Page 39 of The Space Between Stars

A ripping and crashing sounded behind her. She screamed as flame belched into the sky, taller than the center mast. The heat sent her scrambling up the stairs to the forecastle where she waited, desperate for someone to rescue her, yet again.

She waited for long enough that the ship began to tilt—long enough for her eyes to sting from the smoke. Long enough to wonder if they would be too late. The Respite listed farther and farther, starboard side lifting toward the sky. Fankalo latched onto the starboard rail as her feet began to slip from beneath her.

The stolen Blue Wing vessel slowed as it approached the burning Rogue’s Respite and pivoted sideways until the two were only meters apart. Fankalo clambered over the rail to stand on it. Below, Mitek swam for a rope thrown from the ship’s side. Then a gangplank was extended towards her, a bridge over the sea.

The ship was still moving as she leapt for it. She smacked into the plank with first her stomach and then her cheek and clung to it, limbs spread wide. Her ears were assailed by the rowdy cheers of the crew as they retracted it.

“Got them! Reverse sails!” Captain Keane screamed.

As she scampered aboard, a dozen sets of hands thumped her on the back. Then strong, dark arms seized her in an embrace. Fankalo returned it, burrowing her face into the crook of her father’s neck.

“Little one,” he rumbled, low, like distant thunder. “You are simply remarkable.”

A month ago she had been nothing. Now that she had magic, she was worth going back for.

“You have a new Rogue’s Respite,” she said, wiping her nose with her arm.

He gave her middle a squeeze. “It deserves a new name. This is the Rogue’s Rapture.”

Cam hauled Mitek over the railing and onto the deck. The boy looked like a drowned rat, highborn clothes and all, but his gaze fell steady on her. Her Luck hummed, subtle and deep, an impression she wasn’t sure she understood.

Cam jogged over to her, still in her father’s arms. “Chaos,” he panted, dirty hands clapping either side of her face. “There ent a scatch en ‘im. No thanks t’ Mitek.”

Mitek rolled his eyes. “Fire doesn’t scratch people, Cam.”

The two began bickering, but she didn’t hear where the argument went. Gelhard had stepped up behind them.

“What’s the course, Captain?” The quartermaster seemed as irritable as ever—as if he would rather she’d been taken by the sea.

“Make for the cove to recover Zeb. Then chart course for the Rollard Isles. It might do well to get lost for a few weeks.”

“Mesu.” Gelhard nodded and gave Fankalo a piercing glare before departing.

Her father set her feet back onto the deck and scowled at Mitek. “Left her, ay?”

The deckhand leaped into a salute. “Yes, Captain. I was just trying to get off that ship with both balls and a heartbeat. I didn’t—”

“Sure you still have both balls?”

Mitek’s face turned crimson.

“He tried to take me with him,” Fankalo interjected. “He hadn’t realized I couldn’t swim until he’d already jumped.”

Her father’s scowl only deepened. Mitek withered beneath it. “Seems like a reasonable thing to ask a companion before abandoning them on a burning ship.”

“Well, he tried to catch me too, only… I was afraid to jump.” She hated admitting her fear to him, but reputations were hard won and easily lost among the raiders. Mitek might be a coward, but he didn’t deserve spite over this.

Her father harrumphed and looked between the two of them. “I’ve a job for you, boy.”

Mitek saluted again. “Yes, Captain!”

“Teach my kid how to swim when we hit the next port.”

Mitek’s brow furrowed in determination. “Yes, Captain!”

Fankalo’s father squeezed her shoulder before moving to join Gelhard with their navigator at the helm.

“Preservation, I’m hungry,” she said smugly to Mitek.