Amanda eyed Sandy’s drink, which was blood-red, because it was quite literally blood. She’d been trying not to look but it was difficult given the glass it was served in and way it moved like syrup made it obvious what it was.

  Sandy noticed her gaze. “We can drink regular coffee too, however adding blood to the caffeine makes it taste much better.” He leaned forward and in a conspiratorial voice whispered, “For the really good stuff though, nothing beats concentrated plasma from caffeinated donors.”

  Amanda frowned. “You mean that’s not from a caffeinated donor?”

  Sandy shrugged. “May be, may not be. The dose is always too low. Some say they can taste the difference but pah.” Sandy waved a hand dismissively then he returned to his conspiratorial whispering with a glint in his eye, “Someone drunk on the other hand…” he grinned. Then he took on a serious expression, “Of course in most places legal donors are required to be sober when donating so alcoholic blood is a bit of a grey area. There’s a risk to the donor too of course, given alcohol thins the blood. Some vampires find it a bit too watery in texture as well.”

  Sandy had already been more than helpful at explaining what was to happen at the hearing, which was he had emphasised not a trial. Apparently it was more like a mediation between Sirius and Sirena. There was just as much chance that they found Sirena guilty as there was of finding Sirius guilty. Amanda had relaxed more after hearing that. There was no way any one in their right mind was siding with Sirena.

  Sandy had waned them that it wasn’t likely to be that straightforward so Sirius was taking things seriously, while Amanda, who was far less worried kept accidentally distracting Sandy with other questions.

  “So who else is on the council?” Sirius asked, returning them to the conversation they’d been having before getting sidetracked.

  “So, there’s 13 of us in total-”

  “Including Nigel?” Amanda asked.

  “Yes but by the time of your hearing he’ll have been replaced. I can’t say with who for sure but I do know the names on the shortlist.”

  “You don’t take part in the selection?” Sirius asked. He took a sip of his hot chocolate. As it turned out, he didn’t drink coffee. He’d even said yes to marshmallows.

  Amanda had gotten a long black with a little bit of milk and she was surprised at how smooth and creamy it tasted. It was quite easily the best coffee she’d ever had. Her father’s coffee had always been gritty and watery at the same time. The sort one had to drink with their teeth clenched least they swallow the grinds.

  Sandy shook his head. “We have a different council for that.”

  “But we have you and Beatrice on our side at least?” Amanda said.

  But, to her surprise, Sandy shook his head. “That depends. We are required by Capilliaria law and our position as council members to be objective.”

  “Objectively,” Amanda replied, “Sirena is a grade A bitch. She-”

  Sandy held up a hand to silence her. “We are not to discuss specifics of the case outside the hearing. I can answer questions about process but no details about the actual case itself.”

  They turned their attention to less controversial discussion and finished their coffees.

  Amanda complained to Sirius on the way back. “They can’t just take the word of some crazy woman who’s turned up out of nowhere with unfounded accusations. And Sandy barely told us anything. He didn’t say what she’s actually accusing you of. Like surely, they should be telling you what you’re accused of before the trial... I mean hearing, so you can prepare for it properly.”

  Sirius was walking quickly again. Amanda had to trot alongside him, but he slowed a little as he replied thoughtfully, “I think that’s the point. It doesn’t give you time to make something up.”

  “But if you were actually guilty then you’d know what the accusation was.”

  “I think we do kinda know though don’t we?”

  Amanda shook her head. “There are multiple things she could be accusing us of.”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t be saying things like that out loud.” Sirius glanced back at the four guards following them.

  “Just cause I know what she might accuse us of doesn’t mean we’re actually guilty.” Amanda believed every word she said. Even so, she too gave the guards a nervous look. “How are we supposed to defend ourselves against unknown accusations?”

  Sirius stopped and turned to face her. “We’ll find out tomorrow. In the meantime, let’s go down to the port and see what sort of evidence we can gather.”

  “No stepping foot on the ship,” a guard reminded them.

  Sirius gave a nod. “Don’t worry, I won’t. I just want to talk to my crew.” To Amanda he said, “We’ll see if we can round up some witnesses.”

  “Witnesses for what?”

  “Anything Michael said or did, witnesses who can vouch for the issues with the beetles and arasnids, proof that the pegasus is yours.”

  Amanda froze. “Do you think she’s going to go after Ghost?”

  Sirius turned around and gave her a sympathetic look. “I don’t know but let’s be prepared just in case.”

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  They found several crew members willing to speak on behalf of events that had occurred on the ship, as well as a few who offered to say whatever was needed even if it wasn’t the truth. Sirius turned the latter down.

  Amanda went on board, without Sirius, to see Ghost and check how he was doing. She stroked his neck and whispered in his ear that they’d be out of here soon and then he would get to do lots of flying. She hoped that was the truth. One more night, then they’d be back on the open ocean. She was surprised to find she missed it. The time spent in the underground and the shadow of the channel cliffs made her long for the open air and the brightness of the sun. She even missed the jostling of the waves.

  When she rejoined Sirius on shore she was surprised to see him directing new crates to be loaded onto the ship. She’d thought all the loading of new shipments had been done already.

  “What’s in there?” she asked.

  “Crabs,” Sirius replied. Then he lifted the lid off one so she could see. The blanched beast was dead and packed inside an insulated box.

  “That’s not a crab, that’s a monster,” she told Sirius when she saw how big it was. When he’d said there were crabs in the channel she’d been imagining standard crabs at a size which fit in the palm of a hand or two, not this thing that made her glad she hadn’t known what it was when they’d been in the water. It probably wouldn’t have fit across ten full-sized dinner plates. It probably wouldn’t have fit on her parents dining room table.

  Sirius didn’t leave the lids off for long. Once she’d had a good look, he placed both firmly back on and made sure they were secure. “They’re rare, the white ones, an expensive delicacy. It’s Crick’s job to keep them cold. The council’s organised for us to ship them as an apology for what happened with Nigel’s crew.”

  “Sounds like they expect the trial… hearing”-she rolled her eyes-”to go okay for you then.”

  “Mmm, maybe.”

  Sirius didn’t sound convinced. Amanda watched him give instructions on where to put the new crates for awhile. Then she went and found Crick. He was moving some smaller stuff around in the lower hold to make room for the larger crab crates.

  “How’s the frostbite?” she asked.

  “Huh?” He glanced up with a confused expression on his face.

  She held up her wrists. “When you broke out of the cuffs.”

  “Oh, yeah, it’s fine. Patchie healed them right up.” His expression warmed and he wiggled his own wrists.

  “Is that risky?” She still wasn’t sure how good Patchie really was at healing.

  Crick shrugged. “It’s not so bad for the extremities. It’s worse if you let him heal an organ.”

  “Which is probably what you really want healed,” Amanda remarked with a wry smile.

  “Yeah.” Crick laughed. He was so much friendlier now than when she’d first met him.

  He was quiet a moment, although he kept moving things. Amanda was about to leave when he asked, “How’s the captain?”

  Amanda smiled. “Good I think. He seems to be taking it seriously.”

  “Yeah, he always does. Never seems too worried about things though. He’s got a cool head.”

  There was more silence but Amanda could tell he had more to say in the way he shifted like his shirt itched.

  Finally he looked up. “You tell him we won’t leave without him okay? I know most of us would never say it and we ain’t always been the best crew, but he’s a good captain.”

  Amanda nodded and gave him another smile. “I’ll tell him.”

  Then she left and went to catch up with some of the others.

  She found Bruce in the galley prepping for dinner. She leaned across the counter. “How’s cheffing going?”

  “Yeah, good.”

  “But?” she asked sensing hesitation in his tone.

  Bruce shifted uncomfortably. “Promise you won’t tell the others?”

  Amanda crossed her chest. “Cross my heart, hope to die.”

  Bruce frowned.

  “It’s a playground saying,” she explained, surprised he hadn’t heard it.

  “Oh. Well,” he sighed. “I know Kip’s dead and all… I saw the body even… so he can’t possibly be sneaking around in here all invisible like… but I swear somebody keeps moving stuff around.”

  “Maybe it’s one of the other guys,” she suggested.

  Bruce shook his head. “It’s while I’m in here though.”

  Amanda imagined the creepy old chef as a real ghost and she nearly jumped out of her skin when a voice spoke behind her.

  It was just Shiv though. “I think Sirius is looking for you,” he told her.

  She thanked him and returned to the dock where the crate loading looked to be just about done.

  Sirius was pleased to see her. “I was wondering where you’d gotten to. You want to go back to those pools before dinner?”

  She eyed him from head to toe and grinned.

  He gave a short laugh. “We do have an entourage,” he reminded her with a nod at the guards who looked bored but hadn’t sat down to rest at all.

  Amanda shrugged. She didn’t care. Those pools had been so nice, she didn’t think anything could ruin spending more time in them alone with Sirius.

  She was wrong. She’d assumed the guards would just wait at the exit or something but they came right in with them and never let the couple out of their sight. Eventually she had to admit, even if she hadn’t intended to do anything naughty with Sirius, just having four strangers watching them take a bath did make it awful hard to relax.

  “Does it feel like an extra long day to you?” she asked Sirius as they took a seat at dinner. They’d done a little bit of shopping after the pools. One of the guards had proved beneficial when after walking around trying to decide where to eat, Amanda having gotten tired of the guards just following silently had turned around and playfully asked if any of them knew a good place to eat. As it turned out, one of them knew a very nice place. It wasn’t too expensive by the looks of it either, although the waiter had asked which menu they would like to see and when both of them had hesitated he’d simply smiled and had chosen for them. Amanda suspected the other one was more expensive. She was happy with this though.

  The place was quaint with black and white checkered tablecloths and more candles. The roof was natural cave like, all curvy and low. The unevenness of it made the shadows multiply and dance.

  “I was up pretty early,” he replied with an almost straight face and the barest hint of a smirk.

  “Oh shit! You were too. You were up long before I was even. And you didn’t have any coffee.”

  “Mmm, I’ve been thinking about trying it,” he replied with a considered look.

  “What coffee? Not now you don’t,” she replied with a laugh. “You won’t sleep a wink.”

  He laughed and nodded.

  “It’s addictive,” she warned as the waiter arrived.

  “What would you like to drink?” the waiter asked them.

  Amanda’s smile fell. What did she want to drink? It had been a long day, and an extra rough one, although not the worst one she’d had recently. The end to it was pretty good.

  “Just water’s fine,” Sirius said.

  “Yeah, water’s fine,” Amanda agreed before her brain could trick her into ordering a beer. This time she was going to go a week.

  Her tone must have caught Sirius’s attention, or perhaps it was just the fact that she’d ordered water, for he gazed at her and tilted his head slightly. He said nothing at first.

  But she couldn’t meet his eyes and when she shifted uncomfortably he remarked, “I won’t judge if you want to have a drink. I was just… before, with the bet and all, it was just-”

  She raised her face and looked him dead in the eye. “You were right.” She did her best to then casually add, “Anyway, water is fine.”

  She knew she hadn’t pulled of the casual part but Sirius gave her an understanding smile and said no more on the topic. Instead, he told her about the crabs. And she told him about some of her chats with the crew and what Crick had said. Sirius was surprised but grateful. They talked about music and the stars and many other things, all through dinner and back in their room. They talked until their eyes grew heavy and they fell asleep in each other’s arms.