“You should have sent a second wave to sink the raft! You had a chance to kill them! Why didn’t you finish it?” Cloud paced back and forth, hammering his fist into his palm, over and over.

“Don’t go on about it!” Storm lay in one of the below-deck hammocks, staring at the ceiling. She wished Cloud would go away: he was making her head hurt.

The Healer had cleaned and bandaged her shoulder and leg. She had lost enough blood to feel light-headed, but she longed to be above decks. She couldn’t think, shut up down here. And she needed to think. Why had her Water-magic failed after that first attack? Was it her or the Dolphin?

“I tried,” she muttered. “I couldn’t manage it. Sorry.”

“You couldn’t have really tried. A proper Weather-witch would have finished the job! I would have, if I was a witch. Maybe you just aren’t brave enough.”

“What does that mean?” Storm pushed herself up on to her elbows.

Cloud had stopped pacing to glare at her. “This isn’t the first time you’ve failed us! You let two of the raft towns escape after the attack on Yanlin. And now they come to finish their job because you didn’t have the courage to kill when you could! Have you forgotten Thorn?”

Storm swung out of bed and nearly fell as her legs gave way. She grabbed the hammock with both hands and stared at him. “Have you forgotten that my mother died in their raid?”

His face flushed red. “Sorry,” muttered Cloud. “I … I didn’t mean it.” His voice was strangled with frustration – he still doubted her. Was he right? Was she a coward?

When she didn’t speak, Cloud shrugged and left. She watched him disappear through the deck hatch, his bare feet gripping the ladder rungs, every step slow and stubborn.

Storm let go of the hammock and dropped heavily to the floor. Much later, her uncle found her lying there staring, dry-eyed, at the underdeck. He helped her back into her hammock.

“I want to go above decks.”

Uncle whirled round, wagging a finger. “You’ll rest until the Healer says otherwise. I’ve only just picked you up off the floor. Minnow will make my life unbearable if anything happens to you, and well you know it!”

Storm rolled her eyes, but she had to smile at the mention of her young cousin. Uncle was right. When Minnow got an idea in his head he was an unstoppable force. Missing him was the worst part about being at sea for half a year.

Lake returned to his theme: “The Drowned Ones tracked us down. It’s a big sea, Storm. No way they just chanced on Yanlin’s fleet. We’re easy enough to find: the trading routes haven’t changed for generations. They want revenge. I think…” Lake cleared his throat. “I think they want you dead, Niece.”