“No.” Poales shifted his weight.
“Since when are they shaving everyone’s heads?” Minyan pointed at Poales’ scalp. The pirate grabbed his hand and studied it, running a finger over the rough calluses. He let it go with a laugh. “You haven’t been trading. You’ve been mining. Ha. You got away from the prison and ended up with us.”
“You always were quick, Minyan.” Poales stepped back. “Is Caspu on the ship?”
He scowled. “Nah. He was killed in a fight a few days ago.”
“With bandits?”
“With the guardsmen, may they be eaten by warboars.” Minyan spat and cursed. “They made us a deal to fight some rioting prisoners and offered us rewards. At first, it all went well. Then the prisoners managed to kill most of our men and the guardsmen finished them off. I only escaped because Caspu left me in command while he led the fighting party.”
Sebezh coughed and Tereka held her breath. Surely he wouldn’t be so stupid as to admit they’d been there? She glanced at Poales. His face was like granite, hard and immovable. He tipped his head to the side. “I’m sorry about Caspu. I liked him. B-but you’ll be a good captain.”
Poales liked a pirate? Tereka was going to have to ask him about it later.
Minyan snorted. “So.” He stepped to Relio and stared him in the face. Relio met his gaze, unblinking. Minyan moved on to Alikse, who crossed his arms and stared back. Then the pirate scrutinized Sebezh and Hinat. He moved toward Tereka. Naco stepped in front of her. Tereka flinched. He was dead for sure.
“Don’t want me looking at the girls?” Minyan fingered the hilt of his sword. He eyed Savinnia and ran his tongue over his lips. Naco stiffened. Minyan looked from Naco to Savinnia to Tereka, then back at Naco. “That one is very like you.” He pointed at Savinnia. “Sister?”
“Yes.”
He pursed his lips. “Hmm.” He tipped his head toward Tereka. “And blue eyes here, what’s she to you?”
That was a question Tereka longed to ask, though she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer.
“A friend.” Naco stuck his chin in the air. “I owe her a debt and I intend to keep my word.”
“So, you are a keeper of promises, even when it means certain death.” Minyan laughed. “Can you assure me that if we help you, you will help us? And not try to knife us while we sleep?”
Naco nodded. “I can promise that.”
“We can trust Poales,” Minyan turned to his men and pointed at Naco, “and this one. What say you?”
“Kill them, I say.” A pirate with several missing teeth gestured with his bow. “They might warn the village.”
“And they have swords,” another put in. “We could use those.”
Minyan narrowed his eyes. “You haven’t been helping guardsmen lately, have you?”
Tereka knotted her hands to stop them from shaking.
“If you please.” Sebezh pushed past her and her breath caught. What was he doing?
Sebezh pointed at her. “She’s a healer. If you have any sick or wounded she can fix them.”
“Is that true?” Minyan stared at her as if to pierce her skin with his gaze.
Her stomach clenched and her face felt hot. Her heart pounded in her ears. “I have some abilities, yes. But I can’t promise anything.” She wanted to spit curses at Sebezh.
The big pirate looked at his men. “What do you think?”
A wiry, pale-skinned man with shaggy brown hair scowled. “Kill them.”
A man so heavily scarred that it looked as if his face had nearly been sliced in two spoke next. “We could give them a try. Let your friend make some toys, see if the girl can heal. We can always kill them later.”
Minyan scratched his chin. “We have business in the village up ahead. Will you help us?”
Tereka didn’t want to loot a village. She groped for a tactful way to refuse Minyan.
“My friend,” Poales said. “We’re weary from mining and fleeing guards and nearly dying of thirst in the desert. We would only hinder you in your b-business.” He paused. “We could c-carry the results of your labors to your ship for you.”
“Right.” Minyan pursed his lips. “We’ll use you as oxen today. Turn over your swords to my men.”
With a slow exhale, Tereka thought they just might survive the night, but her relief disappeared when Poales asked, “And what will keep you from knifing us while we sleep?”
Savinnia gripped Tereka’s hand. Tereka edged closer to her and Savinnia’s trembling shook her arm. Savinnia knew better than Tereka what it was to be used by rough men. And Poales had asked a good question.
“We’ll give you all knives.” Minyan pulled out a blade and tossed it at Poales’ feet. “Carry for us today. You work for your passage. Make me some toys.” He narrowed his eyes at Tereka. “Heal the wounded. Tomorrow we’ll see.”
57
“Now hear this,” Minyan said. “Each of you will follow one of my men. You’ll do what he says. And make no sound. Understood?” He didn’t wait for a reply, but quickly paired all of Tereka’s group up with his own.
“I’ll take the healer girly.” The scarred man, the one who suggested they could kill them later if need be, gripped Tereka’s arm.
She opened her mouth, then closed it when Poales shook his head and frowned.
Minyan rested a hand on the hilt of his sword. “And you’ll carry what we give you. Anyone makes any noise, or tries to run off, you’ll be dead. And we’ll kill all the others.”
Tereka glanced at her friends. Most of them, she was sure, would comply. But Sebezh and Hinat she wasn’t sure about. She worried her lip between her teeth. They might decide to take their chances on their own, without a thought for the rest of them.
“Let’s go.” Minyan led the way away from the river onto the grass-covered steppe, setting a quick pace. After a few moments, Tereka was panting. She could barely keep up with the long strides of the pirate in front of her as they pushed through the desert scrub. She wouldn’t be able to run much further. Then what would they do to her?
The light from Dabrey’s half orb was just enough to see the back of the man in front of her, the breeze not enough to cover the sound of footsteps on the hard ground. No chance of light from Zlu. Makes sense they’d choose a night when only one moon was out, and only half full at that, for their raid.
When the group halted, Minyan made a series of gestures, and his men melted off into the dark, each with one of Tereka’s friends in tow.
The scarred one took Tereka’s arm and pulled her after him. They strode through the grass, moving in a circular route, away from the direction they had been running. She stumbled and nearly fell. The pirate didn’t slow down. What would she do if she lost him in the dark? No one had told her his name. Judging by the scar on his cheek, his face had been nearly cleaved in two. That’s what she’d call him. Cleave.
After a few moments, they ascended a rise. In the distance, a campfire burned. Shadowy figures sat around it, others walking about.
“No noise. Follow me.” Cleave’s voice was low and gravelly, the voice of one who expected immediate obedience.
Tereka’s heart hammered. This wouldn’t end well. Not at all. She followed Cleave through the dark, his fingers digging into her arm. He stopped and put his mouth to her ear. “Don’t. Move.”
He released her and disappeared. She rubbed the sore spot on her upper arm where he’d gripped her. More bruises tomorrow. If she lived that long. She wrapped her arms around herself.
Shouts erupted from near the fire. The seated figures jumped to their feet. Some mounted horses, others seized bows and started to shoot into the dark. A group of men burst from the darkness on the other side of the fire, swinging swords. Ten, fifteen, it looked like. Minyan must have had another group approach from the opposite direction.
One arrow sailed her way and fell to the ground several feet in front of her. Tereka’s heart almost burst from her throat. Should she stay? Run? No. She shouldn’t mo
ve. It was her fault the others were in this mess. She couldn’t endanger them trying to save herself.
A bulky shape approached, like a misshapen monster whose high-pitched squeal cut the night air. She clamped her teeth on her scream.
“Girly. Here.” Cleave shoved a bulky, soft bundle into her arms. “Now follow me.” He ran in the direction of the river. She sprinted after him, straining to lug her burden. As they crossed the rise, the moonlight showed her that he carried a brown desert goat over his shoulders, its ears flattened, its whimper rising and falling.
They trotted along, the shouts behind them fading, Tereka’s raspy breaths and an occasional bleat taking their place. She shifted the bundle, the rope tied around it cutting into her fingers.
“Hurry.” Cleave ran faster.
Tereka pushed herself to trail him around a grove of trees, their branches scraping the silvery half-moon. At the bank of the river was a ship, a plank extending from its side to the rocky slope.
“Up you go.” Cleave shoved Tereka ahead of him. She stumbled up the gangplank to the deck of the pirate ship. She staggered under the weight of the soft bundle she carried. Goatskins, perhaps.
Cleave swung the goat from his shoulders and seized the bundle from her. With a rough shove, he pushed her toward the opposite rail. Two people stood there. She let out a long breath when she recognized Savinnia and Naco.
They huddled together, watching the pirates pen the goat Cleave had carried with two others. Tereka was still panting when Poales and Relio appeared, bearing goats. Alikse trotted up the gangplank soon after, a goat tucked under each arm.
Where were Sebezh and Hinat? Tereka’s chest tightened. Had they abandoned them, knowing they’d be killed? She gripped Savinnia’s arm. As softly as she could, she whispered. “Anyone seen Sebezh or Hinat?”
Savinnia gasped. “No.”
“No talking.” Cleave’s growl was low and menacing. Tereka counted her heartbeats, waiting. Her fingers, clenched in Savinnia’s hand, grew numb. She dared not move, lest the sound provoke Cleave’s wrath.
Long moments passed. Then running footsteps grew louder. Hinat staggered up the plank, carrying one goat and dragging another. Sebezh came next, supporting a pirate with a dark stain on his shoulder, an arrow in one thigh, and blood dripping from his forehead.
Minyan was the last to board. Sweat dripped from his brow and blood stained the blade of his sword. “Cast off!” Two of the pirates seized the gangplank, pulled it up, and dropped it on the deck with a thump. The ship rocked as it settled into the river’s current. Tereka lurched and fell against Savinnia. She gripped the other girl to regain her footing. Other pirates let down the sails, while others disappeared into a hatch.
“You— ” Minyan gestured at Relio, Alikse, Hinat, and Sebezh. “You go below and row.” He waved the sword at Naco. “You can watch your girls. Later you’ll take a turn at oars.” He frowned at Tereka. “I’ll send the wounded to you. Start with him.” He pointed to the man Sebezh had lowered to the deck. With a glance at Poales, he headed toward a cabin. “You come with me.”
Tereka wiped her sweaty brow. At least she and Savinnia wouldn’t be left defenseless against the pirates, but Naco couldn’t fight them all. She glanced at his arms and shoulders, all muscle from hard labor. He’d at least slow them down.
Savinnia nudged her. “Better get to work.”
The pirate Sebezh had brought lay bloody on the deck. “See if we can get some water and rags,” Tereka said. She glanced at the sky. Dabrey was still high, but it gave barely enough light to see shapes. “And a lamp.”
Naco put a hand under her elbow. “You two stay here. I’ll get supplies.”
“Right.” Tereka turned to the injured pirate.
An hour or so later, she finished caring for all the wounded, barely managing to see by the weak light of an oil lamp and the half-moon overhead. The amulets had come to her aid, easing pain and mending gashes. She thanked the sky-god, then leaned back and tipped her face to the sky, letting the cool breeze dry the sweat. She let air fill her lungs and breathed out. Such a joy to not choke on every breath. She’d forgotten what it was like to breathe air that wasn’t laden with dust.
She sank next to Savinnia, her breathing already slowed by sleep. Naco settled on her other side. Tereka glanced at him. “I haven’t thanked you.”
“For?”
“For trying to protect me and Savinnia.” She surveyed her hands. “You never made me a promise.”
“No. The promise was to myself.” He tipped his head back and stared at the sky. “That since you saved me from death, I would save you.”
“But you risked yourself. More than once.”
He continued to stare upwards as if seeking a hidden message in the flickering stars. “It only seemed fair.”
Fair. A word Tereka didn’t want to hear. “Naco, how did you and Savinnia end up in the mines?” He didn’t answer. “If you don’t want to tell me… ”
A flash of white teeth told her he was smiling. “If you’re sure you want to hear it. Well, we lived in Kemi, a village near Litavye. I was a guardsman. Savinnia was clerk to the questor. He had plans to make her a judge one day.” He sighed. “She heard of a potential coup. Some of the guards were going to assassinate the ephor. She alerted the questor and the ephor. When the plotters made their attempt, I led the brigade that defended the ephor. We managed to kill them all.”
“And you were taken for that?”
“No. Soon after, the ephor died mysteriously. It seems the questor was either in on the original plot, or it gave him some ideas. He framed me for planning the coup. That’s why I was taken.”
Tereka’s stomach turned. “And Savinnia?”
“Savinnia. Well. She was warned to keep quiet, which she agreed to at first. When she realized I’d been taken, she sent a bird to the ephor in Litavye. The message was intercepted.”
“Let me guess, by the questor.”
Naco nodded. “He put Savinnia on trial for poisoning our ephor. Naturally, his judges understood what would happen to them if they didn’t deliver the verdict he wanted.” He clenched his fists. “Since she was taken for attempting to assassinate one of the Prime Konamei’s officials, she was sent to a labor camp, to be put in a men’s brigade.” He swallowed. “It is only by a stroke of luck she was put in the same brigade as me.” He tipped his head to the side. “Or maybe it was this sky-god of yours.” He shook his head and surveyed Tereka. “I don’t know. From what I remember of your story, you ran afoul of a syndic.”
“My aunt.” She told Naco her story. “It all seems so unfair.”
“Unfair?” Naco rubbed his chin. “It’s perfectly fair for those in power. The ones who control the scales of justice. Fairness is what they say it is.”
Her eyes widened. She leaned toward him. “I thought I was the only one who thought that.”
“You’re not. Most everyone in the mines would agree with you. I only met a few that deserved to be in prison.” His eyes narrowed. “But no one deserved to be taken.”
“Why doesn’t anyone do anything about it?”
“Why? Because they know the leaders don’t want to change anything. And they know what happens to people who get in their way.” He touched her shoulder with one gentle finger. “You know that better than anyone.”
She smiled and nodded. Even in the starlight, she could see him return her smile with one that went all the way to his tawny eyes.
Heat spread over her face and she dropped her gaze. “I think Savinnia has a good idea, this sleeping.”
Naco chuckled. “Get some sleep while you can. I’ll watch over you both.”
Snuggling next to Savinnia, Tereka’s muscles relaxed but her mind whirled. It wasn’t luck, but the sky-god that had brought Savinnia to Naco and Tereka to them. He’s a good and faithful brother. Not like Tirk. She swallowed a lump in her throat. Naco had such gentle concern for his sister. Savinnia was fortunate to have him.
And he had defe
nded Tereka, twice, when he could have ended up hurt or dead. He risked himself for her. She burrowed her face into Savinnia’s shoulder and squeezed her eyes shut. Not like Kemet. More like Da.
Tereka put her hand over the amulets. Warmth permeated her fingers. What would she do without them? People without amulets are completely at the mercy of the powerful, who tell us they do everything for our safety and are fair to all. But it’s all lies, a fraud. Innocent people are taken and worked to death in horrible conditions.
Why doesn’t someone do something? The words echoed in her head and she tensed. Wasn’t that what the Desired One was supposed to do? Bring about a new order, one fair for everyone? That’s what they needed, to live free of the fear of being taken. Or to live freely, like the Riskers. Someone should do something.
But not her. She wrapped her arms around herself. She couldn’t. She’d had enough. She was going to escape and make a life somewhere else. With Savinnia and Naco, and the others. She let out a long breath and relaxed into the motion of the waves, the gentle lapping against the sides of the ship lulling her to sleep, into a dream of tawny, kind eyes.
58
Squawking birds woke Tereka from a restless sleep. She squinted in the sunlight. She wondered why the world was heaving then remembered the night before. She was on a pirate ship. But the river had gotten so rough. She sat up, her stiff neck and sore arms protesting. Naco and Savinnia were standing a few feet in front of her, one of Naco’s hands resting on Savinnia’s shoulder. They were staring over the rail, swaying with the motion of the deck.
With a groan, she climbed to her feet and staggered over to see what was so fascinating.
And her jaw dropped.
Before her spread the ocean, rolling blue waves as far as she could see. Ribbons of white foam rode the waves, now on a crest of water, now vanishing into a valley. She’d never seen anything so beautiful and immense. Tereka grabbed Naco’s arm as the boat lurched and she tipped into the rail.
He pulled her into his side and the three of them stood silent and mesmerized. The ship collided with a wave and sent glittering spray high in the air, a few cold drops hitting Tereka’s face. The sunlight glinted on the blue water like sparks in a dark night.
Flicker of the Flame: A YA Epic Fantasy Page 32
