I nearly yanked the entire drawer out of her worktable in my excitement.
She was right. I recognizedTemerity,headed for Dewspell’s harbor. I counted four ships behind it.
And then, as I watched its approach, I turned the spyglass to the horizon and spotted four more.
Then another two.
“Master Aynia,” I said, my words pinched. “EitherCarabosseis under attack, or we are.”
Chapter twenty-six
Jax
Two Weeks Earlier
Iopenedmyfist,releasinganother paper messenger bird into the air. This one fluttered towardsLilimerand her crew of highly trained archers—my favorite attack ship.
One reason I favored her was because some of those archers were mages.
Within minutes, another volley of enchanted fire arrows flew skyward, aiming for the sails of one of the ships that pursued us.
Only one connected. But it was enough.
The sail, then the mizzenmast, went up in flames in little more than the blink of an eye, sped along by the same wind magic thatprotected the natural fire from extinguishing as the arrows cut across the sea.
As the burning fragments of our enemy’s mast toppled onto the deck, smashing the rail and nearly sending licks of flames towards its fellow ship,Temerity‘s crew filled the salt air with cheers.
Even without Sofie, I still had a few tricks up my sleeve. Sofie, who I had no time to think of now. Sofie, who I’d spent entire nights thinking of when I should’ve been sleeping. Sofie, whose departure along with Oasis and Omar had left me with three days of pounding head pain.
Days had gone by since my last megrim, and still I felt no better.
I shoved that aside for now. Might as well save all my regretful thoughts for tonight. Why change course after all these weeks? Tonight, I would think of Sofie, and of how this plum bit of plundering had proven to be the one fight I never should’ve attempted. But I had some of my best ships at my beck now, and I was in the mood for a little destruction.
It should’ve been an even fight: six ships of theirs versus six ships of ours. I’d gotten far more for my reckless efforts than I could’ve hoped—and not in a good way. Even now, the carpenter Mr. Glas was working with my best blacksmith at a frenzied pace aboardDog,my fastest and lightest ship, to keep her from sinking due to the giant hole in her side. One thatstillcrackled with the lightning magic of an enemy mage.
I had no true storm wielders in my entire fleet. What I did have was the best small army of wind mages on the open seas.
Another volley of fire arrows flew fromLilimer‘s deck, just as one of our royal enemies lowered her sails. At last, space began to open up between the present six ships ofCarabosseand our enemies from Endergeist.
Beside me, Violet whistled rather than celebrated. “Shame to see a fine vessel like that go up in flames. She would’ve made a lovely addition to your fleet.”
“I’m not certain that would be helpful at present,” I grumbled, still reluctant to admit that these ships were not the prize I had initially hoped.
For one thing, they were part of the royal navy of Endergeist—a fact they’d only revealed by hoisting their flags as my ships began to align for the perfect attack. And I had a sneaking suspicion one of the final pair of ships, lagging behind the rest, might be bearing the fierce little nation’s king.
This was not the kind of trouble I wanted.
I shoved through the door to the captain’s cabin, hurrying back to the ink pot. The note I wrote was so hasty, I wasn’t certain the recipients would be able to decipher it. But there was no time to rewrite it. I rocked the ink blotter over the text, slowing only to get the creases just right. I’d been folding paper messenger birds since I was a boy. I could’ve folded a half-decent one while deep in my cups. But at moments like this, I followed my mother’s instructions.
Deep breath. Slow down. Do it right the first time.
I pushed a little magic into the paper, satisfied when the wings snapped to life. Then I scooped the messenger bird into my hands and returned to the deck, releasing it with another push of magic that would guide it in the right direction.
If I was correct, the king’s ships would be crawling with mages who could reply.
My message was simple:
Captain Bluebeard sends his regards.Carabossewill gladly stand down, should the King of Endergeist state suitable intentions.
