Not a muscle in my father’s face twitches. “Go stop arguing elsewhere. The tunnels are no place for it.”
I turn away as though I’m embarrassed, but the truth is I can’t stand to look at my father any longer. Not after knowing what he’s done. It’s as if he’s a different person, when in reality I’m only beginning to understand who he really is.
A monster.
“Then we’ll be off,” I finally say. I grab the hand at my hip and pull Tylon in the direction of our ships. It’s the direction Riden went in. The direction my father just came from. He couldn’t have spotted Riden and my mother or else I would have heard a struggle. Oh, but I hope Riden didn’t get himself lost.
And stars forbid my father have plans to visit my mother tonight.
I traverse with Tylon down the tunnel, his arm tucked in mine.
He leans his head against mine and asks, “Where are we going?”
“Your rooms.”
His breathing hitches, and his steps quicken. Meanwhile, my eyes are scanning every turn and bend in the tunnels for Riden, hoping to spot him before Tylon does.
When I do see him, there’s nothing I can do to stop Tylon from noticing, too. Riden leans against the wall, one foot pressed flat against it, his arms crossed casually against his chest.
I open my mouth, unsure of what I’m going to say. Hopefully not what I want to ask him: What did you do with my mother?
“Captain,” Riden says, “have you finished your business?” So composed. So normal.
“Yes. Where is your cargo?”
“Safe. Just waiting for you so we can get it to the ship.”
Tylon looks at Riden closely. “I don’t recognize you.”
“He’s a recent addition,” I explain.
Tylon tugs me. “I don’t really care. We were on our way somewhere important.”
I hope he can’t tell my stomach just turned. “Wait, I forgot I need to speak with my father.”
“You can speak with him tomorrow,” he says, trying to pull me along again.
I force a playful laugh at his insistence. “It can’t wait until then. It’s about the voyage. He’ll want to know right away. It’ll only take a second.”
He doesn’t let me go; instead he stares into my eyes again, as though that will somehow change my mind.
“Go to your rooms,” I say. “I’ll meet you on your ship.”
He leans down to give me one more hearty kiss.
In front of Riden.
But I can’t do it again. I. Just. Can’t.
I reach for my pistol, and just as Tylon is about to press his lips to mine—I bring it down on his head. He’s out before he hits the floor.
“Where is she?” I ask.
“We couldn’t go any farther without getting lost. When I heard someone coming, I set her down so she wouldn’t be spotted. She’s just over here.”
I pull Tylon off the floor and throw him over my shoulder. Riden stares for an extra beat at my strength before leading the way. He makes a couple of turns down the tunnel and stops when we come to some stacked water barrels stored along the edges. He stoops behind them, and when he’s standing again, he has my mother in his arms once more.
Tylon takes her place.
I finally relax, but it’s fleeting. We still have a ways to go before we’re out of here.
“Are you all right?” I ask her.
“Yes. Just weak.”
“Let’s go,” I say to Riden.
We hurry. Every echo, every whisper of wind is enough to make my heart stop. We can’t be found. It doesn’t matter who spots us. We look too conspicuous. Anyone would surely report us to my father. We don’t speak, too fearful of who might hear us.
But either the stars are watching out for us or everyone is well asleep, because we meet no one else during the painful march.
We race up the gangplank.
Niridia appears at my side. “Sorinda and Athella have already made it back. Mandsy is seeing to Draxen in the infirmary. I didn’t get much out of them except that we need to be ready to sail.”
The crew is roused. They await on deck for orders. Some have obviously just been woken—they rub sleep from their eyes. Enwen is still pulling a shirt over his head.
“Listen up,” I say. I dare not shout with all the other ships stationed nearby in the cave, but I hope everyone can hear. “The pirate king has deceived me.” I point over to where my mother is wrapped up in Riden’s arms. “That is my mother. Kalligan has kept her as his prisoner for the last eighteen years. I’ve only just discovered her by accident.”
Everyone swivels their heads in her direction.
“We’re leaving, and we’re going to do it quickly and quietly. Does anyone have a problem with that?”
Enwen raises his hand, shying away from us.
“What, Enwen?”
“Captain, if that’s your mother, that would make her a—a—”
“Siren, yes. Does anyone else have any questions more important than our lives?”
Silence.
“Trim the sails,” Niridia barks out. “Raise the gangplank, hoist anchor! Move it!” The easy-going sailor is gone, instantly replaced with the harsh first mate I need her to be. All sea hands race around us to fulfill her orders.
The other docked ships are quiet, no lights lit. I try to assure myself that even if there were anyone keeping watch, they wouldn’t think anything of my ship leaving. My father gives me orders without telling anyone else all the time. But uncertainty has my heart pounding.
“Are you cold?”
I turn at the voice.
Riden still holds my mother, and she’s visibly trembling in his arms.
“I’m all right,” she answers him. Her response is firm despite her shaking limbs. “You’re strong, for a human.”
“I used to be fast, too. Until I was shot in the leg. Haven’t been able to get it back up to strength yet.”
“You were shot?” Mother asks. “How?”
“Your daughter got me into trouble.”
It must be the oddest thing I’ve ever seen—witnessing Riden talking with my mother, distracting her from her discomfort.
I will go to her as soon as we’re safe. For now, I need to be captain.
Sorinda locates Kearan, who is miraculously sober—well, sober enough to steer—and gets him to the helm.
“Where are we headed to at this hour?”
Yes, where are we going? “For now, the nearest port. Just get us away from here. Like our lives depend on it, Kearan.”
He looks down his broken nose at me. “Because they do?”
“When the king discovers I’ve stolen my mother, he will hunt us down. And if he catches us—”
“Understood.”
It truly hits me then. What I’ve done. We are all going to be hunted by the most feared man in the world. I brought this on all of us by taking her. I just took her and didn’t think of my crew.
No, even if I had paused to think, I would have done the same thing. We can’t serve him any longer. He’s dangerous and vile. He kept her in that room for almost two decades, and I can’t even think of the way he used her without my dinner threatening to come back up.
How have I been so blind?
Roslyn wanders up from belowdecks, rubbing her tired eyes. All the noise must have woken her. “What’s happening, Captain?”