Syrin drifted to Alinyaln’s mind again as he sat on an empty crate on the top of the Mercy of Dradinoor, cigar in his hand. It was properly nighttime, Midin well in front of the sun above, not even a glimmer of light peeking around her heavenly body. The light from the moon was faint as it always was at the apex of night. Allegedly, it is said that the light from the moons was actually from the sun above, striking the surface of the seas and then reflecting back upwards. Alinyaln didn't believe it. Midin's light was more a pale blue than the green of the ocean, though the light from Syphys did match well with the claim. The moons feeling darker could just be a trick of the mind instead.

  He took a pull from the cigar. They were something of a guilty pleasure of his, a treat he didn’t allow himself often. This box had been bought off of a streetside seller in Tusana for a Golgin, more than it was probably worth for Loshish cigars, but the woody taste in his mouth was complex and wonderful. Alinyaln exhaled through his nose, allowing the smoke to escape that way so he could claim more of the flavor from it.

  Tobacco didn’t appeal to him, not really. The appeal was the ritual. The unwrapping, cutting the end, then igniting with a match, taking that first pull in over a year…

  It cleared his mind.

  It had been two days since docking in Tusana, two days since seeing Syrin again. Alinyaln hadn’t seen her since, he knew that she would need time to set up something with her shop before she left, likely bringing in someone to make sure it wouldn’t be broken into while she was gone. Alinyaln had suggested she get help on more than one occasion, but the woman loved her work.

  Just as Alinyaln loved his. Their destinations had always been too different. Alinyaln’s one true love had been the sea, sailing to distant lands. Syrin had always loved people and celebrating, she loved the way she felt alive when she was doing what made her happy, just as sailing made Alinyaln happy.

  Syrin made him happy, too. Alinyaln had meant to marry her, after he had been given his last ship—The Triplet’s Downfall—from Yamadeon. Neither Alinyaln nor Yamadeon had chosen the name, but it had been interesting to tell the more devout dockmasters. Syrin had been there on that day, the day that changed his life forever. She had even sailed with him for a time, but Syrin always began to wilt like a flower taken from the soil.

  Even with their paths crossing often—though less in the last few years—he knew that Syrin could never truly be his, just as Alinyaln could never truly be hers.

  There was a crash of metal on metal, shaking Alinyaln out of his stupor. He shot up, dropping the cigar and running to the helm of the ship, heart pounding. But it wasn’t invaders, or a brigand trying to get onto the ship when they thought all hands were asleep.

  Down on the main deck of the ship, Ninia stood with a long curved cutlass in her hand, pointing it at Jendul. The point of the sword trembled slightly as she was unfamiliar with the balance of the weapon. Jendul was standing across from the lass holding her own sword, a long and thin blade that barely curved at all, the metal glinting silver in the lanternlight.

  Jendul was talking softly, too softly for Alinyaln to hear from this distance, She swung slowly at Ninia and the lass swept her sword to deflect the slow moving blow, but Alinyaln could see from here that her footing was off and she staggered as Jendul had kept pushing.

  This went on for about a half hour before they stopped, each sitting against the mast of the ship. Alinyaln smiled at them. The lass sure was earnest. He knew this, obviously, but he also knew that there was a lot that could be lost by her getting in harm’s way.

  Maybe…. Maybe that was what Kiara had been trying to instill into him. His first mate was the only person who knew about his failure in keeping the lass alive, but as it had all turned out fine in the end, Alinyaln was hesitant to drudge it back up.

  But still, he kept the girl safe, at least as safe as he could. The fight with Yaskin and his cronies came to mind and Alinyaln shook his head. She easily could have gotten hurt, likely the only reason she hadn’t was that they underestimated her. Tall for her age and thin, she didn’t seem like a foe that was worth worrying about.

  Jendul laughed at something Ninia had said, a clean laugh that spoke no hidden meanings, something the former spy rarely did. Alinyaln took this as his signal, he stood up straight and stepped down the stairway to the main deck of the ship.

  “Attention!” The bark was sharper than he had meant it, but the reaction was far better for it, the two of them scrambling up to their feet and saluting, fists to their chests, Ninia with the look of startlement on her face, Jendul with a passive emotionlessness on hers.

  Alinyaln nodded at them. “At ease.” He said, waving them down. Ninia breathed a sigh of relief, while Jendul practically didn’t move. “What are you two up to?” Alinyaln asked, curious. He grabbed the sword that Ninia had been using, the edge still unsheathed. He thumbed it gently and felt a tug, but not so much as to draw blood.

  “I wanted to practice, Captain.” Ninia said with a shrug. “And Jendul was willing to help me.”

  Looking to the older girl, Alinyaln said, “Awfully dangerous to be swinging sharp swords at each other.”

  “Pardon, Captain, but we don’t have any unsharpened blades aboard.” Jendul said in her lilting accent. “And I am very careful.”

  “A sharp sword in the hand of a novice is as dangerous as in the hand of an expert.” Alinyaln commented, then sighed. “I suppose I can’t fault you, lass.” He directed at Ninia. “How long has this been going on?”

  Ninia rocked her head back and forth as if considering. “A week?”

  “Right after the attack in Irminthin.” Alinyaln said, nodding in understanding. “Is this something you want? To be trained in the sword?”

  “I just don’t want to feel useless, Captain.” Ninia said plainly. She picked up the sheath to the sword that was leaning against the mast, then accepted the cutlass from Alinyaln. “You’ve stopped training me in defense. This is the sort of life where that’s important.”

  Alinyaln’s breath caught. That had been along the lines that he himself had been considering only minutes ago. Pursing his lips, he said, “I’m sorry that has… Fallen by the wayside.” Alinyaln reached forward and placed his hand on Ninia’s shoulder.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “It’s just… sucked.” Ninia said, crossing her arms after she set the sword down on the ground, looking away as she said it. Jendul, seeing an opportunity, saluted to Alinyaln and then climbed her way into the Gull’s Nest, far faster than Alinyaln could have considered possible.

  “Lass—”

  “No.” Ninia said, shaking her head. “You took me on to train me how to live on the seas,” She began, her voice cracking. “And now you can’t even take the time to train me anymore. Am I such a burden to you that you won’t even train me anymore?” The more that Ninia spoke, the faster the words had tumbled out of her mouth.

  Eyes wide, Alinyaln only stared at the girl. “Do you… Do you think I haven’t been teaching you?” He asked her, confused. “Just the other day we went to get moscin from Kritin, wasn’t that teaching?”

  “It’s not the same.” She looked right at Alinyaln and in the faint lanternlight he could see a stream of tears coming from her eyes. “I—” Ninia took a deep breath, composing herself. “I know you’re still teaching me some things. But I want to be able to take care of myself once I’m on my own.”

  Alinyaln listened to what she had to say. “I understand, lass.” He said to her softly, then gestured for her to sit down against the mast. He crouched down, knees popping as he did so, then leaned back against the wood. “Listen,” Alinyaln started. “I apologize for disappointing you, lass. You held your own just fine against Yaskin’s thug friend, and I know that killing someone for the first time can be… Upsetting.”

  Ninia wrapped her arms around her legs, pulling them up to her chest. “Upsetting. That’s an interesting way to put it.”

  “How would you put it, then?”

  “I guess—I guess I would say ‘Normal?’ It didn’t feel wrong to me, if that’s what you’re asking. I did what had to be done, and I sleep well knowing that he’s gone for good.”

  Such a harsh way to look at the world for one so young as her. “Ye can’t just kill anyone who might be a problem though, lass.” Alinyaln said, calmly. He needed to approach this delicately. “Only active threats. It might be hard in the moment to tell that apart from someone that’s only being threatening, but life should be treated with more respect than that.”

  “I don’t understand.” Ninia said, looking over toward the ocean. “Would you have not had that man die if you were in my position?”

  “No.” Alinyaln said with a sigh. “I wouldn’t have.” But then he hesitated. “Actually, I take that back.” He took a moment to consider what he said. “I am willing to do whatever it takes to achieve my goals. That is my burden. I don’t wish that upon you, lass.”

  “It’s all self-imposed, Captain.” The lass said with a shrug. “I’m not going to restrict myself on some vague sense of justice or goodness.” She seemed more confident in her convictions now. “I don’t want to randomly kill people but if someone is bad, making the lives of others miserable, don’t we have a duty as fellow people to try and ease suffering?”

  “That’s…” Alinyaln trailed off. He had no idea how to respond to such a statement. “I see what you’re saying, lass.” He tried to form his next sentence in his mind before he spoke. “I think we got off topic.” This was an easier out than trying to reel her back in. There would be time to convince her of her folly.

  “You want me to train you, correct? To defend yourself?” He prompted Ninia, who seemed flushed in the face.

  “Sir, yes, sir!” She said with a smile and a salute.

  “Alright.” Alinyaln said with a nod, then held out his hand for her to shake. “I’ll teach you swordplay and knifework. I might be a bit out of practice as I’ve had my quiat for so long, but I can show you the ropes. And I’ll talk to Kiara to teach you how to shoot pistols, Jendul would be a good mentor for rifles as well.”

  Ninia, who had reached for his hand, faltered as he finished what he was saying. “You’re not going to teach me firearms?”

  Alinyaln shook his head. “No, lass. I’ve always been a terrible shot. Might be something with my eyes,” He said, then waved the proffered hand and dropped it. “And… Well, it’s a tad on the personal side.”

  “Is it something to do with Syrin?” Ninia asked, a smile on her face.

  “You seem entirely too excited to talk about her.” Alinyaln commented, then shook his head. “No, nothing to do with her, really.”

  “Then what? You can tell me.” Ninia said with a sincere look on her face.

  Inspecting her from the corner of his eye, Alinyaln looked around to make sure there wasn’t anyone around to overhear. “Fine.” He relented, the cursed girl was too curious for her own good. Alinyaln reached into the inside of his jacket and pulled out his two pistols. He handed the first one to Ninia. “This here,” He started, grabbing the pistol by the barrel to give it to Ninia handle first. “This here is my noisemaker.” Alinyaln said simply. “Little more than packed powder I got off of a merchant, not as deadly as gunpowder but it makes a cursed loud bang.”

  “I’ve seen you use this, plenty of times.” Ninia nodded, inspecting the gun. It had a long barrel and a dark wooden handle, the flintlock mechanism shiny and new due to the lack of use. Alinyaln kept the gun itself clean, oiled the metal once a day. A clean gun is one that doesn’t break. “You used it when fighting Yaskin’s men, it made one of them panic.”

  “That’s what it’s for, largely. People panic when a gun is pulled on them, and they panic more when they’re discharged. It’s incredible what the mind can do when it’s anticipating something .” Alinyaln smiled at the thought of the man jumping back. “It’s also an incredible signal to a crew in conflict.” He added. “It can be heard over most weapons fire, except maybe cannons. Plan with the crew what to do when the shot goes off—let’s say a retreat—and when the time, comes fire off the shot and fall back.”

  Ninia frowned, considering his words. “That’s… That’s really clever, Captain.” She admitted. “I like that a lot, actually.”

  Alinyaln smiled at her. “It does the tasks it’s meant to.” He hesitantly handed Ninia the other pistol, this one with a shorter barrel to it, three bands of metal around the barrel and stock. The handle was stained red, as Alinyaln had requested. It was supposed to match his maroon overcoat, but the more bloodlike color was appropriate.

  “Easy with this one, lass, it’s actually loaded.” Alinyaln said, his hand quavering a little as she took it, handing the noisemaker back. “This is my burden. My last remaining treasure from my previous ship, the Triplet’s Downfall. Other than my coat, of course.”

  The look on Ninia’s face went from excited to somber in a heartbeat. “You—You’ve kept the gun the whole time?” She asked, inspecting it. Same as the noisemaker, the gun was well kept, though there were a few spots in the metal where saltwater had corroded the outside, giving it more of a worn look.

  “I have.” Alinyaln said with a sigh. “An old tradition in sea life is that if you are ousted from your ship, you are given a pistol with a single shot and stranded on an island. The shot could be used to signal for help, kill some game to try and survive, or to end the experience. It’s a tradition Pirates love.” He added quietly.

  “You were mutinied?” Ninia asked, whispering. “But—Tyrnarm—”

  “I wasn’t mutinied, lass.” Alinyaln said with a shake of his head. “That’s what Tyrnarm wanted it to look like, what he wanted me to go along with.” His voice grew softer as he spoke, the screams of his crew rising in his ears. “It was a betrayal, but not by my crew. I—I don’t want to say more, lass, I’m sorry.” He was stupid to not have been more prepared, early victories making him cocky. How would things have changed if they had fled from the mysterious ship instead of trying to defend from the attack?

  “I kept the flintlock,” Alinyaln said, regaining his composure. “I kept the lead bullet. I’ll get him back for what he did.”

  “Is that when you got your scar?”

  Alinyaln didn’t answer, but he supposed that silence was answer enough.

  “I’m sorry, Captain.” Ninia said, holding out her hand. “I accept your offer, assuming I learn eventually.”

  Alinyaln looked down at her hand, then smiled. He shook it, then wrapped an arm around Ninia in an embrace.