Lunars of the Caribbean

So Many Names (19)

Winter led Cinder – or Selene, depending on who she was talking to – back to the beach. The crew was there, bickering on what else to stock the ship with and who was in charge.

This didn't last long, as Thorne and his ship sailed around the edges of the island to stop near the Solstice. At the helm, Thorne was more giddy than a child on Christmas. He wasn't even touching the wheel, or any part of the ship that was moving. Though he wore the "key" to the ship around his neck.

"Look Cinder!" he shouted. "No hands!"

Of course, Thorne could be controlling a magical ship, being a total wizard, and still find a way to make it stupid.

Once back to the beach, they caught sight of Thorne, and Cinder barely believed her eyes. Thorne was standing up in a rowboat heading for shore, and it was rowing itself.

"How are you doing that?" Cinder called out to him. He Jumped out of the rowboat, onto the sand, and walked towards them. His swagger was too powerful to map on a scale. "How are you controlling the entire ship with magic?"

Winter smiled. "The crescent moon necklace he is wearing is the key to utilizing the power of the ship. There once was a girl who's body was dying, and asked me to save her. So, I bound her soul to the Rampion, making her immortal. She does not feel pain, or sadness, or heartbreak. She has her dream. To sail the seas forevermore."

"Why would she want that?" While the idea of sailing the seas for eternity sounded appealing to Cinder, the part about having your soul bound to a vessel was not.

Thorne joined them, saying, "Because she was already immortal, but her body was not. So if she'd stayed in her first body, she would have rotted away like those guys who go to the Isle de Muerta."

Cinder had no clue who those guys were, yet Winter knew the story well. Rather than ask, as Thorne was involved in far too many supernatural events for Cinder to contain them all in her head, Cinder nodded and pretended to know. "Who was the girl?"

He grinned to the ship, as if to say hi to the girl living within the Rampion. "Darla. Darla Rampion. I named the ship after her. She was a pirate sorceress .. who taught me everything I know. Protecting the ship she gave me, it was the least I could do to keep her from rotting away in some cave."

Again, Cinder was surprised how kind, generous, and sensitive Thorne could be. He entrusted the ship to a priestess of Calypso to protect it from those who would misuse it. Now, he would use it to save the person who was at the center of Thorne's heart.

But if they had any desire to go anywhere, Thorne had to hold up his end of the bargain. From the look on Winter's face, she would demolish the Rampion if Thorne backed out of his side of the deal.

His classic grin played on his lips. "Clay! Come over here!" he hollered. Surely enough, Clay caught the request and jogged over to them. The moment his eyes found Winter, he stiffened. Not from anger or hatred.

From nervousness.

He gulped, and inquired, "What do you want, pirate?"

The captain rolled his eyes. "You know, you're the one who pretended to be one of us. So if pirates are so bad, you're even worse. You're a pirate wannabe."

Clay's jaw tightened. After the quick glance at Winter before, he'd refrained from allowing his eyes to drift to her a second time. Either he was uninterested in the priestess, not eager to see another lunar, or ... he was intimidated by her. Cinder indulged in the last option, allowing herself to think Clay could be scared of someone rather than try to inspire fear in others.