Alex called all fourteen Gods and Goddess. To convince Captain Ilona to travel to Silvermark, she first had to board the Kraken's Kiss. And to board the ship, she first had to sway Kaisa, Dag, and Liene sitting on the gangplank, watching her approach, each a bottle in their hand—empty by the lack of drinking motions. Their looks sullen. They stopped their murmuring as Alex asked, "How's Pan?"

"Halfway between the Heavenly Halls and the Seven Hells," Dag answered.

"So he's alive?" Alex reasoned.

"He breathes, and his heart is beating," Kaisa said, her voice low. "If you can call that alive, then, aye."

"Pan wanted to fight. He wanted to be my madman, the saviour of Greenies too green for the cove." Alex smiled upon reciting his words. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean..."

"Don't apologise for something that's not your fault," Liene said.

"But it is my fault," Alex's voice rose. She took a deep breath, finding the God of Patience within. "If it weren't for my ribs, I would have fought Selachii myself. I accused him of killing the Boyar. I should have wielded the dagger."

Liene raised an eyebrow. Her fingers playing with the loose end beneath her thick braid. "Is it heavy—the weight of the world on your shoulders?"

"What?"

"You dip and dash around the place as though the fate of the world depends on you. Let life sail its course, young Greenie. Learn to ride the waves instead of going against the current. Pan understood it. Whether he'll live or die is not up to you."

"So you don't blame me?" Alex asked, hesitantly.

"Ilona thinks you're bad luck. She didn't think much of it when the news of Kalin's death arrived the day Kaisa and Dag here saved your Greenie face. But now with Pan and the dicing results." She shrugged in defeat. "Can't blame her for not wanting you near her."

"But I have a solution," Alex tried.

"Ilona won't care," Kaisa said. "Go back to The Eel—ask Learta if the Bloody Eels are interested in a pair of Greenie hands on their journey east.

Alex bit her lip. They didn't understand. She was the ward of King Thomas, one of Prince Sebastian's best friends, the only female warrior of the band of Laneby, and a Greenlander Pirate Boyar. She wasn't one to ride the waves and see where she would end up. She went against the current for a better life, for her and others.

"Learta can't do anything for me—I asked," she confessed. "And while you're right that Pan's life is in the hands of the Gods, you can't sit on your behind and wait for the ship to move. I know very little of the Pirate ways, but I do remember Selachii explaining to me that the Boyar is the link between the Gods and the mortal realm. The Gods wanted the Krakens to sail to Burnfirth, aye. But the rest is up to you. You could attack the town and live off the meagre spoils, or... you use the opportunity to explore other waters. What if that is what the Gods intend for the Krakens?"

"You tell us—you're the Boyar," Dag said. She couldn't tell if he was mocking her.

"I'm already telling you." She could no longer control her voice. "Now I need to tell Ilona. I am not bad luck. The Gods sent me to you and made me the Boyar to cast the dice—it's all for a reason. I am the wind that will carry you across the waves," she said to Liene especially.

Liene eyed Kaisa, who eyed Dag, who eyed Liene in return. Dag was the first to announce that nature called, the two women followed promptly after. Liene winked.

Alex went aboard. The easy part was over.

A few Krakens looked at her as she made her way to the Captain's quarters, but none stopped her as she entered. 

"Who's there?" Ilona called out from behind the carved wooden screen that separated the living section of her quarters from the sleeping section. The smell of fresh blood and sweat that only just had begun to stink permeated the air. "Who's there?" she repeated, more desperate.

"Me," Alex said.

She halted by the screen. Pan lay atop the bed, shaking and shivering, his ghost-like hair hung flat against his head, all blood drained from his face. The cloth Ilona was pressing against the wound so stained Alex could not longer what the original colour had been. 

"You must be as deaf as your King," she spat. "Didn't you hear when I said you've outstayed your welcome here."

"His Majesty is only half deaf. He has no trouble understanding you if you remain on his left side." Then she added quickly, "Or so I've heard. I don't know him personally."

"Then you are deafer than him, stupid girl. Who let you board my ship?"

"Everyone." She wasn't going to rat out Kaisa, Dag, and Liene. "Some people do show some respect for the Boyar."

Shaking her head. Ilona folded the cloth to find a spot that wasn't so stained yet then reapplied it to Pan's wound. He murmured in pain, his eyes flickering, then sank back into oblivion.

"The whole election is a scam, a joke taking too far," Ilona said as she stroked Pan's forehead. "When the first pirates decided to divide the Greenlander towns, they bickered about who should roll the dice. The Captain of the Hangmen didn't trust the Captain of the Bloody Eels, the Eels didn't trust the Damned Serpents, who trusted neither. So the men picked the toddler son of the Serpents' helmsman to do the job for them. To recruit more crews for the cause, they gave the child the title of Boyar, told the people he spoke the Gods' will. The boy cast the dice until he was of age. Then a new Boyar had to be chosen. The next was a halfwit who cleaned the fish aboard The Sailing Ghosts. He didn't know what he was doing, but he was impartial—couldn't even wield a dagger. The Captains could get behind a person like him. Kalin was the first Boyar with a brain. He won because he was nice to look at and had a ship full of Palm Tears and Greenlander wine."

"I won because I found out that Kalin was murdered," Alex defended herself.

"Because everyone enjoys a good duel. No election is complete without blood and alcohol spilt. Don't act like you're a proper Boyar or a Greenlander Lord. You're not."

"You're not the first to tell me that."

"And still you are deaf. Now get off my ship."

"Would you have said the same if Pan had left the duel unharmed, and you had won the Port of Diligence in the dicing?" Alex asked.

"I wouldn't have said it if I had told Kaisa to put you back from where she and Dag had rescued you. Ifs, woulds, and hads don't feed this crew."

"No, but—"

"I don't want to hear it, Alex." Ilona threw the bloodied cloth at her.

She caught it with one hand. "I admire you, Ilona. The Greenlands is a backward country where women rule the household and the bedchamber but can't own land, a house, or a ship. I left The Greenlands because I didn't want to get married, because I wanted my life to mean something. My time aboard the Kraken's Kiss was hard work, but it was rewarding, even if I get teased for being a Greenie. I want to help, Ilona. Give you advice, woman to woman."

Ilona laid her hands on Pan's stomach and pressed, her knuckles reddening. She spoke softly, "I need nettles or goldenrod."

"Let me fetch those."

"No, you're bad luck. From the moment you entered my ship." Ilona's voice cracked. "Now get off."

"But can you hear me out at least? If you don't like what I'll have to say, I'll leave this ship and never return."

"Speak up then. The faster we get this over with, the faster you can leave."

"The dicing determines which crew goes to which Greenlander town. But there are more towns in the world, some surprisingly close to the border with The Greenlands."

"Whitecliff Bay," Ilona mumbled. "Leave it to a Greenie to propose going to Silvermark."

Alex ignored that remark. "So why don't you?"

"We just don't. Not worth the effort."

"And Burnfirth is? You're already up there. Even if you gain the same spoils as in Burnfirth then it was worth it, wasn't it?"

"Greenlanders are predictable. Silvermarkers not."

If Ilona meant the magicians, they could defend themselves against them. Magicians were powerful but not invincible. Iron arrows, iron shields, and iron cannonballs were all they needed to outsmart them.

"I know how to deal with magicians," Alex said. "Try it—You have nothing to lose."

"I have everything to lose." 

Ilona lifted her hands. Pan's wound stared just below his ribs and crossed his stomach sideways, a splinter of his hip bone visible. Alex recognised the forlorn look in the woman's eyes—a mother fearing for her child's life. Who was she to talk of invading a new territory when Pan balanced between life and death, when it was uncertain whether he would live to see another sunrise?

The Captain had said Pan needed nettles or goldenrod. It wasn't the season for goldenrods, nor did the cave or the beach provide the right habitat for the densely crowded clusters of yellow flowers. But nettles she had seen, in between the rocks, when she had climbed atop the cave. She could pick the plant, bake them until the dried leaves could be crushed and turned into a tea. Just like her mother had taught her to do.

"We can talk later. I'll get you the nettles you need," Alex said as she dashed off. "I won't take no for an answer. Let me do this."

Clad in a cloak she had found on the deck of the Kraken's Kiss, she returned to the beach where a huge bonfire was burning next to his grave. Pirates were dancing, singing, drinking, playing games, and giving in to Lust's will.

Alex let them be. She picked the leaves from between the rocks, wrapped them in the bloodied cloth Ilona had thrown at her, and buried the bundle deep in the ashes, as far from Kalin's grave as possible. While she waited for the leaves to simmer, she stole two empty bottles of Palm Tears that a couple who had gone for a moonlight swim and used it to boil the salt out of seawater.

While the beach cleared, safe for the ones who had seen so much Palm Tears the beach became their bed for the night, Alex waited and waited.

The first seagulls were announcing a new morning when she returned to Kraken's Kiss with a bottle of freshly brewed nettle tea. It wasn't as warm as she had wished it to be, but the medicinal power of the nettles would be potent enough to stop the bleeding.

There was hardly anyone on deck. Ilona was still in her quarters, by Pan's side. She had aged a decade in a matter of hours, circles darkening her already dark eyes. On the nightstand a pot of Scorian brew. A fresh cloth on Pan's stomach—it wasn't as red.

She didn't make an effort to look at Alex. "You're like a stray cat that keeps bringing gifts to a home that once fed her, wishing the family would take her in." There was no hostility in her voice. 

"I only wanted to help." Alex gave her the bottle of nettle tea. "He needs to be conscious first. It's dangerous to let a comatose patient drink."

"And a ship needs the wind to sail," she snorted. She gesticulated, as if apologising. "It's been a long night. I've pondered every thought, felt every emotion, relived every moment. You're a stupid Greenlander girl, but you have your heart in the right place, Alex."

A soft smile tugged at the corners of Alex's mouth. "Thank you."

"You remind me of my younger self. Doing without thinking. Let my deeds speak instead of my words." She stroked her son's cheek—he was groaning but not sweating. "It's how I became the new Kraken Captain. I was fast and deadly, and I had better footwork than my son." A hiccuped chuckle. "The years have made me more cautious but not weak. I admit mistakes when I have made them, and expect my crew to show the same behaviour."

"I can stay?" Alex tried.

"I was too harsh, too emotional. Pan wanted to fight and messed up, not you. He has survived one night. If he lives another, he'll carry the scar for the rest of his life and boast in every town of how he defeated the Silver Shark." Ilona turned towards her. "Selachii has a reputation in Silvermark. That my son killed him will add to ours. We'll start in Whitecliff Bay, see how that goes. It's a foolish plan with little chance of success, but that's why most of us became a pirate."

"Ours," Alex repeated. "We. Us."

"Aye." Ilona removed a belt from her waist and wrapped it around Alex's waist. "Welcome to the crew, Greenie."

Alex beamed, fingering her prize. It did her more than she dared to admit. Soon the Silvermarks would shiver upon hearing the whispers of the Kraken sails appearing on the horizon. And a Silvermark attack would benefit The Greenlands too. 

Win. Win.