As if she found the escape attemptcute.
Indignation blazed through Safire. She flipped out the blade in her boot, planning to kick, grab her knife, then vault herself into the rowboat.
Before she could do any of those things, a deep and growling voice interrupted.
“How touching.”
Eris stiffened.
Safire glanced up, over Eris’s shoulder, to find three figures standing on the deck. In the light of the oil lamps, she could just make out a young man and two women.
Other than Eris, Safire hadn’t noticed any women on Jemsin’s crew. She looked to the man standing on night watch and found him struggling with one of the invading pirates. Before he could alert the crew below, he suddenly dropped to the deck and out of Safire’s view—dead or unconscious, she couldn’t say which.
“Drop the knife.”
Eris’s gaze held Safire’s, a warning in her eyes as she did as he commanded, letting go of Safire’s knife. It clattered to the wooden planks and when the ship surged again, went skittering across the deck.
It was when Eris stepped away, turning to face the three newcomers, that Safire saw the massive black silhouette, looming beyond the deck on the leeward side.
Another ship?
Safire looked from the second ship to the young man now standing directly before her.
“So nice to see you alive, Kor,” said Eris. “Where’d you get the ship?”
“From a well-wisher,” said the one called Kor. Turning to one of the young women beside him, he said: “Find it.” The girl nodded, then disappeared down the steps leading into the darkened galley. She emerged a moment later with what looked like a spindle. The one Safire found earlier under Eris’s pillow.
At the sight of it, Eris’s whole body went rigid.
Safire suddenly remembered the day of her first encounter with the legendary Death Dancer. Eris had been disguised as a soldat then. The two of them collided, and she’d dropped her spindle. Not knowing who she was then, Safire picked it up and handed it back to her.
Kor cocked his head, studying Safire in the light of the lamps. Safire studied him back. He was missing one ear and his wet hair was pulled back in a braid. His face bore what looked like fresh burn scars, red and blistered, and he held himself rigidly, his mouth a tight grimace, as if every breath caused him pain. It made Safire wonder if there were other wounds hidden beneath his clothes.
The boat rocked suddenly, and Safire nearly slipped. Her knife slid slowly across the deck and out of reach.
“Grab her,” said Kor. He turned to Eris. “I’ll take care of this fiend.”
It was clear Kor hadn’t come for Safire; he’d come for Eris. Maybe, if Safire could convince him that Eris was her enemy, too, that she and Kor were on the same side, he would let her go. So when the pirates descended on her, Safire didn’t put up a fight. Just let the two girls force her across the deck, to the leeward side, where one of them laid a wooden board down acrossthe gap from this ship to the next. The space between the two vessels was the length of three horses, while the wooden board itself was no wider than Safire’s boot.
“You first,” said a voice at Safire’s ear just before they shoved her forward.
Her hands clutched the damp wood. It was slick beneath her skin.
Safire stared down into the ravenous waves and swallowed hard.
“Nice and easy,” said Eris, whose hands were bound in front of her now. Kor had a fistful of her blond hair in one hand, a dagger pressed to her neck with the other. Eris stared at Safire. “One step at a time.”
Safire climbed onto the board.
The boat rocked and groaned, and Safire nearly fell backward. She threw her arms out and fought for balance, doing exactly as Eris said: taking one small step at a time. She thought of Asha. How she needed to survive this so she could warn her. How she needed to just get to the other ship.
The rain lashed. The waves roared. The ships rose and fell with the waves. Her foot slipped more than once; and more than once, she thought she was going to fall. But every time, she found her balance. And then the other ship’s deck was beneath her, and there were hands grabbing her, and she was so relieved to still be alive, she didn’t care that their touch burned like fire. Didn’t care when they dragged her belowdecks and threw her to the floor so hard, pain laced through her knees.
Safire counted the pirates in the room, assessed them forweapons, and found the exits. Then she kept her eyes on her captors. She needed to do everything she could to stay alive. If she wanted to convince these pirates she was on their side, she needed to first be compliant.
So she stayed on her knees, biding her time.
They threw Eris down beside her. The girl’s palms hit the floor with a smack and she shook out her hair, sending rain flying.
