To her surprise Katherine did not seem upset. “Well, what did you say?”
“I simply asked if he was expecting the Thalassans to pay the taxes after all that had happened,” Ana answered, hearing it repeated confirmed that it was the wrong thing to do. “I know, don’t even say anything. I think I may need to take a nap.”
Katherine rolled her eyes with a smile and rose to help Ana change into a more comfortable linen nightshift. She tucked her in with a motherly touch, and moved to the opposite side of the spacious room and sat down on her own cot to read a book. A knock sounded at the door, and Ana rolled over as Katherine rose to answer it.
“Hello, Miss,” a sailor with a toothless smile greeted them from the door of the cabin. “A storm is in the distance. It’s hard to tell if it will come tonight or tomorrow. Regardless, the captain asks if you’ll stay below deck for the time being.”
“Yes, of course, thank you,” Katherine replied and shut the door. She turned to Ana and they stared at one another with a sad smile. The irony of his words was unbearable.
*
The hull rumbled hollowly with the echoes of the waves’ power. Ana sat up abruptly and listened to the water crashing against her father’s boat. It had been an easy time the first couple days of the journey but when the night came on the third day the water was becoming a bit more vicious. Now they were out of the Skamandros and Erebus was too far to venture back to. Ana took a deep breath and shoved any negative thoughts from flooding her mind. She adjusted her nightshift and ran to the door, her feet slightly swaying beneath her. She pulled the door open and staggered along a tilting deck and up the set of stairs where her father shouted above the rain’s din. He was bellowing barely audible orders and Ana struggled to stand next to him at the helm.
“You should be in the cabin,” Thomas scolded his daughter. She could hardly see him with rain sheeting down in her vision.
“This storm,” Ana began. “It woke me. The waves woke me.”
“Are you frightened?” her father asked. She was ashamed to admit it but ultimately she nodded. She could not remember a storm this severe in years. Thomas nodded back. “It’s a bad one. Tell Joseph to pick two men to bail from the bilge. We’re taking on water.”
The young woman nodded and half-fell down the stairs to where Joseph was heaving on an oar. She did not even bother using her voice but mentally relayed her father’s command, and Joseph acquiesced and stood to retrieve a couple men. Ana stood for a moment when suddenly the wood seemed to shift its very structure. She fell to the deck and lightning streaked the sky above her seeming to tear the heavens in two. The streak was followed quickly by a deafening blast that caused Ana to cover her ears. Her head was filled only with the sound of her own heartbeat but she stared at the mast that showed splinters running down the wood. Chunks began to break and fly off into the rain’s chaos and Ana screamed as the mast tumbled over the port side of the vessel to crash its top into the sea. Two men were knocked into the water and a third was struggling to keep hold of the crow’s nest he had perched in all night.
A hand seized Ana by the wrist and pulled her to the cabin door, and she looked to see her father’s face showing fear as he pushed her inside. She stopped him and he looked into her brown eyes with worry in his own.
“Papa,” Ana said. Her stomach was a tumult.
“I don’t know if we’ll even make it to Triton,” Thomas said. Ana reached out for his embrace but he obliged her only for a second. “I have to get us out of this mess.” He left and closed the door behind him. All Ana could hear were the sounds of wind howling through the ship, waves crashing against the sides, and faintly the sounds of dozens of innocent babies wailing below deck.
The time went by at a snail’s pace and Ana could not bring herself to sleep through the storm. The mast was destroyed, more than one or two sailors were surely dead, and the thunder had rumbled on for hours. It was only as dawn began to shine grey into the world that Thomas dragged the Phoros from the hurricane’s clutch. Ana decided that was the best time to assess the vessel so she threw a green woolen dress over her nightshift and wrapped a black shawl around her shoulders.
Orange light bathed the deck but only half the rowers were at their oars. Ana could hear some babies whimpering in the bilge but her first uneasy step was towards the devastated mast, or at least what had remained of it. When it fell, the Phoros’ mast had torn a chunk of planking off of the vessel’s port side so that the inner hull could be visible to any onlooker. A rib attached to the Phoros’ keel was also cracked by the mast’s collapse, so the young woman was careful not to tread even five feet from the hole.
“We took a bit of damage,” Joseph said behind her. “The bilge also took on a lot of water. There’s still some working on that even now.”
“What shall we do?” Ana asked.
“Don’t worry,” the sailor said. He pointed off to the south where a black dot sat amongst expansive blue. “That’s Triton. We’ll be there by day’s end.”
“Oh, good,” Ana replied. Her worries began to ease and she went below deck to find Katherine attempting to calm some of the restless babes. On the third step from the base of the stairs Ana stepped into the frigid water that was the main cause for the Phoros’ sluggishness. It came up above her knees when she was on the bilge’s floor, though she could see several men desperately hurling water out of the opened portholes back into the sea.
“A terrible night,” Katherine lamented.
“I know,” Ana replied. “At least we’re close to Triton.” Even as she said the words there was a sudden instinct that it did not matter. Her eyes drifted from Katherine’s face to the cracked rib of the Phoros. Three of the planks around it were loose and as she waded through the water she feared the worst and found it true. When she was close to the loose boards Ana could feel the swirl of the ocean as the vessel cut through the water, sending some into the bilge as it traveled. No matter how much bailing Thomas’ sailors did, there was a constant flow of gallon upon gallon filling the Phoros’ underbelly.
Katherine read the young woman’s mind. “We’re sinking…”
“I have to tell my father,” Ana said. She waded through the bilge back up the stairs and sprinted to her father’s position at the helm. “There are loose boards in the bilge… the ship is sinking.”
“I know,” Thomas said grimly. He stared ahead to the black dot in the distance with tears in his eyes.
“You know?” Ana exclaimed. Why was he not doing something about it? Nothing could stop her father’s success in anything, could it?
“I had hoped to make it to Triton,” Thomas answered. He let go of the ship’s wheel. “Load the lifeboats, there’s not much time.” She stood unsure of what to do. Was he really abandoning the Phoros? “Now!” Thomas shouted.
Ana jerked from her thoughts and raced down into the bilge to quickly tell Katherine, but the woman had already heard her thoughts upon entering and was moving to grab a child to bring to the upper deck. The sailors bailing the vessel heard the women’s thoughts as well and dropped their buckets, scrambling to get a place among those who would survive. Ana ignored the cowards and took two children from Katherine’s arms, letting her tutor prepare two more as she brought the first pair to the deck.
There were only two lifeboats on the Phoros, little more than oversized dinghies and one was already nearly filled with crewmen when Ana emerged from the bilge. Joseph tried to usher her onto the small boat but she shrugged away his hand and placed the two babies gingerly onto the empty boat. Thomas came down from the steering platform and went into his cabin to retrieve some belongings.
When Ana entered the bilge again she thought it looked like the water level had risen another half a foot. She took two more infants from Katherine and hurried back up the steps. An idea came to her when she went back and for the third pair she used her mind to lift the babes from Katherine’s arms and float them up the stairs to where she awaited them. The young woman had loaded
ten babies when the water reached high enough to float the cradles. Katherine was belly deep in the water but made no complaints as she transferred more children to her pupil.
A splash resounded as Ana carried the thirteenth and fourteenth babies to their place in the second lifeboat, and the Gaian woman saw that the first lifeboat was filled to the brim and being rowed towards the faraway dot that was Triton. Ana blinked a few times as she thought she saw Triton had actually become two specks, one separating from the first. She pushed past a gaping Stefan back to the bilge.
“What is going on?” The ambassador appeared oblivious to everything. He had not slept through the storm, no one could have, but apparently the land-loving politician had failed to see or understand the amount of damage the Phoros had withstood.
“We’re sinking,” Ana replied curtly over her shoulder. She took another pair of infants from their floating cradles and guided them into her arms at the top of the stairs.
Stefan panicked. He looked for his two guards and once he found them started to try to take control of the situation. Thomas barked at him to be silent and help his daughter with the children, but Stefan and his men only seemed to get in the way. After she had loaded the second lifeboat with twenty infants, Ana went back to the find Katherine now up to her neck.
“Get out of there. We’ll use our minds to lift the rest,” Ana said. She looked to Stefan for support.
“I’m not skilled enough to do that,” the ambassador mumbled, abashed.
Katherine began to wade to the stairs when a shudder went through the vessel. Ana deftly floated two more infants into her arms and tried to ignore the terror that gripped her heart when she heard the oak splintering. The crack in the rib had split the keel and the bilge began to flood rapidly as Katherine tried to ascend the stairs. Ana held the two babies and began to descend to aid her tutor when her father’s hand halted her progress. Stefan’s guards moved to help her but the hull began to quake and one fell into the water, pulled to the ship’s belly by the weight of his mail and weapons. The other guard, a man Ana knew as Frederick, screamed and reached for his comrade as the water flooded up and over Katherine’s face. The bilge filled quite suddenly to its top and the water sucked Frederick into its grasp as well.
Ana screamed. Katherine, she thought desperately. She attempted to communicate with her tutor through her thoughts but there was nothing. How could she already be dead? The young woman screamed again and her father pulled her back away from the flooded stairs. The deck was at sea level now and the remaining eight sailors took that opportunity to save themselves and push the second lifeboat away from the capsizing vessel. None of them had the courage to look into Thomas or Ana’s faces as they rowed away.
“They’ll never make it in time,” Thomas said in a hushed voice. Where Triton lay, a second speck could now clearly be seen as a small boat pushing itself in the direction of the sinking Phoros.
“You cowards,” Thomas raged. Still the men of the lifeboat would not look back. “You cowardly bastards get back here!”
The vessel was filled so greatly already, though. It lay low in the water and any more weight might sink it utterly. The children aboard the dinghy wailed as men scrambled for places to sit among them. Ana’s vision blurred as she looked from the lifeboat to the bilge where Katherine had yet to surface. The young woman went into hysterics as she knew her tutor would never be around again but her father held firmly to her shoulders.
Water began to surge up and over the port and starboard sides to lap at their feet. The cog shivered again and she knew that must be the last time but turned to see it was caused by Triton’s small boat bumping into it. Several soldiers made room for the survivors and Xander reached his hand out to pull her onto the vessel. She gave him one of the babies and used his strength to hoist herself into safety, her father and Stefan being helped by two other Thalassan soldiers at the same time.
Once she found her footing Ana heard the final bubbles of the Phoros’ bilge erupt on the ocean’s surface. The vessel was swallowed by the sea and with it went thirteen infants, Katherine, and two Gaian soldiers. The small boat rocked violently in the wake of the capsized vessel. The young woman collapsed in heaving sobs against Xander’s armored chest. The babies they held cried softly from discomfort. They’re gone. They’re just… gone. She thought it was her own mind’s sorrow but it was Xander who looked at where the Phoros had been just moments before.
Xander
“Thank the gods you’re safe!” Sophia exclaimed.
Ana sobbed and nearly leapt into her mother’s arms. Sophia almost fell over, startled, but stroked her daughter’s streaked brown hair softly. Thomas moved to Ana’s side and placed a hand on her shoulder. He looked into Sophia’s eyes and reflected the pain he felt in his heart.
“Only twenty-two new ones…” Sophia began. Ana wept inconsolably in the woman’s embrace.
“The others went under with Thomas’ ship,” Xander explained.
“Let’s go outside a moment,” Sophia said. She called to Elizabeth, another nurse, to take care of the children and settle them in for a short while.
The sky was grey when they walked outside and night was nearly upon them. The scent of rain was in the air. Xander looked over to where the young Gaian woman was practically supported in her mother’s grasp. Pain was etched all over her features as she fought for breath. It touched Xander more than he expected to see Ana in such misery. Besides that, the sheer relief he felt when he had pulled her off of the sinking ship and into his arms had been crippling. Now was certainly a time for Ana to be with her family, but he resolved to get a moment alone with her later. For what, he wasn’t sure. He just knew it needed to happen.
“I think my crew thought us doomed,” Thomas began.
“Evidently,” Xander remarked. He had seen the two lifeboats row past his own rescue vessel. The first was loaded with men while the other carried the rest of the sailors and some squalling children. They had all left Thomas, his daughter and the children she held, and even the Gaian diplomat behind on the sinking vessel.
“Seven total died last night in the storm,” Thomas elaborated. “They were pulled into the sea. Out of the twenty-three men remaining not one thought my daughter or her tutor should board first. Not one.”
“Bastards,” Ana spat through clenched teeth. Her voice was muffled against her mother’s chest. “Only Joseph tried to lead me there, but even he did not stop them from leaving once things got too hectic.”
“You shall have to hire new men,” Xander noted. “More reliable ones when pressure is at hand.”
“New men,” Thomas began, “and a new ship. All in all could cost me two, maybe three years of savings.”
“Forget the money,” Ana said bitterly. “My teacher, my best friend, is dead because of those bastards. Those babies… thirteen children dead because of their cowardice.”
“I was going to ask about Katherine,” Sophia said. She clutched her daughter tighter. “I am so sorry, my love.”
Ana’s tears began again, softer yet somehow more heart wrenching this time. Xander looked at their grieving faces. “I should leave you three alone. My condolences… truly.”
He turned to leave but Thomas’ voice stopped him. “Watchman!” Xander turned and raised an eyebrow. “Thank you.”
The soldier nodded and began his walk through Triton’s streets to the embassy. The town was quiet but two women opened their doors to place large vases outside to collect the coming rain. He wished he had done the same but realized he had no such vessel as they did, fired and glazed to provide the purest and crispest drinking water. Almost two-dozen men were loitering outside The Blue Dolphin and Xander saw that they were Thomas’ sailors. He smirked as he passed them.
“Enjoy your freedom while it lasts,” the watchman said coldly. Those sailors would not just be whipped but more than likely imprisoned. They had not only failed in their duty to their captain and his daughter but would probably be deemed mutinous
by any civil judge. The twenty-three men scowled in his direction but he just ignored them and walked on. He paused for a moment to look back and saw that Ana and her parents were walking the beach in the distance. Another vessel was rowing into the harbor and he recognized it as Brennus’. Patrick had arrived.
At the foot of the embassy a man sat alone, and Xander knew him as the ambassador. He was also the young man who had sat in on the meeting with the High Council in Tellus. Xander strode up to him casually and the man looked at him with exhaustion in his green eyes.
“Where are your men?” the Thalassan soldier inquired.
The ambassador stared out to sea. “They were wearing armor when the ship went down.”
Xander realized that implication and had to suppress a chuckle. Two less Gaians was no skin off his back. The ambassador must have realized his thoughts for he looked at Xander with anger. The watchman just smiled and patted the Gaian’s shoulder. “I’m sure they were good men,” he lied.
“I hardly knew them,” the ambassador admitted.
“No skin off your back either, then,” Xander said wryly.
“They were meant to keep the skin on my back,” the Gaian replied. “But no, they were not friends of mine.”
“I can protect you, while you’re here at least,” Xander offered.
“You were at that meeting, weren’t you?” the ambassador said as though he had just cleared up a mystery.
The Thalassan nodded. “I am called Xander, son of Nemo, a watchman of Triton’s Guard.”
“I am Stefan, son of Erik,” the Gaian replied. “No title, as of yet.”
“Well, for a man with no title you should not be opposed to having a Thalassan bodyguard for the time being,” Xander said.
Stefan looked guarded for a moment and looked Xander’s muscled frame up and down. “I suppose I have no other choice, do I?”
“No,” the watchman replied with a smirk, “you don’t.”
Severance (The Sovereign Book 1) Page 21
