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“This next part might be dangerous, Cord,” Rysn noted in Veden. “The Wandersail is a sturdy ship, among the best in the fleet, but no vessel is ever safe on rough seas.”
“I understand,” Cord said softly.
“We could go to port,” Rysn noted. “There’s a small watchpost on Aimia proper where our queen keeps a few men to survey the nearby seas for Voidbringer patrols. We could stop there to send spanreed messages and drop you off.”
“Why . . . me?” Cord asked. “Why ask me?”
“Because our conversation earlier gave me the feeling you were forced on this trip,” Rysn said. “And I want to make certain you are comfortable proceeding.”
“I wasn’t forced,” she said. “I was hesitant, so your concern is appreciated. I want to go forward though.”
Rysn held herself steady, hands on the rail, watching the shifting ocean. And those ominous clouds. “The Radiants I understand. They’ve been ordered to do this, like my sailors. Rushu is interested in the scholarly side, and I’m here for Chiri-Chiri. But you’re not Radiant, Cord. You’re not a soldier or a scholar. You’re not even Alethi. So why join such a dangerous excursion?”
“They needed someone who could see spren,” she replied, glancing up at the sky. “Fifteen today . . .”
“I understand why you were sent,” Rysn said. “But not why you came. Does that make sense? Why did you want to join us, Cord?”
“I suppose he is a good question,” Cord said, leaning on the railing. “You are a merchant. Always looking for what motivates people, right? Well, when I lived in the Peaks, I liked my home. My world. I never wanted to leave. But then I did, to join my father. And you know what I found?”
“A world?”
“A frightening world,” Cord said, narrowing her eyes. “He is a strange place. And I realized that I liked him.”
“Being afraid?”
“No. Being able to prove that I could survive frightening things.” She smiled. “But as to why I came here? This trip? Treasure.”
“Treasure?” Rysn said, glancing over her shoulder. Nikli hadn’t returned yet. “That’s it?”
“We have stories of this place, Akinah,” Cord said. “Great treasure. I wanted some of him.”
It seemed such a mundane answer, but Rysn supposed she shouldn’t have been surprised. Wealth was the grand motivator that was common to all of humankind. It was part of why she’d become a trader, subjecting herself to apprenticeship.
But it felt . . . wrong to hear the words coming from this tall Horneater woman. She seemed so contemplative, so solitary. Was that really all there was to her? A desire for money?
“Well,” Rysn said, “if we do find treasure, then we will all be wealthy.”
Cord nodded curtly. She stood almost like a ship’s figurehead. Rysn glanced over her shoulder again, and at last saw Nikli slipping up the steps. He caught her gaze and gestured urgently.
Rysn excused herself, then spun her chair and pulled her way over to the man. He leaned in, then took something from his pocket. A small pouch.
“What is it?” Rysn asked softly.
“Blackbane,” he whispered. “A virulent poison, prepared in its strength. I found it hidden among the Horneater woman’s things. Brightness . . . I think this is likely what was used to kill the ship’s pet. The group from Urithiru didn’t arrive on the ship until after the pet was dead, but they were in town the night before.”
“How can you be certain this killed Screech?” Rysn asked.
“I’ve heard of this poison before,” Nikli said. “It is said to make a person’s skin darken when it kills them, and I heard that poor Screech’s skin was off-color when they found her. Brightness, it’s clear now. The Radiants are lying to us. Why would they work so hard to undermine the trip?”
“Why indeed,” Rysn whispered. She unfolded a small red handkerchief from her pocket and waved it. Kstled had been waiting for this; he rushed down the steps from the quarterdeck, hand on his sword, joined by two of his best soldiers. Lopen and Huio, who had been hovering near the ship instead of scouting outward as usual, dropped to the deck as well.
“Rebsk?” Kstled asked her. “Is it time?”
“Yes,” Rysn said. “Take him.”
Nikli didn’t have time to so much as cry out. Kstled had him against the deck in seconds, a sturdy rope binding his wrists. It drew attention from the sailors, but the two armsmen waved them back to their work—and they went, knowing they’d get an explanation eventually. News didn’t remain secret long in such close confines.
“What?” Nikli sputtered. “Brightness? What are you doing? I revealed the traitor to you!”
“Yes, you did,” Rysn said. She’d had days to prepare for this event, ever since she’d become certain Nikli was the one creating the “omens.” It hurt anyway. Damnation. He seemed so genuine.
Kstled finished binding Nikli and pulled him over and up to his knees. Nikli looked at her, and his next objections died on his lips. He seemed to know she wouldn’t believe them.
“Of all the people I spoke to, Nikli,” she said, “only you constantly tried to get me to turn back. And once you realized I wasn’t accepting the omens, you saw me searching for the culprit. So you manufactured one for me.”
He didn’t respond, bowing his head.
“When I had Kstled thoroughly search Cord’s room yesterday, we found no sign of this bag of poison in her things,” Rysn said. “Yet you magically found one. Along with claiming expert knowledge on how it was used to kill the ship’s pet.”
“I see,” Nikli finally said, “that you learned all of Vstim’s lessons, Brightness.”
“Being betrayed by someone you trust is painful beyond explanation,” Rysn whispered. “But that is never a reason to pretend it can’t happen.”
Nikli sagged further.
“Why, Nikli?” Rysn asked.
“I . . . have failed. I will say nothing more, Rysn, but to beg you—with all sincerity—to turn back.”
“I can make him talk, Brightness,” Kstled said.
“I assure you, good man-at-arms,” Nikli said—his accent having completely vanished. “There is nothing you can do to me that will get you the answers you desire.”
Radiant the Lopen stepped closer. She hadn’t shared her entire plan with him, but had given him enough. She knew firsthand the danger of the Fused Lightweavers. If Nikli was one of those, she wanted a Radiant ready to face him.
At her request, the Lopen scooped Chiri-Chiri from her cloth nest on the quarterdeck, then brought her to Rysn. Kstled stood and pulled Nikli to his feet, bound. Rysn held Chiri-Chiri up toward him, and the larkin lethargically chirped.
“Anything?” she asked the larkin.
Chiri-Chiri clicked, but didn’t otherwise respond. Rysn pulled her back and offered her a sphere, which thankfully she consumed.
“I don’t think he’s hiding Stormlight or Voidlight,” Rysn said to the soldiers. “But I can’t be certain.” She scratched Chiri-Chiri where her carapace met skin. If Nikli was secretly an enemy servant, Chiri-Chiri would have drained his Light away.
