Almond sat near the bow with the crown fragment warm in his hands. He had not put it down since Velmoor fell.
"It's watching us," he said quietly. "Deciding what kind of kingdom we are."
"Then let's show it," Lily said.
He did not have to wait long.
---
Drevane struck first, and she struck ugly.
Her hull came about in the dark before true dawn, and the sea around her began to churn.
Wreckage rose with her. Hundreds of drowned soldiers, armor barnacled black, weapons kelp-wrapped and dripping. An army built from every ship this ocean had ever swallowed.
They did not go for the Chainbreaker.
They went for Corvanth.
"She's spending nothing and asking the sea to do her killing," Almond said. His eyes had already gone distant, reading the whole grim tide at once. "That's not strength. That's theft."
"Then let's take it back," Rudra said, and spun the wheel hard. "Full speed. We end this fast."
---
The Chainbreaker hit the drowned ranks like a hammer.
