CHAPTER ONE

Reunion

     It wasn't often that Estelle got a good night's sleep.

Not anymore, at least.

It used to be that the light swaying and the sounds of waves lapping on the sides of the ship was like a lullaby to her. If she ever really needed help sleeping before, all she had to do was relax and let her power wash over her, something calming from somewhere else in the world filling her mind to help her sleep.

She was too afraid to do that after her last job.

Letting out an exasperated breath, Estelle sat up in her cot and shrugged on her clothes. It was a lost cause, anyway. Might as well let someone updeck off duty for the night.

The night sky was twinkling with stars, winking like they knew things Estelle didn't. To be fair, that couldn't have been more true. The sea was a calming lull, the waves sloshing up against the ship. There were only three people on the deck, one to man the helm, and two on look-out.

Estelle called the nearest woman over to her. "Kija, get some rest. Tomorrow's a big day for everyone," she said in Fjerdan, Kija's mother tongue. She always preferred to speak to her crew in whatever language they were comfortable with, even though most of them all knew Ravkan, at the least.

Kija gave Estelle a toothy grin and bounded down to the crew's quarters. She wasn't much younger than Estelle, but was not as mature as she should have been at her age. It had something to do with a defect during her development, and when Estelle let the girl join her crew, many others advised against it. As far as Estelle saw it, however, if she could pull her weight, she was perfectly fine.

Estelle glanced at who else was on duty. Sylvia and Ana, her quartermaster, who sat on a barrel by the helm. With a simple glance towards the stars above, Estelle joined Ana.

There was no question as to why the Kerch woman had been chosen as her quartermaster. Not many people would think twice with her disability, instead call her useless for her complete lack of hearing and throw her aside. Not Estelle, though.

The first time they met, Ana had been in debt to one of the many gangs in Ketterdam, doing anything to pay it off. Kill, even. As a fresh captain who'd just taken the reins from her former captain, Estelle needed a right-hand. Ana was the perfect fit.

Back then, she was a brash teenager with a knack for reading lips. Over the years at sea with Estelle, she'd become the one who often talked the brash teenagers from making stupid decisions. Being deaf had no impact on her work ethic.

"How's the night so far?" Estelle signed once she'd grabbed Ana's attention.

Ana smiled, a small smile coming to her lips as she closed her book. "Calm. Dark. You know how it goes."

Estelle nodded, her gaze wandering to the darkened horizon. It was still a few hours from sunrise. She glanced back at Ana when her hands started moving again.

"Is everything ready for the morning?"

"As far as I'm aware. We should be at the contact point by about nine bells. Should be smooth sailing from then."

Ana studied Estelle for a moment, before she signed, "You haven't been sleeping."

"When did you figure it out?" Estelle sighed, feeling the weight of her eye bags.

"It wasn't hard to figure it out. You might as well have been laying out the bread crumbs for me to find." The side of Ana's lips quirked up. "You're not as sneaky as you lead everyone to believe."

"Only you, Ana," smirked Estelle.

Ana raised an eyebrow. "And Nikolai. He was the first to ever be able to read you."

Estelle's face fell slightly as she raised her eyes to the night sky. She felt the cool breeze against her face, heard the crashing waves. She could have sworn that she could hear an all-to-familiar laugh, like he had the upper hand and you didn't know it.

"I know," she whispered, almost seeing his face in the stars. "Believe me, I know."

—

As soon as the sun rose, the ship's deck was a bustle of cleaning and handling the sails, making sure that they would actually make the rendezvous point at nine bells. Estelle oversaw all of this on her ship, the Izoćeici. And even as she did, her gaze couldn't help but wander over to the foaming ocean.

She could remember everything that's happened to her on the water, the relationships she'd made and the enemies she'd fought. Once, Estelle had even been thrown into the sea.

They were memories, bad and good alike. For many of her crew, the good ones outweighed the bad. But for Estelle, however, the bad outweighed the good.

She didn't know the last time she actually had a good night's sleep, instead she often twisted and turned in her cot, trying to fall asleep before being woken up by a nightmare. Her nails were all bitten down by now and her rings were so loose from her twisting them all the time.

For a second, Estelle could have sworn she saw a familiar smirk and a head full of ruddy red curls in the crowd on the deck, but he was swept away before she could settle on his features.

Crazy, Estelle thought to herself, rubbing her tired eyes. There was no way that he was here already. It was only...

She glanced at the clock by the mast. Almost nine bells. Almost time.

Estelle surged forward, up to Ana at the helm. "Almost nine bells!" she shouted over the noise of the women below. "Be on the lookout for the Volkvolny!"

The bustle hurried up, crew members rushing to their positions with the sails and the look-out spots. Estelle waited not-so patiently, her head swinging every which way as she tried to stay on the look-out as well.

Ana nudged her gently. "You wear your heart on your sleeve, Captain."

Estelle rolled her eyes. "Shut up."

"The Volkvolny! It's here!"

Quickly, her gaze snapped to the sudden voice coming from the starboard side of the ship. A woman hung from the rigging, pointing out at the sea. Estelle followed her finger to the approaching ship.

It was familiar in some ways, but in others, the sleek schooner had changed since the last time she'd been on it. At first, from far away, it looked like every other ship that would be on the sea. But when they got closer, its differences stood out to Estelle.

The Volkvolny was a ship like no other. Although it was small in comparison to the Izoćeici, it was still impressive. Its constantly polished wood and buoyant atmosphere was just one of the traits that set it apart. Not to mention that its captain was the infamous Sturmhond. Or, as he preferred, famous.

At the quarterdeck, Estelle could see a teal frock coat in the bustling crew of the second ship and she quickly looked away. She wouldn't get a good look at him until they were face-to-face.

Ana grinned knowingly, but kept her eyes on the wheel.

For some reason, Estelle found herself fussing with her hair, fixing the collar of her shirt. Though it hadn't been long since she'd seen him, she wanted to seem presentable. Well, maybe a little more than presentable, but she wouldn't admit that.

Slowly, the ships sidled up to each other, the waves frothing as each ship steered towards the other. Estelle watched as the crew from the Volkvolny raised a long plank to connect the two. It crashed down on the Izoćeici with a loud bang and Estelle started in a sudden scare, before walking up to it. Ana followed closely behind, a small group of her own crew also gathering.

The plank of wood was not thin—Estelle had hoped Sturmhond knew better—and it wasn't hard to walk across. It was only a few paces across, but she kept her eyes on the wood beneath her feet. The waves sloshed far below, somehow both calming and frenzied.

When she was only a footstep away from the deck, a hand reached out into her vision. It was calloused and tanned from many days at sea.

Estelle looked up at its owner. Muddy green eyes stared into hers, a smirk donning his strange face.

"Svjetlo," he said smugly.

The corner of her mouth tugged upwards. "Sturmhond."

a/n— I am sick, so expect a lot of updates in a short amount of time! This is a shorter chapter, but the chapter lengths are gonna vary, so, enjoy that! Lmk what y'all think!