Behind him, Alyssa picked up the rope again, muttering under her breath.

The morning wore on. Leo swept the deck, finding comfort in the rhythmic motion. From the corner of his eye, he watched Raven emerge from the galley to check their heading, her movements quick and efficient. She exchanged a few words with Alyssa, their voices too low for him to hear, before returning below.

As the sun climbed higher, Leo realized something about the ship's atmosphere. It wasn't just tense—it was hollow, like a house with no hearth fire. Both women moved around the vessel with purpose, but their eyes kept straying to the same spot: the closed door of the captain's cabin.

No sound had emerged from behind that door since they'd set sail yesterday. No orders, no footsteps, nothing.

Leo understood silence. In Porto Veloce, silence had been safety. Don't speak unless spoken to. Don't draw attention. Be invisible.

But this silence was different. This silence was absence—the missing piece that should have been holding everything together.

As midday approached, Alyssa abandoned her struggle with the rope and stalked across the deck toward Leo.

"You." Her tone was commanding, but Leo could see the uncertainty in her eyes. "You're just... sweeping the same spot over and over."

Leo looked down. She was right. He'd been standing in the same place for nearly an hour, the bristles of his broom wearing down a patch of deck.

"Sorry," he said automatically.

"Don't apologize." Alyssa ran a hand through her hair, further displacing strands from her braid. "Just... come help me instead. We need to check the rigging, and I can't do it alone."

Leo followed her to the base of the mast, looking up at the complex web of ropes above. "I don't know anything about ships."

"Neither did I, a month ago." Alyssa handed him the end of a rope. "Hold this. Don't let go."

For the next hour, Leo assisted Alyssa as she checked and adjusted various ropes and pulleys. She worked with fierce concentration, her instructions clear and direct. Sometimes she'd pause, as if trying to remember something Pierre had taught her. In those moments, her face would cloud over before she forced herself back to the task.

"The sail is loose on the starboard side," she muttered, more to herself than to Leo. "He'd notice that immediately. He'd say—" She stopped again, shaking her head.

Leo pretended not to notice the way her hands trembled slightly.

By early afternoon, dark clouds gathered on the horizon. The wind picked up, carrying the scent of rain. Raven emerged from below deck, her sharp gaze assessing the sky.

"Storm coming," she announced. "Not a big one, but we should prepare."

Alyssa nodded, all business now. "I'll secure the deck. Leo, go below and make sure everything is lashed down."

"Should we..." Leo hesitated, glancing at the captain's door. "Should we tell him?"

The two women exchanged a look that spoke volumes.

"I'll handle it," Raven said finally. "Just do as Alyssa says."

Leo hurried below deck as the first fat raindrops began to fall. He worked quickly, checking that crates and barrels were properly secured. The ship began to pitch more violently as the storm hit, and he had to brace himself against the wall.

Through the wooden beams above, he could hear Alyssa shouting orders and Raven's quick responses. They sounded confident, capable. But there was an edge to their voices that hadn't been there before.

As Leo finished securing the last crate, a particularly violent wave struck the ship. He stumbled, catching himself on a support beam. The ship groaned around him, timbers creaking in protest.

Another sound caught his attention—a thud from the captain's cabin, followed by the sound of breaking glass.

Leo froze, listening. For a moment, there was silence. Then came a low, agonized moan that raised the hair on the back of his neck.

Without thinking, Leo moved toward the sound. The captain's cabin was just down the narrow corridor. The door remained closed, but now Leo could hear movement inside—erratic, stumbling movement, punctuated by muttering too low to make out.

He raised his hand to knock, then hesitated. Who was he to disturb the captain? A nothing. A nobody. Just a boy with a broom.

But the sounds from within the cabin didn't sound right. They sounded like pain.

Leo's knuckles rapped softly against the wooden door. "Captain?"

The movement inside stopped abruptly.

"Captain, there's a storm. Raven and Lady Alyssa are handling it, but..."

Silence stretched, long and taut.

Then, in a voice that sounded raw and hollow: "Go away."

Leo swallowed hard. "Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."

Another wave rocked the ship, sending Leo staggering into the wall. Above, he could hear Alyssa shouting something about the mainsail.

He should go help. He should leave the captain alone. He should—

The door to the captain's cabin cracked open, just a sliver. Through the narrow gap, a single bloodshot eye stared out at Leo. It wasn't the warm blue that Leo remembered from the docks. This eye was ringed with red, the pupil constricted to a pinpoint.

"You." The voice was barely recognizable. "The sweeper boy."

Leo nodded, unable to speak.

The eye blinked, and for a second, something lucid flickered in its depths. "Tell them... tell them I'm fine. Just need to rest."

"But the storm—"

"Raven knows what to do." The eye darted side to side, as if tracking invisible movement. "She always knows what to do."

"Yes, sir." Leo took a step back.

The eye fixed on him again, more focused now. "What's your name? I never asked."

"Leo, sir."

"Leo." The captain seemed to taste the name. "Like a lion. Strong name." The door opened another inch, revealing part of Pierre's face. His his red hair plastered to his forehead. "Do you know what lions do, Leo?"

Leo shook his head.

"They fight." Pierre's knuckles whitened around the edge of the door. "Even when they're outnumbered. Even when they can't win. Remember that."

The door slammed shut, leaving Leo alone in the corridor as the ship pitched and rolled beneath him.

Above deck, the storm raged. Below, in the dark corridor, Leo clutched his broom like a shield, staring at the closed door. Behind it, their captain fought a battle no one could see, against an enemy no one could name.

And Leo understood, with sudden clarity, why Raven buried herself in maps and Alyssa in ropes and knots. It wasn't just the ship that was adrift.

It was all of them.

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