“Land ahoy!” Tyla shouted from the top of the mast.

Anton checked in the direction she was pointing and adjusted their course slightly.

“What does “ahoy” mean?” he asked no one in particular. Soraya was on the bridge and assumed he was talking to her.

“She’s using it wrong,” Soraya said with a sniff. “It’s “ship ahoy” and “land ho”. You can’t mix them up like that.”

“But what does it mean?” Anton asked. “For that matter, what does “ho” mean?”

Soraya pressed her mouth closed, and her tail lashed with frustration. She didn’t want to admit that she didn’t know the answer.

“Sailors are drunk most of the time,” Kelsey said, coming up to join them. “Most sailor lingo can be explained by someone getting blitzed and forgetting the names of things.”

She thought for a moment. “And when I say someone, I mean the entire crew.”

Anton looked at her doubtfully. “I don’t think that’s the reason,” he said. “And if it was, I don’t think you’d know.”

“Trust me, I’m always right,” Kelsey said, smiling easily. “Did I hear that we’d be making land soon?”

“It’s been sighted,” Anton said. “She didn’t call out that she’d seen Kirido, though.”

“We’ve got a compass, not GPS,” Kelsey said. “On dead reckoning, we might have hit Zamarra, but getting our heading close enough to land on Kirido first try is asking a bit much.”

“What do we do, then?” Anton asked. “I don’t think any of us have travelled far outside of town.”

“It’s not complicated,” Kelsey assured him. “We look for a town, if we don’t see one, we pick a random direction and sail until we find a town. They should be able to tell us which way to go after that.”

“Oh, that is pretty simple,” Anton agreed. He supposed it might be a little annoying to go one way and then be told that they needed to sail back the way they came, but that’s all it would be. Kelsey was providing them with fuel, and they had enough food.

Despite Kelsey’s warning, Anton felt a surge of excitement when he saw the dark green line rise about the horizon. He inched the engine into the danger zone before thinking better of it and nudging it back. They waited patiently for the land to resolve itself…

It didn’t look at all familiar. Not that it was strange, it had the usual rocks and trees and grass, but Anton didn’t recognise where it was in relation to home. Nor did any of the crew from further afield. And there wasn’t a village in sight.

“Pick a direction, Captain,” Kelsey said.

Anton picked west. Some of the girls were from further west; if they did happen to be west of Kirido, he might be able to drop them home. When they got to the next coastal village, it turned out that they were east of Kirido.

Anton kept the boat headed west. Home was getting closer.

“Check that out,” Kelsey said as they passed the mouth of a river.

“Check out what?” Anton asked. The only unusual thing about the river was that it didn’t have a settlement at the mouth. The river had cut through a ridge to get to the sea, making the ground nearby unsuitable for building. Looking upriver, though, Anton could see some boats headed in their direction.

“We’ll be taking that river up to the capital after we drop off everyone,” Kelsey said.

“We aren’t taking the roads? I thought that was the fastest way.”

“It’s more direct, and going upriver is slower than going down,” Kelsey allowed. “But that only applies to boats without a Fireheart.”

“Sounds good,” Anton agreed. “I didn’t really want to walk all that way.”

The Whiskerwind cut through the waves, and it wasn’t long before Kirido came into view. Well, something came into view, at least.

“Is that Kirido?” Anton asked.

“It looks a little different, huh?” Kelsey said.

It did. The most obvious difference from the seaside was the tower that guarded the sea approaches. Anton could count himself a world traveller now; he’d seen higher and larger fortifications. When he saw it looming over his hometown, though, it looked bigger.

From here, Anton couldn’t see much of the town wall, but he’d already known that it was going up, wider and higher than before, helped by Kelsey’s construction techniques.

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The jetty had changed as well. Now a stone—or concrete, Anton supposed—pier jutted out into the sea, with smaller wooden jetties branching out for ships to tie on to. Suliel had doubled the number of boats that could use the harbour, Anton judged. Given that one of the ships moored was bigger than any he’d ever seen at Kirido, he guessed that it could take larger ships than before as well.

“It’s looking good,” Kelsey said, looking around with satisfaction. “I haven’t been able to monitor things recently with Suliel being in the capital, but everything seems to be progressing nicely.”

They had been noticed, of course. The tower would have sighted them early enough to have word sent down to the docks, and Anton could see a party waiting for them. He could see that it included guards, which was new. Old Kirido hadn’t bothered to inspect ships when they arrived.

Since they hadn’t recognised the ship, and since they couldn’t have had any idea of what to make of Kelsey’s flag, there was a certain tension in the group as the Whiskerwind approached. Then one of them pointed, and they started talking excitedly.

“I wonder which of us they recognised?” Kelsey wondered. The group on the docks sent someone running back into town while the rest of them waited. They were still tense, but it was a different kind of tension.

Anton slipped the Whiskerwind into what looked to be a convenient berth, easily ignoring all of the issues that would have plagued a regular ship. Anton just lined up with the dock and steadily reduced speed as he approached. At the last moment, he briefly threw the engine into reverse, leaving them motionless.

The welcoming party watched in amazement, and one of them gave a small cheer. Anton’s crew threw ropes to the shore, and they were hastily tied to the jetty posts.

The guards saluted him as he stepped ashore. Anton hadn’t intended to be the first to step off the boat. It had meant an awkward pause as he made his way along a deck crowded with his fellow townsfolk eager to get home. They all insisted, though, gesturing for him to come forward and refusing to step on the gangplank until he did.

“Welcome home, Lord Nos!” the senior guard said. Anton didn’t need to use Discernment; he’d known Ramal Drakos since Anton was a kid. This might be the first time the man had addressed him as Lord Nos, though.

“As you were, Ramal,” Anton said, repressing the urge to berate the man. Drakos—Sargent Drakos, if Anton was reading the new insignia right— was ten years his senior. Hearing the older man call him Lord felt like a joke.

He knew it wasn’t, though.

“It’s good to be back,” he said instead.

“In case you weren’t aware, my Lord,” Ramal said. “Lady Nos has left for the capital. We’ve sent word ahead to the castle for them to prepare your welcome, sir.”

“That’s good, but I think we’re going to need a bigger welcome,” Anton said. He glanced up at the ship, his gaze catching on Aris and Cheia standing together near the prow. “There's a whole crowd here that needs to be reunited with their families and some strangers that need a home. Spread the word that there will be a feast at the castle to go along with some announcements. For now, though…”

He motioned for the welcoming crowd to clear the way.

“Everyone who knows where they’re going, head out!” he called. “Those that don’t, stay here with me.”

There wasn’t a rush. Everyone had learned to step carefully aboard a ship. But they surged forward as fast as they felt they could. When they stepped on solid land, some of them bowed, and some of them shook his hand. Some of them just nodded with tears in their eyes as they rushed past him.

Aris and Cheia were one of the last to leave. Aris embraced him. “We did it,” she said.

“Go on, go find your parents,” Anton said. “I’ll take care of things here.”

They raced off to be replaced by Kelsey. Anton had hardly noticed the pang of fear when she’d been out of his sight, but he noticed when it eased.

“Got everything in hand?” she asked. Anton nodded. He’d hashed a plan out with Suliel through Kelsey’s link. It was enough to seem like he knew what he was doing.

“All right, everyone that’s left, follow me to the castle. We’ll see about getting you a bed, a bath, some food and fresh clothes!”

That got a cheer from the remnants of his crew. With his new citizens at his back, Anton led the way up to the castle.

----------------------------------------

“So soon?” Belan Lucina asked plaintively.

“First thing in the morning,” Anton said. “Kelsey tells me that the tide doesn’t matter, so we’ll head out as soon as it’s light.”

“We,” Cheia said firmly, looking sternly at her father.

“You don’t have to go,” Belan said. “You only just got back!”

Anton took a moment to wonder when he’d started thinking of Aris’s father as Belan instead of Master Lucina. He had a moment; this discussion wasn’t one he wanted to be a part of.

“I’m a gunner now,” Cheia said proudly. “I’m part of the crew, so I’m going with Anton!”

“Lord Nos,” Etase, Cheia’s mother, corrected her.

“Anton is fine,” Anton reminded them. “You’re family, remember?”

“It’s hard to,” Belan said. “I can’t believe that you’re the same boy that Aris would steal muffins for.”

“They weren’t stolen,” Aris protested. She’d been leaning her head on Anton’s shoulder, half asleep from wine and talking. “They belonged to the Lucina family, and I was giving them to him!”

“You’re changing the subject,” Etase said. “Which is supposed to be about Cheia staying here!”

“That’s not happening, mom!” Cheia said. “I’m an adult now, and I can make my own decisions.”

Anton tried to keep the wince off his face. Becoming an adult from killing so many people… Thus far, they’d managed to keep the story from her parents.

“I don’t care if you’re Tier two, you’re still my little girl!” Etase exclaimed. “Aris went to get you back, but you want to leave as soon as you get here!”

“We won’t be long,” Anton tried to assure her. “Just up to the capital, pay honour to the King, and be back again. There shouldn’t be any danger.”

“Then why do you need a gunner?” Belan asked.

Cheia rolled her eyes. “Someone has to keep the gun maintained, Dad. It’s not magic; it will rust if we just leave it under the tarpaulin.”

This wasn’t… strictly true, but Anton held his tongue. Kelsey could disappear the gun and have her skeletons service it.

The argument continued, but Anton managed to stay out of it. To his surprise, Aris didn’t join in either. She and Cheia had argued about it on the trip almost non-stop. Her silence must mean that she’d become convinced, or at least resigned to Cheia coming with them.

Anton let them argue and looked around the courtyard. This feast was a little different from the one held before they’d left. That one had been paid for by Kelsey, hosted at the largest inn in town, and featured wine more than food. This one had involved Anton breaking open the barony’s store of provisions. Meat and vegetables, bread and cheese. Basic food, served on trestle tables in the courtyard. Anton had wanted to get everyone together, celebrating and eating, sharing each other’s joy of reunion.

He nudged Aris fully awake. “We’d better get to bed,” he said. “We’ve got a long day’s sailing ahead of us tomorrow.”