Naven jogged to our station. His fingers raked through tousled black hair, and his broad chest expanded with quick breaths. “I double checked the cargo hold. I think the king’s men took all the weapons out to make the ship lighter.” His green eyes darkened to moss as his fists perched on his hips. “Why would they do that?”

Red tinged the edges of my vision. I lunged for Rylander’s neck, but he caught my wrists in a tight grip.

“Okay, I can see you are mad, but choking me to death will not bring back the weapons. King Delphi isn’t accustomed to ship warfare. He likely believed ridding us weight would serve our mission.” Rylander released my hands and rubbed the arc of his nose. “But we do have another defense, now.”

I growled. At the moment, I didn’t care to hear his ingenious idea. I wanted only to kill him and possibly sail back to Cava for the king’s head next. What imbecile thought stripping a pirate ship’s defenses boded anything but ill?

“We have speed. We’ll be half the weight of any other vessel. With the wind as our ally, we can outrun them,” Rylander continued. “Have your crew raise the sails and spur The Freedom as fast as she’ll go. Smitter and I will take care of the rest.”

Before I could rebut his proposal, he disappeared, running with Smitter toward the forecastle. My eyes followed them. Smitter glanced back. I twisted to see what he was looking for in vain, and when I turned back, they were gone. Vanished.

“Dara, Hannah,” I yelled. Hannah was ushering Dara toward the crew’s quarters, where we normally hid her during battles.

“Yes, Captain.” They turned around and answered in unison.

Hannah’s eyes bore heavy bags of worry, her freckled face flushed from the wind and sun. She didn’t cover her concern for the ship, the crew, and our youngest member. They needed a distraction from the pending disaster, not to hide and wait for an ill fate.

“I have a task for you both. Search the ship, every nook and cranny, and find me Smitter and Captain Rylander. Go!”

I turned back to my watch. Krinny directed each woman and man to cast all the sails up and catch the wind. I silently thanked Aeolus, God of Wind, for his gift of a gale. Today had been one of the blusteriest of the fall season, and I would take any of the gods’ graces they deigned offer.

Bernard stood at the helm, maneuvering The Freedom out of range as best he could. But he hadn’t yet gotten far enough. A dreadful report of gunfire broke the sky as The Black Hollow’s full broadside fired at once.