Gin stepped up to a barrel under the main mast, and placed a small wooden chest on top of it. "Here it is."

"What's that?" Juli came closer to look.

Ria took a step forward too and Migal stood behind her. After last night, he had been following her so closely that he even slept on the floor at the door of her room at the inn in Basiago despite his own room being just across the hall from hers. Gin grew irritated every time he saw them together and he had been contemplating on why--he didn't like the both of them, or so he thought. Juli's words, attracted to her then, rang in his thoughts and he hated that he was overthinking it. He hated it more that she could be right.

The rest of the Opal's crew gathered around, standing or sitting where they could see what Gin had brought.

"It's for the document," Gin said, opening the small chest. "So the paper won't get wet when I swim it out of the underwater cave." He slid his thumb under the rim of the cover lined by a black material. "This is rubber. It keeps the water out for a certain time. Half an hour or more, I'm told. I had the strap made so I can carry it like a satchel." He then tugged at the leather strap attached to the handles connecting one side to the other.

"Good." Captain Zalez nodded with satisfaction as he stood beside Juli. Then he looked at Mari and Reynar who were leaning on the deck's railing. "What about the explosives?"

"Secured in the hull, captain," Mari answered.

"I'm also stocked on medical supplies," Sam said, standing on the opposite side of the deck. Reno wasn't on his shoulder and Gin wondered if the monkey was above, jumping on the sails and listening in on their conversation.

"And here," Enzo was just coming up from the staircase that led below decks, carrying a sack. He stepped up to where Gin stood and placed the sack gently on the floor. "These are the sleepin' bullets."

Juli came closer and opened the sack, picking up one of the bullets and sliding it into the cylinder of her pistol before pointing it at Enzo. A sneer grew on her face.

"You wouldn't," Enzo called her bluff.

Juli smirked. "It would be a waste. If I'm going to shoot you, I'd use real bullets." She lowered her pistol on her side.

Migal had come up to the sack too, picking up one of the bullets. He raised it to the light, examining the tiny round glass filled with green liquid.

"You requested no killing, princess." Gin addressed Ria who remained where she stood and when she looked at him, something in her blue eyes glittered.

"Careful," Enzo said to Migal. "When it hits ya skin, the glass'll break. The liquid inside is concentrated sleepin' potion."

"So you have to target the skin?" Migal asked.

"Aim for the head." Juli raised her pistol at Enzo again.

"Wet oceans, Juli!" Enzo cursed and she laughed before finally holstering her gun.

"We've got a lot of able shooters. Cap, Rodri, Juli, Reynar, you--" Gin gestured at Migal then turned to Ria "--and you, princess."

Ria swallowed. "I've never really shot anyone before."

"You said you're a marksman," Reynar said.

"Hunting animals, not people," Ria answered.

"You won't have to do anything. You'll be staying on this ship." Migal placed the glass bullet back into the sack.

"No." Ria shook her head. "I need to get there. To the underwater cave. I need to get the document myself."

"No, you're not," Migal said at the same time Gin said, "You don't trust me that much."

Captain Zalez chimed in, "Can't shoot a person with a sleeping potion but now you're diving two hundred feet, maybe more, risking your life just because you don't want us to see what that document is."

Gin's curiosity started. For days, he'd forgotten about Ria and Migal's motives--the reason why they wanted to get their hands on a document with the royal seal.

"I'll dive," Ria said.

Gin's brows shot up, disbelieving. "You dive?"

Juli and Enzo laughed.

"I believe you, lady. I think you can dive," Sam offered the consolation.

"I hired you to do what I want you to do." Irritation grew in Ria's voice and Gin noticed that her eyes had been darting from one crew to the other as if to gauge them.

"You hired us to steal a document," Captain Zalez clarified. "We didn't agree to do it your way."

"Just let them do their job, Ria," Migal said, striding to her.

Ria ignored him and started walking to Gin. He met her gaze and didn't look away.

"I'll dive you for it," she said, standing in front of him, eyes daring.

"What?" The crew was in disbelief in unison, some laughs and scoffs thrown at her.

Gin assessed her as she stood there with her chin raised, defiant. Days on the Opal had favored her, lightly tanning her skin into a golden brown as if it had always been that way--meant to be that way.

"Drop anchor," Captain Zalez said and the whole crew looked at him.

Gin wanted to protest but a part of him wanted to test Ria--to find out if she really could dive. And he wouldn't mind the little competition.

"Move to starboard and drop anchor near the shore of that islet." The captain pointed at a small deserted isle a few miles out in the horizon. "Make it a two hundred feet dive."

"Aye, captain," Rodri said, walking up to the helm.

"What?" Migal objected as the ship turned, the sails catching wind. "No."

"Relax," Juli said. "No one's ever beaten Gin on a dive. She loses and you don't have a problem."

"And if she wins?" Migal asked.

"Then she dives with Gin," the captain answered.

Gin walked away from Ria and made his way to the railing, watching as they neared the islet.

"Don't underestimate her," Migal said to him. "She's a good diver."

Gin looked over his shoulder. "Where does she dive inland?" He asked, aware that Ria was glaring at him. "Rivers? Lakes? Rich people don't dive like we sea gypsies do. The ocean is more unforgiving." He could have said landborn but he chose to point out that she was wealthy and spoiled.

"She's escorted to Port Tallorga every week to dive," Migal said. There was pride in his voice.

Gin turned to Ria to watch her as she moved to the railing with him. Port Tallorga was the deepest port in Sivona--no, not just Sivona but in the whole kingdom of the Draga Isles. It was over three hundred feet deep where the beach drops into the water like cliffs. He wondered if she had ever reached the bottom, and the thought stifled his arrogance, exciting him.

The Opal slowed and the crew dropped the anchor to stop.

Gin climbed onto the railing and Ria followed. He was surprised by how she moved without care and elegance as if she had been doing it all her life, as if she was all too familiar with the ship's body like a sea gypsy.

He fished out a gold coin from his pocket--the same one Migal had used during their game in Sivona, a coin worth almost a hundred pridas in the market.

He flicked the coin into the ocean and when it was in the air, he heard Ria say, "Eyes on me."

He almost laughed, remembering that night when he said the same words to her.

Captain Zalez pulled out his pistol and fired it into the sky. Gin took in a deep breath and he and Ria jumped off the railing at the same time, arms raised and heads first into the water.

The cold ocean welcomed him. Sea water stung his eyes for a moment before adjusting--the world underneath becoming clear deep blue where the sunlight shone through the surface. Pressure enveloped his body--his lungs expanded and ears muffled by the sound of flowing water, an unbending music.

Gin kicked toward the sea floor, watching Ria through his peripherals as she too swam down, her hands together over her head. Small colorful fish swam around her as if they were guiding her to the bottom.

More fish swirled at the reefs below where corals in different shades of red grew. White shimmering sand covered the seafloor.

His eyes found the shine of the gold coin on the fan of a pale pink coral.

Ria dove in. She had seen the coin too and she was quick and graceful as if she had been living this life for years like a sea gypsy, moving her body like the fish around her.

A moment of surprise took him and he paused, allowing her the head start for the coin. An exhilarating energy burned in his chest. He'd never had a close competition before, never with a landborn. Despite her swiftness, he swam faster than her, and with one kick, he was beside her.

Desperate, her eyes fixated on the coin as she reached out. Gin's arm stretched out over hers but as he watched her determination, an awe sprang in his chest. Ria could swim and she was good--better than most he'd swam against.

He pulled back his hand by a few inches and let her grab the coin, rippling the fan of the coral.

She flipped herself upward and looked at him. A grin plastered on her face--lips tight in a pressed smile and eyes squinting victoriously, tempting him to smile back.

He stared at her as she propelled herself up, her legs waving alternately back and forth. He followed her to the light shimmering from above and they both burst through the surface of the water.

Ria gave out a triumphant laugh as she waved the coin in the air. The crew cheered from the Opal and Gin heard Migal scream out a No.

They climbed back up aboard the ship where the crew gathered around Ria, impressed by how she won--bested Gin.

When Gin hauled himself over the railing, water dripping onto the deck, he could still hear Ria's laughter. He didn't look at her and walked away, moving to the back of the ship but before he could leave, Juli caught his arm with her mechanical hand, the cold touch of metal pressed to his skin.

"You let her win," Juli said, releasing his arm as soon as he stopped.

Gin then glanced at Ria--a smile on her face. He didn't feel bad about losing to her. She was good but he hoped he hadn't made a mistake. The real dive was riskier, and just getting on land on Belona could be deadly. His decision could endanger the whole crew.

Juli waited and he answered, "If she wanted to get herself killed, let her do it."

I'm so happy I was able to publish 2 chapters this week. I hope I'll be able to keep it up. :)

It would really be helpful if you could let me know your thoughts in the comments and give this chapter a vote. Thank you!

- Heide