One of Kairyn’s men runs up to him. “Shall I give the order to attack that skiff?”
Kairyn stares down at me. I hold his dark, void gaze, muscles trembling. We look at each other for a heartbeat, then two, and then I hear him repeat: “Get this harpoon off!”
The Trident’s Gloryis still ahead, but I need to make sure there’s enough of a gap for her to escape. My arms struggle against the rope. “Take the skiff round her port side!”
Wrenley does what I say, clumsily adjusting the tiller. The wind tugs our sails, and our skiff banks to the left, tracing a dangerous arc around the imposing hull of the ship.
The harpoon line snaps taut, and I let out a bellow to hold it as it drags the cannon across the schooner’s deck. Shouts ring out as Kairyn’s men attempt to hold down the cannon, but ourskiff is too fast, the cannon has gained too much momentum. As we swing the line full-way around, the cannon turns completely, barrel now facing the helm.
“The cannon’s incapacitated! What’s next, Day?” Wrenley yells.
I let the line go and stare down at my shredded hands. “I’m going to kill the High Prince of Spring.”
She reaches for me, but I shirk away. “It’s too dangerous!”
I grab the second harpoon. “For him.”
“Forget the cannon!” Kairyn’s screaming at his men. He storms back and forth across the deck. “Catch the princess and bring back my prisoner!”
“The idiot!” Wrenley cries. “The damned fool!”
“I couldn’t agree more. Now, get to the tiller.”
I stand with my second harpoon perched over my shoulder, and line up my target. Kairyn doesn’t even notice me; he’s too busy screaming at his men. He’s covered completely in Spring steel, armor so hard that the barbed tip of this harpoon would be like hitting it with a toothpick. But I’ve spent decades passing time sparring with the previous High Prince of Spring. I know exactly where every slat in the armor is, how there’s a gap right between the helm and the collarbone.
I hold up my left hand to help me aim. The harpoon’s tip shimmers in the light. My mind reels with the strength of the throw, the angle with the wind.
Then I have it. The tip lines up right where I need it to. “This is for Ez,” I whisper. I draw my hand back and release—
“Ahh!” Wrenley cries, falling against me. The harpoon goes wide, snagging into the wooden deck right at Kairyn’s feet. He looks down at it and then up at me, fists clenching.
“Stars damn it, Wrenley!” I roar. “I fucking had him!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She shrinks under my gaze. “My foot got caught in the rope. I was just trying to follow your orders.”
There’s no time to waste dwelling on it. All I have is one harpoon left and an entire ship to take down. But I’ve never been one to be discouraged. One harpoon took out their cannon—
Their cannon with the breech wide open, the barrel packed with gunpowder.
I look down at the rest of the supplies Claudius left in here.
“When I say so, Wren, we need to get out of here. Not a minute after I say so, not a second after. Right away. You hear me?”
“What are you planning?”
“We need to be quick. Quicker than our skiff can go.” I grab her face with my hands, smearing bloody marks on her cheeks. She stares up at me as if the world is in my eyes. “Remember the fountain in Florendel? How you controlled the water?”
“Yes.” She places her hands over mine.
“I need you to do it again. We need a current under this skiff. Get us straight in the wind then you concentrate on the water below us. Can you do it?”
“For you, anything,” she whispers.
“Great.” I drop my hands. I need to be quick. It’s a wonder Kairyn hasn’t asked his troops to kill us already. With all the Queen’s Army deserters he has, we’d be like fish to their trained spears.
I tear my shirt off and wrap it around the tip of the harpoon, before dousing it in oil from the canteen. Then I grab a match. “Ready, Wren?”
“I think so.”
