Page 47 (1/1)

Will he iano’s face, contorted in fear as he watched o overboard Is he safe?

Will Violettainto rip so hard that I think my bones will break I open my mouth to cry out, but the effort is soundless in the sea Through the darkness, I catch a glimpse of wild, white, mad eyes and a flash of blond hair Teren It is Teren in the water, fighting upward alongside h the surface into the center of the storh a blurry haze of rain, I see our ship careening several dozen yards away On thefor the others to search the waters for us I’m here I try to wave, but the sea ss my arm

"Not invincible after all, little wolf?" Teren shouts

Illusions darken the world all around I a to breathe in the Inquisition Tower, and Teren has his sword pressed againstto cut es in et away frorip onus Another wave crashes against our bodies, and seawater pours intoyou, the whispers shriek Anyone else would have lost his grip in a sea this fierce, but Teren--still ies to stay locked onblindly at Teren The sharp tang of blood suddenly fills my nostrils, and I realize that it is fro a film of scarlet around us Soetting closer

"I wish I could," Teren spits, dripping veno I’d like to see more than you in the Underworld, Adelina"

His words spark my fury He never intended to finish this journey with you Teren gripsus both toward the ship, his face set in grim determination

Then I hear hi into bewilderment

We are very close to the hull of our ship now, so close that Magiano has caught sight of us I can hear his shout over the wind, his ar down to where we are Teren waves back at the the deck, I feel a sudden lift from the water beloind pushes it away, and for an instant, a crater fores us both upward Startled, I glance in the direction of Raffaele’s ship, which yaws behind our own Lucent is up on the thens, and the world blurs as we are lifted up, up, up above the railing of our ship’s deck, a funnel of seawater raining onto the ship as we go

Then we fall I hit the deck hard enough to knock the breath fros Teren finally releases rip onhis wounded side, shouts for blankets In their midst, I see Violetta’s face Warm arms wrap around my cold neck, and I’m pulled forward, startled, into an eht we lost you," she says, and I findmy ar

Besidehis arain He stares at round His lips are still twisted up into a crooked s unstable I stare at hiiano fro this mission seriously, however much he loathes us

"Maybe next time," he says to me with that sle coin to his name--but it did notto every passerby he met that they invited him into their homes, fed hiabonds, so that he passed through the border between Amadera and Beldain without harm

--The Fall and Rise of Laetes, by Étienne of Ariata

Adelina Amouteru

The traitor Inquisitor turned out to be a new recruit from Dumor After a tip froed every single member of our crew before roveled at er on his face--but he did then, the pupils of his eyes slitted so sharply that they looked like needles

I could kill this crew, if I wanted I could have their blood coating the deck of this ship by nightfall

But I can’t afford to do such a thing There would not be enough people to guide the ship, nor protect us, if I rid myself of them all So instead, I showed them the corpse of the would-be assassin Then I ordered it tossed unceremoniously overboard

"Let that be a ree reeted me, followed by the whispers in my head They seemed amused

It is only a et you

It is strange to see the ocean so calht, when only hours earlier, our ships had nearly been devoured by the waves

I sit huddled in a chair, blankets wrapped around me even after I’d taken as war of bitter tea To ers on Violetta After her sudden emotional display on the deck, she returned to her usual tense silence in iveto her quarters I don’t knohat to ht Now only Magiano lounges by the porthole nearby, while Teren crouches in his chair, quietly eating his supper