On the Deep Waters

Chapter Fourteen

There was a lot of planning to be done after that. They had captives, they had the freed captives, and they only had one large ship and one medium-ish boat to transport everyone. The best course of action was to send some people on ahead to the Raven Isle and come back for the rest. But that involved a lot of figuring out who had to go back, how many of the pirate captives they could take without leaving behind people who actually deserved to leave, where the ones staying behind would get food and water, and how in the world they were going to explain all of this to Alicia and the Queen. There was also the matter of helping the injured, including Rini's bloody nose and the bump on Orion's head he'd received when he passed out.

"I'm starting to regret giving you that coin," Orion said. A bit of whatever swill (it smelled like five wines dumped in the same barrel) they'd found on one of the ships had perked him up, but he still looked pale and fit to faint again. "Good luck with getting another one."

"Oh, please, you keep insisting you're retired," Shika scoffed. She was hovering near Rini, who looked just as pale and had been having a hard time stemming the waterfall of blood coming out of her nose. "Are you okay, Rini?"

"No," Rini growled.

"You will be. You did good today."

"I hate you."

Shika chuckled and kissed the top of her sister's head. "No, you don't." The spark of affection in her eyes was quickly replaced by her usual no-nonsense expression. "How's Solomon doing?"

Good question. "Getting his injuries tended to, last I checked," Nimah replied. That hadn't been too long ago, but a lot could happen in that time. "He's tough. He should be fine."

"And the other one, Kit?"

"Oh, he's fine. He's ah...quick on his feet. I don't think any of that blood was his." It was the best excuse for Kit's bloody-but-unharmed state that she could think of; from the look on Shika's face, she didn't believe it. "I think I should go find them both, actually. Make sure they're all right."

Not her most graceful exit, but hopefully with everything else going on, Shika wouldn't have too much time to ask questions. Either that or she'd decide she didn't need to know that badly.

Hopefully.

Neither Solomon nor Kit were with the circle of healers that had sprung up on one of the crashed ships. Fortunately, plenty of people had seen where they'd gone. Kit was in the crow's nest of the undamaged ship, probably getting that nap and peace he deserved. Solomon, meanwhile, was below deck, "keeping an eye on the bitch." If Nimah hadn't already known the woman in the box was Jana Sabinus already, that insult would've confirmed it.

"I'll just peek down there and see how he's doing," Nimah said.

She wasn't sure what she expected to see when she walked down the stairs, but somehow seeing Jana Sabinus out of the box caught her off guard. She was still tied up and sitting on one of the benches. Solomon sat across from her, war hammer tightly gripped in both hands. From the tense atmosphere, Nimah guessed that neither of them had said a word to each other yet, and were waiting for the other person to crack and speak first. It was the most profoundly worrying situation Nimah had walked into, and she'd once accidentally walked into a troll's cave.

She was about to turn and walk away when Solomon spoke: "Why did you try to burn the ships?"

Jana Sabinus raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't about to let you get what you wanted," she said, as if that were the most logical response to a question about burning people alive. "That's why you came out here, isn't it? To steal from me. You want them for yourself."