“Careful, careful…give more slack on your side Chid. Good, good…Rocca, raise up your side a little—”

“Ate, it’s down there already!” I whined. “Can we please pull it up now?”

Coraline threw her hands up in defeat and I nodded to Chipotle to begin winding in the knotted pod line. Cal assisted from behind me, finally dry enough to get his legs back, and Synder tried to be of use on the other side. Together we pulled up the net we’d strung with our rope. It cinched to the center as if weighed down by something. Wait…

“That’s a lot of crab!” wailed one of the boys.

* * *

The boys hollered like maniacs as they carried the net full of crabs back to Panglao Point. Somehow I ended up walking back alone with Chimney in what felt very much like pitch black darkness. We could only follow the moon and the distant smoke of the campfires.

I kept checking back at Chimney who walked a step behind me. I didn’t like the thought of being lost or of him ditching me, and I didn’t trust him not to run. The only light between us came from my rock necklace. It was as bright as the lure of an angler fish.

Chimney chuckled as if he found me hilarious today. “Are you afraid of the dark?”

“Hm? No?” Was that how it looked? “I lived in the deep sea. I’m not so much afraid of the dark…” I turned away and returned my sights to the path. “…But what lives in it.”

“…So then yes.” He deadpanned.

“I’m telling you I’m not!” I said. “If the Commander had a bit more foresight, maybe we’d be equipped to handle the night. Any torch we could’ve had already left with Tima.”

“And what would make this better?” he scoffed. This? As in being stuck together?

“For starters, it’d be easier to see you if you had one of these.” I stretched out my rock necklace. “Everyone on my island wears them all the time. I was surprised that Tima and Cal hadn’t brought theirs.”

He quickened his pace so that he was beside me, easing a few of my anxious thoughts.

“…Isn’t that thing only specially distributed?”

I suppressed a laugh when I saw what was almost a pout. Was he jealous? “No, anyone can own them.” I caressed one of the pink glowing rocks. “…Well, not this one. My sister made this one for me before she left.”

“The one working for the princess?” he asked.

I nodded and gently released the rock. “At the island, Ocean Guards can only wear certain colored rocks to indicate rank. It’s the same for the academy.” I shrugged. “But this…this one is just for fun.”

“Hn.” He said nothing after. The silence felt cold. I feared that I said too much.

I think I liked it better when we were arguing.

* * *

Panglao Point was raucous with excitement when we returned with crabs. Apparently no one else from the other pods were able to reach them, so everyone clamored to us bargaining for a trade. Snyder took the helm on this one, getting us fox meat, spices, and veggies we hadn’t seen on the trail. By the time we’d gotten everything cooked, it became a feast.

Ofelia sat on a stone across Commander Lori, who ate alone, and was not pushed away.

“When do we get to join our specialty classes?” she asked.

Lori brazenly picked a shell out from her mouth. “…You’re already in a specialty. Guard class.”

“I know,” Ofelia replied. “But I want to be in the Royal Guard.”

Lori snorted, a strange smirk on her face. I’d never seen her so amused. “That’s very ambitious of you.”

“I have plans.” Ofelia insisted. “First I get into the academy, then into the Royal Guard. I pass all my classes with flying colors and become the most outstanding trainee. Then when I graduate, I will be offered a position on the Princess Guard.”

“Oh really.” said Lori.

“Yes,” Ofelia said, “I won’t get anywhere in Guard class! My talents are wasted there!”

Lori tossed the remainder of her crab into the bonfire. “There are a few flaws in your plan. For one—Her Highness does not have a personal guard. So you’re out of luck there. Two—there have been exceptions to the rule. There’s one person in particular that came out of Guard class that eventually took up a job with a high-ranking noble.”

I felt Lori’s eyes on me. I kept my food and face pointed in a different conversation.

“And three—freshmen aren’t allowed to switch out of Guard class until their second season. It’s only a few months to winter—you can wait.” Lori finished.

I turned my head to the side and attempted to peak at Ofelia. She was red with frustration.

“No…there has to be another way! I know it!” she hissed.

“Well…” Lori pried open a mussel and extracted the meat with her teeth. “I don’t like to bother him, so I don’t usually mention it, but…”

She leaned in close. I casually leant backwards and stared up at the starry night sky.

“You can get in with a captain’s permission.”

* * *

“If you could work for one noble, who would it be, and why?” Snyder asked. The remainder of us still eating sat around the campfire shucking crab shells into it.

“Why a noble?” I asked. And why was he so hellbent on doing icebreakers?

“I’ve seen a few in person and oh my god, they’re hot.” He said. “The girls, beautiful. The guys? Smoking hot. I swear, if royal blood was based on looks I’d be the frickin’ prince.”

“HA!” Tima laughed so hard she spit out a flurry of rice.

“Oh shut up! You’d be lucky to be my maid, beardy.” He stuck his tongue at her. I was tempted to kick tinder directly in his face. “I’d want to work for the Lady of Ba Hura.” He decided. “I’ve seen her palace—it’s huge. The view is awesome, and I hear she goes on frequent trips. I’d never be bored.”

“I’d want to work for Lord Palad,” Tima muttered. “I already have a few uncles who work for him in Ma Anod. It’d be nice to be around family.”

“Booooring.” Snyder bellowed. “Cal?”

Cal was currently concentrating on trying to peel open a durian. I kind of felt bad not offering a blade…not that I had one.

“Hmm…I’d work for…um…” he looked up to me, eyes alight. “What were you aiming for Rocca?”

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t give it much thought. “Lady Corey…” I admitted, my cheeks flushing. Snyder and a few of the other boys hooted tauntingly. “She…she’s just really cool. I’d even settle to be her handmaiden.” I ducked my head in embarrassment.

“You’re over overestimating yourself.” a snide voice swooped in from above. Chimera plopped down on the ground next to me and tossed a mussel shell into the fire.

“That’s why I said handmaiden.” I mumbled.

“The fiancé of the Prince of Berdeng Da Gat has an infinite pool of candidates much more impressive than you.” He scoffed, pulling a fresh crab from the bowl we had set out. “What makes you so special?”

I watched him attempt to break the crab open, but he only managed to pull out a leg.

“You’re doing it wrong.” I said, taking it from him. I cracked it open from the center and threw it back in his lap. “And…I know I’m not special. But Lady Corey isn’t just some noble, she…she’s trying to make changes for us. And I want to support her in any way I can.”

He said, “Sounds like you know her personally.”

Snyder eagerly offered me a crab from over the fire. “Can you open mine too??”

I stared at him. “You’ve got hands.”

He huffed like a seahorse and pulled back his crab. “What’s got you so into Lady Corey? I’ve heard of her. She’s cruel as hell and a total bitch. I don’t get why you’d want to put yourself through that.” He leaned in close to whisper, “Unless you like what Lori puts you through?”

“She’s different from Commander Lori.” I said. “…And she’s only cruel to idiots.”

Chimera muttered, “You’d be treated no different.”