“No,” Lili cut in, carefully avoiding Augustus’s penetrating gaze. “Give us a minute, will you?”
The helmsman was barely out of earshot before he lost control of his tongue. “Selene is in Vrinis. Five dayseastof Warian Bay.”
“I know.”
“You could at least have the decency to look me in the eye as you betray me.”
Lili’s dark eyes turned molten. “You don’t think Iagonizedover this decision? Every hour you were below, I waited for you to surface. But you didn’t.”
“Nothing—nothing—is more important than finding Selene. I never would have agreed to this.”
Lili turned her face into the wind and closed her eyes. Finally, her chin dipped, and she took a deep breath. “Taran Phya is funding Thorne’s war against the fleet.”
“No. He wouldn’t— Phya doesn’t involve himself in?—”
“You screwed up, mate.” Lili met his frozen stare. “You signed a contract and didn’t deliver.”
An old conversation between himself, Mettius, and Cassia winged through his memory.
“We lost a portion of the steel during the oxbeast attack,”Augustus had told them.
“How much is a ‘portion’?”Mettius asked.
“A quarter of it now lies unretrievable along a steep mountainside.”
Augustus sank into his back foot. “The steel shortage.”
“Aye.”
If there was one thing his parents had drilled in him growing up, it was that you don’t piss off the money man. Cassia and Mettius had given Phya an entire ship to compensate for the missing steel, knowing it was a temporary measure, with the idea that they had time to make things right.
Surely, his father would have said something had things gone wrong. Surely, he would have warned Augustus that the contract he’d signed remained in question.
Augustus dragged fingers across his scalp. “Okay. This is bad, but this doesn’t explain the change in our route.”
“Because, not only is he funding Thorne’s fleet, but he’s crippling ours. All within the bounds of the law, mind you—selling the fleet’s goods to the lowest bidder and inflating the cost of goods in return. Loyalty doesn’t put food on the table, Augustus. They’re losing men.”
The idea was preposterous. How many would have walked away so easily? Most had been with the fleet for decades. These crews were family. They’d always had a small percentage filtering in and out, but never a number that caused concern.
“It can’t be that bad,” Augustus said, folding his arms. “And it won’t last. Dad’ll figure this out. In the meantime, we stay on course to Vrinis.”
Lili shook her head. “Thorne has the numbers, Augustus. We can’t face him on our own.” She gestured at the crew. “We never could. We need the fleet—and the fleet needs us.”
A harsh laugh leapt from his chest. “The fleet doesn’t need us, and we’ll figure it out. I just need to see what we’re up against?—”
“He has twelve ships, and that’s a low estimate. My contact thinks he might have up to eighteen—the number varies. Two we took down in Castona Bay. But you were right—he took Vrinis six months ago, and with it, their ships. Phya’s likely supplied him with more. Thorne’s ready, Augustus. The war isn’t just a threat anymore. It’s happening.”
Lili paused and gripped his hand. “I had to choose our family.”
The Triarius Fleet, after all was said and done, was down to eight without theEntia.
Eight against twelve was questionable. Eight against eighteen would wipe the fleet out.
“Fuck,” Augustus muttered.
And to think…less than a year ago, he’d gloated to his parents about having eleven ships to Thorne’s seven.
Augustus paced to the nearest railing and stared down at the churning sea.
