Lili came up beside him and leaned forward onto the railing. “I’d give anything to go back and tell you not to take that deal.”
“Did you have reservations about it that I’m not aware of?”
“No, but?—”
“Then stop. No one could have foreseen what happened.” Rage surged through him like a storm-chased tide. “Fucking oxbeasts.”
Lili twisted to face him. “You understand, don’t you? Why I changed course?”
He wanted to rage at her, but deep down, in the cold place reserved for command decisions, he knew—he would have done the same. For good or ill, the path still led to Selene.
His chin dipped. “Our fathers need the ship and whatever crew we can offer. But even with theEntia, the fleet is still outnumbered in this war. Thorne will crush us.”
“I’d rather die,” she said, standing, “knowing we tried.”
“Omar and his family didn’t sign up for this.” His thoughts went to the young ones aboard, then immediately to the other innocent life caught in the middle. “Thorne will bring Selene right into the thick of it. He’ll use her to weaken me.”
Lili nodded. “I’m so sorry, Augustus.”
It didn’t seem fair that he had to make such a choice. He’d always known Selene deserved better than him, and this only proved his case.
“Selene will survive,” he said. “It’s what she does. And gods help Thorne if he underestimates that.”
“To war, then?”
Augustus set his jaw and, belatedly, nodded. “To war.”
Chapter
Twenty-One
Selene and Petrina rowed all night, their small rowboat slicing through gentle waves, following the compass’s arm via moonlight alone. Then, dawn broke and the Trayterre Isles emerged from the mist like giants with towering cliffs, crowned by dark-green forests.
Near the coast, they navigated around submerged boulders worn smooth by the tides until, finally, the rowboat barged up against a rocky shoreline. A veil of early morning fog curled around the jagged peaks above, and thin streams of mist fell over the edges like ghostly tendrils reaching for the sea.
“We should drag the boat into the trees,” Petrina said. “In case Thorne searches this way for us.”
Selene was certain he wouldn’t. After all, why would they choose uninhabited islands over the mainland they could have reached hours ago?
Okos, as Selene understood it, was a bustling city within the Tineian Empire. There, they could get messages out. They could find shelter. And with the empire’s superior military presence, they could have protection against the pirates who would dare stir up trouble in their search for two escaped women.
Instead, they chose the small islands with little to no human life. They would brave the elements for as long as necessary…
Or until Selene found the people she was looking for.
The women dragged the rowboat inland, serenaded by the echoing bird calls that pierced the stillness.
“This place feels old,” Petrina said, shivering.
More than old. Ancient. Untouched by time.
“Come on,” Selene said. “We need to find fresh water.”
Petrina nodded, and the two of them strode around winding, bent, and gnarled trees. Careful of the roots twisting out of the earth, which was a mix of packed earth and white sand.
They walked the uneven terrain for some time before Selene heard the distant roar of a waterfall. She hurried her steps, mouth dry, skin grimy. Already imagining how she would plunge into its clear pool?—
An invisible barrier sucked around her limbs, pushing, pulling… Selene tripped past it, and her earspopped.
