On Isabella

One of the crew who was part of the party sent in search of the other ships I overheard to say something odd – and I inquired about it with the crew left behind. The man had said something on Captain Isabella's character, and said that they would be worse off if she was found. It seems that even though the men search for her, some had a dim view of her efforts before the voyage. One claimed that she had made unhealthy alliances, even gone against the will of the Church by freeing one of its prisoners. I gathered the men at this, and without identifying the ones who spoke, I spoke highly of Captain Isabella, and reminded them again that if she were stranded upon the isle, she would let nothing stand in the way of searching for us – her first goal would to be reunite with us and work together to find a way off the isle. I reminded them that her ship may have survived, but many of the crew shook their heads at that. “Her ship was at the devil's mercy before it set sail,” one said. “It's said she had him belowdecks, and it was his guidance that led to their deaths.” I had no answer to this, because I know of who the man spoke of, for I had seen him. A filthy prisoner, and I could not understand why Isabella had brought him on the voyage. I did not like the ways his eyes darted about, nor the way she seemed to focus on his every word, no matter how strange it sounded… as if she was hearing something else whenever he spoke, something we could not understand. Chief Pilot Keyes of the San Cristóbal