It was then that we heard the cannons.
The ship leaped forward, and the bells rang once more. The suns were rising over the Bay of Hodges,and the docks of Hodgetown were ablaze. Red, yellow, orange, and white, waves of heat rippled to the skies. I saw the silhouettes of three ships leaving the bay through the eastern pipe. One still peppered the docks as she swept past. She was clearlyRhi’Ahr, and she glittered in the dawn’s light, with her white-and-gold brightwork and her white-and-gold sails. Dying ships floated in her wake, some burning, others crackling as chimeric worked to turn wood to char. Once again, my hands ached in response.
I pushed it deep down. Pain was as much a part of life as breathing, my mother had taught me.
“Captain on deck,” barked a midshipmage.
I looked back to see Thanavar step down from the high pupdeck. Odd. I hadn’t seen him there before. He moved like a cat, lean, elegant, and swift.His black hair caught the night wind, mirroring the dark skies that threatened above, and myheart thudded in my throat. He was the enemy of our people, the scourge of our helm. Which meant the war was here, on our very decks, if an enemy commanded theTouchstone.
He paused on the quarterdeck and swept his eyes across the sea. Even though he wasRhi’Ahr, I knew what was coming. Anyone who had spent more than a month at sea on a Navy ship knew, but still, I held my breath, hanging on his words.
“Beat to quarters.”
“Beat to quarters!” went the cry. “Beat to quarters!”
The minotaur strode to a trunk near the mizzen rail, flung wide the lid, and the alarm burst forth as, inside, a set of drums magikally beat themselves in the seafaring call to arms. Seamages rushed toward the cannons, and the crew scrambled to their posts.
In the bay, theRhi’Ahrship banked hard, filling her sails to catch the wind as we swept up behind her.Marelethanwas her name, painted in gold across her stern. I could see the brightwork on her bells and braids in her rigging. I could also see her crew race for the stern chasers. They hadn’t been expecting us and were clearly unprepared. Their arrogance would be their downfall. Atdawn, no less. I set my jaw, knowing that this morning, theDawn Watchwould be vindicated. It would be music to watch the enemy sink. Forge, it would be a symphony.
“Chase guns!” barked the captain.
“Fore chasers!” Fahr cried to the hands assembled on deck.
“Fire guns!”
The cannons boomed their lethal shots, but most fell short, only to splash into the waters at theMarelethan’s stern. She returned fire, but it was sloppy, her balls striking the waves and dissipating chimeric into the drink. I hissed as runes burned from my new scars with each splash, and I cursed my lack of control. From the quarterdeck, Thanavar glanced down at me.
“Come here,” he commanded.
My heart thudded in my chest. He wasn’t my captain. I didn’t have to obey him. In fact, he was the enemy, and I was tasked to kill him swift and sure. I’d be commended if I did that. Promoted, even. But I had no weapon save my rebel tongue, so I exchanged the rail for the quarterdeck, raising my chin as I stood before this enemy captain.
“I hate you,” I snapped.
“Good,” he said.
“And I will kill you when I can.”
“Even better.” His gaze narrowed as he grabbed my wrist and pulled it up, pushing the glove to my palm.
“Fire again, Mr. Fahr.”
He did not release. I would not pull away. His grip was cold like ice on a river.
“Molly Boom!” Fahr cried. “Take out her topsail, if you will!”
A cannon thundered, shaking the deck boards beneath my feet. I bit my cheek, praying the pain would overcome the fear of this terrifying man and his gold-shot eyes. I heard, rather than saw, the ball tear through the distant rigging. Heard, rather than saw, the responding fire, and I didn’t hiss when the enemy’s shot hit the water on our starboard side.
But the scars on my wrists lit up, and I gasped with the pain.
“Kirianae ik thay’ell,”the captain said in a language I’d never heard before.
“Kirianae sil,”said a voice I didn’t know.
But it was me. The words had rolled off my tongue, but they weren’t mine. My mouth, my voice, but not my words.
“Sister Moons,” Thanavar said, his sea-deep eyes growing darker as he stared at me. “What have you done?”
My breath caught in my throat, but I set my jaw, kept my eyes locked with his. I had no idea what he was asking, but I’d be damned if I let him see my fear. Besides, he hadn’t flinched at the touch of my skin like Fahr or Echo. But, like thechimeric, hewasRhi’Ahr. Perhaps they both burned deep.
