Page 106 of Ship of Smoke and Steel

KARAKOA: Indeed. Showing the Deepwalker the truth of the Captain’s tower was … unwise.

SCHOLAR: I need her help to save us all. Apologies if that broke the rules.

KARAKOA: They exist for a reason. The myth of the Captain keeps order among the crew.

SCHOLAR: Why? So that everyone can die in an orderly fashion?

SHIARA: You’ve been awfully quiet, Zarun.

BUTCHER: For rotting once.

ZARUN: Apologies. I’ve been thinking.

BUTCHER: For rotting once.

KARAKOA: Enough. Have you come to any conclusions?

ZARUN: I must say I am inclined to think the Scholar, while he should have informed us, had the right idea.

BUTCHER: What?

KARAKOA: Explain.

ZARUN: The Deepwalker is a unique figure.

BUTCHER: My frozen arse. She’s a rotten piece of gutter quim—

ZARUN: She killed a dredwurm with a pack of four. How many of you would have taken less than twenty to that fight?

SHIARA: That just proves she’s a fool.

ZARUN: I think that, in the long run, we will have to admit her to the Council. So the Scholar’s sharing the secret with her is … premature, but not a catastrophe.

SCHOLAR: There is no rotting long run. Have none of you been listening?

BUTCHER: And I’d freeze my tits off before I let that bitch on the Council. One is bad enough.

SHIARA: He has a point.

KARAKOA: Enough! You all know the penalty for transgressing the Captain’s tower is death. I am in favor of applying that penalty. Rules must be respected. What do the rest of you say?

BUTCHER: I want the bitch’s severed head to shove down my toilet and piss on.

SHIARA: I …

ZARUN: Rare to see you uncertain.

SHIARA: The Deepwalker’s popularity is troublesome. I worry that executing her may lead to discontent.

ZARUN: My vote is to enlist her, not kill her.

KARAKOA: That means we are divided. What if she challenges?

There’s a spate of rapid whispering, what sounds like Shiara and the Scholar, too low for me to hear. I turn to Jack.

“What does he mean, challenge? Like when I challenged Ahdron?”

Jack nods. “If the Council are divided on a punishment, you’re entitled to challenge for your life. If no one is willing to face you, you go free.”