To Kill a Kingdom(19)

I hate her for it.

On the deck of the Saad later that day, my crew gathers around me. Two hundred men and women with fury on their faces as they regard the scratch below my eye. It’s the only wound they can see, though there are plenty more hidden beneath my shirt. A circle of fingernails right where my heart is. Pieces of the siren still embedded in my chest.

“I’ve given you dangerous orders in the past,” I say to my crew. “And you’ve done them without a single complaint. Well” – I shoot them a grin – “most of you.”

A few of them smirk in Kye’s direction and he salutes proudly.

“But this is different.” I take in a breath, readying myself. “I need a crew of around a hundred volunteers. Really, I’ll take any of you I can get, but I think you know that without some of you, the journey won’t be possible at all.” I look over to my chief engineer and he nods in silent understanding.

The rest of the crew stares up at me with equally strong looks of fidelity. People say you can’t choose your family, but I’ve done just that with each and every member of the Saad. I’ve handpicked them all, and those who I didn’t sought me out. We chose one another, every ragtag one of us.

“Whatever vows of loyalty you’ve sworn, I won’t hold you to them. Your honor isn’t in question, and anyone who doesn’t volunteer won’t be thought any less of. If we succeed, every single member of this crew will be welcomed back with open arms when we sail again. I want to make that clear.”

“Enough speeches!” yells Kye. “Get to the point so I know whether to pack my long johns.”

Beside him, Madrid rolls her eyes. “Don’t forget your purse, too.”

I feel laughter on my lips, but I swallow it and continue on. “A few days ago a man came to me with a story about a rare stone that has the power to kill the Sea Queen.”

“How’s it possible?” someone asks from the crowd.

“It’s not possible!” another voice shouts.

“Someone once told me that taking a crew of felons and misfits across the seas to hunt for the world’s most deadly monsters wasn’t possible,” I say. “That we’d all die within a week.”

“I don’t know about you lot,” Kye says, “but my heart’s still beating.”

I shoot him a smile.

“The world has been led to believe the Sea Queen can’t be killed by any man-made weapons,” I say. “But this stone wasn’t made by man; it was crafted by the original families from their purest magic. If we use it, then the Sea Queen could die before she’s able to pass her trident on to the Princes’ Bane. It’ll rid their entire race of any true power once and for all.”

Madrid steps to the front, elbowing men out of her way. Kye follows behind her, but she keeps her eyes on me with a hard stare. “That’s all well and good, Cap,” she says. “But isn’t it the Princes’ Bane who we should be worrying about?”

“The only reason we haven’t turned her to foam is because we can’t find her. If we kill her mother, then she should show her face. Not to mention that it’s the queen’s magic that gives the sirens their gifts. If we destroy the queen, they’ll all be weak, including the Princes’ Bane. The seas will be ours.”

“And how do we find the Sea Queen?” Kye asks. “I’d follow you to the ends of the earth, but their kingdom is in the middle of a lost sea. Nobody knows where it is.”

“We don’t need to know where their kingdom is. We don’t even need to know where the Diávolos Sea is. The only thing we need to know is how to sail to Págos.”

“Págos.” Madrid says the word with a frown. “You’re not seriously considering that.”

“It’s where the crystal is,” I tell her. “And once we have it, the Sea Queen will come to us.”

“So we just head on down to the ice kingdom and ask the snow folk to hand it over?” someone asks.

I hesitate. “Not exactly. The crystal isn’t in Págos. It’s on top of it.”

“The Cloud Mountain,” Kye clarifies for the rest of the crew. “Our captain wants us to climb to the top of the coldest mountain in the world. One that’s killed everybody who’s tried.”

Madrid scoffs as they start to murmur. “And,” she adds, “all for a mythical crystal that may or may not lead the most fearsome creature in the world to our door.”

I glare at them both, unamused by the double act, or the sudden doubt in their voices. This is the first time they’ve questioned me, and the feeling isn’t something I plan to get used to.

“That’s the gist of it,” I say.

There’s a pause, and I try my best not to move or do anything but look unyielding. Like I can be trusted. Like I have any kind of a damn clue what I’m doing. Like I probably won’t get them all killed.

“Well.” Madrid turns to Kye. “I think it sounds like fun.”

“I guess you’re right,” he says, as though following me is an inconvenience he never considered before. He turns to me. “Count us in then.”

“I suppose I can spare some time too, since you asked so nicely!” another voice shouts.

“Can hardly say no to such a temptin’ offer, Cap!”