Page 40 of The Infernal Battalion

“She will sleep for a long time,” Abraham said. “A day or two, maybe. And we will need water, to clean her. But she will be fine.”

“You...” Leti paused, swallowing hard. “You are—” And then a word Winter didn’t recognize.

“What’d she say?” Winter said.

“It means... Blessed One, maybe?” Abraham frowned. “I’m not sure I understand the theology.”

“It doesn’t sound like the sort of thing you kill someone for being,” Winter said.

Abraham nodded and said in Murnskai, “I think so. I may not understand you properly.”

“She will live.” Leti looked down at her sister. “She will really live?”

Abraham nodded. “She will live.”

“I will clean her.” The spearwoman didn’t look up. “We will find you a tent. You are welcome to share our fire.”

Winter closed her eyes and breathed a prayer of thanks to anyone who might be listening.

7

Raesinia

Raesinia had never been out on the ocean before. The river Vor was deep and wide enough that oceangoing vessels could come as far north as Vordan City, and she’d been aboard a few of those—​most notably the Rosnik, where she’d been captured by Ionkovo during Maurisk’s coup. Once, as a girl, she’d gone with her father to Vayenne, at the mouth of the river, and seen the harbor there.

That trip had taken several weeks, with frequent stopovers for official functions along the way. The Prudence made the same voyage in a little less than two days, even accounting for several halts at military checkpoints. Raesinia was no judge of ships, but the courier looked fast, sleek and streamlined as a dolphin with two masts whose spars seemed absurdly overlarge. She’d taken them downriver with only a few sails deployed, giving Raesinia the impression of a spirited horse eager to get out of the stalls and into a field where it could work up a gallop.

Certainly, she moved well compared to the fat-​bellied merchantmen they passed along the way. Prudence had no room to spare. Aside from her small crew, she carried only passengers and a sack of diplomatic correspondence from the Borelgai embassy. Even the Queen of Vordan was asked to share a cabin, though the captain had offered up his own accommodation for her use. Raesinia didn’t mind sharing with Cora, though, especially since the girl was in on her secret and Raesinia didn’t have to pretend she could sleep.

Cora didn’t sleep much, either, as far as Raesinia could tell. She’d hardly been able to sit still since she’d first heard about the voyage. Their destination, Viadre, was the capital of Borel, and as far as trade and finance were concerned practically capital of the world. To someone like Cora, for whom the stock books of the Exchange were light reading, visiting the great markets of Viadre was the next best thing to visiting the kingdom of God.

Besides Cora, Raesinia had brought the minimum entourage she thought she could get away with: Barely and Jo as her personal guards, a pair of maids chosen by Mistress Lagovil, and Eric. Duke Dorsay was on board, and the Borelgai ambassador, Ihannes Pulwer-​Monsangton; and with their staff and guards along as well it was no wonder the Prudence felt decidedly cramped. Raesinia spent as much time as she could on deck, staying out of the way of the crew and marveling at the speed with which the coastline slid by.

Once they’d cleared Vayenne’s breakwater, the courier had started her run in earnest, hoisting so much canvas that Raesinia expected them to be lifted out of the water entirely. Winds were apparently favorable, and they ran northwest, within easy view of the rumpled Vordanai coast. Ihannes had told her they’d keep on like that all around the bulge of western Vordan, past Enzport and Ecco Island, until they passed the jutting peninsula of the Jaw and struck out northeast across the Borel Sea.

Raesinia couldn’t have said exactly where they were, at the present. The coast all looked the same, little port towns and river mouths, cliffs and rolling hills. She leaned against the rail near the bow of the ship, watching the waves and the clouds. Off to her left, the ocean went on and on into the infinite distance, until blue-​gray sky and gray-​blue water met at the horizon. Somewhere in that general direction was Khandar, and the mysterious southern kingdoms on the other side of the Great Desol. Maybe I’ll get to visit, after my official death.

Raesinia shook her head. Something about the sight sent her thoughts in melancholy directions. She looked over her shoulder at Barely and Jo, her ever-​present shadows. Barely looked cross, as usual, but Joanna was staring out over the water with a dreamy expression.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Raesinia said.

Barely gave a little start, then shrugged. “It’s all right, I guess.” She looked up at Jo. “No ocean in Desland. We’d never seen it before we got to Vayenne.”

Jo’s hands moved, her eyes staying fixed on the horizon.

“She says she never thought it would be so big,” Barely translated. “Like there’s nothing but water in the whole world.”

“Not far from the truth, I suppose,” Raesinia said. She pushed herself back from the rail, then shook her head when the two of them made to follow. “Stay here. Get some rest.”

“We ought to stay by your side,” Barely said. “I don’t trust the Borels.” Jo nodded emphatic agreement.

“I trust Duke Dorsay, for whatever that’s worth,” Raesinia said. “I don’t think we’re in danger until we land in Viadre.”

After that, though, is another story...

*

“I understand your reasoning, of course,” Dorsay said, steadying himself with a hand on the wall. “I just wish you’d been a bit more... circumspect.”