Chapter 14 The Graveyard
Sable
Sable eyed the expanse of water ahead wearily.
It was littered with the corpses of dozens of half-sunken ships, which was on par with its namesake.
The Graveyard. The wreckage started in a clean line across the sea, and the ship she and Kittredge had booked passage on was dangerously close to crossing that line.
“Are we sure we can’t go around this?” she asked Lucian, the ship’s captain.
She thought the ship would be safe as long as she was on it, but with evidence of destruction so clearly laid out in front of her, she couldn’t help but worry.
Because this was foolish. As foolish as her plan.
As foolish as this no-name captain thinking so highly of himself as to name his fucking ship. The Blight.
Calla had waited years before giving the Moonshadow her name, unwilling to risk the sea’s wrath until the rest of the crew forced her hand.
A bittersweet smile snuck onto Sable’s lips at the sudden memory.
They’d approached the captain at the helm one morning, straight-faced, telling her they were undecided between The Codpiece and The Bottomless Barrel, and asked her if she wouldn’t mind breaking the tie.
The look on her face had been exasperated.
And she’d relented. Because her crew’s wants and needs had always come first.
Sable didn’t get the same impression from Lucian.
She’d never heard of him or of his ship before.
But he’d been the only one willing to brave these waters at her request, and he claimed to have crossed the Graveyard before.
According to him, there was a safe path through, and as long as they stuck to it, nothing would touch them.
The more Sable stared at the wreckage ahead, the more she started to wonder whether Lucian’s trick had simply been dumb luck.
She eyed him dubiously. Unless he also carried some of the sea in his veins, as Calla did.
Lucian scoffed. “Nothing to worry about.” His face was entirely serene, as if he were looking upon a field of fucking flowers.
“It looks to me like there’s plenty to worry about.”
He shrugged. “Nah.”
The itch to argue rose unbidden in Sable’s throat, and it took some effort to shove it back down. She wasn’t the first mate anymore. She wasn’t even part of this crew. She was no more than a paying passenger.
You could be. You could be captain of this ship if you wanted to.
Sable shook her head with a grunt. She wanted nothing.
Least of all this. Her only desire was to take the Heart and keep it out of anyone else’s reach, forever.
That was her purpose. That was what she wanted.
And it was the one thing the Heart would not give her, because it would mean its destruction.
She felt its flicker of anger at her thoughts. It was like a flame, licking at her awareness, and Sable clenched her fists, letting it wash over her until it faded. It had gotten angrier since they’d left the Gullet, and it did not shy away from letting her feel it.
As if that was going to cow her. She’d already seen the price it demanded for its oh so craved powers. The way it twisted things. Thoughts. People.
But the memory of Riley floating in the air, clutching the Heart, nearly dying over her foolish wish, could not be twisted.
Just like the memory of Calla as she writhed in pain on the stone floor could not be twisted.
Nothing the Heart could do to her hurt more than those memories.
And they kept her grounded. They kept her focused.
“Cheer up, Sable,” Kittredge said, settling at her elbow. “Captain knows what he’s doing! Right, cap?”
The captain grunted.
Kittredge beamed at him. It dimmed as her gaze settled on Sable again.
Sable just sighed and walked off.
But Kittredge, bless her big, foolish heart, did not take the hint, and followed right along, mindlessly starting to juggle as they walked. “Still won’t share where we’re headed?” she asked, sounding distracted, but Sable knew better.
“No.”
She really shouldn’t have let Kittredge follow her. It was the one thing keeping her up at night. What would happen to her after this? Where would she go? Would she make it back to the Moonshadow safe?
Kittredge herself didn’t seem in the least bit concerned. “Maybe if you whisper into my ear, it will not hear us,” Kittredge said, shooting her an easy grin.
“That’s not how that works, Kit.” Sable sighed, leaning her elbows against the ship’s railing. “And stop goading me. It’s hard enough not thinking about it as it is.”
Kittredge pouted. “Fine.” She leaned against the railing, with her back to the wreckage, very focused on the soft thud of the juggling balls against her palms. “I was just curious.”
Sable knew what Kittredge was doing. Trying to distract herself as the Blight sailed past the half-sunken ships.
Past the destruction and tragedy of so many dead, so many dreams lost. But Sable could not tear her eyes away, because she needed to look at this, burn this sight in the back of her mind.
The Heart would do worse than this if it could. She could not forget this.
“Do you think she’s mad at me?”
“Hm?”
“Rowe. She must’ve found out by now we were at the Gullet.”
Sable rubbed her thumb against the railing. For a moment, she imagined herself in Rowe’s shoes, and thought of Riley. The two of them were alike in a way, and it made her ache for all the things she could not have.
You could get them back. You could have anyone you wanted. You could have Calla, too.
Sable gritted her teeth. This one was low, even for the Heart.
“Not mad,” she said, the words coming out in a harsh breath.
Kittredge caught the last thrown ball and paused her juggling, looking at her in concern.
Sable wrestled her voice back under control.
It wasn’t Kittredge she was angry at. “Worried.”
Kittredge huffed, crossing her arms. “That’s worse, Sable. I’d rather she were mad! Maybe she won’t hear about it. That we were there.”
Sable clicked her tongue. “Hard chance. Pip has a big mouth.”
The silence that followed filled Sable with regret. She was being too blunt. Kit only wanted to be reassured, but Sable was not fit for this kind of job. Who else was there to go to, though? It was just the two of them. Foolish pirate with her foolishly big heart.
She racked her brains for something reassuring to say. Except she didn’t really think either of them were coming back alive from this, so it didn’t matter if Rowe was mad right now, but what good would come out of saying that?
Kittredge sucked in a sharp breath. “It’s fine.” She noticeably perked up. “You’ll do what you have to do, and then we’ll go back, and then I’ll grovel, and then everything will be fine.”
That only made everything worse. Kittredge still didn’t get it, did she?
Sable kept quiet as she looked out beyond the wrecked ships, on the horizon, where the storm loomed.
It had been following them ever since the beginning.
Always in sight, never getting too close.
It felt like an entity, that storm. Like something alive, following them curiously but too cautious to approach.
It had been such a constant presence these past cycles she nearly found comfort in it, like she did in Kittredge pestering her all the time.
As much as it guilted her to admit it, she didn’t know if she would’ve had the strength to do this alone. The Heart’s presence in her mind was enough to make anyone go mad.
“I think I’ll stop sailing after this.”
Sable startled. She turned to face Kittredge fully, though the pirate did not meet her eye for once. This was the last thing she’d ever expected to hear coming out of her mouth. Unless she’d heard wrong. “What?”
“I miss her.” The words were hushed, a secret whispered to the wind.
A stray breeze ruffled her blonde hair as if in reply, and Kittredge shoved a hand through the strands that had blown in her face.
“I love our ship, and our crew, and our life, but I also love her. I thought I could have both. But it gets harder to leave every time. And I can’t ask her to set sail with me, because she carved herself a life in the Gullet, away from all this, and it’s unfair to ask her to give it up.
So, I think I’ll stay. I think it’s time. ”
Sable stared at Kittredge, at the yearning look on her face. “But you can never sit still,” she said, unable to picture Kittredge staying in one place for more than a few days, at best.
Kittredge twitched a smile. “For her, I can. Or I can try. She’s been waiting for me for years. It’s only fair that I at least try.”
Sable frowned. “I think Rowe just wants you to be happy, Kit. And if she weren’t happy with how things were between you two, she would’ve put a stop to it a while ago.”
Kittredge huffed a laugh. “Oh, I know she’ll try to talk me out of it. Lucky for her, she doesn’t get a say in this.” She winked at Sable. “Sometimes we have to do things our lovers aren’t thrilled with. Right, Sable?”
Sable’s smile turned wry. She supposed she wasn’t in a position to judge. “The crew will miss you.”
Kittredge bumped her shoulder against Sable’s. “You’re always welcome to visit.”
Rowe would probably have some thoughts about Kittredge giving out invites to her home so liberally. It would be entertaining to watch.
But Sable wouldn’t be around to see it.
“Kit, I told you, I–”
The ship lurched beneath their feet. They gripped the railing and held each other upright as the sailors on deck stumbled, fell to their knees. Cold dread gripped Sable’s chest as she stared out at the water.
Something dark frothed beneath the waves.
“Get a hold of yourselves, you useless dogs!” Lucian barked from the helm at his crew, making his pirates cower like they had no backbone at all. What did he do to them?
Sable swore under her breath and strode towards him.
“What was that?” she demanded.