Page 60

“Jinjur!” I called. “Steer for land!” I’d reasoned—correctly, as it turned out—that if the sea had been visible from the tower, then the tower would be visible from the sea. I gave a tug on the lines connecting to Lulach’s harness to let him know we were changing our heading. Then I quickly stuffed my pockets with as many tea leaves as I could.

We fetched up on the shore of the Swamp of Monsters with our ship in better condition than the first one, if not by much. This time around, we were able to wade through the shallows without wetting anything but our trousers and skirts. Or hooves and fetlocks, in the case of Sunbeam and Stinky.

“All right,” I said when we made it to land, or at least to somewhat thicker mud. “Everyone needs to—”

“Wait for me!” Lulach called, splashing toward the rest of us. He hadn’t gone far when he stumbled and bellyflopped into the surf. “Sorry,” he said as he picked himself back up, blinking water out of his eyes. “Mah foot git tangled in mah harness.”

I turned away and waited while Winifred dug a blanket out of her pack and handed it to him. I’d seen my nephew transform in and out of flounderhood enough that his naked body wasn’t exactly a novelty, but it still seemed rude to stare.

“We need to stay alert,” I began again as soon as he’d wrapped the blanket around his waist. “Even before we reach the genii’s palace. The whole swamp is full of danger.” With almost my entire family beside me, and all of us well armed, I felt much better prepared than when it had been just two people, two horses, and a knife. That was no reason to be overconfident, though. It would be a poor end to our tale if we were swallowed by a bog-dwelling bolotnitsa midway through the rescue.

Marsh thistles were already hooking their spines into my trouser cuffs, so I started pacing. It was a good idea to keep moving, anyway. Being active helped me stay awake. I only stumbled a little, and told myself it was the usual problem of switching from sea legs to land legs.

“Does everyone remember their assignments?” I asked. I hoped that I’d be able to remember mine. My thoughts were growing foggier by the hour.

Alexandra adjusted the rolled-up socks packed into the front of her trousers. “I’m playing Yudit-as-a-boy. I think I’ve got it down.” She was every inch the manly squire of Ecossia. We’d all had plenty of practice at it, back when we were pretending to be huntsmen. “I even have a few of her poems memorized. How do I love thee? / Let me count your breasts. / I love them for their depth and breadth and height—”

“Perfect,” I said quickly. “Lulach?”

“I swim tae Tailliz.” He didn’t sound happy about it. “Are ye sure ye dinnae want me tae tow ye back first? I cuid wait here while ye save the princess. It’d be muckle faster than walking.”

I glanced at the ship. With no one bailing, it was riding dangerously low. The water had almost reached the top wale. If I got back on, the vessel wouldn’t hold together much longer, certainly not long enough to carry us away. The rhododendrons were about to win their final victory.

“The king and queen have to be warned about the invasion,” I said. “We’ll make it out in time. Don’t worry, we’ve got a map.”

Drusilla double-checked her pack to make sure she hadn’t left the map on the ship. She was the best of us at orienteering and could steer us out of the swamp more quickly than Yudit and I had managed on our own. We’d be racing to my captive sister’s aid in no time.

Unless the swamp had already shifted so much that the map was inaccurate. Unless Ilyana hadn’t been recaptured by the genii after all, but was lost in the swamp or dead. Unless she couldn’t lead us to the Freemartin, or the Freemartin couldn’t be captured. Unless, unless, unless, and every unless meant Yudit would die.

“Winifred?” I said. Better to focus on the task at hand. “You remember your job?”

She rolled her eyes. “I wait for your signal and do the thing. It’s not complicated. You’re really not making the best use of my talents. I could scale the wall and—”

“Stinky and I,” Sunbeam interrupted, “will carry away whoever’s slowest.” Winifred glared at him.

“Efter that,” Drusilla said, “I cover oor trail so the genius’s mither cannae sniff us oot.”

“And if one of the genii gets too close…” I looked at Nicki, but she was preoccupied by a coughing fit. “Nicki will distract them,” I concluded. Hopefully, she’d have recovered enough by then.

“What about Jinjur?” Winifred was unable to resist weighing in again. “I don’t think you’ve told her what she’s supposed to do.”

I opened my mouth to give an answer and realized I didn’t have one. I’d forgotten to incorporate Jinjur into my plan. The huge woman waited expectantly, but my mind remained stubbornly blank. Trying to think was like wandering through a dense fog. I was just too tired.

“Er…” I began.

With a high-pitched screech, a skunk ape leapt out of the trees and rushed toward us, loping on its knuckles and feet. Before I had a chance to react, its repulsive smell reached my nose and I dropped to my knees, gagging.

My thoughts were too scattered to summon so much as a briar to wrap around its foot. Beside me, Alexandra vomited half-digested peonies into the surf. Drusilla tried to draw her sword but only got it halfway out before she bent over double, clutching her stomach.

The skunk ape grabbed Nicki and started dragging her off. She didn’t have the presence of mind to make the creature sniffle, much less sneeze. My littlest sister was so weakened by sickness and stench that she barely resisted as it bore her away.

It turned to give us a final hiss, and Jinjur punched it in the face.

Fangs shattered with an audible crunch. The skunk ape dropped Nicki and spat out a mouthful of blood and teeth. As Jinjur cocked her fist back for another blow, the skunk ape shrieked and ran off into the swamp.

When the putrid odor dissipated enough that I was capable of speech, I asked, “How…?”

Jinjur shrugged. “I live on the docks. I’m used to stink.”