Yoyo stood at the threshold of the medical bay, blocking Ember with one arm. "I need to work without distractions, Captain."
Ember hesitated, the urge to argue flickering in her eyes — but she knew better. Yoyo could be impossible, but her talent was worth every ounce of attitude. "I'll be on deck," Ember said quietly. "Let me know if—"
"I will." Yoyo's tone softened for just a heartbeat. "Now out you go."
Once the door closed, she turned to her patients. The young woman lay motionless on the cot, pale beneath the flickering lamplight. Yoyo placed a hand on her forehead.
An eerie glow ignited behind Yoyo's eyes, faintly blue and steady. She peered inward, her magic letting her see what ordinary eyes could not — the body unfolding before her mind like a written page.
"Concussion… three cracked ribs, a broken arm… and that liver—oh, sweetheart, that's a nasty tear." Her voice softened as she spoke, all gruffness replaced by focus. "We'll start there."
A low hum filled the room — not sound exactly, but vibration, a pulse that seemed to echo from the heart of the world itself. Yoyo pressed both palms over the damaged organ. The glow deepened as she mended the laceration, knitting tissue back together, restoring the blood's steady rhythm.
She moved next to the ribs, her breath coming slower. "Tch. These will take too much out of me to fix completely." She drew her hands away and then placed them again, coaxing the fractures into accelerated healing — enough to stabilize, sufficient to stop the pain. Bruises faded. The girl's shallow breaths evened out.
Yoyo stepped back after a few minutes, studying the burns that mottled her patient's skin. "Sorry, kid. The burns are minor — you'll have to wait. Your friend's next."
She exhaled, glancing toward the small otter lying in a damp towel beside the cot. "Your Highness…" She snorted, amused. "If that crazy bird up there's right, maybe the captain'll make me a duchess for saving her family."
Shaking her head, Yoyo placed a hand gently on the otter's furred head. "Let's see what's rattling around in there."
The glow returned, brighter this time. "Bad cranial injury, burns, bruises… you've had a rough day." She grinned faintly. "Lucky for you, Doctor Yoyo's on the case."
Bending until her forehead touched the otter's, she focused intensely — her magic diving into broken pathways, repairing ruptured blood vessels, reweaving nerve endings, reshaping bone where it had splintered.
Minutes passed before she drew back, sweat beading across her brow. She wiped it away with a clean cloth, breathing hard but smiling.
"Alright, little one," she murmured. "You'll live. The burns I can't fix completely, but I'll make sure you don't scar. You'll still be pretty enough to complain about it later."
**
Bane approached, his bare feet silent against the deck. "How are you holding up, Your Highness?"
Ember frowned. "I'm not royalty."
Bane's weathered face cracked into a small smile. "Can you tell me more about Isadora's birth?"
Ember shrugged lightly. "You know as much as I do. The Duke waited for the birth even though his enemies were closing in. When she was born, he took her—vanished like a thief."
"And that's it?" Bane asked, his golden eyes steady. "Why wait? Daughters in the Beast Empire aren't exactly cherished."
Ember lowered her gaze, staring at the Kingfisher's deck. "He was told the child would be a boy. When it wasn't, he flew into a rage."
Bane waited, studying her face. "He left you alone?"
She shook her head. "I was with a Magi midwife named Lora."
"She's the one who told Duscanti you would bear a son?"
"Yes," Ember said quietly, after a long pause.
"Is that everything, Captain?"
Ember opened her mouth, then closed her eyes as her face paled. Tears welled before she could stop them. "Isadora was a twin," she whispered. "I had a son, too. Duscanti left before the midwife discovered it."
"A son…" Bane breathed. "That would have changed everything."
"I know," Ember said, her eyes full of grief.
"What happened to him?"
A sob tore through her, shaking her slim frame. "He was so beautiful. The three of us moved to Thaigmaal."
"Three?" Bane prompted gently.
"Lora came with me. Duscanti left a small pouch of gold — enough to buy a tailor shop with a little apartment above."
Ember wiped at her eyes, pushing the pain back as best she could.
"It was six months later when a man showed up asking questions about my parents and Devon's father."
"You named the boy Devon?"
She nodded, voice trembling. "So smart… already standing. I can't…"
"You must finish," Bane urged softly.
"I was at auction, buying fabric. The shop was closed. Lora and Devon were upstairs." Ember's voice went dull, emotionless. "It burned to the ground. They said it was deliberate… the whole shop doused in oil."
"That was it? No bodies?"
"A few bones. The fire was so hot it took everything." Ember finally lifted her gaze. "A ragged hole tore through my heart that day — one that will never heal."
Bane said nothing. He understood loss, and the silence between them held the weight of it. Was it Duscanti's enemies? Or were they hunting the Rat King's heir?
A moment later, Yoyo stepped onto the deck. "They're both fine. I expect a full recovery — little to no scarring."
Ember's eyes shone. "Thank you, Yoyo…"
The doctor waved her off, already pulling out her pipe. "Don't get soft on me, Captain. You're still on the hook for leaving me in the damn ocean. I had to swim all the—"
She stopped mid-rant, realizing Ember had already vanished below deck, leaving her alone with Bane.
**
A warm hand held hers, and soothing words drifted over her like sunlight through mist. Isa floated upward through the haze, filled with a strange sense of wonder. Had anyone ever soothed her? Held her hand?
The smell of medicine—sharp, clean—mixed with the faint sweetness of herbs and flowers. Her sensitive nose twitched, the only sign of life before her eyes fluttered open.
The ceiling came into focus first: dark wooden planks, definitely not the Sea Lynx. She turned her head toward the person holding her hand, memories surfacing slowly through the fog of healing herbs. "My crew?"
"Only Yun survived," Ember said softly, suddenly unsure of herself. "She hasn't woken yet."
Isa's nose wrinkled; her eyes filled. "It's my fault. All of it. My fault."
Ember leaned closer and laid a steady hand on her forehead. "Don't think about that now. Just focus on healing. We'll mourn them properly once you're able."
Isa stared at her, confused. "You're consoling me? My father says only those who've erred badly need consoling."
Ember's mouth curved faintly. "Good to know that after fourteen years, Duscanti is still an ass."
Isa's lips twitched. "No one would dare say that to his face. What is your name? How do you know my father?"
Ember shushed her gently, stroking her hair. "My name is Ember."
Isa's dark eyes widened. Memory surged—Dem's bloodrite among the tribals, that impossible moment when she had seen through his eyes from across the world and heard the name whispered through his past. "Ember? Then…"
Ember nodded, unable to speak as tears spilled down her cheeks. Joy lit her face so brightly her cheeks ached from the force of her own smile. For a heartbeat, Isa mirrored it—something open and raw and hopeful—before it shuttered behind caution.
"What is it?" Ember whispered, her heart sinking. The pirate queen seemed to wither, fear and uncertainty settling into her posture. Was her daughter disappointed?
"Mother…" Isa winced at the stiffness of her own voice. She wanted nothing more than to throw herself into Ember's arms, to be held, to feel like a child just once. But questions roared up between them like a storm wall. Why was Demetri among the tribals? How did he end up alone in Thaigmaal?
"He took you against my will," Ember said through clenched teeth. "I was weak from a… difficult birthing."
Isa studied her mother, desperate to trust, but still uncertain. Then the realization hit her: She doesn't know Dem is alive.
"What about after?" Isa pressed. "Were you so afraid of my father?"
Ember shook her head, pain crossing her features. "He was powerful and vicious. But I have never feared him."
Isa's stomach twisted. She wanted more truth—but dreaded it all the same.
"You were a twin, Isadora," Ember said suddenly, decisively, as if choosing honesty over safety. "You had a brother named Devon. Your father was already on his ship when Lora discovered that I was having a 2nd child."
Isa's breath hitched. "What happened to him?"
"He died in a fire when he was six months old. I was at the market. Lora—the midwife who delivered you—was watching him. The fire consumed everything."
"A fire?" Isa whispered, confusion sharpening. Taken? Lost? How did he end up in Thaigmaal? Who put him on the streets?
Ember nodded slowly, eyes closing as if to brace against the memory. "Set on purpose. My life ended in ashes that day."
"There's no way that's true," Isa said firmly. "Demetri didn't die in a fire."
Ember blinked. "Who is Demetri?"
The door to the sickbay creaked open.
Bane stepped inside, not bothering to pretend he hadn't been listening. "I believe," he said quietly, eyes on the two women, "I can guess what happened."