CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Niya leaned along the banister at the bow of the Crying Queen, the sea air whipping her braid behind her as she watched the land draw nearer on the far horizon. They had slipped out of the Stream only a few sand falls ago, leaving Esrom far below the waves, before sailing the remaining short distance to Jabari.
Niya’s resolve churned in a cascade of emotions, matching the waves cutting along the ship. Excitement, despair, relief, grief, triumph—but always mixed in with the lot was heartache.
She frowned against the constant painful throb in her chest as she took in the familiar harbor in the distance. White sails of other ships; the squawk of gulls soaring high above; the smell of fish in the air, netted and tugged onto decks. The city rose proudly from the sea, up a hill’s crest, to peak at the very center with the gathering of proud marble dwellings. Her own home was somewhere up there, among the wealthy. Her father was most likely in his study or on the veranda with her sisters, all gathered, she hoped, to await her official return. A smile finally broke along her features. It would be a welcome distraction to run toward them, thought Niya. Her family was always the best poultice to any wound.
“Are you sure you don’t want to remain a pirate?” asked Saffi, who had been leaning beside her on the railing with Bree. The master gunner’s gray braids gleamed whiter in the morning light as she turned to regard Niya. “As much as it pains me to admit, Red, you are a competent artillery crew member. I will be sad to see you go.”
“I only ever really cleaned the cannons,” Niya pointed out.
“Yes, but they have never shone so bright,” said Saffi with a smile.
“Death is better than goodbyes,” said Bree, pouting on Niya’s other side.
Niya turned to her with raised brows. “And how’s that?”
“At least when the Fade takes you,” explained Bree, “you have no choice but to go.”
Niya’s gaze softened, taking in the small girl. “My choice to go back to my home is not my way of abandoning you.”
“Then what is it?” Bree folded her arms tightly.
Niya regarded her bunkmate, whom she had grown to cherish. “Would you consider Saffi a sister?”
“What?” Bree bounced her confused gaze to the master gunner beside Niya.
“You have sailed aboard this ship for a while now, yes?” asked Niya.
Bree nodded.
“And though I know it probably goes against pirate code to call any of your shipmates friends,” said Niya, “you certainly may think of them as family—am I correct?”
Bree frowned. “I suppose . . .”
“And though you may fight and disagree a lot, you still find you quite like them when all is said and done, right?”
“Well, yeah,” said Bree. “So?”
“So that describes a lot of families. Which would make Saffi here like a sister to you.”
“A much wiser, tougher, and more skilled older sister,” Saffi added with a sly grin.
“Yes, of course, as only older sisters are,” agreed Niya coyly before turning back to Bree. “Well, you see, I also have sisters that have missed me since I’ve been gone. It is unfair to keep them from my presence any longer, just as it would be unfair to rob any of your brothers and sisters aboard the Crying Queen of your charms if you left them for too long.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call it robbin’ us if this mouse suddenly disappeared,” said Saffi. “More like gifting us with quiet.”
Niya bit back a laugh as she watched Bree glare toward the master gunner. “This must be the part of having a family member who you’d like to throw overboard.”
“Mouse,” chuckled Saffi, “if you could lift me overboard, I would give you my extra biscuits for a month.”
“I see my lesson has taken on new meaning,” mused Niya as she watched the young girl charge Saffi, grunting as she attempted to move the older woman’s hulking form.
“What’s going on here?” asked Therza, waddling toward them from the main deck.
“Mouse here is trying to throw me overboard,” said Saffi, pushing Bree off from where she had climbed onto her shoulders.
She hit the deck with an oof.
Therza’s dark brows rose. “She ain’t doing much of a job of it, is she?”
“I don’t think I like having sisters,” Bree huffed from her spot by their feet.
“Sisters?” questioned Therza.
“Never mind.” Niya rolled her eyes. “It was a failed explanation.”
“We reach port!” called Boman from the wheel.
The four of them turned, taking in the scene.
It had been months since Niya had set eyes on her city of birth, and her magic rushed forward as she took in the familiar climbing white and sandstone buildings. Red-tiled roofs soared endlessly, with tightly built dwellings making up the outer ring of Jabari. The port was busy today, with many ships sliding in to anchor or unload crates filled with trade along the docks.
“Time to get workin’, girls,” said Saffi as they dispersed to prepare the Crying Queen to enter.
Niya helped, because how could she not? She did not know when she’d ever be back here to pull rope and line again. Plus, it distracted her from what would happen when the ship stilled and the gangplank lowered to connect with Jabari’s harbor.
Which, as it was, happened much too quickly.
Soon Niya stood on the port side of the ship, the entire crew gathered around her.
Her heart pulled in two directions.
“Have you got your things?” asked Kintra from where she stood beside Saffi and Bree at the front.
“All I have to take is what’s on me.” Niya patted her blades at her hips.
Small arms jumped forward to wind around Niya’s waist.
“Bree,” admonished Kintra. “Best not be showing you’ve gone soft now.”
“Sisters are allowed to hug goodbye,” she said. “Right?” She peered up at Niya. “We are sisters?”
She smiled down at the girl and squeezed back, her heart aching. “Of course,” she said. “And don’t worry; it is the strongest of souls who are brave enough to bare emotions.”
Kintra snorted. “Don’t let the captain hear you say that.”
At the mention of Alōs, Niya’s pulse quickened, and she looked up to search the crew, but he was not among them.
A tightness twisted through Niya’s chest.
She and Alōs had properly kept their distance after returning to the Crying Queen.
Niya knew it was for the best. Unlike Bree, the notorious pirate lord could not afford to show such emotions among his pirates. The Crying Queen had places to sail to next, wicked things to no doubt seize, and she had a Thief Kingdom to help keep in line, a duty to her family to return to.
“It’s been an honor to sail with you.” Kintra extended a hand. “Despite our differences.”
Niya took the offered palm. “Differences only make us stronger.”
The quartermaster laughed at that. “Aye, or fight each other.”
“Which can make us stronger,” she pushed.
Kintra smiled then, a genuine smile that showed her rows of checkered gold teeth. “Until we meet again, Red.”
Stepping back, Kintra allowed the rest of the crew to approach and say their farewells. Mika slapped her on the back, as did Emanté, wishing her luck wherever she went next. Green Pea gave her a bit of tacking rope he had braided into a bracelet, causing Bree to push him in annoyance that she hadn’t thought of that first. Felix merely smiled at her shyly before Therza pulled her into one of the longest hugs Niya had ever experienced.
“You be safe now, Red,” she said, pulling back but holding on to her arms. “We’ll miss you around these parts, so come and find us when yous can, or we might be inclined to kidnap you again.” She cackled in delight as she let go.
Niya shook her head with a wistful smile and stepped onto the plank, which would take her to the dock below.