Sable furrows his brows as he takes me in, his thoughts likely spiraling as mine.
“This sea is cursed, just like the others. Before we even realize it, we’ll be dreaming again. We will die out here, Sable. We have to lea—“
“There‘s no wind,” Sable interrupts me, and his muscles tense behind my back.
Meanwhile, the siren inside of me tries to rip free, clawing at my insides. My instincts tell me that we have to go.
“We cannot leave this bloody sea. But we can bring you to the bonesetter, so —“
“No,” I say again, and this time, my voice is steady. I step closer to him, so the crew won’t hear what I say. “Listen. I know you always say my instincts aren’t the sharpest, but right now my inner siren is pleading with me to get out of here. And fast.”
Sable's jaw tightens so hard that I see the muscles ticking beneath his skin as he looks over my shoulder and towards his crew, then back to me.
“And how,” he asks under his breath, “are we going to do that without wind?”
“I don’t know,” I whisper truthfully. “But the Glim is enforcing the sea’s will, right? Why would it keep us trapped here?”
“You know, the sea and I usually aren’t on good terms.” Sable mutters, and his gaze drops to the floor for a beat. “Especially lately.”
“The sea and I usually aren’t great friends either,” I reply. “But there must be a way to get out of here. Every sea has its dangers, but also its weaknesses.”
I begin pacing, my thoughts spiraling as I try to remember what my mother has taught me about the seas.
“The Sea of Crowns is known for its brutal storms, but there’s a short time period where the waters lie calm. The Sea of Renewal can heal, but takes a memory in return. And the Sea of Bones.”
“Can be survived by breaking the pirate's curse.”
“Exactly.” I stop in front of him with widened eyes. “And the darkness-infused sea we just survived is incredibly narrow. We made it through in what? One day?”
“Twenty-one hours.” Sable corrects.
My eyes roll. “Right. So what’s the weakness of this sea? There must be one. We just have to find it.”
The question is, where can we find out more about a sea that none of us has been in before. I press my lips together and begin tapping my finger against my thigh. “The books.”
The brooding pirate captain furrows his brows and looks at me, confused.
“What books? Those in my cabin are just sailors' tales and diaries from my father. I don't think we’ll find anything truthful in them.”
“We already found one truth,” I mutter before finding a steady voice again. “The drawing of the siren that looks like me. Whoever wrote that must’ve been here before. Maybe there’s more.”
Something flashes across Sable’s gaze, and a smile tugs at his lips. He gives me the tiniest of nods. As he turns towards thecrew, folding his hands neatly behind his back, the smile slips away.
“If you see someone falling asleep,” he announces, his voice carrying over the ship without even raising it. “You wake them up. Splash them with water, punch them in the face, I don't care. If nothing is working, find Eryse.”
I curl my hands into fists and keep my gaze fixed on the deck as I zone out. My siren song is not in the slightest bit reliable. Sable continues barking orders, but I don't hear any of it. Instead, my feet move on their own, and the next thing I know is that I’m in the orlop, looking for Lark.
The little pirate sits on a barrel, white as a ghost, covered in sweat and shaking. In front of him is Nightglass, who presses a wet piece of cloth against his forehead.
“Lark,” I sigh in relief and rush towards him, throwing my arms around him and pressing his shaking frame against my chest. A single tear slips out of my eye, and pure joy floods me when he hugs me back. I kiss the side of his head and then check his face for any marks anyway, to make sure that he is okay.
A solid hand on my shoulder makes me turn towards Nightglass. He looks confused, with his brows furrowed.
“You had the same dream?” he whispers. “Of my little boy?”
There’s no way. We can’t have.
“The same dream?” I whisper.