Page 9 of Unmoored

“Well,” the Commander said. “It wasn’t unsuccessful. You still learnedsomething, even if it wasn’t what we hoped for.”

“Commander Adri is right,” the Queen echoed. “Thank you for your service, Captain Draya. You are dismissed.”

“There is… something else,” I blurted out. There was a chance I’d regret my next words, but I didn’t feel it was something I should hide from my Queen or my superior. “I ran into a… peculiar creature.”

They looked at each other for a moment before returning their gaze to me, eyes full of questions.

“Explain,” the Queen said.

“I encountered a shipwreck in the Northern Atlantic, which isn’t out of the ordinary. But this time, there was a survivor.”

Both of them straightened, leaning forward in unison.

“In truth, she shouldn’t have survived,” I said slowly, unsure how exactly to explain Hazel. “I found a woman floating in the water, far deeper than any human should be able to survive, and I assumed she was dead. I had intended to move her corpse out of the open water, but when I reached her body, I noticed glowing streaks in her hair.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t some type of fish or bacteria?” Commander Adri asked.

“I’m sure, Commander,” I replied. “When I reached her, she opened her eyes, and I rushed her to the surface where she coughed up torrents of water and began to breathe again.”

“So you saved her life,” the Queen said dryly. “How kind of you.”

“I don’t understand how she was still alive, Your Highness.”

“Perhaps she had only been underwater for a short time before you reached her,” she replied. I considered it for a moment, trying not to show annoyance that the Queen assumed I hadn’t thought of that already.

“So you saved a human’s life,” Commander Adri interrupted my musing. “Then what?”

“I brought her to the island of Akala. Her family was sending her to the Asylum.”

“You spoke to her?” The Queen asked, her brow furrowing. “Did you reveal yourself?”

“Partially,” I answered, and the Commander shook his head. They had every right to be angry with me. Revealing myself to Hazel was quite foolish. The more humans that knew of the Talassi’s existence, the more danger we were inherently placed in.

“Captain Draya,” the Queen said, her voice laden with disappointment.

“I put her to sleep before leaving her at Akala,” I said quickly. “And… I believe she had magic... Of sorts.”

The room was silent for a moment, their gazes raking over me as I forced myself to continue.

“She was terrified throughout our entire interaction, and I believe her fear conjured a storm,” I said. “And not just a small thunderstorm, a raging cyclone that would have swept us both away if I hadn’t used my voice. My song calmed her down, but I was quite perturbed.”

“Why didn’t you kill her?” Commander Adri asked.

“I suppose I should have,” I said. “But… she’d been tied up and thrown off the boat before it wrecked, and perhaps I’m growing soft, because I couldn’t bring myself to add to the cruelty. So I sang her to sleep then dropped her on the beaches of Akala, where I knew no one would believe her anyway if she decided to mention the Talassi.”

“Fascinating,” The Queen started, tapping her claws against the conch shell. “I can’t say I’m particularly happy with your decision, but I don’t believe it warrants punishment.”

“Keep an eye on her, Captain,” the Commander said. “If she truly has magic, I’m curious to know what and who she is.”

“Myself as well,” I agreed.

They dismissed me shortly after, and I thanked the spirits of the sea that the Queen wasn’t furious with me. Although I didn’t tell them she was an Emerson. If I hadn’t omitted that small detail, their response would likely have been much different.

I headed straight for my own home, a humble cottage located on the outskirts of the city. It had been over two weeks since I’d left, and I was eager to sleep in my own bed of kelp and eat some of my favorite oysters. But as relieved as I was to be back in my own habitat, I couldn’t shake the curious feeling that wouldn’t let go of a certain pale-haired woman named Hazel.

JOURNAL ENTRIES FROM THE AKALA ASYLUM

HAZEL