Voyager of the Crown

by Melissa McShane

  “Well, so am I. But I think, between the two of us, we can get everyone to Goudge’s Folly safely, and you can be back to your old ways.”

  Ransom looked off into the undergrowth. “Right,” he said. “You should get some sleep if you’re going to insist on taking a watch.”

  “All right,” Zara said, mystified by his abruptness. She went back to her place, but continued to watch him as he sat by the fire, hunched over slightly and perfectly still. When the firelight started to burn her eyes, she closed them, and soon afterward dropped into sleep.

  She slept peacefully until Theo shook her awake, then stretched and made the circuit of the camp. She left the rifle on the ground near the fire; she didn’t know how to shoot and this didn’t seem the time to learn. Arjan and Cantara were nestled together as usual, Arjan with his arm draped protectively around his majdran, though it was unlikely he thought of her as his stepmother no matter what word you used. She hoped again that Goudge’s Folly was far enough away from Eskandel to protect them.

  Belinda lay on her back, her breath whistling in and out of her nostrils in a sound too light to be called a snore. She’d borne up well, never complaining even though Zara knew she wasn’t strong enough for a journey like this. Could she make a new life for herself, penniless as she now was? No doubt whatever job she took, she’d end up running the business in five years.

  Theo was already asleep again, one hand clutching his belt. She wasn’t sure anyone else had noticed how tightly he always held on to it—wasn’t sure he realized how tightly he held it—and she was reluctant to simply come out and ask him. It was probably no mystery, just the money his father had given him for the journey, but she was curious and tempted to investigate it while he slept—no, that would be a betrayal of the trust that had grown between them, and that wasn’t worth satisfying her curiosity.

  And Ransom. She paused for a moment next to him. He looked his age when he slept, young and vulnerable in a way that made her embarrassed to look at him, as if she were trespassing on private ground. Why had she told him so many truths about herself? Come to think on it, why had she wanted to share those secrets in the first place, let alone with a total stranger? But then, he’d been candid with her, too, telling her about his family in that level tone without a hint of his usual good humor.

  Being a thing, a figurehead—that was something Zara understood, even though she didn’t resent having been Queen and hadn’t had it forced on her by a family who didn’t care anything about her personally. Did Telaine know about the Resurgence? Zara couldn’t begin to guess how her grandniece would feel about an organization that wanted to make it possible for her to be open about her inherent magic, though she had a suspicion Telaine might not be keen on giving up the edge of being secretly able to hear lies that were spoken to her.

  She watched, listening to the river, until the sky grew light and she could see the murky outlines of trees clearly, watch the leaves quiver in the faint morning breeze. It would disappear by noon, so she took pleasure in the moment. The jungle was beautiful, even when it was trying to kill you.

  Something rustled in the undergrowth, away from the river, and Zara tensed, listening for more. Silence. Then more rustling. Zara glanced back at Ransom. If this turned out to be nothing, he’d mock her, but was that really a good reason not to be sensible? He would know better than she what kind of danger this was. She knelt at his side and gently shook him awake. A moment’s confusion flickered across his face, then he focused on her. “Trouble?”

  “I don’t know. Something’s moving in the bushes over there.”

  Ransom rolled to his feet and moved swiftly to the far side of their camp, picking up the rifle as he went. The thing, whatever it was, disturbed more bushes, but farther away. “Stay here,” he said. “It’s probably just a wild pig or some kind of monkey.”

  “If whatever it is attacks you, you’ll need help,” Zara pointed out.

  “And if something comes on the camp while we’re both gone, we’re going to feel stupid.”

  “It’s almost dawn. Nothing’s going to attack the camp unless it’s this thing. You need my help.”

  Ransom rolled his eyes. “Is there anything I can say that will convince you?”

  “No.”

  “Then stay behind me, and stay quiet. We’ll probably just have to scare it off.”

  Zara followed as closely as she dared. The sounds of the jungle at night were unfamiliar, as if the animals of the day were replaced by completely different ones, which might be true. Zara ducked vines and pushed aside trailing branches, praying the snakes were all still indoors and asleep. She had no desire to be bitten again. The smell of plants crushed underfoot mingled with the richer smell of rotting vegetation, a smell that was almost alive itself. Somewhere nearby, a monkey screeched and went instantly silent. Zara pictured a baby monkey being hushed by its mother as she put it to bed. Were the monkeys as bothered as she by the loud chirruping and whirring and humming of the millions, maybe billions of insects?

  Ransom stopped and held out a hand behind him, waving her to silence. Zara froze mid-step. Then Ransom swiftly raised the rifle to his shoulder, and the underbrush exploded with the sounds of grunting and leaves rustling. Something rushed past Zara, making her wobble and begin to fall. A hand steadied her. “Wild pig, and a young one,” Ransom said. “Wish I’d been quicker. They’re much tastier than snakes.”

  “I never thought I’d regret not catching a pig,” Zara said.

  “Well, as long as we’re out here, let’s see if we can’t find some food. And we’ll take that bag of snake meat back to camp.”

  “It didn’t taste so awful. It’s not sausage and eggs, but it can’t be that bad a breakfast.”

  “You must have slept well. That was almost optimistic.” Ransom pushed aside some low-growing branches and held them for Zara to pass. “There, those are pineapples. They don’t usually grow around here, but I’m not going to reject heaven’s gift.” He set down the rifle, drew his notched knife, and held the dusty green spikes growing from the plant’s top steady while he slashed at the base.

  “I’ve never had pineapple. Is it good?”

  “Delicious. Juicy, sweet and tangy, very filling. We can drink—”

  A scream rang out over the trees, cut off by the sound of a gunshot. Another shot, and then something flew into the sky and exploded with a fiery pinkish-red light. It burned itself out just as another flare exploded near it.

  “That’s our camp,” Ransom said. He dropped the pineapple and grabbed the gun. “We have to get back.”

  “Wait,” Zara said, grabbing his arm. “Those flares were either a warning or a summons. Either way, whoever’s at our camp isn’t friendly and has friends somewhere else. We need to be cautious.”

  “That gunshot might mean someone was killed.”

  “We won’t do them any good if we get ourselves killed as well.”

  “Then follow me. Keep close behind. If we can sneak up on them…”

  “Let’s wait to make plans until we see what’s there.”

  Ransom set off, more slowly this time, and Zara followed him, watching where he stepped and following as closely as she dared. She caught a branch he pushed aside and released it gingerly behind her. That wild pig had better not be in the area anymore, because if they stumbled on it, so much for stealth.

  Nothing looked familiar; she hadn’t been watching their trail closely, and now she cursed herself for having left the camp unguarded. She should have woken everyone, or at least stayed behind…and been attacked, or captured, or killed, whatever the fate of her companions was. At least Ransom hadn’t criticized her for her mistake, though he might only be waiting to do that until they discovered what had happened. She hoped it wasn’t the kind of mistake that had just gotten one of her friends killed.

  Chapter Eleven

  She heard voices in the distance that grew louder with every step until she could almost make out what they were saying: men’s voice
s, a couple of women, arguing over something. She didn’t hear anyone she recognized, which could mean Belinda and the others were…she refused to consider that possibility. Only one shot, so—Stop borrowing trouble.

  She took a few more steps and nearly tripped over Ransom, who’d stopped and crouched behind an overgrown bush taller than either of them. “Through there,” he whispered, and Zara crouched beside him. Ransom pushed aside the lowest branches, giving them an unobstructed view of their campsite.

  The first thing Zara saw was Belinda, sprawled on the ground with her hands flung out. Zara swallowed a cry of horror. If Belinda was dead, there was nothing Zara could do about it. A stranger crossed in front of their hiding place, someone wearing tattered trousers and boots dark with water stains. Beyond that, beyond Belinda, another stranger held Arjan fast in his grip. Arjan had blood running down the side of his face and looked furious. Zara couldn’t see Theo or Cantara. She heard the sound of bags being emptied and boxes being kicked open. “Not here,” someone said in Eskandelic. “There aren’t any Devices at all.”

  Another stranger stepped in front of Arjan and punched him in the stomach, making him groan. “Where is it?” the woman said. Arjan said nothing. She punched him again. “Talk, or I start hurting the woman.”

  Cantara screamed, “We don’t know anything! Leave us alone!”

  Ransom nudged Zara. “Six,” he whispered, holding up six fingers for emphasis. “See if you can pull some of them away, and I’ll attack the ones who stay.”

  “I’ll get lost if I try to draw them from the camp,” Zara whispered back. “You have to go.”

  “Not to be insulting, but there’s no way you can overpower even one of those people.”

  “Then you circle back around to help. We don’t have much choice.”

  Ransom scowled, but began backing away. “There are three to the right,” he said. “Go that way and approach from the side closest the river, then get everyone onto the ship.”

  “I know what to do. Give me a minute to get into position.”

  Ransom was gone almost before she finished speaking. Zara, still crouching, moved as quietly as she could, keeping low and staying in the shade of the giant trees around which bushes and tall grass grew intermittently. She wished she could take advantage of the more open spaces, which were easier to travel through and didn’t have all those noisy plants for her to disrupt, but she needed camouflage more than she needed speed.

  Cantara shouted again, and Arjan cried out in pain, then his captor issued a long stream of commands in Eskandelic she didn’t have time to listen to. These had to be the pirates who’d attacked the Emma Covington; it was too much of a coincidence that there were two groups looking for a Device. How they’d found them…but there was no time to worry about that.

  Zara ducked under a low-growing plant with skinny jade-green leaves and realized the smell of water had grown stronger just as she came out on the riverbank. The boat was drawn up a dozen yards away, and there was the path they’d made that wound through the shelter of the trees across bare ground. That would take too long. They’d have to make a straight run for it.

  “Hey! You there! What are you doing?” Ransom’s voice rang out clearly through the morning air.

  “Who’s that?” the pirate woman said. “Don’t let him get away! You two, stay here!” Then there was the sound of running feet, crashing through the undergrowth, and Arjan groaning, and then nothing. Zara cast about for inspiration. Ahead, under one of the trees, she saw a fallen branch, bent and shedding its thin bark. She ran and picked it up. It was heavy and awkward, but better than nothing. She moved off down the path they’d made, this time needing silence rather than concealment.

  She stopped several feet back from the camp and ducked to one side, holding the branch at waist height to keep it from tangling in the vines hanging from the trees. As she neared their camp, she saw the head of one of the pirates, arms akimbo, and realized this was the man holding Arjan. She’d hoped to attack the other and let Arjan take advantage of the distraction to free himself, but he hadn’t looked capable of fighting back.

  She tried not to think about the possibility that he couldn’t get himself to the ship. She might be able to carry Belinda—she’s alive, she’s just unconscious—but Arjan was far too heavy, possibly too heavy for her and Theo combined. She had no idea what condition Theo was in, but she guessed the other pirate had him in hand. Well, it was a good plan—no, it was a terrible plan, but it was the only one she could think of. If Theo was alert and in a position to fight, if there really were only two pirates, if Belinda wasn’t dead…there was a lot of “if” involved, but she had to act quickly and pray it was enough.

  She stood swiftly, took two steps, and brought the stick around in a great sweeping arc at the pirate’s head. It connected with a satisfying thunk, causing the man to grunt in pain and then, to Zara’s surprise, collapse, taking Arjan with him. The other pirate cried out in surprise, and as Zara burst into the clearing, stick raised, Theo broke free of the man’s grip and smashed his nose with a two-fisted punch. Cantara leaped to her feet, pivoted, and kicked the man in the throat in one smooth motion that had Zara gaping. A trained arakeli dancer? The Takjashi would definitely never stop hunting them.

  The man choked, gagged, and covered his face as Cantara followed her kick by scything his legs out from under him and punching him in the stomach as he went down. Theo leaped on him, struck him and kicked him until the pirate lay curled unconscious on the ground. Zara grabbed Theo’s shoulders and said, “That’s enough! We have to get everyone out of here!”

  “Where’s Ransom?” Theo panted, his eyes wild and his hands shaking with fury.

  “Making a distraction. Help me.”

  Cantara was already at Arjan’s side, trying to get him to rise. “They say they will kill us if we do not give them the Device,” she said. “I do not know what Device it is.”

  “Even if we had it, they’d kill us anyway once they got it,” Zara said. She got her shoulder under Arjan’s arm, and he stirred and groaned. “Theo—”

  “I can stand,” Arjan said, but he wobbled, and Theo had to support him. Zara ran to Belinda’s side and felt for a pulse. Still alive, thank heaven. She rolled Belinda onto her back and wormed her arms under her shoulders and knees, then heaved, grunted, and managed to stand. She staggered after the others, who had realized—or at least Theo had—where they needed to go. Belinda stirred, muttered something incomprehensible, then fell unconscious again. She had a fist-sized lump on the side of her head, but otherwise seemed unharmed.

  “Get him into the bow,” she told Theo, who helped Arjan move to the front of the boat, then began unshipping the oars. Zara laid Belinda near Arjan; it made the bow sag, but not much. Zara got out of the boat and began shoving.

  “We can’t leave Ransom!” Theo said.

  “We won’t. We just have to be as close to pushing off as possible when he comes.”

  Arjan groaned again and sat up. “I can steer,” he said, stepping over Belinda and nudging Cantara to take his place. “No, I a fool am not, I well am not, but I think if they catch us I will not care if I well am.”

  “All right. Cantara, watch Belinda.” Zara left the boat and took a few steps back toward the clearing. She wished she hadn’t had to leave the branch, which hadn’t been a great weapon but had at least kept her from feeling totally helpless. She wished she had some way to tell Ransom they were safe. Pity their magics weren’t the power of shared thoughts, though aside from this one moment, that would be an extremely awkward inherent magic for two virtual strangers to share. She certainly didn’t want Ransom knowing her secret thoughts and she didn’t think, curiosity aside, she wanted to know his.

  There. Footsteps, approaching rapidly. Zara took a few more steps toward the clearing and was about to whisper Ransom’s name before a stranger came running out of the undergrowth and knocked Zara over.

  The stranger’s surprise gave Zara time to roll out fro
m under the woman and grab her wrist before she could bring her pistol to bear. In the next second, Zara realized her assailant was the pirate captain Ghazarian. Zara slammed the pirate’s wrist into the mucky ground, once, twice, and the third time the woman’s fingers splayed open and the gun spun away from them both.

  Ghazarian twisted, yanked away from Zara’s grip, and punched her in the stomach, driving the air out of Zara’s lungs and making her gasp for breath. Ghazarian tried to sit up, and Zara, dizzy and seeing light-rimmed black spots, slammed her forehead against the pirate’s and heard the woman hiss with pain. Immediately, she rolled away, felt something hard dig into her shoulder, rolled again and came up with the gun. Ghazarian, who’d almost risen to her feet, froze.

  Zara kept the pistol trained on the woman’s chest and stood, slowly, not letting her aim waver. “Back away,” she said.

  “That yours is not,” Ghazarian said.

  “Doesn’t matter, does it, if I’m the one holding it.”

  “We only want the Device,” Ghazarian said. “Give it to me, and you may walk free from us.”

  “Forgive me for not believing you.” Zara began edging in the direction of the boat. Far away, she heard more shots, and shouting. Ransom needed to come soon. “What Device? Not that it matters, because we don’t have any.”

  “You do, I know.” Ghazarian took a step in Zara’s direction, then froze again when the wavering pistol settled more firmly on her. “I can tell.”

  “Well, you’re wrong.” Zara began backing toward the boat. Perfect silence from her friends, thank heaven, because what she didn’t need was a distraction. “Something valuable, no doubt? What kind of Device do pirates find valuable? Something to make your piracy more effective?”

  Ghazarian bared her teeth at Zara. “You know because it yours is.”

  The tree branches began shaking with someone’s passage. Ghazarian’s smile turned nasty. “You will die for denying me,” she said.