A Sea of Eternal Woe

As Captain Wendy Maynard...

I have everything I ever dared dream of. A ship all my own. Friends by my side. A purpose—and a home.

I should have known it would all go to shit.

The exhausting combination of storms and outrunning monsters have left The Jolly Serpent battered and broken, and my crew no longer trusts me to pick up the pieces. Just when it looks like Peter and I are about to be thrown overboard, the unlikeliest of saviors shows up…

My father.

I didn’t plan on seeing Captain Hook again so soon, but he needs me, and I need him. The sea witch Ursa is hiding far more than secrets, and if the rumors are to be believed? Her realm makes the horrors of Neverland look warm and fuzzy in comparison. Failure to retrieve what we’ve lost simply isn’t an option. If we do, it’s not our lives Ursa wants.

It’s our very souls.

Kaara

A single, faint knock echoed through my chamber for the forty-seventh time today. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Why must my visitors always knock so hesitantly, as if hoping I wouldn’t hear? Anyone who found themselves on the other side of that door had run out of options, time, or both. They could either face me or die. Not a difficult choice for most, but there were consequences not even I had foreseen. Cowardice had become a rather large issue. Sniveling, groveling humans were not only hopelessly dull, they were the opposite of what I had come here to find.
I decided right then that I wouldn’t entertain another, at least not today. Forty-Seven had precisely thirty seconds to impress me, or I would turn them into a fountain to adorn the space to my left. I already had one on the right, but I wanted a matching set.

“Come in,” I said through a smirk.

The door opened of its own accord, and in limped a woman. Her clothes were ragged and torn, her skin shone far too pale in the candlelight, and she smelled of Nightstalkers and death. She refused to meet my gaze. In one hand she clutched a mysterious parcel, while the other gripped the base of her bulging belly so tightly it was almost as if she were afraid its contents would come spilling out at any moment.

I rose from my chair, my interest instantly piqued. I hadn’t seen this particular kind of desperation for quite a while. Was this mother-to-be’s motivation for seeking me out selfish or selfless, I wondered? Could she actually be the one? After decades of scouring and procuring soul after unfortunate soul, searching for the only one capable of retrieving my trident, could she be the one? To not only be able to enter the Sea of Eternal Woe, but reemerge unharmed and whole? I sensed no taint on her; at least, nothing more than the curse lingering in her bones. Easily lifted if need be, but she’d need to prove her worth to me first. Either way, I’d already decided against the fountain idea, brilliant as it may have been. She had indeed managed to impress me, all without opening her mouth.

As she set the parcel onto the marble table currently dividing us, I gestured to her belly. Even if she had wanted to hide the pregnancy, she couldn’t have, not as far along as she was. “Congratulations.”

She shot me such a fierce glare that had I not been who I was, I might have flinched. The defiance impressed me almost as much as the fire in her voice when she spoke. “Cut the shit. I’m here for—”

“My dear.” I spoke across her smoothly, gesturing for one of my nymphs lining the walls to fetch our visitor a chair. Already I admired her spirit. It would serve her well should she ever enter the Sea. “It’s not shit. It’s polite conversation. Around here, introductions come before demands.”

The woman didn’t falter. “You’re Ursa?”

It wasn’t my true name, but I nodded anyway. Posing as a human witch had proven more than necessary. If I revealed my identity as a goddess, I’d have both worshippers and the desperate alike showing up on my doorstep, and I didn’t have the time nor the patience for that. “Indeed. And you are?”

She shoved away the chair my nymphs had offered her with surprising strength given her condition, choosing to remain on her feet. “My name is irrelevant.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” I kept my voice even but narrowed my gaze. Her defiance was admirable at first, but now it was hindering my game, my plans. And no one hindered my plans.

“No, you won’t.” Her fingers twitched at her sides, most likely missing the weapons she’d been forced to leave behind prior to entering my chamber. “I’ve been… away. And in that time, I’ve learned a lot about names and what they mean.” She paused, gaze clouded over for a fraction of a second, but recovered quickly. “Because of mine, I’ve been hunted and kidnapped, beaten and abused, forced to run for gods know how long.”

“I didn’t ask where you’ve been.” My fingers gripped the edge of the table so tightly my knuckles shone as white as the foamy tide. “I asked your name.”

“No, names,” she said again, her tone a warning. She clearly sensed my irritation, for she added, “I suppose you’re accustomed to being feared. But unlike most you bargain with, I’ve faced witches before, so if you want to scare me, you’ll need to try harder than that.”

Good thing I was far more than a witch.