Page 18

The sun had nearly set by the time a small ship on the horizon began to approach, and Wyatt waited anxiously on deck as it arrived. The small ship paralleled itself to Sky’s Honor and drifted in close enough for their bulwarks to brush, and then Wyatt’s crew extended a small ramp across what little opening remained. Simon Beecher was the first to step over onto Sky’s Honor’s deck, and he stood stiffly before Wyatt with his hands clasped behind his back, only moving out of the way just enough for three more men to cross over behind him.

Wyatt ducked past Simon’s stare and held his hand out to one of the other three men. “You must be the bounty hunters,” he said. “I’m Vice Admiral Wyatt Kim.”

“Gerald Hartley,” the oldest of them replied, shaking his hand. “Pleasure. This is Abner, and Piers.”

“Welcome,” Wyatt told them, shaking with each of them and then gesturing to one of his nearby crew to ask, “Will you please show these gentlemen to their quarters?”

“Yes, Sir,” the soldier said, and the bounty hunters disappeared with him below deck.

For several moments after they were gone and while the smaller ship pulled away from Sky’s Honor, Wyatt stood there uncomfortably, feeling Simon’s gaze on him but unsure of what to say. It felt hostile.

“Welcome aboard, Sir,” Carter supplied, extending his hand to Simon. “I’m Lieutenant Carter Hann.”

Simon glanced down at Carter’s hand, but instead of shaking with him, he breathed into his own hands and gestured outward, summoning a draken in the middle of main deck. “Lieutenant Hann,” he finally said, “ take my draken to whatever ship Major Ludo is on and bring him to me.”

“Oh, uh,” Carter side-eyed the smoky draken with its glowing heart, “I have my own mount, Sir.”

“ Now .”

“Yes, Sir,” Carter said, skittering toward the draken. “Right away, Sir.”

Carter mounted and took off into the air toward the ships that had retreated safely from port, and whatever crew had been lingering around to get a look at the Caster had dispersed as soon as they’d caught a glimpse of his disposition. That left Wyatt there with Simon. Alone.

To fill the heavy silence while they waited, and potentially find an escape, Wyatt said, “There’s a guest cabin for you below deck, Sir. I can take your things.”

“Stay,” Simon said, but he removed the sack from his shoulder and held it out to a passing crewmember. “Take this to my cabin.”

The soldier nodded and hurried off, and Wyatt cleared his throat, folding his hands behind his back out of Simon’s view to pinch his knuckle between his fingers. And he waited. Avoiding so much as even glancing in Simon’s direction because he didn’t want to know if Simon was watching him or not, and found a knot in the wood deck that looked like the moon Ugon instead.

He was still mapping every crater in that wooden moon when the summoned draken thudded back down on main deck. Carter dismounted after Major Ludo, and Ludo swaggered forward, leading with his outstretched hand.

“Beecher, Sir,” Ludo grinned, “pleasure to see you again.”

It didn’t surprise Wyatt at all when Simon ignored the invitation for a handshake. Instead, he swung his legs with every step as he strode toward a nearby barrel, and then turned as he smashed his foot into the side of it.

It scraped across deck toward Ludo as he commanded, “Sit.”

Ludo dropped his hand, mumbled, “Um, sure,” and plopped down on the barrel.

Simon lumbered over to Ludo and the barrel, and stood in front of him silently for a handful of long seconds before saying, “It’s my understanding that you’re responsible for an explosion at the mines.”

Ludo huffed a laugh, eyes canting toward Wyatt and Carter. “Where’d you hear that? ”

“Is it true?” Simon said gruffly. “Or not?”

A few more seconds ticked by before Ludo nodded resolutely. “It is, Sir. The civilians were getting out of hand. We needed a reason to come down hard.”

Simon’s lips pulled into a smile that made Wyatt’s stomach turn, and then he sent his fist crashing into Ludo’s belly.

Ludo collapsed off the barrel, clutching his torso as he coughed into the wood, “What’d you do that for?”

Simon squatted down beside him with his arms on his knees, staring at him coldly before grabbing the shoulder of his uniform and hauling him off the ground. He dragged Ludo to the bulwark and directed him toward Remigan. Toward the smoke from the remaining fires in town and on burning ships.

“You lost this island to the rebels,” Simon spat.

“No,” Ludo argued, struggling to keep his balance as Simon shoved his upper body farther and farther over the railing. “The rebel presence was greater than we thought. My explosion didn’t start those riots.”

“Your explosion,” Simon snarled, whirling around and throwing Ludo back to the ground, “alerted any civilian who wasn’t aware of rebel presence to that very presence.”

“I’m sorry.” Ludo grimaced as he worked himself onto his knees.

“Sorry doesn’t retake an island!” Simon descended on him, scaring him back down so he buried his forehead against the wood.

“Yes, Sir,” Ludo whimpered. “I’ll accept any formal reprimand with humility, Sir.”

“Get out of my sight,” Simon ordered.

Ludo was trembling as he lifted his head off the deck, and when Simon gave a swift nod toward his draken, Ludo scrambled up and threw himself onto its back. It ascended from deck and dove over the side of Sky’s Honor to carry Ludo back to his own ship. Simon ambled to the bulwark to watch them retreat through orange skies, and once Ludo was only halfway back to his own ship, Simon gestured his hand and turned.

The draken dissipated into a cloud of dust as Ludo wailed and went plummeting out of the sky. There was nothing anyone could do. No one was close enough to catch him. No one near enough to another mount to try and rescue him. All three of them just stood there, listening to his fading scream until Simon’s eyes fixed directly on Wyatt. Then Wyatt picked his jaw up off the floor and swallowed down the budding terror in his chest just so Simon wouldn’t come for him next .

“Take us to Grafport, Admiral Kim,” Simon said as he trudged past Wyatt and Carter and then disappeared below deck.

“What the fuck?” Carter whispered.

Wyatt finally tore his gaze away from empty sky. “Stay out of his way,” he told Carter.

“You think ?”

He hurried to quarterdeck to tell Bohlt it was time to leave for Cotisall, and for the next four days while they were en route, he did everything he could to heed his own advice. He took every precaution to stay out of Simon’s path, and it seemed he wasn’t the only one. Every member of his crew gave Simon a wide berth, Carter posted himself at the very opposite end of the ship every chance he got, and Wyatt had only seen the bounty hunters a few times since he’d welcomed them on board.

On that fourth day, however, as Wyatt stood with Carter at the bow end to wait for the moment they’d find Cotisall on the horizon, the three men finally surfaced. And Wyatt thought he should discover what he could from them, to learn how their presence might affect the situation.

He didn’t say anything to Carter, but Carter followed when he turned to make his way to the bounty hunters. The three were hovering near the bulwark on the starboard side of main deck, and as he approached, Gerald cut Abner off in the midst of saying, “Whatever else isn’t our business, we should ju-”

“Admiral,” Gerald greeted.

“How are you settling in?” Wyatt asked.

“It’s odd, not being with our own crew,” Gerald admitted, “but yours has been welcoming.”

“Good.” He gestured at himself and Carter. “We wanted to discuss your objective here, to see what we might do to help.”

“We’re after a witch that we’ve been chasing for years,” Gerald told him. “Ophelia Parker. We had her in our custody before Carolina Trace attacked our ship to rescue her.”

“Parker?” Wyatt asked. It couldn’t be… “Any relation to Commander Parker?”

“Commander Parker doesn’t have any children,” Carter murmured.

“He does, and we do suspect her to be his daughter,” Gerald said.

Wyatt gritted his teeth. Rue didn’t tell him that… but maybe she didn’t know. “Does the Commander know? ”

“If he’s aware or objects to her warrant,” Gerald answered, “he hasn’t deliberately revealed that to us.”

“Were you planning to tell him once you’d caught her?” Wyatt asked.

“She’s a deserter,” Abner answered, “we’ll treat her like every other bounty.”

“Of course,” Wyatt said, and didn’t acknowledge it when Carter’s head shot toward him. He remembered hearing that Commander Parker’s daughter had deserted, but that meant that any interference by the Commander in her case would be an act of treason. “You are aware, however, that our orders are to not engage with Omen?”

“We’re aware,” Gerald said. “And as per our orders when we were directed to your crew, we won’t pursue an arrest until it’s time for you to engage.”

“Who’s your contact at the warrant office?” Wyatt asked. “May I borrow your orders to take some notes of my own?”

“Someone named Lawrence Baker,” Gerald said, and reached into his vest pocket to retrieve a note and held it out to him. “And please do.”

“Thank you.” Wyatt stuffed the folded note into one of his own pockets.

Gerald made a wide look around the ship. “Can you tell me anything about your mission?” He nodded toward Simon Beecher. “Or why he’s here?”

“My apologies, but I’m afraid not,” Wyatt said. If he was honest, part of him was surprised there was anyone left who didn’t know about the emperor’s curse. But until he was certain the bounty hunters needed to know, he’d keep that information to himself. “All I can say is that we’ve been ordered to track Omen until I judge otherwise.”

“And how will you judge?” Abner asked.

“I’ve got a contact on the ship,” he answered.

Gerald’s eyes widened. “ Who ? Carolina Trace has the most exclusive crew in the sky. How did you get someone to turn on her?”

“I’m afraid I can’t reveal that either,” Wyatt said.

“Of course,” Gerald sighed.

Wyatt patted the pocket he’d stored the note in. “Thank you for this, I’ll return it with haste.”

Gerald nodded, and Wyatt motioned for Carter to follow as he walked calmly into his cabin. Once there, he ripped the note out of his pocket and hurried to his desk.

“What are you doing?” Carter asked, pacing after him .

“Comparing,” Wyatt said as he flattened Gerald’s letter out on the desk and then slapped his own letter from Commander Parker down next to it.

“Wyatt,” Carter prompted, “ do you know her? ”

He sighed and stared down at the warrant for a few moments before answering, “I used to. She’s older than me, and she wasn’t… she was different then. We weren’t friends, but she was always kind to me in passing.”

“So…” Carter said. “What do we do about her?”

“I don’t know,” he said, and they were both quiet for a few seconds before he decided there was nothing else to say about it, and he exhaled and stepped back to study the similarities between letters.

Carter slid around the desk to stand beside him, and bent down to get a closer look before saying, “The writing’s the same.” Wyatt hummed. “The Commander knows.”

“He’s the one who sent them,” Wyatt said.

“That’s something of a comfort, right?” Carter asked.

“Maybe.” Wyatt set his hands on the surface of his desk and leaned over the letters. “He should be more careful, and I don’t think we should let on to him that we know. I don’t know who we can trust, let alone what we can trust them with.”

“And Rue?”

He shrugged. “She saved my life, but… I don’t know.”

Carter looked at him for several long moments before he laughed, “Oh. She’s pretty, isn’t she?”

Wyatt cast him a deadpan glare. “She’s a pirate.”

“Is she, though?” Carter asked. “Because from what you’ve told me, she’s kind of working against her own crew.”

That was what concerned him, and even though Carter was teasing him, he went back to staring down at the letters. He didn’t know what was going on between Rue and Carolina, and he wondered if it really was Rue’s conviction about the dangers of Ascension that led her to contact him, or if something in her relationship with her sister had anything to do with it. What he did know was that he was walking a very fine line, Simon Beecher didn’t tolerate disobedience, and the wrong kind of slip up could have him and Carter arrested — or worse, with Beecher around.

“I think I need some time alone,” he said. He folded up the bounty hunters’ letter and held it out to Carter. “Will you return this to Gerald? ”

“Alright,” Carter said, taking it. “Do you want me to come and get you when we’re close?”

Wyatt nodded, and Carter left his cabin so that he could have some time to decompress before they arrived at Cotisall. He pulled his notebook out of his drawer and flipped to a fresh page to start a new drawing, and before he knew it, he’d sketched the plain short sword Rue had had at her hip. And the pistol. …And the rest of her. He turned the page and did his best to draw anything else, settling on Gerald’s sword.

It wasn’t until later in the day that Carter came to get him because Cotisall was in view. As they pulled into a slip at Grafport, Abner made a comment about spotting Omen, and pointed it out to him when Wyatt eagerly asked where. It was, perhaps, as unassuming a pirate ship as most he’d ever seen, and the only reason the frigate stood out from any other at port was because of its flatter hull and slightly darker wood. He was relieved that the ship was still there, and hoped he’d find Rue easily.

He gave orders for everyone to stay on the ship until he returned with information and disembarked, asking the port master where the largest tavern in town was before heading to it. It was crowded when he arrived. And loud. So overwhelmingly loud, and he focused straight ahead and let his mind disappear while he paced through the packed tavern toward the stairs at the back, leading up to three hallways full of doors. It took him a minute to find the door with the hat brim slightly sticking out under it, but when he did, he knocked.

There was no answer.

He rapped his knuckles harder on the door and pressed his ear to it, but there was still no response. Worried that something had happened to Rue, and somewhat worried it may be a trap for him, he drew his pistol and tried the handle. The door opened, and he rushed in with his weapon aimed, ready to fire at anyone inside who came at him.

But the room was dark except for the blue moonlight coming through the sheer window curtain. It was a small room, with only a bed, a trunk at the foot of it, a wooden chair in the corner, and a nightstand. He stowed his gun, closed the door, and picked up the hat off the floor. It was Rue’s hat, and so he tossed it onto the bed and retrieved a box of matches from a drawer in the room, lit several of the candles for light, and then pulled the thicker of the window curtains closed for complete privacy. And he sat down on the chair and waited.

It took almost an hour for the door to open, and then Rue slid in and closed and locked it behind her as he stood to greet her .

“Sorry,” she said. “I saw you come in, but I was with friends and couldn’t sneak away until now.”

“It’s alright,” he said.

She stood there for a moment, looking around the room and then looking him up and down before she went to sit on the trunk at the foot of the bed. “You got here quicker than I thought.”

“I was worried it wasn’t quick enough,” he admitted. She smiled, and he asked, “What have you learned?”

“Nothing yet,” she answered. “We didn’t get the answers we needed here and I’m not certain where we’re going next. I don’t know that I’ll be able to return here to update you once I find out.”

“We’ve docked within view of Omen.”

“Good,” she said instantly. “That’s very good.” There were a couple beats of silence before she gestured at him. “How’s your shoulder?”

“It’s fine,” he said, turning slightly to show her the scar behind his sleeveless shirt. “We have a healer.”

She nodded and then watched him for a few more moments and laughed, “You have more questions.”

“Several,” he sighed with relief.

“Go ahead.”

“Did you know that your witch is Commander Parker’s daughter?” he asked.

Her head cocked, and she stared at him and then groaned. “ Parker . Of course she’s his damn daughter. Leave it to Carolina to find a way to make this even more complicated.”

“He’s sent bounty hunters after her.”

“He sent-” She stopped short and inhaled a sharp breath. “Wait, those bounty hunters were sent by him? How do you know that? Wait, wait.” She stood. “ Are they with you? ”

He nodded.

“ That’s not good , Wyatt,” she said. “That wasn’t part of the plan. None of this is supposed to fall on her .”

“I know, but I had no choice,” he said. “But isn’t it good if they’re sent by her father? If he intercepts her, she won’t be killed.”

“No, it’s not good,” she said without hesitation. “There’s a reason she hasn’t contacted or returned to her father by now.”

“I don’t understand,” he admitted.

“How could you?” she asked as she dropped back down onto the trunk. “You’ve accepted that you’re military royalty. ”

He didn’t know how to respond to that. “I want to understand,” he told her.

She sighed. “Think about what would happen if she were returned to her father. Either he finds a way to get her pardoned and she’s forced to do Sovereign’s bidding, or he hides her and puts himself at risk. If it’s the first, then that’s why she ran. And if it’s the second, should she not get a choice in protecting him from that risk? Maybe that’s why she hasn’t reached out to him yet.” She shook her head. “She’s a good person, Wyatt. She deserves her freedom, same as the rest of us.”

And though he finally understood, he couldn’t fathom. “My father would never.”

Her brow furrowed. “How old are you?” she asked. “And you’re an admiral. Even if your father used his station to advance yours, at least he loves you.”

“My father gets me promoted to hide his shame,” Wyatt said.

“Shame?” Rue repeated.

“I’m not like other officers,” he told her. “I can hardly look people in the eye, I ask too many questions even though he’s tried beating the inquiry out of me, and I still can’t execute the blind loyalty he has.” He sighed and shrugged. “I’ve accepted that I’m military royalty because if I was in Miss Parker’s place, my father would turn me in himself. I don’t know if he loves me. He certainly didn’t want me .”

It seemed like Rue tried to give him a sympathetic smile, but she couldn’t manage to lift one corner of her mouth out of its frown. “I know how you feel.”

“You do?”

She nodded. “My mother didn’t want me either.”

“Why not?”

She blew a hard breath through her lips and shrugged. “I was an accident she couldn’t afford.”

“I’m sorry,” he told her.

“So am I,” she said.

He inhaled but stopped short, and a long silence passed between them before he finally said, “Can I ask you something else?” She nodded, and so he asked, “Was it really your conviction that led you to me? Or is it something else?”

She thought about that for a few seconds while she stared down at her hands. “Are you asking because of Carolina’s curse? ”

“She’s your sister, Rue,” he said, “and I want to trust you, but what are you loyal to if not your family?”

Instead of answering his question, she spat, “What are you loyal to if not your family?”

And he hadn’t meant to offend her even though he clearly had, so he answered her question first. “To doing the right thing. And to my friends.”

“What if your friends don’t want to do the right thing?”

“They do,” he said, “always. That’s why they’re my friends.” And she continued to stare hard at him for a few more moments before he buckled and added, “I’m sorry that I offended you. I’m not accusing you of anything, I just want-”

“To understand,” she interjected, and he gave a relieved smile and nodded, and she smiled too. “Look,” she said after a few more moments, “as far as anyone else is concerned, all Carolina’s tried to do is cheat her way out of her curse, but Ascension is going too far. Whatever else there may be is between me and her, and I’ll just need you to trust me on that.”

“ Can I trust you?” he asked.

She appeared to seriously consider that, which he appreciated, and then she said, “Will you promise to hear me out if, from here on, we happen to disagree on what the right thing is?”

“Yes,” he said, “I can promise that.”

She stood, crossed the distance between them, and held out her hand. “Then yes, you can, and I promise you’re in no danger from me.”

He took her hand and shook it while he teased, “I daresay that last part’s not true at all.”

What he’d meant was that he was risking a lot in meeting with her, and working with her, and potentially going against what Sovereign would want, but when she glanced down without letting go of his hand and her cheeks turned rosy, he realized she’d taken it a different way. It was only after a few moments of reflection that he recognized she’d taken it as flirtation, and while he usually corrected himself immediately when he made that mistake, this time, he didn’t.

Though, he didn’t necessarily know what to say next, and was relieved when Rue finally smiled and let go of his hand. “I’ve got to say, Admiral Kim,” she said, looking him up and down as she took a step back, “you look better out of uniform.”

“Thanks,” he said, glancing down at his black boots and trousers and his hunter green sleeveless shirt .

She looked him up and down again and then huffed to herself before stepping backward to the bed and sitting down at the foot. “Let me ask you something,” she said, and he nodded. “If you’re so committed to doing the right thing, what were you doing on Remigan in the first place?”

“I didn’t know it would be like that,” he answered. “I was told the employers were given a hundred dominions per family to help people leave the island, but then we got there, and people were saying their employers kept it for themselves, and it was obvious they wouldn’t be able to leave before Remigan fell.” He paused and shook his head. “Me and Carter weren’t sure what to do. I’m not sure we would’ve had a solution if the riots didn’t break out.”

“Are you saying you’re glad the riots broke out?” Rue asked.

“I’m saying that if I was in those people’s positions,” he said, “I would’ve done the same thing.” She hummed, but she didn’t say anything while she stared at him, until eventually, he asked, “What?”

She answered, “I’m just trying to figure out why you even thought it was right for Sovereign to harvest the island in the first place.”

“What do you mean?” he asked. “You know about the emperor’s curse. What else would you have him do but harvest less populated islands? I certainly didn’t have a better suggestion.”

“What do you mean what else could he do?” Rue asked. “He could leave.”

Wyatt’s brow furrowed as he asked, “Leave… Glasoro?” Rue nodded. “…He can’t leave Glasoro, that’s the whole point…”

“Huh?” Rue leaned forward. “What are you talking about? Of course he can leave. It would fix everything.”

One thing he was certain of then was that they were both confused. “Explain the emperor’s curse to me,” he said.

“Glasoro will fall in five years,” she said, and he nodded. “Unless he gives up power and leaves the island and his rule behind.”

“Mm-no?”

She breathed out a drawled, “Ooh,” and shook her head. “Whatever they told you is a lie, Wyatt.”

“They told me that Anseau was incapable of leaving the island, and if they evacuated Glasoro, he’d be left behind.”

“And you still thought his life was more valuable than the thousands lost by harvesting other islands?”

“No,” he said quickly, “It’s not- I just- I…” That wasn’t the first time he’d been presented with that question, but his opinion on it was too la te, and he sighed and admitted, “I captain a chaperone crew, I didn’t know there’d be so many left behind.” She nodded, but her lips were pursed in what he knew was skepticism, and it pained him. “ Please forgive my ignorance, Rue, but whatever you do, I beg you not to mistake it for apathy.”

She blew a breath through her lips as her shoulders drooped. “Alright,” she said quietly. “But they still lied to you.”

“How do you know?” he asked.

“There’s a hidden trove of history that archivists were told to destroy but didn’t,” she told him. “History that past rulers wanted to keep secret. The truth of Anseau’s curse is in those archives.”

“And you’re saying that he could break the curse simply by relinquishing his sovereignty?” he asked, and Rue hummed. “I see.”

“You believe me?” she asked.

He gave a half shrug. “This information has no bearing on why we’re working together. I see no reason for you to mislead me.”

“I want to trust you like you’re trusting me,” she said, “but to do that, I need to see how you respond to the truth. There’s no benefit in me lying to you.”

“And what would you have me do with this truth?”

“For now,” she said, “accept it.”

“That’s done,” he told her.

She gave him a small smile, and a long silence passed between them before she asked, “So, a chaperone crew, huh?”

“It always seemed the simplest task,” he admitted. “There were no moral complications for me to tire my father with questions about.”

“Of course,” she said with a small laugh, “how could defending against pirates be anything but the right thing?”

“That-” He hesitated. “That sounded like sarcasm. Do you resent me for it?”

“No,” she said, “we know what we’re getting into when we choose piracy, just as you know the dangers of being a chaperone.” She paused, and watched him for another minute before saying, “You’re a good man, Wyatt, but I’m afraid you’ll never be able to do the right thing so long as you do anything at Sovereign’s behest.”

“Because Anseau is a liar?” he asked.

“Because it’s built on a system where employers can pay their indentured so little that they can’t even save themselves when their island is about to fall.” She let that sink in for a moment and then added, “Do you want to know why my mother had me but didn’t want me? Because she wasn’t even paid enough to buy medicine to save Carolina’s life. A medicine that cost so little to make that the doctor gave it away for free in exchange for her body, and she couldn’t afford it with her wages. Sovereign thrives because it keeps people like her indentured.”

He didn’t know how to express his sympathy toward that, and it would take him more than this conversation to process what she was saying about Sovereign. So, instead, he asked, “Why did you join Sovereign?”

“My mother died,” she answered. “I tried to make it on the streets but couldn’t.” She paused and shrugged. “Sovereign was a way to get training, and an education, and then I deserted.”

“I’m sorry about your mother,” he told her.

She shrugged again. “Carolina was more of a mother to me than she ever was.”

“Where was Carolina when you joined Sovereign?”

Rue’s gaze dropped, and she stared at her knees for several long moments before finally glancing back up at him as she stood. “Be ready to follow us tomorrow morning.”

He inhaled, wanting to say something even though he didn’t know what. Maybe he should apologize for that question, if that’s why she was leaving. Or maybe he shouldn’t dwell on it. He just didn’t want her to leave solely because he’d asked too many questions, or the wrong ones. When he didn’t manage to get anything out right away, she gave a small smile and started for the door.

“Rue,” he blurted.

She stopped and turned toward him. “Hm?”

He still had nothing. “I just, um.” What he really wanted to say was ‘don’t go,’ but he didn’t have any good reason for her to stay other than that he liked her company. Until an idea came to him. “What if we gave Miss Parker the choice.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“What if we could deliver the warrant to her so she could see her father’s writing on it?” he explained. “If she made the choice to turn herself in knowing she’d be delivered to him, it would end the search for Ascension.”

Rue’s lips pursed, and she considered it for a few moments before murmuring, “She doesn’t want to Ascend, but it’s still a big if.” She shook her head. “If she decides to tell Carolina about it instead, then Carolina will know that someone on the crew is working against her.”

“She’ll see our ship once we start following you away from Cotisall,” he said. “It’s only a matter of time until she knows anyway.”

“True,” Rue said. “Do you have it with you?”

“No.”

She hummed. “Wait, but you have a Summoner with you now, right? One of the bounty hunters?”

“Yes.”

“Then you don’t have to follow close enough for Omen to notice you. Have him summon a whippon when you return and send it to one of Omen’s gunports. I’ll wait there. Deliver the warrant to me, and I’ll send it back with instructions about where we’re going. I may wait until Omen’s spotted you to deliver the letter to her, but at least I’ll have it for when the time is right.”

“Good,” he agreed. “That’s good.”

“Stay safe, Wyatt.”

“You too.”

She turned again and reached for the door handle, saying before she opened it, “Wait at least thirty minutes before following me out.” And then she was gone.

He waited those thirty minutes before leaving the room, and then hurried back to his ship, where he went to the private cabin he’d given to the bounty hunters and knocked on the door.

Gerald opened up and smiled at him. “Admiral, what can I do for you?”

“I need Abner’s help,” he answered. Gerald swung the door open farther to reveal Abner, who stepped up behind him. “My contact on Omen needs to send a letter with their next destination. Would you summon a whippon for me, and send it to one of Omen’s gunports?”

“Of course,” Abner said, stepping in front of Gerald to follow.

Before leading the way, Wyatt added, “If it’s not too much trouble, may I also request your warrant again?”

Gerald’s eyebrows furrowed, but he nodded anyway and went back into the room, returning a moment later with the letter.

“Thank you,” Wyatt said, and then motioned for them to follow.

Both Gerald and Abner trailed him up to main deck. Abner summoned a small whippon, and after putting the warrant letter in the small creature’s talons, he sent it to the opposite end of the docks where Omen was tied. And they waited. In silence, for the first minute, with Wyatt shuffling uncomfortably on his feet because he didn’t know what to say to the men. He saw Abner making faces at Gerald out of the corner of his eye, but he knew they weren’t meant for him, and so he avoided looking and trying to decipher what they could’ve meant.

Several seconds later, though, it seemed Abner gave up on whatever he was trying to signal to Gerald, and instead said, “Admiral, can we ask you something?”

“Please,” he said, because these men weren’t under his command, “call me Wyatt.”

“Wyatt,” Abner corrected.

“Sure,” he replied.

Abner made another one of those faces at Gerald, who sighed and finally asked, “What was happening on Remigan? The last thing we expected to see when we arrived was support ships. Was it scheduled?”

Wyatt hesitated for a moment. As many people as had surprised him with knowing about the emperor’s curse, it didn’t seem the bounty hunters were privy to that information. And while he knew there was no longer any immediate threat to Miss Parker’s life if she were to be caught by them, he did wonder how they’d feel toward Sovereign if they had all the information that he did. Of course, he was under strict orders not to share that information.

“It wasn’t,” he answered.

Gerald and Abner looked at each other, and then Gerald asked, “Why was it being harvested?”

“We hadn’t heard anything about it,” Abner added.

And maybe Wyatt could tell them some things… “It was a sudden development,” he said.

“How sudden?” Gerald asked. “Aren’t support ships final phase?”

Wyatt nodded. “From start to finish, they gave the island six months.”

“ Six months?” Gerald spat. “ Why? What could possibly justify that time frame?”

“I can’t say, I’m afraid,” he told them.

“Because you’re ordered not to?” Abner asked. “Or because you don’t know?”

“Orders,” he answered.

Gerald and Abner looked at each other again, and Abner asked, “Is Remigan the only island not on the schedule that’s being harvested? ”

Wyatt gave the slightest shake of his head, but before any of them could say anything else, Abner’s whippon landed with a thud on the bulwark beside them. Abner took the rolled-up letter out of its talons and dispelled it, and then passed the letter to Wyatt.

Unsure of what was in it, and not wanting the bounty hunters to see anything they shouldn’t, he didn’t open it right then. Instead, he said, “Thank you for the help.”

“Wyatt,” Gerald said before he could walk away.

“Yes?”

“Was it justified?”

As much as he wanted to, he didn’t trust them enough to tell them the truth, but he didn’t want to lie to them either. So he simply said, “Goodnight, gentlemen,” and took the letter to his cabin to unfold it under the candlelight on his desk.

Rue’s writing was short, and all the letter said was, ‘Going to Trayward. Don’t follow too close.’

Trayward? On the surface? He’d never been to the surface, and was excited at the thought that maybe they’d stick around long enough for him to actually see it.