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“What’s happening?”
“Their shipbreaker is jammed.” He stood, gesturing to his guards, who were paddling hard toward them. “The outpost is going to be slaughtered. Amarid will take the island, and it will be a bloody nightmare to dig them out.”
Lara’s mind raced, deciding on a plan even as it formed in her mind. She caught his hand. “Take me with you. If there are injured, I can help.”
“That’s what we have healers for.”
“Five of which are elsewhere, two of which are injured themselves. Which leaves you only five to bring with you. It’s not enough to deal with slaughter.”
“Others will come.”
The boat was only yards away. She had seconds to convince him.
“And how many of your people will die in the time it will take for them to arrive?” She tightened her fingers on his. “I can help them.”
Indecision ricocheted across his face, then he nodded. “Follow orders. No arguments.” The other boat came alongside, and he hauled Lara and her box of supplies in with him. “Go!” he shouted.
Paddles drove them toward the gap, the chain already up, the ocean covered with whitecaps beyond. Wild and unpredictable. A prickle of fear crawled down Lara’s spine as she sat in the bottom of the boat.
“Time to put your experiment to the test,” Aren said as they passed between the towering cliffs, the vessel bucking and plunging the moment they hit the open sea.
“To Aela!” Jor roared. “Let’s give these Amaridians a taste of Midwatch steel!”
“To Aela!” The soldiers on the other vessels echoed the chant, and behind them, horns called over the water. Not the musical ripple of a signal, but a violent blast of rage.
A battle cry.
22
Lara
The boatsbarely seemed to touch the water as they skated across the sea, a strong north wind filling the sails. Lara’s heart was in her throat, but with her nausea under control, she was able to study the bridge as they followed its great grey length south, eyes picking out scouts perched on its top and the glints of spyglasses on the islands to either side.
“How long until we reach Aela?” she shouted over the wind.
“Not long,” Aren replied. “The closest Midwatch teams will already be there.”
Time seemed to both fly and crawl. A thousand details flooded her mind even as her heartbeat moved into the swift but steady thudit always did before battle.You aren’t here to fight,she reminded herself.You’re here to observe under the cover of helping the healers, nothing more.The words did nothing to calm her anticipation.
When they rounded an enormous limestone karst tower, all the Ithicanians pulled their masks from their belts and donned them. Weapons loosened. Eyes intent.
Then she saw it.
The ship was larger than any she’d seen before, a great three-masted monstrosity as tall as the bridge itself. She picked out the Amaridian flag, countless soldiers scurrying about its deck. Beyond, a half dozen longboats were moving toward a narrow beach on which a battle was being waged, the sand soaked with blood.
Swiftly she saw the reason the Amaridians had chosen Aela Island beyond the relatively easy landing the beach provided them. There was a pier on the western edge of the island, the bridge curving inland before heading back out to sea. And if the Ithicanians were fighting this hard to defend it, she’d bet that pier had an opening in its base. “How many men are on that ship?”
“Four hundred,” Jor replied. “Perhaps a few more.”
“And us?”
No one answered.
Aren caught her hand, pulling her close. “See the line of rock and trees?” He pointed. “We’ll get you and the other healers past that line. You stay there and the injured will be brought to you, understood?”
“Yes.”
His hand tightened. “Keep your hood up so the Amaridians don’t recognize you. And if things go badly, go with the other healers. They know how to make a retreat.”
