“Why?! Why, Jeissy!” Krysh screamed. “Why didn’t you kill him?”
  Jeissy washed the blood off of her blade and wiped it clean. “He managed to dodge a good deal of my more deadly blows. I felt that if someone could do that then they may be of some use to me.”
  “Then why did you insist on beating him within an inch of his life?” Logan asked.
  “Because now he’s unconscious and not talking,” Kaito answered for her.
  “Exactly,” Jeissy smiled. “If he was conscious, he would talking. And no good comes from a talking man.”
  “Then what does that make the four men you happen to be traveling with?” Logan snapped.
  “Windbags.”
  “She has a point,” Kaito smiled.
  “You are not helping,” Logan huffed.
  “I try not to, Mon Ami.”
  “Our queen!” the twins called. Mathias handed her a small chest full of jewels. Matheo shoved him out of the way and dumped several bags of gold at her feet. Mathias in turned tackled him and the twins wrestled away.
  “Of course, Nikolai came with two little minions that do my bidding without even having to be asked,” Jeissy huffed. “That was pretty much the only thing that saved his life.”
  “Of course,” Krysh groaned.
  Kaito glanced out the window and stroked his chin. “Love, might I suggest we head up to the veranda? The sky is so clear and the stars are absolutely breathtaking this evening, Mon Ami.”
  “That sounds wonderful, Kaito,” Jeissy accepted. Kaito took her arm in his and he led her from the room. “Logan, stay and make sure our new companion is uncomfortable when he wakes up.”
  “But ~” Logan objected, but was shut up by Mathias and Matheo slamming the door behind them as they followed their queen.
  Krysh leaned against the windowsill, a bit uneasy. He never liked the idea of sailing and going on voyages across the sea. Now that he was on the ship, the largest he’s ever seen, he felt queasy and dizzy.
  Logan, however, though pouting because he couldn’t be on deck to keep Kaito’s hands off of Jeissy, seemed to be doing just fine with the constant motion of the boat. The two of them sat there in awkard silence as Nikolai lay on the floor still unconscious.
  Logan thrummed his fingers on the table and began to hum an unrecognizable song. Krysh tapped his foot in aggravation.
  “Are you going to stop that anytime soon?”
  “Stop what?”
  “That noise! What your doing with your throat!”
  “I wasn’t aware that I was doing anything of the sort. But now that I know that it annoys you, I’ll have to do it louder.”
  “Don’t you dare.”
  Logan took in a deep breath. Krysh reached for a shuriken. The whole ship lurched and both of them and Nikolai went flying to the other side of the room. They could hear canons firing out on deck.
  Fountain ran into the room and slammed and locked the door shut behind him.
  Krysh shoved Nikolai off of him and ran to the window. “What’s happening out there?”
  Fountain was pale with fright and only able to speak between breaths. “Sea – serpent – big – fucking – kill – Kaito – lied!”
  Krysh and Logan exchanged glances and both shrugged.
  “Fountain, where’s my katana?” Krysh ordered, grabbing him by the collar and shaking him.
  “Below – deck – stables,” Fountain answered.
  Krysh threw him out of the way and ran down the hallway to the stairs. He cleared the steps and landed in the stables aboard the ship. He glanced around frantically and shoved aside harnesses and saddlebags until he caught the glimpse of gold and black. He grabbed at it but then the ship lurched again the katana skidded across the floor. Krysh lunged for it and snatched it before the ship lurched again.
  Krysh got to his feet and leapt up the flight of stairs in a single bound and made his way to the deck. Logan was already there armed with his fencing foil which Krysh was positive he had thrown overboard the moment they set sail.
  The sea serpent was actually more of several sea serpents that dwarfed the main mast of the ship and one sea serpent in particular could eat all the others in a single gulp.
  “Fucking hell,” Krysh gawked.
  “Where’s Jeissy?” Logan yelled.
  As if on cue, Jeissy swung down from the rafters and threw her cutlass into the throat of one the smaller serpents. She then kicked it in the jaw and retrieved her blade. She cut completely through its neck, not once letting go of the rope that supported her flight. She swung back and landed with acute precision on the railing in front of the helm.
  “Why are you the hell are you just standing there?!” she snapped at them. “Kill some fucking serpents!”