“Ahnna must have made quite an impression.”
The moment had felt like hope. Like salvation delivered from theleast expected hands, but as they drew closer to the battle and the carnage became clear, it felt like a fool’s hope. Dozens of ships were damaged and sinking, the water covered in debris, but the island was what stole Keris’s focus. The cliffs were scarred, the jungle around the perimeter crushed and burned, and lines of black crisscrossed the island, smoke rising from multiple fires. It seemed impossible that anyone was alive, but from the crow’s nest, a scout shouted, “There are survivors! Ithicana fights on!”
“Do you wish to offer them the chance to surrender?” Arjun asked Zarrah, but she only shook her head. “Ramming speed. I want them to know that we are here to sink them, and we shall see what they do with that certainty.”
The fleet moved into lines, decks full of archers and swordsmen, their eyes hard and ready for the fight. As Keris lifted a spyglass to his eye, he saw chaos on the decks of the Harendellian ships as they pivoted to meet the threat. Closer and closer the fleets drew together, the thunder of drums matching the beat of his heart.
“Brace!” Zarrah shouted.
And Keris drew his sword.
102
Ahnna
“What’s the plan?”
Ahnna twitched at Mara’s familiar voice, not having realized that Northwatch’s commander had been one of those who’d boarded to assist.
Mara scowled at her. “Well? We can’t ram them all. Where do you want to start?”
The Harendellians left aboard had all been forced into the hold, so only Ithicanians were on the decks of the enormous ship, it taking all of them to manage the rigging. Wary of the reinforced bow, the ships of Lestara’s fleet had been doing their best to get out of Ahnna’s way, but some were moving to get alongside, archers at the ready.
She couldn’t outrun them. Not in this vessel.
“TheVictoria.” Her voice was raspy, so Ahnna coughed to clear her throat. “It’s flying royal purple, which means Lestara is aboard. We sink it and turn her into shark shit. That’s the goal.”
“Right.” Mara rested her elbows on the rail, her face heavily lined from a lifetime of being outside in the sun. “Except that murderous tit isn’t Silas and there isn’t a typhoon staring the Harendellians down. Killing Lestara isn’t going to send them packing—it’s just going to piss them off while they finish the job.”
“How many ships do you suppose I can sink with this tug?”
Mara shrugged. “Three. Maybe four. We’re already taking on water from the other collisions, and it’s not going to be long until this thing goes down like a rock.”
“Will sinking four ships win this fight for us? Will it make them surrender?”
“Nah, we’re done. It’s just a matter of how many of the bastards we can take down with us. Word’s been sent south, and everyone will be fleeing to Maridrina and Valcotta. Ithicana dies today, Ahnna.”
Not just Ithicana, but everyone she loved. Lestara would surely execute any survivors on Ornak once the island was taken, and Lara and Aren wouldn’t flee. They were going down with the ship.
And James…
Her eyes burned, her vision filling with his expression as she’d sailed away, and she desperately wished he was with her. Wished that they could fight through this final moment together, rather than dying apart.
I’ll find you,she silently whispered.Whatever comes next, I’ll find you.
Then she squared her shoulders. “If Ithicana must fall, let’s make this last battle about giving tomorrow to those who survive us.” Ahnna shifted the wheel, then ducked as an arrow shot over her head. “Harendell has a baby king, Mara. With Lestara as his mother, he has no more chance than William did with Alexandra. We’re going to give him a chance. Give him a chance to be better, because if Ithicana is to be ruled by a Harendellian, I want them to be ruled right.”
“Killing Lestara won’t guarantee that. He’s got a lot of years of growing, and who knows who will rule until he’s of age.”
How much different would the baby king’s life have been if he’d had the chance to know his uncle? What sort of man would he have grown into with James at his side? It broke her heart that she’d never find out.
“Virginia will rule.” Ahnna lifted her chin. “She’ll do right by him, if given the opportunity.”
Mara cracked her knuckles, then retrieved a shield from a deadsoldier who still held the grip. “There are worse things to die for. Get yourself a shield and something to hold on to, friends,” she shouted to those in the rigging. “We aim to give theVictoriato the Tempest Seas, but we’ll have to fight our way through to her!”
Ahnna set theVictoria’s bulk in her sights, but she could feel the ship sinking lower in the water. There was nothing nimble about the vessel she sailed—it was like a battering ram, all strength and momentum.
She clipped another vessel, and it heeled over with a groan, spilling soldiers into the water before it righted itself, but her ship didn’t alter its course. Deep in its bowels, she heard it groan as water poured in through the gashes and gouges in its hull, its fate certain.
