Waterborne (Wanderlust 3)

Chapter Forty-Five

Smoke billowed off of the Exhun and was carried across the water by a strong wind.

Tanden pulled furiously against the ropes around his wrists. All around him, the Navirians were getting ready for a fight. They grabbed weapons, plunged barrels over the side of the ship to scoop up water in case of fire, strapped on the thin leather armour they were known for. They all ignored his shouting.

He yelled threats at first, then tried bargaining, and finally begging. Sylvaine had ordered him tied up because she couldn't trust him, which was absolute nonsense. He just wanted to kill Toliver. Rico was an additional prize, but mostly he wanted Toliver. He just wanted to be part of the fight.

But even through his desperation, he could recognize the professionalism of Sylvaine's crew. He admired how quickly they adjusted ropes and how smoothly their ship moved. The largest of the pirate ships couldn't out manoeuver them.

Sylvaine shouted orders and her crew obeyed quickly. Her ship glided along beside the pirate ship, and about twenty of her crew swung across the gap on ropes. It was quick and efficient and, Tanden realized belatedly, safe. The ship continued past the pirate ship, well out of harm's way, while the Navirian sailors wrecked havoc on the pirate crew.

Sylvaine gave orders for the ship to turn, and in the brief lull that followed her shout, Tanden yelled, "Let me go! Sylvaine! Take me past the Alvarian ship, let me go across. You'll never have to see me again!"

She looked down at him. He was tied to the mainmast, but her withering look made him feel even further away. Even smaller as she towered above him on the quarterdeck. "The ship that's currently on fire?"

Tanden looked across the ocean, towards the burning Exhun, and the other one that was mysteriously flying West Draulin's flag. His flag. He swallowed. "Please, Captain Sylvaine. That flag means some of my men mutinied and they're over there, fighting and dying without me. I'm their Captain. I need to be there with them. I do value their lives. If they're dying I need to be with them."

It didn't matter which of his men had taken the ship, but he suspected Ivern, Roan and Jerios were behind the makeshift flags. The fire was certainly a Crelan trick. He needed to be there.

Sylvaine looked from him to the burning ship, then back towards the ship they had targeted, where her people were fighting. A brief frown flashed across her face. "I'm not losing my ship to fire. We'll get you close, but you'll have to swim."

Tanden grinned. "I'm an exceptional swimmer."

***

If he could have, Soren would have avoiding fighting the pirate crew. He really didn't care about them, and his newer understanding of Kija's position had buried itself in his head. It was easy to be angry at faceless, distant men who had done wrong. But when he began to think about how some of those men might have been trying to escape something worse, it was harder to vilify them.

It was easier, however, when they tried to kill him first.

Soren's training with Elorie had done him a lot of good. He ducked and twisted, attacked and blocked. When he could, he tried to injure instead of kill, even though part of him knew the results would probably be the same at the end.

The ship burned around him, but unlike with the Navirian wreck, Soren wasn't bothered by the flames. These flames felt like they belonged to him. Like they couldn't hurt him, because he was already a toxo. He moved from one fight to the next with surprising ease, moving his way across the burning deck towards the stern. Toliver would be somewhere on the quarterdeck, probably having just abandoned the helm.