There were two letters that Jade pulled out of her father's mattress. The first letter was marked boldly with a return address to Esradene landing. The second letter was stamped with the Tranan flag.

Esradene Landing was a private island in the Tranan Union. While Jade hadn't been down that way, she'd heard rumors that suggested that it was just another pirate stronghold. Jade took a deep breath and read the first letter.

            Dear Captain,

It's kind of you to ask. The weather is perfect, but I wouldn't want to be sailing today. Minkar had expressed hope to see you again, and she was very resolute in the matter, too. Funny that she's so fond of you. Just amuses me rotten. I most had to tie her down to keep her from trying to leave. Don't worry. I've had my fun with her even if she was terribly resistant.

Unfortunately, the passage of time is brutal, and your little trollop's mental health is as weak as your rag-tag crew. There's nothing I can do for her now, but to take her somewhere safe and quiet. Should you come to visit us in the mountains, you will find neither of us. Minkar will be finding some much-needed rest elsewhere.

I still can't find that son of a bitch. I keep thinking I need a little more time, a little more time—but it won't be any use. I've lost him, but most importantly, I lost everything about him. The gall of somebody to steal my things and scatter them across the goddamn map. I have to know what he's hiding and what he still remembers. I'll make you a deal. If you want Minkar back, bring the man named Alchiba to me. My patience is wearing thin.

-Helios

Jade tried to tell herself that it wasn't as bad as it sounded. Couldn't be. Her father wasn't looking for anyone named Alchiba. It must have been a mistake or a joke or something. Uncertainty hit Jade like a ruthless wave. Her father had obviously kept more than a few secrets from her. It took a cannonball to his chest to give a couple of letters up.

That took the whole till death do us part thing a bit far—which was wholly ironic considering he'd had commitment issues his entire life. Or it seemed so. Jade had never heard of a Minkar. What weird names.

Jade looked at the second single letter. It seemed genuine, perhaps, but there was still something unsettling about it:

            L.H.,

Thank you for your generosity. You have been most kind to my family and I. Speaking on the subject, they are doing remarkably well. My mother and father have done much good for the clinic. Unfortunately, my brother has only gotten worse since we last spoke. We wish for him to recover, but if I am to exercise my opinion, I believe that should he mend, his quality of life would be deficient. He claims to feel enlightened in his current state, but I do not believe it possible.

My arrival home has been marred only by the condition of my brother. We both cannot ignore that I am not without fault for his current condition. I must not go on, however. We find ourselves in similar situations.

I wish I could negate my own purpose, but the only way to absolve myself is if I join you. I will meet you at your next port in two months. Until then, I will be looking into the issue at the clinic here.

Make haste with your response and do not be too detailed. They will kill me for an infraction like this.

Sincerest Wishes

S.N.

The last paragraph stayed with her. Sympathy and scorn boiled at the back of her throat. She pulled at a strand of her hair that had fallen out of her high ponytail. She felt like she might pull the clump right off with how aggravated she was, but the throbbing in her skull made her stop.

S.N.—Sabik Nejem.

He had already said enough about his home and his family for Jade to know this was written by him. He hadn't said anything about his brother though.

She clenched her fists so tight that she thought she might break something. She left her father's cabin. Sabik Nejem wasn't to be trusted. Oliver looked up at Jade from the mess hall table where he tried his hardest to eat an apple with two bandaged hands. "Are you o—" Jade stepped into Sabik's quarters. She slid the door closed behind her. It hit the end of the tracks with a loud clap.

Startled, Sabik rose from his chair and turned to her. The chair legs scraped across the floor. He knotted his eyebrows and parted his lips like he was going to say something, but no noise came out. Instead, the corner of his lips quirked for a bit longer than usual. On his desk was the book he had dropped the other day and a few bundles of dried flowers.

Jade wrinkled her nose, ignoring everything—look on his face, the work on his desk. She ran her thumb over the letters before tightening her grip on them again. "Alchiba? Who is Alchiba?" she asked. "Minkar? Helios?" The words sounded foreign and clumsy on her tongue. A few strands of her wavy red hair fell into her face. She pushed them back.

Sabik raised his eyebrows, lips parted. After a pause, he said "I only know Tranan and Jhati. Your words are lost on me."

"These letters sent to my father," she said, tossing the letter from Helios at him. "How do you explain this?"

He looked at it briefly before folding it back up. He made a noise in the back of his throat and shook his head before offering them back to her. Jade ground her teeth and made no motion to accept the letters, forcing him to take a better look. Her eyes were turbulent. Sabik finally closed his mouth and looked like he was trying to listen.

He ran his eyes over the letter again, briefly reading the words. "I assure you that I did not write this," he said. He folded up the letter before handing it back to Jade. "And I am shocked you think I would speak of a woman like that."

She released her anger in a sigh. It was foolish of her to storm in assuming they were both written by him. The handwriting and the signature were different. "This. You wrote this." She handed him the other letter.

He accepted it. "Yes. This is from me." He sat back down at his desk and opened his medical kit. He retrieved a small knife and cleaned it with alcohol. Jade cringed at the sight of the knives and saws. She could probably take an amputation like it was cough medicine, but the thought of it made her skin crawl. "I've beautiful penmanship, haven't I?"

He was trying to distract her. She shook her head and remembered why she was there. "But what? You're going to tell me that you don't recall writing it?"

He turned to look at her. "No, I recall writing that. I was very upset that day to uh..." He turned back to his work and set a clean knife back into its allotted spot. "To find my brother like that." He drew out the amputation saw and lifted it high while he cleaned it.

"You said you had met Captain Harris." She pushed across the room until she was right next to his chair.

He didn't look at her. "Yes, I had met him. Did you read the letter?"
Jade laughed contemptuously. "I don't doubt that you met him, but simply meeting does display an overall air of unfamiliarity. I'd no idea you were this involved."

He turned his head, looking at the cot rather than Jade. "Unfamiliarity?" He asked. "Interesting. I had not considered it that way. It is now occurring to me that I am not fit to be speaking your language."

"The devil ought to hang you," she muttered. "Just tell me what this means."

Sabik set the clean saw into the case and turned back in his chair to face her. "My captain knew your father when I was only a sailor. Captain Harris learned that my dream was to attend university and learn medicine, so he helped me out. That is the uh...premise."

Jade drew her head back. Her father had never mentioned him. She read the letter again. He sounded like he was telling the truth. Why would her father give someone else money when the Coronis was never perfect? Why would he give someone else money when he could save it and use it to better their situation? Jade looked back at Sabik. It sounded greedy, but her and her father were never stable. Most of the money they made went back to the Durantan Navy. If Jade had a child, she would give them everything she had before caring for another.

But that was probably selfish to think.

"You're lying."

"I am not," he stood up. The room was dim. Overhead, a crescent moon was peering in through the small skylight. After a moment of looking at her distantly, he took a breath. "Am I free to return to my work?"

"No." Jade shook her head. "No. I need to know what you're doing here. I know--" She took a deep breath. "Listen, I know you have an oath of silence, but I need to know something."

Sabik tilted his head the other way and folded his arms. "Is it just me that you cannot trust or are you generally--"

"This is scarcely any of your business."

Sabik licked his lips and leaned back. "Of course." He sighed. "My brother suggested I come here."

"The sick one?"

"Naqi isn't sick."

"You said he was--"

Sabik turned back and swept his hand over the back of the chair. "His memory is failing."

"Your amnesic brother suggested you go sailing as a doctor-secret-keeper?"

Sabik glared at her. "In a manner of speaking, yes, and also in a manner of speaking, not really." Sabik picked a bottle full of red powder off his desk and shook it. He watched it, vacantly as if watching the sun exploding into soot and not caring. "He is not a doctor, he does not respect our family caste. He believes he can see into the future and I am stuck between wanting to believe him, but being dedicated to my studies."

"He is a fortune teller?"

"Fortune? Is that what you call it?" He scoffed and slid the bottle back onto his desk. "He claims to be what is called the Jhataran Oracle. He sees into the future," he said. "It's an old Jhati religious belief. We believe that the spirit of the Oracle is passed to another after death. I find it suspicious that he started to get visions after his memory was lost. Yet, no other Oracle has come forth to dispute his claims."

"And his claims for your future are?"

"Do not worry about me, Harris. I am not here to undermine your father. I am here to undermine myself. Naqi said that I will die here." He paused, taking in her reaction. "Let's just leave it at that."

Jade tried to laugh, but couldn't. "You lying fuck!" Her mouth went dry. She stepped back and bumped into the door.

Sabik sat back down and ignored her. She left the infirmary, wrinkling the letters in her fist.