Caledonia marveled at how easily Hime said those words: I love her. It was as easy for her as it had been for Oran, and Caledonia couldn’t even start to think about saying them out loud. It left her breathless. Tears warmed her eyes and she looked to Pisces for help.

“You fight for Amina every day,” Pisces soothed. “Right now, the best thing you can do is stay right where she expects to find you.”

Hime wilted a little, the fight she’d aimed at Caledonia receding like the tide. She nodded, solemn and small once more, fresh tears slipping down her cheeks.

Caledonia felt all the fear and grief she saw in Hime’s face and wished there was a better answer than the one a captain would give. Wished she could do something other than stand in her way and tell her “no.” She wanted to apologize. She wanted to tell Hime that they would sail to Cloudbreak at first light, that they would rescue Amina and make their small family whole again. She wanted it so badly that for a moment her lungs flattened and refused to fill again.

“You should get some rest.” Caledonia’s voice was soft. “If she can get to us, she will.”

At this, Hime shook her head sharply once. I’m not leaving. Not yet.

“Then we’ll stay with you,” Pisces said, determined.

Caledonia nodded, a small spot of relief opening in her lungs. This, at least, she could do.

Hime’s lips trembled as her sisters wrapped her in their arms and turned their eyes to the same dark point on the horizon.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Sand slid beneath the balls of Caledonia’s feet as she and Pisces walked along a narrow strip of beach the next day. Her ankle ached a little less with each step, but it was still slow going. Waves rushed toward their toes, seeping into the sand where small crabs burrowed, and little birds skittered back and forth at the edge of the water.

After holding vigil all night with Hime, waiting and hoping and fearing the worst, the day had dawned on the sight of five new ships. Hime rose immediately, ready to receive every ship on her own, to mark every member of their crew with her own eyes. She was a spear of determination in the face of looming sadness. But where she cleaved stubbornly to hope, Caledonia felt her own heart begin to grieve the loss of her friend.