Chapter 11: Celebrate

Siannon tried to communicate with the dead captain with more questions, but he was nonresponsive. Once they were at sea, she ventured into the captain’s quarters. The room held no documents or possessions that might provide more information about her predicament.

Some force was clearly at work; the gargoyle had directed her to the ship, and the ghastly crew expected her. What could it be? Her hand brushed against the amulet that Malcolm had given her. She took it off, wondering if it might reset her reality. Nothing happened. She placed it in a drawer and walked out to the deck. The skeletons remained at work, and she was as lost as before. Siannon resigned herself to finding a different answer.

She replaced the amulet around her neck; she wouldn’t abandon a gift from her son when there was no reason to do so. She lay down in the bed, and the gentle rocking of the ship lulled her into a deep sleep.

She dreamed she was home again, her family gathered to celebrate their return from Babylon. She knew it was a dream because her children were young, and Malcolm wasn’t born yet. She tried to find Dylan, to hold him in her arms, but he kept eluding her, moving away whenever she approached him. One by one, all the people disappeared until she was left alone in the Great Hall.

A knock on the door woke her up. The ship wasn’t moving. Whatever their destination, they had arrived.