POV: Beth
The sea still hummed with power after the Trial.
Every wave that slapped the hull felt like a heartbeat—steady, ancient, responding to the Leviathan Bone Sword resting in my grip. I kept it sheathed, wrapped in tarred cloth, but the blade seemed to shine through fabric like moonlight trying to break free. Whenever I closed my eyes, I felt it whisper against my palm like distant thunder.
Kaine, Karn, Clove and the others moved around me with a strange mix of respect and fear. They didn’t say it aloud—pirates rarely named their fears—but every time I stepped onto the deck, voices dimmed. Men looked away. Some bowed their heads.
I wasn’t the girl who boarded this ship months ago.
And they knew it.
Alaric knew it most.
He stood at the helm beside me, not touching, but close enough that the ocean wind tangled our hair together. His presence warmed my left side like sunlight on cold skin. We hadn’t spoken much since the sword chose me—maybe because neither of us knew what words would even mean anymore.
King. Stormborn. Queen of the sea. All of it felt unreal.
“Wind’s good,” Alaric murmured, scanning open horizon. “We’ll clear the Maelstrom by nightfall.”
“We really did it,” Clove whispered near the ropes, voice pitched like he still couldn’t believe it. “We stole the damned ocean’s teeth and lived.”
Karn elbowed him. “Don’t say that out loud. Sword might hear you.”
“It already hears everything,” Kaine muttered.
He was right—I could feel the sea listening. A presence, huge and ancient, like sleeping jaws deep beneath the waves.
We were a day out from the Leviathan Gate when Kaine called from the mast:
“Small vessel starboard!”
Alaric stepped forward, posture shifting like a blade drawn loose. I followed his gaze… and my stomach dropped.
A sloop cut through waves toward us—sun-bleached sails, fast and sharp. A single figure stood on the bow, red scarf snapping like a tongue of flame.
Mira.
Her golden hair loose, lips red like bitten fruit. She waved as if she were returning from a pleasant walk—not betrayal.
Alaric’s jaw tightened.
He didn’t rage. He didn’t curse.
He simply went very, very still.
“I thought she left us,” Karn muttered.
“She did,” I answered too quietly.
The sloop veered close, lines were thrown, and moments later Mira climbed aboard with grace that made half the men straighten automatically. She smiled like honey laced with knives.
“Miss me?” she purred.
Kaine crossed his arms. “Depends. Did you bring gold or doom?”
Mira laughed—soft, musical, wrong. “Information. Better than gold. The British Navy is moving south. They’re building for war. I left to learn where—so we could prepare.”
Her gaze flicked to me, too warm. Too rehearsed.
“You carry a sword now,” she said sweetly. “How lovely. It suits you, Beth.”
The compliment slid across my skin like oil.
Alaric stepped forward then—not between us, but beside me. Firm. Visible. Deliberate.
“Mira,” he said with careful politeness, “I’m surprised you returned.”
She tilted her head, eyes glittering. “Surprised? Or disappointed?”
His voice didn’t waver. “Neither. But I am cautious.”
Shock flickered in Mira’s eyes—she expected warmth, a smirk, the Alaric he used to be.
Instead she found this Alaric—sword-calloused, storm-hardened, standing next to me like we were united front even when we weren’t sure how to name what we were.
The crew exhaled as though something had shifted in the wind.
Mira pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “You needed intel. I delivered.”
“And you left without asking,” Alaric said calmly. “So before we celebrate loyalty, I want to know what you want in return.”
She blinked—faint stutter in her perfect mask.
“What I’ve always wanted,” she said softly. “My place among you.”
Her eyes slid to mine with feline grace—testing.
I smiled without warmth. “And how convenient your loyalty returns only after the sword did.”
A few men sucked in breath.
Mira’s smile stayed, but her knuckles whitened at her side.
“Careful, Beth,” she murmured. “Power makes people paranoid.”
I held her gaze. Unblinking. Wolf to snake.
“No,” I said slowly. “Betrayal does.”
The deck went silent.
For a moment, only waves spoke—slapping hull like applause.
Mira’s lashes lowered, expression softening with mock-injury. “You think I would betray you?”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t need to.
Alaric’s voice—calm but edged—cut the air:
“Beth doesn’t speak without reason.”
Something warm flickered low in my chest—not triumph, but something deeper. For once, Alaric stood on my side without mockery, without hesitation.
Mira felt it. I saw her mask crack—tiny fracture like spiderweb in glass.
But only for a moment.
Then she smiled again—wide, harmless, poisonous.
“Well then,” she said lightly, stepping toward the crew, “let me prove my loyalty.”
She handed Kaine a rough map and papers—military schedule, fleet counts, supply routes. The crew murmured approval. Karn nodded. Clove cheered softly.
Even Kaine—blunt, brutal Kaine—clapped her shoulder. “Good work. We’ll drink to you tonight.”
Mira beamed—a little too bright—and for a heartbeat I wondered if I was wrong.
But then she glanced back at me. And her eyes were not soft.
They were sharp. Calculating. Hungry.
Like she was imagining me sinking under waves.
“Welcome back,” Alaric said—polite, distant, measured. Not a lover. Not a friend. Her smile faltered. Good.
She joined the crew middeck, accepting rum and praise. Laughter rose. Music even. For a moment, the ship felt alive again.
But I watched her. Every move. Every glance. Like predator watches another predator.
Alaric leaned toward me, voice low for me alone.
“You were right to doubt her.”
I inhaled—surprised by the quiet confession.
“You don’t say those words often,” I murmured.
He huffed a breath that might’ve been a laugh. “Don’t get used to it.”
My gaze never left Mira. “She’ll strike again.”
“Then we’ll be ready,” he said.
We. The word rooted in me like anchor and wing.
Sun dipped red across ocean, sword at my hip gleaming faintly like bottled lightning.
Mira laughed with the men, basking in their trust again.
But her smile didn't reach her eyes.
And mine didn’t leave her once.
This time… I wouldn’t be caught blind.