappointment twisted into excitement.

“Caledonia.” Sledge spoke softly at her shoulder. “You have pushed yourself already today.”

Caledonia turned to meet his eyes. Her breath still came quickly and her lungs ached with each expansion. It hurt. But it hurt like living. “I made the challenge,” she reminded him.

Sledge sighed. “Not every challenge must be met.”

“Seagirl!” Triple called.

Triple had been to check on Caledonia a handful of times since giving her the patch, but she never stayed longer than necessary. An uneasy tension stretching back to their first conversation rested between the two girls. Every time Triple came near, Caledonia burned with the desire to win her trust and her friendship. Now here she was, standing confidently in the center of the ring. Her hair was woven in a sequence of tight braids down one side of her head, the gold strands shining in the morning sun. Her gaze landed on Caledonia and in it was something so much more than a fight.

The girls of the Mors Navis had often sparred with one another, in the long days at sea to stave off boredom or when tensions boiled over. And if there was a fight, Redtooth always found herself in the center of it. Once, as she and Pisces watched Hime do battle with Redtooth, Pisces said to her, “I’ve finally figured out why Red loves to spar with us all so much. For her, it’s an act of love.”

Caledonia had winced as Redtooth’s elbow connected with Hime’s jaw. The girl kept her feet, but barely. “That doesn’t look like love to me, Pi.”

“What does it look like, then?”