Scarlet Morning (Book #1)

Wilmur and Viola live in Caveat, a remote outpost that is far away from everything. The world has ben plagued by storms after a pirate massacre that have turned the seas to salt, so life is dreary. Their parents are dead, and they are cared for by Hestur, who tells them stories. She has a book that tells of the Dickerson Sea, and Queen Hail Meridian who lived at the Palace Faire Distance. It was a pirate named Scarlet Morning who started the problems when she killed the queen in cold blood, which led to the Parliament ordering the death of all the pirates. Hestur tells the children that they must never let anyone get ahold of the book, which includes stories of the Icarus Band in 1912. Hestur has been gone for years, and the children have been subsisting on preserved eggs, so when a stranger comes to their house, they are wary, especially when she wants Hestur's book. Cadence Chase is the captain of the Calamary Rose, and claims that they are not pirates, but the children have doubts. Wilmur and Viola so desperate to leave Caveat that they make a deal; in exchange for the book, they will be transported away from their home and given a little money to start a new life. They have to sleep in a broom closet, but are thrilled at the variety of food on the ship. When they find that the book belonged to a man whom Chase killed, their concerns deepen. Dickerson Sea is an odd environment, and at one point, Viola falls off the ship and slips "between the cracks". She and Chase are marooned in an odd plane of existence, and have to fight to get back. Wilmur, in the meantime, in rescued by Queensmen, who took over governing after the death of the queen. After many adventures, the two end up in Wilder's Green, a bustling city, and reunite. Can Viola figure out what has really gone on in histoty and survive? This is the first book in a duology, so many questions are unanswered.