Although the ship had seemed untidy on the outside, I noted the deck had been scrubbed clean and the ropes and bindings had been neatly stacked. The rich scent of wood rosin filled the air. It must have been one of the oldest ships in the fleet. Most modern ships had integrated magical-mechanical systems similar to the technology used on the light carriages, though I had no clue if the magical ships were still functioning. The Sea Ghost had none of that.
Heidel turned to me. “I trust you are in good health this morning. You’ll need your strength for the madness going on inside.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“The captain—Tobin, I believe—is a right fool. If the sea doesn’t take us, his stupidity will. His claims are bolder than my brother’s, though I wouldn’t have thought that possible.”
“What claims has he made?”
“Traveling the far seas and finding a portal to Earth Kingdom. Sailing the Pacific—wherever that is—and surviving attacks from great white sharks—whatever those are.”
“Yes, that does seem a bit far-fetched.”
“Ha!” she laughed. “That’s only the half of it.”
We stopped at the wheelhouse’s door. Heidel opened it, ushered me inside, and then shut the door behind us.
Inside the room, three men stood around a table where a stack of maps had been laid out. I recognized King Herrick and my father, and the thin fellow with the dark, frizzy beard must have been Captain Tobin. The captain looked up as I entered the room and then walked toward me. He wore black leather clothing studded with copper buckles that jangled as he moved. His graying beard and mustache were neatly groomed, although his bushy eyebrows seemed to clash with his otherwise well-ordered appearance. His necklace seemed the most unusual aspect of his appearance. He wore a tiny skull attached to a gold chain. Was it a fairy’s skull?
My stomach soured. Most people thought it bad luck to display a fae creature’s remains in such a vulgar manner. I wasn’t sure I believed the bad luck thing, but I certainly found the act distasteful.
Captain Tobin gave me a polite smile, revealing unusually white teeth. His thin frame was so emaciated that he reminded me of the skeletal maidenhead attached to the front of his ship.
“You must be the doctor from Earth Kingdom?” he asked as he stopped in front of me.
I cleared my throat. “Yes. I am.”
“I’m pleased to have another traveler from Earth Kingdom onboard. Already we have so much in common, don’t we?”
“Oh, yes.” I attempted to smile. “I suppose so.”
“Come, Olive,” King Herrick demanded from his spot at the table. “We need your opinion.”
“Mine?”
“Aye, that’s what I said, didn’t I?”
I walked to the table and stood beside my father, who gave me a weak smile. Heidel stayed near the door as Captain Tobin hovered near my father and me.
King Herrick gave a tedious explanation of how the outer islands were volcanic in nature and not part of the mainland. He went on to describe how the pixie Mochazon had found the king and his people and had relayed the information that the only safe place for the magical bloom would be on one of the outer islands. But which of those islands, they had no clue.
Captain Tobin pulled out a knife and stabbed it on the map. The blade protruded from a drawing of one of the larger islands. “There is no confusion,” he said. “This is the place the bloom should go. I have traveled these islands. I know these waters. The larger island is the most magical and the most guarded. If any of the islands are the right place, this is the one. I believe we should search it first.”
King Herrick crossed his arms. “You make bold claims, Captain. Forgive me if I do not trust your judgment.”
The captain raised an eyebrow. “Then where would you have us go? To the middle of the Rheic Sea, where the straits will crush our boat to splinters?”
“Not all the islands are charted. If this place is as sacred as they claim, then I doubt it would be on your charts. I do not trust in your maps.”
“I have drawn these maps myself. I assure you that you will not find any others more precise.”
The king harrumphed and then turned to me. “Olive, you are the sky king’s ward. You have some knowledge of the islands, do you not?”
I wanted to tell him that I knew next to nothing about them, but this was my chance to impress the king, so I decided to play it smart. “The prophecy says, ‘over the sea of a thousand faces, let the silver light show the way. The bud will only blossom under the stars of the mirror-white sand.’ I’ve done some research and learned that the sea is indeed the Rheic Sea, which is why Mochazon had you travel here in the first place. As to which island the bloom belongs on, I can’t say for sure. But it must have something to do with the mirror-white sand. Captain, do you know if any of the islands have unusual sand?”
He scratched his beard. “There is—or was—powerful magic on those islands. I’ve seen many unusual things—the creatures, the trees and plants, are all as if they were formed on another planet, but as for the sand… The larger island is the only one with white sand. The rest have only black volcanic sand. It has to be the place.”
“But the prophecy speaks of mirror-sand, not ordinary white sand,” King Herrick said. “How can you be sure it refers to this island?”
“I can’t. Not until we search it out. But there is only one way to do that.” His voice rose. “We must search it out!”
My
