The girl bobbed her head.I brushed aside questioning glances from the rest of the crew, keeping my expression calm as we disappeared below.
Moments later, Mary, myself, and Olsa held council with Mr.Maren and Alamay in my cabin.
“The ritual must be done during the height of the Tide itself,” Alamay said with a note of irritation.“Regardless of any ongoing battle.”
“The Mereish may not wait until then to engage,” I said, my mind a churning diagram of timings and tactics.“They likely intend to reduce Renown to rubble before then and head for the mainland before the waters retreat.”
“Meaning we may all be dead or captured,” Mary pointed out.
Alamay nodded stiffly.“Yes, but we cannot know that now unless a Sooth foresees it, and even then there may be leeway.Regardless.We have a day before the healing can be done, and, by my calculations, the best time will be soon after third morning bell.Too early, or too late, and the risk to all of us grows.If we are not finished by dawn, you will need to wait until next year, and our task will be much harder without the aid of the Other’s moons.”
“And if the time comes in the middle of battle?”Mary asked.She flicked her gaze to me.“Would you leave your post?”
“He must,” Alamay returned flatly.
“The ritual will take no more than a few minutes,” Mr.Maren added.“Though I cannot speak to your condition when we are through.”
“Our plan remains unchanged, then,” I summarized.“At third bell during the Second Turning of the Black Tides, we will convene here, perform the ritual with all haste, and return to duty.I will prepare my officers.And I will ensure Ben accompanies me below.Olsa, you and Illya should have your talismans ready—you must be prepared to subdue him.”
FORTY-NINE
Possession
MARY
Benedict leaned against the ramparts next to Charles and I, watching the Mereish Fleet with an ever-shifting regiment of curious townsfolk.
Hours had passed since the fleet filled the horizon, and Samuel, along with the captain of nearly every other ship in Renown, had been summoned to the fort.The remainder were either already cruising or had departed to reinforce key points along the anchorage, and message flags flew continuously from the fort’s heights.
“The Anchorage is soon to fall,” Benedict said without preamble.“And my career is over.”
“Your career should have been over a long time ago,” I reminded him.
Charles was silent, either lost in his own thoughts or determined not to involve himself in another of Benedict’s self-pitying moments.
“I have been a good officer,” Ben countered.“I have obeyed orders.Protected my country and my crew.I helped bring down Lirr and escaped Mere, and brought back word of the Mereish Fleet and other threats besides.Why, then, am I punished for a private action in the dark?‘Conduct unbecoming’—who are they to dictate who I bed?”
I met his heated gaze.I knew the brunt of his resentment wasn’t meant for me, but my heart still gave a primal, terrified twist.I kept it from my face, responding with dignity and coldness to rival his ire.
“Ben, for once, think of someone other than yourself.”
“I am,” he growled.“I need a ship.I need the opportunity to do my duty and prove myself once again.”
Charles cleared his throat and straightened.“I’ll take a turn down the wall,” he said, shoved his hands into his pockets and meandered away through the sober, chattering townsfolk.
“Still, selfishness,” I said to Ben.“You will never feel true compassion or sincerity or regret unless you’re healed.”
Ben watched me a moment, a cat deciding whether to torture a trapped mouse, then looked back out to sea.“Do you truly believe it would work?”
“I do.”I gestured to the fleet, deflecting from the truth.“There must be a High Cleric out there we can capture.You did tell Samuel you would have done it, if we had found a cure in Mere.”
Ben grunted.“I meant it at the time.But I enjoy what I am.My existence is not a crime.”
I suppressed a wave of frustration.“Ben.What did you feel when Lady Alice took you to bed?”
His mouth started to twist in a leering grin but stopped as I continued, “What did you feel when she smiled at you, and looked at you with love?”
“She thought I was Samuel.”
