Page 13 of Unmoored

I wonder if the cave on the jetty feels like the solitary cells.

It couldn’t be any worse, could it?

—

May 8th, 1879

They killed Bucky.

I’ve had my suspicions about this place since I arrived, but now I'm sure. These people are wretched, this place is evil, and my only friend is gone.

Two nights ago, he stumbled into my room in a franticstate, telling me I could no longer sneak out to the beach. I cried inconsolably like a small child, and he brushed my hair from my face as he told me it was temporary. I knew he was lying.

The next morning, they informed me and the other patients that he’d died of a heart attack in his sleep.

I know they killed him. They likely found out that he’d been favoring me, allowing me freedoms that other patients didn’t have. And theykilled him for it.

The idea makes me sick to my stomach. What have I ever done to these people to make them hate me so much? It’s a shame I didn’t just drown in the depths when I was tossed from that ship!

I hate this place. I hate my father. I hate this life. I can’t keep fighting. I have nothing left to fight for at this point.

I’ve concluded that the Talassi must be something I made up in my mania after the shipwreck. There’s no conceivable way they exist. And maybe I am truly insane. Maybe the Akala Asylum really is where I belong, and my father was right all along.

I hope they send me back to shock hydrotherapy. This time, I won’t hold my breath, and I’ll do everyone a favor when they pull my corpse from the tank.

PART II

7

DRAYA

May 10, 1879

As a Talassi Warrior, I spent plenty of time in meetings with my Commander and the rest of my comrades. We had a central meeting room and training area within the Queen’s manor, and we manned smaller gatehouses surrounding the perimeter of the Talassian Capital. Outside the Capital, we maintained several outposts scattered throughout the seven seas, allowing us to communicate with and work alongside other pods of Talassi.

Our section of the manor was as beautiful and intricate as the rest of the estate, the floors and walls adorned with shells and sea stones that sparkled under the rays of sunlight trickling through the reef above us. My team gathered around a table made of driftwood, and prepared for Commander Adri to brief us on all happenings within the Talassi world.

Just as the meeting was about to start, he ushered in the Queen and she took her usual place at the head of the table.Her expression was dull, her normally bright green eyes sullen as she looked up from the table.

“Welcome, Your Highness,” my Commander said. “Please, begin.

“Thank you, Commander,” she replied. “First and foremost I’d like to thank you all for being here, your hard work and effort towards keeping our people safe is not lost on me.”

We all bowed our heads in acknowledgement.

“I regret to inform you all that the fleets barreling through our waters continue to grow larger and more disruptive. There’s a certain convoy of ships that are powered by coal, and their large propellers pose a risk to any Talassi or sea creature that has the misfortune of being in their path.”

“Steam ships,” another Talassi named Maki piped up. He was, in the loosest definition of the word, a friend, but he mostly irritated me. Though he was an extremely smart and useful warrior, he possessed more social skills than I did and always seemed to be at ease when speaking with others, a skill I had never been able to master.

He was a spy, often shifting into his human form for days on end to infiltrate their cities, gathering information about trade routes, fleets, and ship designs. He was the reason I was familiar with Whitethorn Bay, as he had directly extracted intel from Lord Emerson himself.

“Emerson is in the process of transitioning his entire fleet to steam ships, as they are faster and can carry more than sailboats,” Maki continued.

“Wonderful,” I muttered, trying to stop my thoughts from drifting to his daughter, who still haunted me.

“I assume there is no way of stopping this?” The Queen asked, shaking her head.

“From what I’ve gathered, no,” Maki answered. “I pushed for meetings with Lord Emerson and his associates, but was turned away. They weren’t aware that I was Talassi, but I don’t believe that would have helped our cause. If they speak of us at all, it’s derogatory, and I don’t believe they have any interest in reinstating any type of peace treaty.”