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She’d fight it to the end.
“Stay behind me,” she said to the girl, the child’s legs bumping hers as she pressed tight to Lara’s back, both of them treading water.
Closer.
Closer.
“A boat is coming,” someone shouted, then Aren’s voice: “Lara!”
The shark thrashed its tail, agitated, and Lara tensed, gripping her knife tight. The boat wouldn’t make it in time, and she’d only have one chance.
The dark shadow darted in, then veered, the tip of its tail striking her arm. Her knife spun out of her grip. She reached, trying to catch the sinking weapon, but her fingers only brushed the hilt as it dropped out of reach.
The girl was screaming and crying, the boat knifing closer, but the shark was coming in again. It would kill them both before Aren made it.
Unless she did something.
Lifting her arm, Lara bit down until she tasted blood. Then she swam.Come and get me,she willed the shark.There’s nothing in my blood this time.
She felt it coming. Felt it chasing. Knew that it would be heartbeats until jaws closed on her legs.
“They’ve got the girl!”
There was no chance for relief as the shark swam past her, its skin rough against hers, and the world seemed to stand still. A beam of sunlight from the cavern opening illuminated the water around her, and Lara stopped swimming, sinking beneath the surface.
The shark was larger than she’d realized but her fear filtered away as it slowly swam past her. Watching her. Seeing her.
I see you, too,she silently said to it, reaching out a hand to touch it.
Only for bubbles to explode from above, hands latching onto her shoulders and hauling her to the surface. She landed with a thump and a gasp on the floor of the boat, Aren’s face appearing above her. “Are you hurt?”
“No.” She sat up, leaning over the edge of the boat to watch the shark swim back out of the tunnel. “It didn’t hurt me.”
Small hands caught at her arm, and Lara turned to find the girl next to her.
“It’s all right.” She pulled the child against her, both their hearts hammering. “It will be all right.”
The boat banged against the stone dock, and all was a flurry of motion. Emma reached for her, sobbingthank youover and over, while Aster shouted above everyone, “All hail the true Queen of Ithicana! Chosen of the guardians! Long may she reign!”
Lara hardly heard him, her eyes on the people around her. There was no way to know why the shark hadn’t attacked, whether it was some sort of mystical approval or if the creature simply hadn’t been hungry. It didn’t matter. What mattered was thatthiswas how she’d earn her place. By defending her people. By taking the risks no one else would.
Aren lifted her into his arms, carrying her up the steps into the sunshine. Dropping to his knees, he held her tight against his chest. “God help me, Lara, you can’t keep doing that. You can’t keep scaring me by risking yourself.”
“It’s who I am, so you’ll have to learn to live with it,” she said softly, then extracted herself from his grip and climbed to her feet. Aster appeared, holding out her cane, which she took.
Leaning her weight on it, Lara watched as the crowd dispersed, children smiling at her and a few of the men and women inclining their heads as they passed. One of the men who’d been in the boat with Aren and Jor, a man she didn’t recognize, approached and bowed to her. “Your Grace.”
Then he handed an open, waxed packet of paper to Aren. “When you’ve decided how to proceed, I’ll bring the message back to Southwatch.”
Something about his tone sent a prickle of unease down her spine, and she asked, “Is there news? What has happened?”
Aren’s face was grim as he extracted the pages from the packet, handing them to her. Ink bled from the dampness of her hands as she skimmed the report from the continent, her eyes snagging on Keris’s name. On Zarrah’s. “Oh no.” She met Aren’s gaze. “What does this mean?”
He exhaled, squaring his shoulders. “It means war.”
