Dead ahead, I see a bowsprit jutting into the air. To its right, a hull rests at an angle, the structure tottering with the incoming tide. A sail billows atop a broken mast, an unfamiliar flag streaming in the wind. Shattered planks float on the waves, and downy white birds sit atop some of them. A coil of rope has become entwined with seaweed, the brown mass floating alongside a frozen body facedown in the water. Who knows how long he’s been dead? The cold keeps everything perfectly preserved.
The island is completely surrounded by ship wreckage. I can’t look in any direction without seeing it.
We’ve surely found where Alosa’s women went missing.
But right now I’m more concerned with what caused all of this.
I climb down the mast, where Dimella and the rest of the crew wait patiently.
“It’s a ship graveyard out there,” I say, forgetting to be tactful until after the words are out of my mouth.
Enwen clutches his beads to his chest, and my gun master climbs the mast without another word.
“Is the Wanderer among the wreckage?” Dimella asks.
“We’re too far to tell.”
“We’re going closer?” Enwen asks with alarm.
Kearan puts a hand on his shoulder to steady him. “Find your mettle, man.”
“We’re going to circle the island without getting too close,” I say. “We need proof that the Wanderer docked here before we go ashore.”
“A lot of ships permanently docked here, Captain,” Dimella says. “What do you think got ’em?”
“Cannons,” Philoria says when she returns to the deck. “Definitely cannon debris. I’d stake my life on it. Nothing else tears apart masts like that.”
“No more beasties, then?” Enwen asks.
“Not this time.”
“Someone doesn’t want anyone going ashore,” I deduce.
“For what purpose?” Dimella asks. “Not like it’s a prime vacation spot or anything.”
“There must be something valuable here,” Kearan says. “Gold or other precious metals.”
“Gold, you say?” Enwen perks up.
“Take us closer, Kearan,” I say. “I want a better look at that debris.”
He does so, but it’s not easy. For hours, he maneuvers us around blocks of ice and ship debris. But we eventually find what we’re looking for.
I see the letters Wan painted on the side of one of the wrecked ships. The rest of the letters disappear into the water. Alosa’s missing vessel is here. Just from what I can see in either direction, there is enough wreckage for at least nine full ships. And the destruction continues as far as the eye can see. Surely there’s even more surrounding the whole island.
“Dimella, I want to go ashore alone,” I say to my first mate. “Have the crew lower a rowboat for me.”
Dimella narrows her eyes. “Captain, I know you mean to put no one in danger but yourself, but if anything should happen to you, then you’ll leave the crew without their leadership. It isn’t wise for you to go anywhere alone. Please consider taking a scouting party with you if you intend to go exploring. Alosa has chosen some fine girls for this voyage.”
“I’ll go with you,” Kearan offers immediately.
“And me,” Enwen says.
We all stare at him.
“Kearan mentioned gold. Perhaps I could keep an eye out for it while we’re out and about.” He shrugs.
I think it over, weighing all my options, and ask myself for the hundredth time what Alosa would do.
“I’ll take half the crew ashore,” I decide. “Should anything happen to us, you’ll still have enough sailors to make the trip back home.”
“I’ll guard the ship with my life,” Dimella says.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I say. “A ship is only a thing. You protect the rest of the crew.”
She grins. “Well, I’d at least try to save the ship. The crew was a given, Captain. Who will you take ashore?”
“These two,” I say, gesturing to the men beside me. “Taydyn, Philoria, Bayla, and Visylla.” I list a handful more names.
“What about me?” The small voice comes from somewhere nearby, yet it isn’t until Roslyn’s head pokes over the companionway that I realize she was spying.
Sneaky little thing, indeed.
“You’re the ship’s lookout,” I say. “You need to be on the ship to keep a lookout. That’s the most important job right now.”
She scrunches up her face, as though trying to decide if I’m being sincere or just tricking her into staying. The answer is both, but she seems placated for now.
“I’ll have the boats lowered,” Dimella says, and she sees to it.
I make a stop at my quarters, grabbing as many weapons as will fit into my clothing. Knives in both boots. Knives inside my coat. Knives at my waist. I lose count somewhere after twelve. I take extra pistols, slinging them through a holster over one shoulder. Normally I prefer quiet weapons, but if we’re ambushed, stealth will cease to matter.
I grab my old rapier and bring it out on deck with me. When I spot Roslyn at the port side staring off at the island, I approach her.
She turns, and her eyes go straight to what I’m carrying. I hold it out to her.
She takes the rapier and unsheathes it, holding it up to the sky.
“We’ll work on form and stance later, but for now, you should have a weapon with a longer reach in case anything bad happens.”
“You’re giving me your old sword?”
I nod. “You’ll have to ask Dimella if she has a spare belt for you. You’ll likely have to cinch it high so the sheath doesn’t drag.”
I can’t tell if she hears me or not. She’s swinging the rapier in unpracticed arcs, lunging at invisible foes.
“I’ll take it away if you injure yourself or anyone in the crew with it,” I say.
She turns a glower on me. “I would never. I haven’t done so with my dagger, and I’m not about to with my new sword. Thank you, Sorinda!”
She tries to run at me with the sword. Then remembers to turn the blade downward before grabbing me in a hug.
“Keep a sharp lookout,” I tell her.
“I always do.”
She’s staring at the weapon when I turn from her, approaching the party that’s gathered near the lowered rowboats.
Enwen squints out at the land. “I don’t see any sort of settlement. No one could survive in this temperature long without shelter.”
“Someone sank all these ships,” Kearan responds. “Maybe they’re hiding in the woods.”
“What if what lives out here isn’t human?”
“We’ll soon find out.”
Enwen tucks his beads into his coat.
I don’t say a word as I climb down into the nearest rowboat. Those chosen to go ashore follow quickly. We fit snugly into three boats and start the trip for shore.
Kearan rows in my boat, and I watch the land grow closer from over the top of his head. I get an eerie feeling as we drift farther from Vengeance and the rest of the crew, but I can’t quite place it. I’m not afraid. I don’t think anything is going to jump out at us the second we reach shore. Besides, we’ll be able to take cover in the trees shortly after docking.