Page 55

Her shoulders stiffen. “I told Lotan the claim was incomplete. I did not tell him to provoke Sigurd into killing him.”

“You gave Lotan exactly what he needed to walk into Sigurd’s home and use me against him.”

“I expected a political confrontation, Valerie. Not this.” Maren glances toward the window again, and whatever she sees there drains the remaining defensiveness from her voice. “I didn’t realize that what the two of you had was… real.”

The anger comes quickly, but I force it down before it can become another argument. Maren gave Lotan the weakness he needed. No doubt, she thought the result would drive me away from Sigurd. Maybe it was out of pettiness. Or maybe she wanted Sigurd back. But I can’t afford to worry about that now.

I look at the pressure suit, then back through the window. Even if I manage the seals alone, I still have to fit the helmet and cycle through the airlock before I can begin the slow walk across the trench.

The memory of Saltweather arrives before I have finished the thought.

A merman standing on the quay with one webbed hand raised. Magic closing around the crowd. The strange pressure in my ears as the barrier separated us from everything outside it.

I let the suit fall back against its stand.

“When Eiriksson Maritime came to Saltweather, one of the mermen cast some kind of barrier around the crowd. It sealed us inside and changed the pressure around us.”

Maren frowns as she listens. “A containment ward, most likely.”

“Could you put something like that around one person?”

She understands what I am asking and immediately shakes her head. “Not exactly the same spell. That kind of ward is fixed to a location.”

“Then can you change it?”

Maren hesitates before looking toward the airlock. “I could anchor the field to you instead. It would travel with your body and carry breathable air. But the protection would only compensate for the depth. It will not save you if a kraken or a leviathan hits you.”

“I only need to get close enough for Sigurd to hear me.”

“That is still an extraordinarily bad idea.” She comes nearer and lowers her voice. “He is fully shifted, furious, and fighting on instinct. Solveig will not even interfere with him.”

“He’ll stop for me.”

Maren studies my face for several seconds. I don’t know if she believes me, but another heavy vibration passes through the floor before she can argue.

“You caused this,” I tell her. “I’m not asking you to fix everything. I’m asking you to help me reach him before Lotan dies.”

The fight leaves her expression. She looks once more toward the trench and gives a short nod. “All right. Get inside.”

I step into the airlock while Maren remains outside the inner hatch. She raises one hand toward me, and the spell begins with pressure rather than light. My ears pop, then settle as a faint distortion gathers close to my skin. It doesn’t form the rigid sphere I remember from Saltweather. This version follows the shape of my body, leaving enough air around me to breathe.

Maren keeps her hand raised while I reach for the controls. “I can carry your voice through the ward once you are outside. Don’t assume the magic makes you invulnerable.”

“I won’t.”

I trigger the cycle, and seawater rises quickly through the chamber. Cold closes around the ward, but the crushing force of the trench never reaches me. When the outer hatch opens, I push away from the threshold and swim.

Without the pressure suit’s stiff joints and heavy boots, I move easily through the water. The ward stays close as I kick forward, letting me cut across the trench far faster than I did during the walk with Sigurd.

The fight has carried them away from the fortress. I follow the broken rock and deep gouges carved through the seabed. By the time Sigurd comes fully into view, the fight is over.

Several tentacles hold Lotan against the trench floor. One side of the leviathan’s neck is torn badly enough to darken the water around him, and the little resistance he still manages does nothing to shift Sigurd’s weight.

Another tentacle rises above his exposed throat.

“Sigurd!”

Maren’s spell catches my voice and carries it through the water. Sigurd stops before the strike lands, remaining exactly where he is for several seconds before his head turns toward me.