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“Good God.” Lara pressed her hand against her mouth.
“One of them gets its teeth into you, you’ll find yourself paralyzed within minutes. Then it’s a matter of time before one of the big ones comes along to finish the job.”
“Big ones . . .” The island became impossibly more forbidding as Lara searched for signs of said snakes. She caught sight of a stone path leading up to the base of the pier. It was overgrown, but compared to all the other piers, it seemed almost welcoming. “Please don’t tell me you use this as a route into the bridge?”
Aren shook his head. “Red herring. Does its job well, it’s so inviting.”
“Too inviting,” Jor added. “How many of ours have those blasted serpents fed upon?”
Lara looked askance at Aren.
“It’s a game our young people play, though it’s forbidden. Two people bait the snakes away from the path, and the runner must make it to the pier, climb up and out onto the bridge, then drop back into the water. A test of bravery.”
“More like a proof of idiocy,” Jor snapped.
“Certainly a good way to get oneself killed.” Lara chewed the inside of her cheeks, debating the usefulness of this particular place. It would be easy to anchor ships and ferry men in, if something could be done about the snakes.
Lara was so caught up in her thoughts she didn’t notice Aren had stripped down to his trousers until he hopped over the edge of the boat, standing in the hip-deep water. “Hold this for me.” He handed her his bow. “Don’t let it get wet.”
“What do you think you’re doing?”
He cracked his knuckles. “It’s been a long time, but I’m sure I can still do it.”
“Get back into the boat, Aren,” Jor said. “You’re not a fourteen-year-old boy anymore.”
“No, I’m not. Which should only be to my advantage. Lia and Taryn, you bait. Do a good job of it unless you want to spend your days watching Ahnna’s ass.”
“You’ll do no such thing,” Jor ordered the two women. “Stay put.”
Aren twisted round in the water, resting his hands on the boat. “Do I need to remind you who is king here, Jor?”
Lara felt her jaw drop. Never in her time in Ithicana had she seen him pull rank. Give orders, yes, but this was different.
The two men glared at each other, but Jor threw up his free hand in defeat. “Do asHis Majestyorders.”
With grim faces, the two women retrieved a pair of fish each, then jumped into the water.They’ve done this before,Lara thought.They’ve done this before for him.
Lara’s heart was pounding in a staccato beat. “Get in the boat. Your arm isn’t healed.”
“It’s healed well enough.”
“This is madness, Aren! What are you trying to prove?”
Aren didn’t answer, wading until he stood only a few feet back from the water line, then standing utterly still while the two soldiers splashed noisily in opposite directions, drawing the attention of the snakes. The ground beneath the ledge was a twisting mass of bodies, the creatures moving away from the path, watching the women.
This is because of what you said,a voice in her head whispered.You told him to lay down and die.
“Aren, get back in the boat.” Her voice was unrecognizably shrill. “You don’t need to do this.”
He ignored her.
Tell him you care. Tell him his life matters to you. Say what you need to say to get him back in the boat.
Except she couldn’t. Couldn’t tell him a lie like that only to stab him in the back.
But is it a lie?
“Aren, I . . .” Lara’s throat strangled the rest of the words.
