I yanked the door open but shut it carefully behind me. I inspected both ways down the windowless corridor, squinting into the dying light of a sputtering oil lamp mounted near the far door that led deeper below. That way would bring me to the men’s barracks and the cargo hold. I turned away from the artificial light toward the path that led into the moonlight. I’d have to slink across the entire main deck to reach the captain’s cabin at the back, nestled beneath the quarter deck. Perhaps walking in plain sight was the better option. I was allowed to be here, and no one knew I’d armed myself. Still, if I could slip past the night crew unnoticed, all the better.

Pulling up the collar of my jacket to partially shield my face, I made sure my hair was tucked well beneath my hat. Then I stowed the shucking knife in my sleeve. Pausing at the bottom of the short stairs, I listened to the low groan of the planks with each bob of the bow, and I heard Lianna’s gurgling final breaths in the ghoulish sound. I heard my father’s sturdy, familiar breathing, like the sound of a fair wind in the sails, turn sluggish, curdled with blood. How many nights had I imagined him dragging himself over the filth of merchant’s back alleys, leaving a trail of blood as a dark shadow followed? Tonight, Rylander would crawl across his cabin floor and kiss my boots for the mercy he didn’t give my father. That I could do. That was my purpose. No matter what laurels Krinny thought she saw around my head, I wore nothing but a pirate’s hat.

I took the stairs without making a peep. The waves drowned the whine of the door’s hinges, and I had several seconds to take in the night watch without any heads turning. One in the crow’s nest, looking out at the sea. One walking the quarterdeck with slow, sleepy strides. He stopped to lean on the port-side rail, but if he decided to return to his post at the helm, he’d be my largest obstacle, since the captain’s cabin rested below his feet. One burly figure near the main mast tugged a line experimentally. To avoid his scrutiny, I moved at an easy clip toward the starboard rail, bowing my legs more than usual in hopes of resembling a restless male sailor looking for a soothing late-night stroll around the deck. A common occurrence, not to be given too much mind, unless he recognized me or needed an extra pair of hands.