I was asleep when I heard the first shouts. Groggy and disoriented, I awoke to find the other women clamoring around the room.
“Hurry!” I heard a voice say, although I wasn’t sure who’d said it.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“There’s a fire above deck,” someone answered.
I hopped out of bed, pulled on my boots, and followed the other women out of the room.
We made our way through the hall and up the narrow stairwell. When we stepped onto the deck, chaos reigned around us.
The captain’s wheelhouse was alight, causing the charred smell of burning wood to fill the ship. Flames reached high into the air against the backdrop of a dark, starlit sky and made the wooden beams split and crack. The fire lit the deck in a smoky, orange glow.
Still in a sleepy haze, I stood motionless on deck until the sea air chilled my face, waking me and bringing me back to reality. Crewmen lowered buckets of water into the sea and then tossed them on the flames. Someone shoved a bucket in my arms, and I didn’t hesitate to tie a rope to the handle and lower it into the ocean.
Cold sea spray splashed my face as I filled the bucket. The sea roiled as the deep, churning water turned orange-gold in the firelight. As soon as I filled the bucket, I raised it over the ledge and raced to the wheelhouse.
Hot embers flitted through the air as I made it to the far corner of the structure. Before tossing the water on the fire, I hesitated. The flames flickered bright gold and then burned gray—the color of goblin magic. I inhaled a sharp breath and backed away.
As I held my hand over the flames, I detected a faint enchantment, indicating the presence of a spell, when someone came behind me and tossed water on the fire, extinguishing the flames. I rounded to find Heidel standing behind me with an empty bucket.
“Why are you standing around?” she said. “Help us!”
I watched her go, suspicion making my imagination go wild. Jostling bodies made me return to the task at hand, and I worked to extinguish the flames with the rest of the group, though the image of the gray fire stayed with me.
Sweat drenched my shirt as the final blaze was extinguished. I stood with the others as we scanned the remains of the wheelhouse. A few men braved the burned structure and poked around inside, carrying a few boxes and trinkets outside to lay them on the deck. As they worked, I realized the damage could have been worse. The wheel looked intact, as did some of the tables and chairs. The most charred part of the wheelhouse was along the starboard wall.
Captain Tobin appeared. His frame looked extra malnourished as he stood in his thin pajamas. He cursed as he examined the remains of his wheelhouse. “What happened?”
One of his men spoke up. “We aren’t sure yet, sir. It looks as if someone left a candle lit inside and it caught fire.”
“A lit candle?”
The crewman nodded.
“Who was the fool who left a lit candle in a room full of brittle papers?”
The sailor cleared his throat. “We don’t know. It must have been the last person to leave the wheelhouse.”
Captain Tobin threw his skinny arms in the air. “No, no, no! I was the last person to leave the wheelhouse. I locked it up myself.”
“Did you leave the candle burning?”
“Of course I didn’t!” He heaved a frustrated sigh and scrutinized the damage. “How bad is it?”
“The wheel is still intact. The nave plate will have to be repaired, but we should have minimal problems with steerage.”
“What of my maps?”
“We’ve managed to save a few. We’ll have to wait for the ashes to cool a bit before we can salvage the rest.”
The captain shook his head.
The crowd parted as Firro pushed his way through the mass of bodies and limped toward the captain.
“Firro,” the captain shouted. “It’s about time you showed up.”
Firro bobbed his head as he stopped by the captain.
“Don’t just stand there. Organize the cleanup and drop anchor. We’ll not be going anywhere with the wheelhouse damaged.”
Firro turned and barked a few orders.
“—And find the person responsible for leaving a lit candle inside the wheelhouse,” Captain Tobin said, interrupting Firro. “I want his carcass hanging from the top mast at dawn.” He turned on his heel and tromped away.
The crowd dispersed, mumbling quietly to each other. Kull found me in the crowd.
“Hey,” I said.
He wiped a smudge of soot from his forehead. “Quite the evening, isn’t it?”
“Yes. I only hope our luck gets better with the rest of the journey.”
He shrugged. “That was nothing. No journey is complete without a little mishap to get the adrenaline flowing. Besides, I was beginning to get bored.”
I raised an eyebrow. “It sounds to me as if you left the candle burning so you could have some fun.”
He laughed and then wrapped his arm around me. “That’s what I love about you.”
I eyed him. “You love that I accuse you of devious acts?”
“No. I love your sense of humor. If not for you, I would be surrounded by people who want to control me or hassle me or who wish me dead. I count myself blessed that you’re in my life.”
I couldn’t help but smile up at him. “You know, that almost sounds romantic.” My heart gave a little thump as he stared with smiling eyes at me.
He hugged me tight and brushed a kiss on the top of my ear. My face reddened as he pulled away. It seemed that whenever we were together, all my doubts and worries melted away as if they never existed. It made me realize how much I really loved him.
King Herrick appeared as the crowd dispersed. He wore his usual sour frown as he focused on us. “Son,” he barked. “Need I remind you of our conversation?”
“No need. I remember it quite well.”
“Obviously
