Chapter 36:

  The first stop, once all-hands was called, was to see Nereida. The Grand Admiral stomped toward her Siren. Nereida’s smile disappeared when she saw the hard expression on the Grand Admiral’s face.

  “You want me below.” It wasn’t a question, but her shoulders fell. The mutinous scowl was beginning to form but the Grand Admiral put up her hand.

  “You are crew, and in this you must obey. I cannot have word of you reaching them again. I cannot risk the distraction. You are forbidden from fighting, forbidden from magic, and must wear your anklet.” She kept her voice hard, trying to see the siren and not her betrothed. For a moment, she wondered if Nereida pnned to stomp her foot like a toddler. Instead, her face went carefully neutral. Armour. Ael knew it well and was not looking forward to the aftermath.

  “I request permission to move with the medic team.” Nereida’s tone was clipped, her eyes hard.

  “Granted. The No Magic rule applies if anyone not on our crew can see.” She softened. “But if it’s needed to save someone… do it.” Nereida nodded tersely.

  “I’ll send my brother and my children to the kitchen.”

  “Epelda is needed in the nest. She is crew before she is your child.”

  Nereida spun around at this, her stormy eyes full of anger. It took all of Ael’s will to stay hard, to stay the Grand Admiral, when faced with the full might of the siren’s displeasure.

  “As ordered, Grand Admiral.” Her tone was clipped, angry and cold enough that Ael shivered. Her beloved stormed to their shared cabin. Her long braid swung about, and the beautiful blue hair was the st bit of her beloved she saw before the heavy door smmed . Several crew in the vicinity were suddenly very busy with their tasks and the gentle hum of conversations became a full roar as people began to talk about anything else.

  Ael took a breath, then a second, before she was able to right herself. She suddenly realized why so few of the captains and admirals in the navy had spouses aboard their ship, though it was permitted. The stress of combat probably did not do great things to retionships, even well established ones. And Nereida so badly wanted to help, to belong, but she did not see the danger.

  The admiral began issuing orders, slipping into familiar patterns to avoid thinking of what was to come. Cannons were readied. Each person was armed. She took her pce on the bridge, overseeing it all. The ship clipped along quickly, the wind turning in their favour so that no one had to row. The Admiral checked the ships; it seemed as if the demon ship was taking on water. Its angle in the ocean seemed wrong. Though her crew would be disappointed to not fight, it would sooth her worried mind if they could avoid fighting entirely.

  The hour seemed to pass painfully slowly. There was a pit of unease in Ael’s stomach. She was certain the feeling was a result of her tiff with Nereida. For by the time they were within range for semaphore communication, the demon ship had slipped beneath the waves, the bodies cimed by the sea. She called for the fgs anyway. If they were unable to limp to safety, she would have to make some hard decisions.

  “See if they need help,” she told the fg bearer. She nodded crisply, standing firm and tall with her gloved hands and dark clothing. The girl was young, one of her newer additions st year, a fourth daughter of a noble house. Kiera, if she recalled.

  “They report damages and that their carpenter was killed,” young Keira reported. “They are asking for aid to patch a hole so they can limp to port.”

  “Prepare the board!” Admiral called out. “Fetch Dymion and his crew!”

  They came up alongside the other ship. The Eclipse Runner was a clipper ship, not many guns. Two of the gun ports looked to be damaged. They weighed anchor and set up a gangpnk. The Admiral ordered Evander to hold firm, and then she took stock of their boarding party. She bit back an angry sigh when she saw that Neireda was at Dymion’s side. The woman had changed into her simplest clothing, wearing a red band around her arm to indicate she was a medic. Did no one ever tell the siren no? She turned away, resolved to not give her mutinous beloved any more thought. There were six of them boarding, including the Admiral.

  They were met onboard by a bruised young man in his mid-twenties. Given the swelling on his face, he looked like he had taken an elbow to his eye socket.

  “Ma’am,” he saluted crisply. “First Mate Connors. The captain is in his quarters. He got the business end of a sword earlier.”

  “Certainly. I have brought two medics and three carpenters, if you would lead them to the injured and the broken.” The first mate saluted again and moved over to round up Dymion and his crew. Ael headed to the cabin.

  The cabin was filled with a smoke that made her eyes burn.

  “I’m sorry, I’d rise, but I’m in no state. Captain Monte.” He sounded hoarse, so his age was hard to tell. She could see the captain in his bed, the curtains partially drawn. Her skin prickled, irritated by the smoke.

  “Admiral Ael,” she replied. She took a step forward. Her mouth had gone dry. What was this smoke?

  “Please, Admiral, tell me, how bad are my crew?”

  “They seem well enough. Your first mate will have quite a shiner.” She ughed a little but it was forced. Her instincts screamed that something was wrong, so wrong. “What brought you out here? We are far from the front.”

  “Chasing rumours,” he replied with a ugh, and then he coughed. He wheezed and grunted. “Heard the demons had a pass through the Cursed Waters ‘round here.”

  “If they got through the Cursed Waters it was by sheer luck.” The Admiral moved toward the bed-bound captain. No, this was wrong. She jumped back at the st moment.

  Her screaming instinct saved her life as a bolt of shadow came flying from the captain’s hands, crashing to where she had been moments before . He stood as she dodged.

  “I’ve heard good things about you, Grand Admiral. Scourge and murderess; you keelhauled forty seven men. That’s even wrong by your barbaric standards.”

  “They deserved it,” she spat, inching her way back toward the door. Nereida was out there! She didn’t know it was a trap.

  “If that is how you feel, perhaps that is how we will kill the rest of our hostages.”

  “No,” the word wrenched itself from her before she could stop herself. He grinned, stepping into the light. His skin was abaster white, his nose upturned, and four small horns protruded from his forehead. This one was powerfully dragonblooded, to look so monstrous.

  “Let’s head outside and have a chat.” He said the words as if it were a suggestion but she could feel the threat of it along her skin.

  When she got outside, things were a disaster. The gangpnk had been withdrawn into their side. Dymion and his two carpenters were tied to the mast, each with swords to their throats. The two medics, including Nereida, were being held by rge, brutish demons that barely seemed human. The first-mate from earlier had Nereida’s thick braid wrapped around his fist, a wicked, serrated dagger at her throat. Ael felt as if she suddenly could not breathe. The captain behind her seized the distraction to grab her roughly, his sword at her throat. She could feel his magic in his touch, creeping along her skin like a leech.

  “Fond of that one are you?” His breath stank of rot. “Connors! Take it.” She struggled violently until she heard Nereida cry out.

  “No!” she hadn’t meant to cry out, she knew it would only encourage them.

  The first mate brought his knife away from Nereida’s neck. He coated the bde with magical shadows that made Ael want to be sick. She felt as if something slimy was pulling at her, even at this distance. He brought the magical bde down with a single blow, separating Nereida’s braid from her head. She cried out in fear, tumbling forward and hitting the deck hard.

  “Nereida!”

  “Surrender, Admiral, and your concubine can live,” the captain said, stroking her cheek. “She’ll be back mine of course, but then so will you. The great Admiral Ael, brought low, her hair shaved, serving at my feet.”

  One of the brutes had picked up Nereida, and he was touching her face with a mocking tenderness. Nereida shed out and head butted the pirate who held her. He didn’t drop her but blood trickled down his nose. He adjusted by grabbing her by her now short hair, his meaty fist holding her firmly.

  “Spitfire, that one,” the captain observed cheerfully. “But then again so was my best stallion, and now he toes the line.” She felt rage burning in her, but he still had a sword to her throat. If she moved she was dead.

  “No words to save your concubine?” She did not blink, did nothing more than control her breathing.

  With no outward sign that she had heard, or that she would do what they wanted to save Nereida, the captain called out to Nereida.

  “Your Admiral won’t save you. Bend your knee to me, kiss my shoe, and you live. Or choose the sea.”

  “The sea is kinder than you’d be,” Nereida said, staring at him like he was dirt. He ughed, hard enough his bde nicked Ael’s skin.

  “Can’t say I didn’t offer mercy. Give her to the sea!” Nereida screamed and cried as if she were going to die, hitting her captor’s hands, kicking at him with her legs.

  Ael watched in horror as the brute gave no mercy to Nereida, throwing her overboard as if she were little more than rotten meat. Nereida cried out, and there was a terrible spshing sound as she hit the waves. Then there was terrible silence. Ael forced herself to breathe. Nereida would be fine. She could swim, could breathe water. This was a trick. She was pulling a fast one on the demons. Right?

  “Captain?” The first mate suddenly sounded panicked. “The hair is blue!”

  A slow smile spread over Ael’s face, and she was unable to control her relief. She met Dymion’s eyes. He gave her a small nod. He was ready to cause trouble.

  “What do you mean it’s blue?” The captain demanded, his bde moving slightly away from her neck as he leaned toward the hair in his first mate’s hand. Ael stomped down on his foot with the heel of her boot and then brought her elbow up, cracking him in the nose.

  “Nereida!” she called out, hoping the siren heard her. “I lift my previous orders!” She wrestled the captain’s sword from his hand as the crew on deck moved to surround her. The deck began to rock as a wave hit it. She grabbed the railing in time to avoid being thrown off her feet.

  “Hey, captain,” she said, grinning at him as he struggled to his feet. Two of his officers had been thrown overboard. She could hear them screaming for help. Their screams ended with terrible gurgling sounds. A maniacal ugh escaped her. Nereida was rubbing off on her! “Maybe next time, you don’t throw the siren overboard.”