“If all you really wanted was Rylander’s head, you would have left The Freedom in search of retribution a long time ago. But you didn’t. You choose to lead us, to stay on as captain. You care about your crew. And don’t go filling the air with nonsense that you don’t.” She sighed and rolled back into her bed, vanishing from sight, though her soft whisper carried down to me amid the laps of waves against the boat. “I have no idea why the sirens left us alone for so long, but you’ve got to stop thinking it has anything to do with you or your leadership. It’s fate or harsh luck at work. Or perhaps something more dire, but nothing you caused. ”I slouched down further. She could whisper all the merry words she knew—none of them would soothe my soul or convince me otherwise. Not until I’d fulfilled my oath. Because guilty as I might be, The Freedom had a poor leader because of Rylander. He was the true cause, setting all this in motion when he murdered my father in the street like a feral dog, taking the crew’s true captain. I’d turned my back on my promise and look where it had gotten us. No more. I didn’t need a bargain with a king to take what I was owed.

Without waking Dara, I swung my legs out of the lower bunk and shoved on my boots. Krinny shifted on her mattress, but I didn’t look back as I slipped on my knee-breeches and my jacket to hide my nightshirt. I stalked to the dark corner and rummaged among the hodgepodge of maintenance supplies for a broken mop handle, a rusty hook, anything to bludgeon or slice Rylander. Inside a bucket, I found a firm bone handle. A grin split the hardening scab on my stinging lip as I pulled out a shucking knife, forgotten in the mess. The dull blade was barely an inch long, but it would do until I could pry Rylander’s rapier from him and take his head with it.

“Where are you going?” Krinny hissed at my back as I approached the door.

“To get some air. Maybe rewrite fate.”

“Captain…”

“Stay with Dara,” I growled, ignoring her cautionary tone. “That’s an order.”