Page 7 of Tempest

And Lord Rose did too.

The Credence had reached the outer bounds of the Lyrian Sea some days ago, and rough ocean gave way to calmer waters. With it came her husband’s return to her cabin and all that entailed.

She kicked away his breeches, still crumpled on the floor from his nightly visit. For a second, she debated dumping them overboard, but that would only get the servants in trouble. Instead, she folded the clothing neatly over one arm and delivered them to Lord Rose’s empty cabin. He was up on deck with the rest of the ship, crew and passenger alike.

As Cat left his breeches on his narrow bunk, she thought about changing herself again, in more impossible ways. Not into a cabin boy, but a mermaid or a siren. A giant squid. A water horse. A spirit upon the waves, a storm with a human face. Something terrible and otherworldly, beyond the grasp of men. Something that could jump over the rail and be gone with the tide, to whatever corner of the world she desired.

And where might that be? Cat asked herself.

She had no answer, for there was nowhere else to go.

Sighing, Cat forced herself out of the cabin.

Dawn broke soft and pink over the Credence, gilding every weathered and weary face on deck. Cat slipped amongst the crew and passengers, edging past His Lordship and their household. The Roses were not the only Meridian colonists to make the crossing, though the rest slept in hammocks in the crew quarters. Her husband’s title and dwindling coin bought cabins, at least.

Cat kept her distance, finding a spot on the rail as far from Ryman as she could. She ended up at the forecastle, nearly level with the carved maiden that decorated the prow of the ship. A mermaid, Cat noted, envying the fluid lines of the maiden’s piscine tail. The lovely figure held aloft a real lantern, guiding their way forwards. Cat wanted to smash it and send them off course.

Islands took shape on the horizon, appearing out of the haze where sea met sky. Her grip on the rail tightened, nails digging into freshly swabbed wood. Even at a distance, she could see the jagged peaks forming the green spine of the islands, like a dragon rising out of the waves. Clouds clung to the heights, dark and heavy with rain.

Again, Cat thought of leaping from the ship and taking whatever form her spirit could, to go wherever the wind carried.

A voice yelled from the crow’s nest, bellowing over the crowd.

“Land ho!” the sailor called, pointing at the horizon. “There be Goldcoast!”

Goldcoast Island, one of the Meridian colonies. But not our destination.

A sailor nearby threw a weighted line overboard with a splash. Rope unspooled at great speed as the line plunged through the waves.

“Ten fathoms!” he shouted after a moment, singing out the depth.

It was the first time the line had touched seabed since they left the Meridian coast, and Cat’s heart sank like the weight. It would not be long now until they reached their destination.

And her future.

She glanced northeast to the jagged silhouette of another island, far larger and more mountainous. Prospera, she thought, trying to remember her books, and the maps within. Bound to the Kingdom of Esperin.

“We should not be so close to enemy waters.”

Cat looked over her shoulder to see her lady’s maid, Sara, glaring at the islands. She had a severe face made even worse by a tightly wound bun of black hair.

“Captain Meedy knows his business,” Cat muttered, hoping to ease her maid’s mind. “Not to worry.”

But privately, Cat worried too. Somehow the maps in her books made the Lyrian islands seem farther apart. In reality, Goldcoast and Prospera looked within striking distance of each other; all the more concerning given the state of war between their crowns.

“I will be grateful to be back on land again.” Sara shook her head. “Even in these godsforsaken islands.”

Before Cat could answer, a voice called across the deck. She shuddered at the sound of her husband.

“My lady wife, join us, won’t you?” Lord Rose said, gesturing for her.

Ever the dutiful spouse, Cat obeyed, leaving the prow to meet Lord Rose at the starboard rail. He stood with his hand on a bewildered sailor’s shoulder.

Cat curtsied to them both.

Lord Rose grinned, showing a mouth of mismatched teeth. “Mr. Bridger here tells me of our island and what a prosperous future we might enjoy here in the colonies.”

Mr. Bridger gave a perplexed look. “My lady, I simply said if ye work hard and put yer salt in the Lyrian, she’ll give it back tenfold.”