The thoughts stand out clearly in my mind. Erik is in danger. Not even one day after he rescued me, he is facing his frail mortality. I blink. I can’t let him die, I have to do something.
The speakers on the ship are blaring a list of instructions. I can hear Anders shouting through the microphone.
“Stay inside!Place towels underneath the doors to help keep things dry.Do not go after Captain Erik!”
Good ideas… for weaklings. I owe him my life.
As I dart past on shaky legs, people stop to look at me, really look at me, for the first time since I got here. They stare at my pink eyes. The crew sees my blue and purple hair. They watch as I run, and no one makes any move to stop me.
“She’s going after the captain!” one of them yells, but I don’t turn around.
For a second, their cowardice makes me irritated.
But then, the more profound understanding of what is happening takes over as I ascend the stairs. They don't want their captain to die, but they are bound by ridiculous rules.Hisrules. It’s been made extremely clear that disobeying orders has deadly consequences.
A retractable sliding door is at the top of the second flight of stairs. It is sealed to stop the water from coming into the ship. It is airtight, but luckily, it wasn’t locked with a key. I grasp at the handle and tug back with all of my might. I need to get out there. Nothing else matters.
I clench my teeth and yank harder, and the door to the deck finally unseals. Water crashes down on me, obliterating my warmth. Nonetheless, it is salty and familiar, even though it burns my eyes and nose as I try to breathe through it.
“Maddie! What are you doing?” Jean Luc calls after me. I’m already scrambling onto the slippery deck when I turn to look at him. Even if I could speak, I’m not sure I would have responded.
As I rush toward the side, one of the men helps me tie a rope around my waist. I nod my thanks, and he shows me how to untie it once I’m in the water.
“Surely you won’t let her go after the captain? She can barely walk,” Jean Luc yells above the wind. Fury leaks into every word.
“If she doesn’t go, who will?” the sailor responds. “Captain deserves more than his anal retentive rules.”
The real question becomes… Why do they care so much?
My reasoning is fueled by desperate need. I need to find and save him, just as he saved me from Conrad. Then I will be free of his debt, and we can both go our separate ways once my journey is complete.
Glancing to the side, I see a sailor in a room with thick glass walls. Anders is surrounded by dozens of black boards filled with lights and buttons. The hierarchy of this ship is confusing, but it appears he has replaced Conrad as the first mate. Anders doesn't look up while the lightning cracks around me. The electric currents in the water will probably be very dangerous.
Erik, my mind calls as the sound thins out, leaving a series of lingering reverberations. If I don’t try to save Erik now, he will die.
Over and over, I chant the words in my mind as I slip and slide against the deck. My legs still ache from what Conrad did to me. What he was trying to do. What Erik saved me from.
The boat is still significantly tilted, and I run to the side. I slide the last five paces and ram into the railing. My hands connect with the metal. My skin burns and tears against a jagged screw head. I am desperately trying to avoid falling.
Such a short amount of time has passed since I heard the first emergency cry, but the sea is wild. She takes no prisoners.
I scan the roiling ocean. The choppy waters have become nothing more than cutting green-gray waves. Several of the crates are bobbing violently up and down. Realization blooms, and I understand what has happened. He must’ve been around the mast and checking the crates when a large wave crashed over the boat, tilting the hull and taking cargo and captain in its wake.
I focus on those crates in an attempt to follow the direction of the waves. There are at least a dozen scattered on the churning surface. They vary from light-colored wood to rust-red metal. The metal ones are bobbing like dead fish above the water.
If I were with Elva, the huntress would tell me to stop looking so hard and let my brain weed out the odd movements that don’t fit. She isn’t here, but I try it anyway. I unfocus my eyes, and then see the black figure clinging onto a red crate bobbing in the sea.
The sight of him is pure relief. It feels like standing under a warm stream of water in the shower or drinking fresh tea. The feeling is new and utterly confusing.
My legs wobble as I climb over the railing.
“Madeline, please return to your cab—” the voice over the intercom begins to drone, but I don’t hear the rest as I launch myself into the water. Anders has spotted me, but he is too late.
When I break the water's surface, it feels like someone has paralyzed me. The rope is rough and cuts against my skin. The cold is so intense my joints lock up with reminders of home… only now my body isn’t built for the ice. Instantly I am thrown back and forth through the waves while my teeth chatter. I realize just how minuscule I am, how powerless I am against the raging force of the sea.
Something inside of me humbles for just a moment.
I search for any Ice Mer power, but Daddy hasn’t asked the gods for my birthright power. I get nothing until I wear the crown. Untying the rope, I propel myself in the general direction of the rust-red cargo crate. It is becoming less visible by the second. I must be coming to terms with this new mortal form because even though I lack a tail, my body still moves in the same lithe way through the water.