Inej stood with her hand on the wheel, looking down the deck at the girls who crewed her ship: They had all been offered a choice—join the crew and help take down slavers, or go home to their families—when she and her crew had stepped onto the deck of each slaver’s ship they had defeated.

Most had chosen to become part of Inej’s crew, wishing to bring justice down upon slavers and to help save other girls, and she watched with pride as the sun returned color to their skin, work and training strengthened their bodies, and confidence straightened their shoulders—she had given them a purpose, out here on this wide sea, where their freedom was as vast as the horizon.

She smiled in wild joy and thanked the saints for the sea and its freedom; for its endless miles that she could roam, never fearing capture again; for the purpose it had brought her as it carried her from one target to another, instilling fear in every slaver who heard of Captain Ghafa, the slaver hunter; for its harsh justice as it drew the slavers’ ships she and her crew attacked down to the depths; and its companionship on days like today when the sun smiled upon her face and the breeze teased her hair, reminding her that she always had an ally, for the sea sought justice and retribution as much as she did.