Kewari sat inside a small closet, which had been converted to fit a single wooden bed. The bed was a bed in technical name only. There were no sheets, pillows, or blankets. The simple, efficient surface was only there to facilitate her work tending to the crew. She slapped her current patient on the shoulder.

“Sit back,” she said as he yowled, pleading with her but falling flat against her cold stare.

She treated the small wound on his leg he had picked up, moving crates around. As far as she was informed by his crew mates, the man had accidentally dropped a crate on his leg, sending extra sails spilling everywhere. She struggled to forgive incompetence, though her time with Malysseus slowly improved her sense of forgiveness in all areas of life.

“Honey, I’m home!” Malysseus exclaimed, opening the door and waiting outside with Gurten. There wasn’t any space available for one to fit, let alone both men.

“What did I tell you about calling me ‘honey’?” Kewari fired back.

Malysseus put his fingers to his chin, pretending to think on it, even though he knew exactly what she had said. He scratched his chin and replied, “I think you said something about how it made sense because you were very sweet?”

The cold stare turned on Malysseus but softened involuntarily as she chuckled. She shook her head at the outrageous man—unsure what to say— wrapping cloth around the patient’s cut. When she finished wrapping, she turned her attention briefly to the patient.

“What don’t we do with boxes?” she asked.

“Drop them,” he said, fear still lingering in his voice.

“Great plan. Get out of here.”

The man scrambled to his feet, immediately realizing the injured leg wasn’t withstanding the extra pressure. He caught himself on the wall, steadying his feet. He thanked Kewari, stopping to bow deeply to his Captain using one good leg.

“You have magical healing powers,” Malysseus pointed out once the crew member was gone. “Why didn’t you heal him with the good stuff?”

“It’s a better lesson this way,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

Malysseus cocked his eyebrows but nodded in acknowledgment of her point. He gestured her forward.

“Let’s get out of this cramped hole in the ship,” he suggested. “I was thinking we could have a little chat staring out at the wide blues. They’re even deeper than the pools of your eyes.”

The Captain wiggled his eyebrows at the last sentence, forcing Kewari to roll her eyes. They made their way to the ship’s bow, greeting crew members. Gurten offered one letter from the small stack of letters to each member they passed. They were all exasperated at the extra work but took to the task without verbal complaint. The rest of the crew, having no work involving the bow, stayed out of their way as the preparations continued.

The three leaders leaned against the ship’s railing, peering out to sea, eyes following their planned route. Considering the weeks of travel ahead, the supposed island target wasn’t remotely visible. And yet, all three could visualize the destination anyway. Their destination was an opportunity.

“Are you sure you want in on this?” Malysseus asked, breaking the silence. “No one has come back from this route. You can still back out. I hate to puff you up, but your powers are precious to the kingdom, you know.”

“As yours would be,” Kewari mumbled, too soft for the others to hear.

Hearing the low voice, Malysseus asked quizzically, “What was that?”

“I said I’m in, and I’m not going to change my mind. If you and Gurten are going on this expedition, so am I. Whatever will happen will happen, and we’ll deal with it when it comes.”

“I see.”

Malysseus turned to Gurten, “Why can’t you be a little bit more like Kewari?”

“Too tall,” Gurten said. “If I grew my hair that long, I’d look ridiculous.”

The whole group laughed, easing the tension slightly.

“You’re absolutely certain?” Malysseus asked Kewari, still hoping she would return to her work within the city hospital.

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“Absolutely.”

“Why? I mean, other than Gurten and I going. I need to know why you’re willing to risk it.”

She hesitated, clearly not anticipating the question. The wheels in her head spun as she searched for the explanation herself. In truth, the only reason she was going was for Malysseus. She couldn’t verbalize her feelings, but she always felt better when they were together. She struggled to find a way to talk about it without talking about it.

Finally, she said, “Because why not?”

To her surprise, Malysseus smiled. She wasn’t sure why he smiled. It could have been him picking up on her bullshit. It could have been an appreciation for the nature of her answer, theoretically saying much with few words. Or, given what she knew about Malysseus, he could have been responding to internal confusion. He believed there was no better way to deal than a confident smile.

“Because why not,” he agreed, feeling the words out by verbalizing them. “I’ve certainly heard worse answers before; I can’t argue with that. I hope we find what we’re looking for out there.”

“What are we looking for?” Gurten asked.

“I haven’t the slightest idea,” Malysseus admitted. “But you should have seen the King’s face when I asked him. I’ve never seen him more ready to say yes. My weekly ten gold salary isn’t cutting into his pockets enough to take me out. No, I think there’s something on that island. Something he wants. I just have no clue what it is.”

“So we keep our eyes out for anything interesting?” Kewari asked.

“Don’t we always,” Malysseus said eagerly.

“I suppose we do,” Gurten agreed. “The preparations are going to take a few more hours. You could still go out and make those appointments if you wanted.” He was clear to keep things vague, so Kewari would not grasp the meaning. She, of course, knew exactly what he was getting at but controlled her own reaction.

“Nah,” the Captain said, stealing a glance at Kewari. “They can wait until I get back. Better for me to be seen readying everything with the crew.”

“You’re going to help load the ship?” Gurten asked, genuine shock seeping into his voice.

“Absolutely not,” Malysseus confirmed. “But I’m going to be seen here while the crew works.”

Everyone chuckled, basking in the apprehension for the coming adventure. Gurten left to ensure the crew made swift progress on the preparations. Malysseus and Kewari sat on the bow in absolute silence, watching the seas and absorbed in their thoughts.

Kewari thought of uncertain futures and how excited she was to face them with the man next to her. She was always interested in adventure, but this was a real chance to be part of something unique. She knew she might even make a difference in the crew’s survival. Malysseus, for his part, was deep in thought about how to further prepare his magics. He formulated a plan in his head to master lightning spells. There were rumors among Wizards of a stage in spell development after the combination magics were completed.

In any other company, their eerie silence would have been uncomfortable. The dozen years spent together learning and training magic brought them close together. There were already plenty of nights on the books spent in silence studying. Though different on the surface, this situation wasn’t any more uncomfortable in their history.

Finally, Kewari broke the silence, “Do you think everything is going to be okay?”

“People often tell me it will,” Malysseus said.

“That’s not an answer,” she protested. “I’m asking for your personal opinion.”

“My opinion is that, in the end, it doesn’t really matter. It’s like you said earlier. Whatever will be, will be. The only real choice we have is how we decide to deal with it. I plan to deal with it by standing by you, Gurten, and the crew. Gurten needles me, saying the crew is doing this expedition for money, but the only ten people to agree have sailed with me for years. The truth is: there’s more trust on this ship than anything else. If anyone’s got this, we’ve got this.”

Kewari smiled, the lingering remnants of her concerns firmly squashed. “Thank you,” she said.

“What can I say,” he said. “Except you’re welcome.”

Gurten reappeared, the preparations having passed away in comfortable silence. He looked excited, the large man practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. “The crew is ready for you to speak,” he said.

“Prepare to sail off,” Malysseus said, watching his First Mate begin to untie the sails for the ship. One of the crewmen was already removing the dock tether. Malysseus turned his back on the ocean, facing an assembled crew awaiting his words.

“Whatever we face, we face it together. There’s enough sailing experience on this ship to add higher than I can count, my friends. I’m pleased to be in the company of every single one of you. We have supplies for weeks. I know this is an unusual trip.”

He paused to pat the small saber he carried on his hip. He had enchanted it to freeze anything the blade came into contact with. Although, the crew was unaware of the weapon’s ability. On the hip of each crew member was a similar, if unenchanted, blade.

“We’re carrying weapons, but that’s not a cause for concern. It’s to make us feel more comfortable with whatever we might face in the unknown. The weapons are a token of our preparation. It’s better to have a sword and not need one than to need one and not have one. You get the picture.”

Malysseus smirked as he got to the end of his speech, appreciating the chance to be a gentle thorn in the side of his own crew.

“I’m not one for loading boxes. That’s why I’m the Captain, so I can avoid grunt work at any cost. But from this point forward, I’m by your side. Pirates? I’m by your side. Impending icebergs? I’m by your side. Whatever we face, we face it together.”

As he repeated his initial words, the crowd’s cheers built to a roar. The excitement could be tangibly felt in the air, the sheer power of it all pushing into Malysseus and Kewari at the ship’s bow. Gurten, having set the boat to sail, walked up to stand beside them.

“If things get terrible, the Captain is going to tell us the story of Sarah,” Gurten said, yelling over the crew and promptly ruining any goodwill accrued. The excited chatters of a crew prepared to war with the sea turned to confusion.

“Sarah?” Kewari cut in. “Sarah who?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Malysseus said, turning to the ocean breeze and beaming as he lit another cigar.