“You cannot possibly know everything there is to know about those islands,” the king said. “Your maps don’t even match the atlases. This island,” he said, jabbing a drawing of a smaller island colored in pink, “doesn’t match any of the other charts. You haven’t included the sea currents in these charts, or a compass, or a scaled measuring system.”
“I have no need of such things.”
I scrutinized the map. I hated to admit it, but I did see King Herrick’s point. The maps were cleverly drawn in a professional manner, yet they lacked all the basic items an actual seafaring map would have included.
Captain Tobin pulled out a handkerchief and pressed it to his mouth, then sniffled as he placed it back in his pocket. “I do not use such methods to navigate. I have an uncanny ability to predict sea currents; my compass I carry in my head; and there is no need for a scaled measuring system when you’ve traveled the ocean as many times as I have. All the information I need is in these maps. You would be wise to trust my judgment.”
“In your head? Your carry your compass in your head?” King Herrick’s cheeks grew red.
I spoke up before he pulled out his sword. “Perhaps we could reach a compromise,” I said. “How many souls will be traveling aboard our ship?”
“Thirty-three,” the captain answered, “including six of my crewmen.”
“Then perhaps we could split up. Half of us could travel to the smaller, uncharted islands, and the rest can search the larger island. We’d cover more ground. And we might just find the right place faster, which would be to our benefit.”
“Not possible,” the captain answered. “This is not some light carriage that can drop you off anywhere you please. It would take days for me to navigate to those uncharted islands, and days more for me to travel back to the larger ones. These waters are the most dangerous in the Rheic Sea. The reefs surrounding the islands can split a ship apart. Not to mention the dragons. No. We must choose one spot to anchor our ship and no more.”
“Yet you claim to know these islands better than anyone,” King Herrick said. “And now you are too afraid to take us where we wish?”
“I am not afraid,” Captain Tobin answered, “I am prudent. There is a difference.”
King Herrick pounded his fist on the table. “We have paid more than enough for your services. You must take us where we wish.”
“I will not. You cannot ask me to take you where I will not go.”
For the first time, my father spoke up. “Then we will not ask you. We will travel to the larger island as you suggest. Once there, a few of us will take the longboats and discover the smaller islands on our own.”
The captain’s mouth gaped. “What?” he sputtered. “You can’t! I dare not take my ship through those straits, and you propose to take boats? You will not survive such a voyage through those seas. You will be smashed to bits before you set sail.”
“Then we will pay for the boats in full.” King Herrick dropped a bag of coins on the table.
The captain’s eyes widened. He scratched his beard as he stared at the satchel. “Gold?”
“Look for yourself.”
With wiry fingers, Captain Tobin opened the bag. He pulled out a coin, inspected it, and then dropped it in the bag. “Very well,” he finally answered. “But this will only buy three of my longboats. That is all I am willing to part with.”
“Three?”
“I dare not risk parting with any more than that.”
“Fine.” The king crossed his arms. “Three will be enough.”
“In that case,” Captain Tobin said, “we set sail for the larger island, and then you may fulfill your death wish however you please. I will not interfere with your fool’s mission—as long as I am paid, that is.”
“Take it,” King Herrick said.
The captain snatched up the bag and put it in his coat pocket. “This solves only one problem. Once we reach the island, how are we to restore the magic? No one has told me how this is to be done.”
I held tight to my bag, feeling the familiar warmth of the bloom’s orb beneath my hands.
Geth’s warning stayed with me. I knew it would be wise not to trust anyone on board with the knowledge that I had the flower in my possession.
“We will take care of the magic’s restoration,” my father answered.
“How?” the captain asked. “I do not like being kept in the dark on my own vessel. How can I be certain that I am not risking my ship and crew for nothing?”
“Enough,” King Herrick said. “You have been given more information than you need as it is.”
The captain wouldn’t relent. “I know of the prophecy. It speaks of a magical bloom. Have you brought it with you?”
“It is not of your concern,” King Herrick repeated with steel in his voice.
I felt certain King Herrick was about to pull out his blade when shouting came from outside. Heidel crossed to one of the room’s windows. Her face soured as she focused through the glass.
“The Wults have broken through the gate,” she said.
The captain cursed, and the door banged open as he stormed out of the room.
“Well,” my father said with a weak smile. “That certainly could have gone worse.”
Chapter 19
I followed Heidel and the others out of the wheelhouse and onto the deck of the Sea Ghost, where a dense fog had rolled in. Tiny droplets of mist dampened my skin, and the air had a briny, salty scent that I tasted on my tongue.
Below us, the captain and his crew tried to quell the Wults. The unruly crowd vied for position at the bottom of the gangplank. I stood at the edge of the railing
