Esselk'ti didn't understand humans very well. The few she'd encountered had been more interested in clinging to their rafts of wood, chasing the wind, or dragging their nets through the water than taking notice of her or the powers that lurked in the depths.
Only a few brave souls who gathered up their harpoons and ropes to pit themselves against the largest beasts to swim the seas merited any attention from her, and she couldn't imagine any of those men sobbing in her presence the way Lord Rhys of the Black Sails did.
But Esselk'ti knew very well that sometimes it took more courage, more trust, and more love to weep than it did to brave the salt and spray to chase your prey, and when Auntie Ashlynn's father let himself collapse completely before her, praising the Mother of Tides that his daughter was still alive, the Witch of Deep Currents made up her mind.
