“I’m sorry, Syla.” Tibby greeted her at the railing as soon as she climbed aboard. “But I had to do it. He’s not… I know you like him, but he’s an enemy. They all are. You have to know that.”
Fel nodded firmly. “He tried to destroy the weapons platform.”
“I know.” Syla couldn’t bring herself to say it was all right. It wasn’t. Nor did she say that she more thanlikedVorik. She hadn’t admitted that to anyone, not even him. Not even herself.
A soldier came up with two coarse gray towels and offered them to her.
“Thank you.” Syla bundled herself in one and draped the other over her shoulder.
“I only got a kerchief,” Tibby said.
“You didn’t douse yourself in the sea,” Fel told her.
“It feels like I did.” Tibby wiped her face and the back of her neck. “Engineers aren’t meant to go into battle.”
“You did well, Aunt Tibby.”
Except for that last shot…
Syla didn’t speak the thought aloud. Major Hixun was walking up.
“I wasn’t plucked up by a dragon at least.” Tibby shuddered. “I swear, if not for the scales of your red one, I wouldn’t be able to tell it from the others. That wasn’t the first time it plucked you up by its talons.”
“She. Wreylith is a she. And she saved me from enemy archers.”
“Shethen flung you into the ocean.” Tibby clapped her hands together in asplatmotion. “Your allies treat you similarly to your enemies.”
“Wreylith can’t fly through the barrier right now, so there wasn’t much else she could have done.”
“Flying down and placing you gently in the waves, or even on a floating bed of kelp, would have been more acceptable.”
Syla didn’t respond, envisioning herself hopelessly mired in kelp and drowning. Instead, she nodded to Hixun, who looked like he wanted to report.
Fel and Tibby moved away, talking about the dubious merits of dragon allies.
“Your Majesty,” Hixun said. “The fleet commander wants our ship to dock and find out if the island lord and his family are safe.”
“Yes. I want to know that too. And… I should speak with him.” After her meeting with Lord Ravoran, Syla didn’twantto speak with Lord Oyenar, but he shouldn’t loathe her as much. She hadn’t, after all, taken his island’s shielder. Still, he might blame her for the attack on his city and his smoldering palace. She grimaced.
“After we ensure the area is secure, Your Majesty.” Hixun looked toward the stormer ships. There was little sign of the crews. “There were men and women aboard those ships. We’ve seen some swimming to shore instead of out to be picked up by their dragon-rider allies.” He scowled in disapproval.
“I’ve been told in the past that dragons can only carry two humans,” Syla said, “at least for an extended distance. There were a lot more crewmen than seats available on those dragons. And…”
“They might not yet be done attacking Bogberry Island.”
Syla had been thinking the same and nodded. “Especially since they haven’t achieved their goal.”
“Do youknowtheir goal? I haven’t had an opportunity to ask what you learned from questioning Captain Vorik.”
Er, whathadshe learned? That tentacles rhymed with spectacles? She could have figured that out on her own, if she’d been inclined to contemplate it.
“They want the shielder here down,” Syla said, as if Hixun couldn’t have guessed that already. “They must have believed Lord Oyenar or maybe his wife, Abrya, know the location and could get them in. She’s a moon-marked relative of mine.”
“Do they? Can they? Doyouknow where it is?”
“I do, yes, and I think Abrya does. Her husband may or may not. Yes, send your men in to secure the area, please.” Syla wished she could go with the troops right away, not wait. Given time, the stormers would regroup and might attack again. For all she knew, they might alreadyhaveOyenar and Abrya. Syla needed to find out. But it wasn’t as if she could grab a sword or bow and be of assistance. “Please prioritize finding Lord Oyenar and Lady Abrya.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
