to pull their way along the block and tackle to reach the escape hole. Though the orb hampered her, she refused to release it.
Finally, with Rias’s help, she clawed her way through the hole. The ragged wood tore a new gash in her beleaguered dress, but she wriggled free and slid down the hull into frigid black water.
The icy shock stole her breath. Salt stung her wounds, and she almost dropped the orb.
Rias plunged in beside her, spraying water.
The Nurian striker had rammed into the side of its sister ship, and water gushed into a great hole in the hull. Fire still burned on the deck, lighting up the night. Timber, from splinters to broken beams, littered the water.
“ This way.” Rias swam away from the ships, pushing the large pieces of wood out of the way.
“ You sure you don’t want to stay?” She was already swimming, side-stroking with the orb clutched against her hip. “You seemed to enjoy having people trying to kill you.”
“ You seemed to enjoy it less.”
“ Probably-” she spit icy salt water out of her mouth, “-an acquired taste.”
They paddled away from the ships, rising and falling with the waves. Both vessels burned now and flames crawled up the sails of one. Neither would trouble the Turgonians again that night. As they swam out of the shadow of the Nurian vessels, the ironclad came into view. Only one of the two ships on its opposite flank remained, and both masts had been toppled, so it was falling behind. Tikaya and Rias, too, were falling behind. Her chest tightened at the idea of being left in the middle of the sea.
“ Hope they see this.” Tikaya lifted the glowing orb overhead, waving it in the air.
“ Me too,” Rias said.
The lookout in the crow’s nest shouted something down to the deck. Tikaya’s teeth chattered, and it felt as if hours, not minutes, passed before the warship dropped a boat.
“ It’s fortunate you’re here,” Rias said, bumping her arm as they treaded water. “I doubt they would have bothered coming for me.”
“ Not sure how fortunate I feel about going back to the Turgonians.” Tikaya swiped water out of her eyes and grimaced at the cold drops tunneling into her ears. “I guess it’s better being wanted than being wanted dead.”
“ Prevailing opinions agree with that sentiment.”
Oars lifted and dipped as the craft neared. Lanterns at either end provided light, and Tikaya spotted Agarik leading the rowers. She smiled a bit, glad he had survived the chaos. He gazed at Rias with a wide-eyed, openmouthed stare of adulation and helped him out of the water first. She tried not to feel a twinge of envy. She had helped after all. At least Agarik managed to notice her second and gave her a hand into the boat. She collapsed on an empty bench between rows of burly, young oarsmen.
“ Turn this dinghy around,” Agarik yelled, and the men set to work.
Tikaya wrapped her arms around herself. The breeze needled her soaking dress, cold water dripped from her hair, and she had lost her sandals in the fall so the puddles on the bottom chilled her feet.
Rias settled on a bench next to her, and she pressed closer than she normally would have. Shivers coursed through her body. He put his arm around her, though he must have been just as cold and miserable. Their proximity caused raised eyebrows and significant looks between the marines. Agarik’s jaw tensed.
“ Here, sir.” A marine handed Rias a blanket.
The use of the honorific made Agarik give the man a sharp look, though Tikaya was not sure if it was quelling or curious. Rias draped the blanket over his and her shoulders.
On the short ride back, the marines peppered him with questions. How had he gotten out of his cell? How had he and Tikaya gotten aboard the Nurian craft? Had they seen the Nurians on board their ship? Did they know what they wanted? Apparently, the Turgonian chain of command meant nobody not commanding had a clue was happening.
Tikaya thought Rias might share the story, but, back in the presence of the marines, he grew reserved and quiet. Was this the real man or had she glimpsed that person on the Nurian ship? Or neither? She liked the amiable fellow she had chatted with while target shooting best, though she suspected she could grow accustomed to the soldier she had seen tonight too. Not that it mattered. Certainly, she appreciated his help, but it was not as if she was going to develop feelings for some ex-officer from the military that had tried to take over her islands.
Still, when their knuckles bumped beneath the blanket, she gripped his hand.
“ Thank you,” she whispered, wanting to say more, but their hulking male onlookers stilled her tongue.
Rias smiled and squeezed her hand.
Back on the warship, Captain Bocrest waited, arms folded across his chest, a scowl accompanying his usual glare. Tikaya had not expected gratitude from the man, but the anger radiating from him surprised her.
As soon as Rias came over the railing behind her, that anger found an outlet.
“ How could you make such an idiotic decision?” Bocrest snapped.
“ He didn’t do anything wrong,” Tikaya said. “The Nurians teleported us to their ship. What was he supposed to do?”
The captain did not spare her a glance. His glare stayed pinned to Rias.
“ What are you talking about, Bocrest?” Rias asked.
“ You know what I’m talking about.” The captain jerked his hand at a squad of marines standing by with pistols. “Take him back to his cell.”
“ Wait.” Rias lifted a hand. “Did you find the assassins?”
“ The dead men in the brig? Yes.”
“ No.” Rias gave Tikaya a concerned frown. “There are two others, at least, who can skulk about invisible.”
“ They killed the man guarding my cabin,” she said.
“ We’ll find them,” Bocrest said.
“ I can help,” Rias said.
Bocrest scowled again. “You can go to your slagging cell and stay there this time.”
“ Captain.” Rias stepped forward, staring down at Bocrest. “The Nurians want Tikaya dead and are making great sacrifices to ensure that happens.”
“ I’m aware of that.” Bocrest did not back off, nor shrink away from Rias’s glare. “I have orders to keep her alive until she decodes the runes, and I’ll do that.”
“ She’d be dead now if she hadn’t escaped on her own. You already botched your orders.”
Afraid he would land himself in irrevocable trouble for her sake, Tikaya grabbed Rias’s arm and tried to pull him away.
“ I botched my orders?” Bocrest yelled, fists clenched. “If you hadn’t screwed up two years ago, you could-” He cut himself off with an audible snapping shut of his jaw, and Tikaya sensed the ‘idiotic decision’ he accused Rias of had less to do with this night and more to do with whatever had landed Rias on Krychek Island. Bocrest glared around at the watching marines. “You men have duties,” he roared. “Get this ship repaired. Now!”
Men sprinted from his wrath, leaving only Rias, Tikaya, Agarik, and the guards waiting to escort their prisoner below.
“ Let me stay with her until the assassins are found,” Rias said, as if he had not heard the captain’s outburst. “Or stand guard outside her door. I’ve tangled with enough wizards to survive them.”
“ You’re not her bodyguard, you’re our guide. I thought I explained that to you when you were taking swings at me.”
“ A job for which you don’t need me until we arrive at the tunnels,” Rias said.
Tikaya’s ears perked. Tunnels? Was that where the rubbings had come from? She still needed Rias to explain his history with the runes.
“ No,” Bocrest said. “You’re a prisoner. You don’t get your way.”
Tikaya still gripped Rias’s arm, and she could feel the tension in the knotted muscles beneath the damp sleeve. Though she hated seeing him angry, especially on her behalf, she had to wonder how much more might be revealed if she simply stood quiet and listened.
“ Bocrest…” Rias tried again.
“ Go. To. Your. Cell.” The captain jerked his arm to wave the guards forward.
Rias tensed and dropped into a fighting crouch. He had not noticed when she grabbed his arm, so Tikaya stepped in front of him and planted two hands on his chest.
