Chapter 13: : Chapter 12

ERIC LEFT Ariel with Carlotta the moment they got back to the castle without even a goodbye. He knew it was rude, but he couldn’t calm himself. This was exactly why he kept everyone at a distance, and now he couldn’t focus on his upcoming voyage with Sauer and his mother’s ghost. He spent the hour before he needed to leave for the ship checking his notes and writing Ariel a letter apologizing for his reaction to the near kiss. He could explain when he returned if she didn’t go back home.

The thought of her leaving hit him harder than it should have.

Sauer’s ship, —though Sauer laughed at how Grimsby pronounced it—was a three-masted merchant ship outfitted like a frigate. Max padded onto the ship after Eric and nipped at Gabriella’s heels as she paced the deck with Nora. The ghost of Eric’s mother was tucked safely in the captain’s quarters for now, out of sight from the people of Vellona, and Sauer met with Eric near the wheel. Vanni lingered nearby, out of place and unsure of what to do. He and Gabriella had insisted on accompanying him once they learned Sauer was ready to take Eric to find the Isle of Serein.

“I don’t fully have a plan yet,” Eric told Sauer.

The pirate sucked on their teeth and scowled into the setting sun. “I figured as much. I imagine we’re of similar minds: that no matter what we should do, we should get a few hours away from Vellona before doing it?”

“Just so,” said Eric, handing over one of his mother’s maps. The light cast everything in a shade of scarlet that made his eyes hurt. “I think heading for this area is a good starting point. Then we can see what happens with… her.”

Sauer nodded as if they regularly dealt in ghosts and witches and mysterious islands.

They set sail without much fanfare. Nora, her arms full of maps, and Gabriella joined them at the helm once they were a ways out. Max padded up and down the ship, sniffing along the rail, and Eric whistled him over. He didn’t come.

“Let him roam,” said Sauer. “Once we decide how to proceed and get to open ocean, I’d prefer he be below deck in case we need him out of the way.”

“All right,” Eric said. “Do you think we’ll run into to trouble?”

Sauer snorted. “Did you or did you not mention killing a witch?”

Nora whistled, hugging the maps closer to her chest. “That explains a lot. We’re not taking soldiers, though? You know, people who actually kill things for a living?”

“There are none to spare.” Eric shook his head. “And given what I know of Sauer, I think your crew will be fine.”

Max yelped on the other side of the quarterdeck, and Eric called him over.

“Fair,” said Nora, glancing up at Sauer. “If you don’t bring the prince back alive, his adviser will strangle you.”

Sauer muttered something that might have been “couldn’t reach my neck,” and she elbowed them.

“Forget Grimsby, I’ll strangle you.” Vanni narrowed his eyes at Sauer. “Not that I think anyone is about to die on this excursion, but just so we’re all in the know.”

Still ignoring Eric, Max barked again.

“All right, if everyone is done defending my honor, we should discuss where we’re going,” said Eric.

“I need to talk to you about that.” Nora’s gaze darted to Sauer, and she braced herself. “I may not have told you everything I know about the Blood Tide.”

Eric nodded. “I got that impression last time we spoke.”

“Well, I didn’t know you then, did I?” Nora said. “I wasn’t going to tell you my life’s story without getting all the information. Some prince sailing into the unknown and keeping his own secrets? Doesn’t even matter. I’ll tell you now.”

That was more than fair. Max started barking again, and Vanni spun.

“Max!” he called. When he spotted what the dog was barking at, his face blanched. “Oh, well, that’s not ideal.”

They all turned at once. Max yelped and jumped around a damp Ariel hanging half out of a scupper hole. Ariel shushed Max with a gesture and pat on the head, and Vanni looked at Eric. When Eric didn’t move, Vanni helped Ariel up. She beamed at him.

“What are you doing here?” Eric asked, voice pitching, and he paused to hold back his anger. He closed his eyes, took a breath, and opened them again, trying to calm his panicky heart. “I told you it would be best if you stayed.”

Her smile fell, and she made several gestures he couldn’t decipher.

Eric held up a hand. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what that means, and I don’t know what to do.”

She frowned.

“Usually,” Sauer said as Vanni and Ariel joined them near the wheel, “I kill stowaways.”

Her frown twisted into such a bitter scowl Eric almost laughed.

“No one’s killing anyone,” said Eric. “Did you hang on to the hull?”

Ariel nodded.

He stared at her. “How?”

Ariel frowned and grabbed the rail next to her, gripping the wood with her fingers. She shrugged, and Eric had to stifle the warm appreciation that washed over him. That would’ve required a ridiculous amount of strength.

“That’s impressive,” Gabriella said. “You’re that shipwrecked girl?”

Ariel nodded at Gabriella and waved.

It was too late for them to turn back. Ariel was going to be traveling with them to kill this witch now, and the idea of dragging her into danger terrified Eric. Everything was already happening; Ariel’s presence was the last thing this voyage needed.

“All right, all right,” he said. “Here’s what’s going to happen, if I may?” He looked to Sauer, and the pirate nodded. “Nora and I will discuss the Blood Tide and what we are going to do. Ariel, please stay on the deck with Max until we’re done.”

She looked confused but nodded. Then she stepped toward him, and Eric stepped away from her. He frowned, all too aware of how ridiculous he looked, and headed for the captain’s quarters.

Gabriella and Vanni followed Eric into the captain’s quarters. Nora lingered on the deck, telling them she’d join in once she’d talked to Sauer. The room was crowded but lush. There was a bed on one wall draped with a thick quilt, and worn pillows covered the chairs. Eric paced between the table and bed, palms pressed into his eyes.

“What was that about?” Gabriella asked him. “I know Ariel being here isn’t ideal, but if she was shipwrecked, she at least knows her way around a boat.”

“I almost kissed her today,” Eric said, and threw his hands up. “I don’t even know if she’s been on a ship. She can swim, I think, but we are heading to kill a witch. This is just another worry, and—”

Vanni held up a hand. “Wait, what was that first thing you said, because I know it wasn’t what I heard?”

“I almost kissed her,” whispered Eric.

“What?” Vanni covered his face with his hands and screamed into them. “Why?”

Gabriella collapsed into one of the chairs and dropped her head between her knees. “You nearly kissed a girl who you just met? When’d you even have the time?”

“When I showed her around Cloud Break earlier,” said Eric. “We didn’t, thankfully, but I was an inch away from dying.”

“Kissed her!” Vanni threw up his hands. “Eric! What part of your curse did you not understand?”

“I know!”

He’d nearly died. A pretty face. A beautiful day without worry. A promise of understanding and a confidante in Ariel, and he had nearly kissed her. It made him so anxious he felt sick.

“Well, hold on,” Gabriella said. “Calm down. You didn’t, and you’re aware you’re attracted to her now, so don’t do it again.”

Eric rolled his eyes. “You say it so easily.”

“I would hope not kissing people is easy,” she said. “I’m more interested in why we’re going after this witch when you’re dead sure this woman who saved you is real and your true love. Finding her would probably involve less murder!”

Eric tried to find the words and failed. He swallowed and whispered, “What if I’m wrong? How can I ever trust myself enough to even try? It’s a certain death. I at least stand a chance at this.”

He retreated to the far side of the table and curled up on one of the chairs.

Vanni approached him, hands out, and said gently, “And if we kill the witch first, you won’t be afraid, because the curse will be gone. You’ll be able to actually fall in love with someone.”

Eric nodded. He wouldn’t be terrified or have to be as cautious, and he could go out and meet anyone. Every-one. His emotions wouldn’t be a knife in the back. He could fall in love with anyone he wanted, even Ariel.

The thought made him feel dizzy.

“And Grimsby wonders why you’re afraid to get married.” Gabriella scoffed. She stepped next to him and touched his shoulder. “You good to discuss the Blood Tide?”

Eric inhaled through his nose, exhaled with a whistle, and nodded.

Gabriella stuck her head out the door and got Nora, who looked at all of them with narrowed eyes as she entered. Gabriella perched on the back of a chair, and Vanni sat on her feet. Eric tapped the large map pinned to the table.

“So what did you want to share?” he asked.

“I’m going to say what I think, and then I’ll explain why I might be right,” Nora said, her body stiff. “I think the Blood Tide’s a path that will take us to the Isle of Serein.”

“You think that the Blood Tide leads to the Isle of Serein?” asked Eric, leaning forward. “Why? How?”

“Look—I can’t prove this with anything. I tried to find some information with Gabriella while we were in Cloud Break, but you’re going to have to take my word on it,” she said, hand tapping frantically against her thigh. “What I didn’t tell you before was that I saw the Blood Tide long before anyone else on this ship.”

Eric did his best to hide his surprise and waited for her to continue. Nora circled a wide stretch of sea to the north of Cloud Break that touched Vellona, Riva, Altfeld, and Sait on the main map laid out on the table. Her hands shook.

“The Blood Tide’s an old bedtime tale in the towns along this coast,” she said. “So if the Blood Tide and the Isle of Serein are connected, it is probably here.”

“That’s a huge swathe of well-explored sea,” said Eric, watching her face shift between panicked and stoic. “We know there is no island there. Not to mention that would be at least ten days’ voyage.”

“I don’t think we’ll have to actually travel far to fol-low the tide,” Nora said. “I think it’s magic.”

“Magic?” Gabriella echoed. Her brows furrowed. Nora nodded.

“Now, so far as I can tell, my mother and I were some of the Blood Tide’s first victims,” said Nora, and she swallowed before bracing herself against the table. The room fell silent. “I was raised in Riva by this old man named Edo. The Blood Tide was one of those stories adults told to keep kids in line—don’t go into the water at dawn or dusk ’cause the Blood Tide will come in and take you away. Don’t wish for things only magic could gift you. The way Edo told it, desperate people used to wade out, offer up blood to the sea, and make a deal with something in the depths so that they could live their wildest dreams. The costs, though, were always souls.”

“But what is the something?” Eric sat in one of the spare chairs. “The ghosts? A witch?”

“Having lived through the ghosts plenty, I don’t think they’re behind anything. I think they’re fishing lures. No clue who the fisher is, but based on what you’ve told me, I would bet your witch,” said Nora. “The ghost ship takes people with it when it leaves. We don’t know where, but we know it comes and goes on the Blood Tide. I think the tide is a path of sorts. That it’s how the ghost ship gets to you no matter how far away you are.”

Eric, Vanni, and Gabriella looked at each other. Nora’s words made sense and would explain how the ghosts were able to come and go across the sea. Gabriella cleared her throat and hesitantly asked, “What did you mean that you and your mother were the first victims?”

“I don’t remember it very clearly. I only know for certain what Edo told me, but he reminded me so often it all feels like my own memories.”

Eric nodded. He had never met his father, but sometimes he thought he could remember him. He had been told enough stories about him to hear the bark of his laugh and seen enough portraits to picture his face. All of it was wishful thinking that felt far too real.

“I was only five or six, Edo said.” Nora paused and closed her eyes. “When the Blood Tide killed my mother and me.”

Eric’s heart dropped to his stomach. “What?”

“Killed you?” Gabriella said. “But you’re right here.”

“Wouldn’t be if the Blood Tide had its way.” Nora ran the back of her hand across her mouth, looking slightly sick. “I don’t tell this story often. It’s hard to explain.”

“Right,” said Eric, trying to hide his shock. “Sorry. Continue.”

“It was dusk, when the water was red as the sky, and my mother and I were drowning,” said Nora. “I don’t remember how we got there, but I do remember being underwater and seeing her sinking. She pushed me up to the surface, but I passed out. According to Edo, who was on the shore when it happened, someone pulled me onto the beach and got me breathing again. He always told me that it was the Blood Tide that tried to kill us, and that it would try again if I ever went back into the ocean.”

“So,” said Gabriella, “you died at sea and then got right back on the sea?”

“I was too important to stay dead,” Nora said. “And I didn’t join Sauer till a few years ago. Stowed away and annoyed them till they let me stay. I’ve still never been in the ocean. I learned to swim in a lake, and Triton has been kind enough to spare our ship from any wrecks.”

Eric shook his head. It was a wild tale, and if he hadn’t already encountered half of it, he wouldn’t have believed it. “But why do you think the witch is behind the Blood Tide?”

“Because I have one other memory from that day.” Nora took in a breath. “I thought I had imagined it at first or made it up in some nightmare. I saw a woman walking on the blood-red water toward a shimmering isle too pretty to be real.”

Eric tried to picture it, his eyes widening in understanding. “You think the water isn’t just a path for the ghosts, but that it leads to the island,” he said.

“She vanished after the first few steps. I always thought I’d dreamed it, half dead and delirious, but with your talk of a witch and an Isle of Serein, it’s what I’ve got.” Nora took a deep breath and then fixed Eric with a stare. “That’s why I’m thinking the only way we can find your witch is to make a deal with your mother’s ghost and have her lead us to the Isle of Serein using the Blood Tide.”