Heir to a Fallen Star

Chapter 64

The silence of the room closes in on me, but this time, it's fuelled by a hot, radiating anger. I wrap my shawl tighter around myself and sit on the edge of the mattress, staring at the locked door, letting him have exactly what he wanted: absolute control over his empty deck.

I strike a match, lighting all but a single candle in the room. The warm, flickering glow expands across the oak panels, chasing away the shadows but doing nothing to soothe the tight knot of frustration in my chest.

Desperate to get out of my own head, I pull out the heavy, sharkskin-bound journal Kaelen keeps hidden away. Flipping it open, I lose myself in the faded ink and hand-drawn maps, diving headfirst into the ancient tales of the sea. I read about ghost ships trapped in the doldrums, legendary leviathans that sleep beneath the Trench, and the old maritime lore of sailors who lost their minds to the siren song of the deep.

The haunting lore is a perfect distraction. It pulls me entirely away from my own anger, numbing the complete shock of how coldly Kaelen just treated me.

I read for hours, losing track of time as the ship rests motionless on the calm water. I read until the deep ink of the night sky begins to bleed into a pale, misty lavender through the porthole window. Upstairs, the heavy silence finally breaks. I hear the distant, muffled creak of hammocks swinging, the low grunts of exhausted men waking up, and the first few heavy footsteps stirring on the deck above. Morning has arrived.

Closing the sharkskin binder, I slide it back into its hiding place. I lean over and blow out the final, guttering candle, watching the thin wisp of smoke vanish into the dim morning light. Exhausted, emotionally drained, and finally safe from the fury of the storm, I pull the heavy wool blankets over my shoulders, close my eyes, and allow myself to sink into a deep, dreamless sleep.

As I wake I notice the salty sea air has made my throat dry.

The thick wooden door creaks softly as I pull it open, my throat feeling completely parched, like it's lined with sandpaper. I have no intention of going up on deck—I just want to slip into the galley and find a skin of fresh water.

But the moment I step into the dim companionway, the sound of low, tense voices echoing from around the corner makes me freeze.

"You cannot leave her locked away in that room forever, Kaelen," Silas’s gravelly voice rumbles, heavy with a reprimand that carries no fear of the chain of command. "It’s not fair. The storm has passed."

My eyes widen, and I press my back against the cold wooden panelling, barely daring to breathe as I listen.

A heavy, agonizingly long silence follows. Then, I hear a ragged exhale, the sound of leather creaking as Kaelen shifts his weight. When he speaks, his voice is devoid of the sharp fury from last night. It sounds completely hollow, broken, and ancient with exhaustion.

"You think I want her in there, Silas?" Kaelen whispers fiercely, a desperate, raw edge tearing at his throat. "I haven't slept a wink. I stood outside that door for three hours before dawn just listening to the pages of her book turn. I am losing my mind."

"Then go in there and fix it, boy," Silas grunts.

"I can't," Kaelen snaps softly, the pain in his voice vibrating through the corridor. "You saw her face when I yelled on deck. You saw how she flinched from me. And last night... I looked at her with the same cold eyes. If I go in there right now, carrying the weight of this ship, I'm going to say the wrong thing again. I am a danger to the only thing I have left to lose, Silas. It's safer for her if I keep my distance until the captain is back under control."

Clack-clack-clatter!

The wooden tankard hits the floorboards with agonizing force, bouncing and echoing down the narrow companionway like a thunderclap in the sudden silence. I freeze, the heavy water skin clutched against my chest, my heart leaping straight into my throat.

Fool, I chide myself, instantly spinning on my heel to scurry back toward the safety of the quarters before they can catch me eavesdropping.

"Red..."

His voice hits me before I can take a second step. It isn’t the sharp, biting command of the captain from last night, nor is it the fierce bark he uses on the crew. It’s a low, rough plea, entirely breathless and heavy with a desperate ache.

I stop, my back still turned to him, the wooden tankard resting entirely forgotten between us on the floor. The companionway behind me is completely still, save for the slow, hesitant sound of his boots approaching the corner. He isn't rushing me. For the first time in days, he is moving with a quiet, careful reverence, as if any sudden movement might cause me to vanish entirely.

"I just wanted some water," I say, my voice small, barely carrying in the narrow corridor. I keep my back firmly to him, clutching the heavy water skin against my chest like a shield, my knuckles white against the leather.

Behind me, his footsteps stop dead. The heavy silence returns, thick and suffocating, but the air between us feels entirely different now. The sharp, terrifying edge from last night is completely gone, replaced by a heavy, aching vulnerability that radiates off him in waves.

"I know," Kaelen says softly.

He doesn't close the distance. He stays exactly where he is, a respectful few paces away, giving me the space, I demanded. I hear the rustle of his clothes as he lets out a long, ragged sigh, the sound of a man completely unravelling from the inside out.

"Silas has the deck," he murmurs, his rough voice cracking slightly. "I'm... I'm going to take the secondary berth in the officer's quarters for the rest of the voyage, Red. You don't have to hide in my cabin. You can have the run of the ship. I won't... I won't force you to see that side of me again."

"I don't want it," I say softly, the words catching in my dry throat.

Slowly, I turn around to face him, still holding the leather water skin tight against my chest. I look up at him, letting him see the raw frustration and the lingering hurt in my eyes.

"You think I want to be away from you?" I ask, my voice trembling slightly but holding firm. "While you hide away in the officer's quarters? Don't do that, Kaelen. Don't punish both of us because you don't know how to step down from being the captain."

He looks down at me, his moss-green eyes wide and entirely defenceless, the dark circles beneath them making him look younger, more fragile than he ever lets his men see. He opens his mouth to speak, to protest, but I cut him off with a quiet shake of my head.

"This is your ship to command," I tell him, taking a step back toward his cabin door. "I will stay out of your way. But I am not exiling you from your own room, and I am not letting you run away from me into the dark."

I look at him for one last, lingering moment, wanting him to understand that my anger isn't hatred—it's just a plea for the man I love to come back to me. Then, I turn, slip back inside his quarters, and close the heavy oak door between us, leaving the bolt unlocked this time.

I freeze, the leather water skin hovering inches from my lips as a sudden, electric shock makes the hairs on my arms stand up. I blink, shaking my head, and force myself to read the faded ink on the yellowed parchment again, focusing entirely on the hidden truth hidden within the lore.

"...merfolk... fierce warriors of the ocean... predatory to men... a mermaid's firm grip allows you to breathe under water... fiercely loyal to the sky and the stars..."

"By the gods," I whisper out loud, the words echoing eerily in the quiet cabin.

The book trembles in my hands as the pieces click together with terrifying clarity. They aren't loyal to a captain, and they aren't loyal to the sea. They are fiercely loyal to the sky and the stars.

I look down at my hands, feeling the ancient, celestial warmth humming beneath my skin. I am not just a girl fleeing a storm. I am a Star—a fallen piece of the heavens walking the earth. That is why the ocean didn't claim me. That is why I survived the plunge into the abyss. The merfolk aren't monsters to be feared; they are my subjects, waiting for a command from the sky to help me find what is hidden beneath the crushing weight of the Trench.

But the text carries a brutal warning: predatory to men.

A cold knot forms in my stomach as I think of Kaelen. If I call upon the deep, if I command the merfolk to guide me to the secrets hidden in the ocean's depths, I have to do it alone. Kaelen cannot come with me. The moment his boots touch the water alongside them, their feral, predatory nature will tear him apart, no matter how powerful of a captain he thinks he is.

I close the sharkskin binder with a soft thud, my heart hammering against my ribs. To find what is hidden, I have to step into my own power—and I have to leave him behind on the deck to keep him safe.

I leap up off the bed, the sharkskin journal slamming shut onto the mattress as adrenaline floods my veins. I sprint out of the cabin, my bare feet flying down the dim companionway and bursting out onto the main deck.

I climb the steep wooden stairs leading up to the helm where Kaelen stands, his hands gripping the great iron-rimmed wheel. The moment his bloodshot, moss-green eyes lock onto me, the rigid mask on his face falters, replaced by instant alarm at the sheer panic and breathless awe written across my features.

"I'm sorry, I know I said I'd give you your space... but—" I try to gasp out, my chest heaving as I reach for his arm, desperate to tell him what I am, what lies beneath us.

"Light ahead!" a voice bellows from the crow's nest, shattering the quiet morning air. "Light on the horizon!"

Kaelen’s head snaps toward the bow, his grip tightening on the wheel. I spin around, my words dying in my throat as I look out into the distance.

Piercing through the lingering sea mist is the weathered beacon of our destination. A massive, ancient wooden lighthouse towers over the jagged rocks, its rotating glass lens shooting brilliant, blinding beams of amber light directly across the perfectly still ocean. The light cuts through the dark dawn, illuminating the black water right above the deepest trenches of the sea—the exact place where whatever is hidden awaits me.

"We made it," Kaelen breathes, his voice tight, the captain instantly taking over as he prepares to guide the Vanguard's Wake toward the rocky shore.

I look from the roaring beacon of light down into the dark, motionless depths below the hull. The merfolk are down there, guarding the secrets I need to find. And looking at Kaelen, standing proudly at the helm of his ship, the terrifying weight of the journal's warning echoes in my mind. We are here, but this is where our paths have to part.

"Iris, not right now," Kaelen snaps, his knuckles whitening as he wrestles with the heavy iron wheel. A flash of pure irritation crosses his weathered face, his brow furrowing deep as he tries to align the ship's path with the narrow, jagged channel illuminated by the lighthouse. "The tide is pulling us toward the shoals. I need every ounce of focus to keep us off the rocks."

"You need to listen to me... please!" I beg, my voice rising over the creak of the turning rudder. I step closer, desperate to make him understand the danger, but he keeps his eyes locked strictly on the distant beacon, his jaw set in that rigid, unyielding line.

"Get below deck, Red! That's an order!" he growls, the booming authority of the captain slipping right back into his tone as a strong undercurrent tugs violently at the hull.

He doesn't understand. He thinks he's saving the ship from the rocks, but he has no idea that the real power—and the real danger—is already circling beneath us in the dark water, waiting for my signal.

Silas freezes, his heavy hand pausing on the rigging line as he looks down at me. The sheer, terrifying urgency in my eyes makes him hesitate, his seasoned gaze darting from me to the dark, glassy water swirling against the hull.

"I’m clearly not getting through to him," I say, stepping right into Silas's space, my voice cutting through the tension. "Has my instinct ever proved you wrong? You need to listen to me. I'm trusting you, Silas."

"Iris!" Kaelen’s voice roars from the helm, a thunderous boom of absolute fury and panic as he sees me distracting his first mate during a treacherous approach. "Step away from the rigging! Get back to the cabin now!"

I ignore him completely, keeping my eyes locked on Silas.

"There are merfolk beneath us," I whisper urgently, the words tumbling out of me. "Not just sirens, Silas. Merfolk. They are predatory to men—they hate sailors. If the men stay on deck, they will be slaughtered. I need the men to clear into the lower decks. Now."

Silas's weathered face goes entirely pale. He knows the ancient lore; he knows that while sirens lure men with songs, merfolk drag them into the abyss with claws and teeth. He looks up at Kaelen, then back to the desperate, commanding light burning in my eyes—a light that looks entirely unearthly under the beacon of the lighthouse.

"Silas, don't you dare!" Kaelen bellows, wrestling the wheel as the ship groans against a sudden, unnatural pull from below. "Bring us about!"

But Silas takes a deep breath, dropping the rigging line. He chooses to trust the star over the captain. He cups his hands around his mouth and lets out a roaring command that echoes across the entire vessel.

"ALL HANDS BELOW DECK! DROPPING ANCHOR NOW! ABANDON THE MAIN DECK, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!"

"Thank you," I breathe, relief flooding through me for a split second before the cold reality settles back in. I grab Silas by the leather of his jerkin, pulling him close so my voice doesn't carry to the helm. "You need to take Kaelen with you. He won't listen to me, and there is no chance by the gods he is himself enough for me to reason with right now. He is going to fight, and he is going to try and come after me—but you cannot let him. He will die."

Silas freezes entirely, his massive hands locking onto my shoulders. The hardened, weathered sailor looks at me as if I've just grown wings, his eyes wide with a sudden, spiking terror.

"Iris," Silas asks, his gravelly voice dropping into a horrified whisper. "What mad thing are you about to do?"

"Silas!" Kaelen’s roar tears through the air behind us, his heavy boots slamming against the deck as he abandons the wheel, leaving the ship to ride the anchor's sudden drag. He is charging down the stairs, his face contorted in a mix of pure fury and blinding panic. "What the hell do you think you're doing?! Get her below!"

"There's no time!" I yell at Silas, ignoring the terrifying thunder of Kaelen's approach. I break from the first mate's grip and sprint toward the ship’s wooden railing, the dark, glassy water of the Trench swirling directly beneath me, reflecting the brilliant, rotating beams of the lighthouse.

The air grows heavy, vibrating with a deep, subsonic hum from the depths. They are already here. I can feel the ancient, primal pull of the ocean answering the starlight in my veins.

"Iris! No!" Kaelen screams, realizing a second too late what I'm aiming for. He lunges across the deck, his hand outstretched, his moss-green eyes frantic with a desperation that rips right through his captain's mask.

But I don't hesitate. I vault over the edge, throwing myself into the freezing, predatory dark of the abyss.

The water is stirring violently around me, a chaotic vortex of freezing currents. Remembering what Kaelen taught me about the treacherous pull of a ship's hull, I kick hard, swimming away from the Vanguard's Wake until I am out in the open, dark expanse.