“What are you doing?” Bree shouted in her face. “This isn’t a game. Garlain was on that ship. You killed him!”
“I cannot stop it. What is done is done.”
Bree stared at the sinking ship. “But Dad...”
Drimpal and his men had jumped overboard and swam to safety, but her father wasn’t part of the fleeing group. New tears welled up and burnt her eyes. The bandits were going to survive but they left Garlain to drown in the river.It isn’t fair.
Bree turned back to the riverbank. Horland and the prisoners still fought bravely but they were outnumbered, and one by one the prisoners fell. Horland fought three beasts, cutting, and slashing and heaving his heavy sword in all directions.
“You used magic to sink the ship; use it again to stop the bandits and find Garlain.”
Morla grinned and her eyes shone wildly. She ripped her arm out of Bree’s clasp and once more, raised both hands over her head. She keened to the sky.
Bree tried to pull her arms down, but Morla was stronger than she looked and refused to budge.The woman is crazy.
Her keening went higher in tone and again higher still. Bree covered her ears. So did the men on the riverbank as they stopped and looked at the princess.
At the diversion, Horland sideswiped the man and ran to the edge of the bank and leapt onto the ship’s deck.
Chapter 20
Horland set his boots on the shifting deck and scanned everywhere. She was still alive.
A wail like none he had heard before echoed around him. He scanned the area but couldn’t find the source of the noise. The men on the riverbank clasped their hands over their ears as the shrieking continued.
Mayland’s laughter rose above the shrill cry. “That’s right, run away.”
Horland gazed in the direction of Mayland’s voice. His opponent was indeed running past the sinking ship to the bank of the river. A movement out of the corner of Horland’s eye had him readying his sword to block whatever attack was coming his way.
But none came. The man he had glimpsed seconds earlier ran past Horland. The bow of the ship dipped further into the depths of the river, and Horland wasn’t sure if the man was thrown or if he jumped. It didn’t matter because the man was already ploughing his arms through the water and swimming downriver.
“Sir Horland,” Mayland’s voice called. “Jump! Jump, Sir Horland.”
The ship squealed and shrieked as the wood hull and deck twisted.
Horland scanned the area. All the bandits retreated, jumping into the water, and swimming downriver as fast as they could. More of their pack were already rounding the bend and disappearing.
Keeping his sword in one hand and grasping the rail with the other, Horland searched every bobbing head, but he couldn’t see any sign of a red head in the water.
He turned back to the ship. The stern was reaching up into the sky. Using the railing to keep his balance, he pulled himself along the watery deck. “Briana,” he called.
His gaze fell on the hatch. Water surrounded it, whirling, and creeping through the cracks. Had the scum left her below? Horland pulled the hatch open, but only more water met his gaze. There was no way anyone could survive if they were below deck. He let the hatch drop. As if that small jolt tipped the ship further into oblivion, the deck disappeared from under Horland and he was swept to the rail. Flinging his arms out, scrabbling for anything to hold on to, his fingers finally found purchase on a railing upright.
Horland shook his head to get the water from his eyes and groaned. His side filled with agony; he was certain his ribs were broken. He glanced back at what might have caused such an injury. The anchor hold was in the direct path from his location and the hatch. He must have crashed against it on his way to the railing.
“Jump, Sir Horland,” Mayland shouted above the continued wailing. “Jump or you’ll drown.”
Horland tried to see where Mayland was calling from, but all he saw was a wall of water. It was as if it paused to study him before engulfing the rest of the ship.
“Horland!” Briana’s voice floated over the mayhem.
“Briana,” Horland whispered. He instinctively took in one great breath as the river engulfed him, pulling him down along with the deck. His lungs screamed at the torment he was putting them through, and he thought he would die at that moment.Briana is alive.His mind shifted; he couldn’t leave this earth without telling Briana he loved her. He clamped his lips together as survival instincts overcame him. Using his arms like oars, he fought hard to swim to the surface but no matter how hard he worked his limbs, he couldn’t break out of the ship’s grasp.
His lungs burned, washing away the pain in his side. If he didn’t get to the surface, he would drown for certainty. He stopped still. Briana. Had he truly heard her voice, or was he imagining it? Peering through the water, now clouded by debris, he searched for the woman who had barged into his life and unhinged him.
She was nowhere to be seen, nor was Garlain. He closed his eyes. He wanted to talk to Garlain, to hear from his lips what had happened to him these past years, but his heavy heart worried he might never see his friend again.
Or Briana.
