“Come,” she commanded.
Queen Nayara led the small man out of the galley and upstairs onto the main deck. Some of the crew stopped working to see what was happening. Luckily for them, this is exactly what the Queen wanted.
“Is there anyone else who wishes to leave this ship?” she called out. “Speak now or forever hold your silence. This offer won’t come again.”
Nayara looked around. No one came forth.
“Very well,” she said. “Get the plank!”
On command, four people ran off the deck and returned moments later carrying a large, flat wooden plank. They placed it on the railing of the ship between two hooks that balanced it.
“Get the little man a step stool,” she said.
Another man ran inside to retrieve the requested item.
“Fredrick, the leader of Malkasa, has as good as admitted to me today that he wished to be off this ship and no longer serve me. He would like to be back with his family,” the Queen announced. “As I am a grateful and caring Queen, I will grant his request.”
She faced the small man named Fredrick. He was just under five feet tall and his body was visibly shaking, something that Nayara noticed, but she didn’t care.
“Move towards the plank and walk across it,” the Queen ordered.
At first, Fredrick didn’t move but shook only more violently. His eyes darted around as if looking for a way to escape.
“I said move!” the Queen shouted, her voice ringing through the trees on land, causing the birds to shoot up into the sky from them.
Fredrick took slow steps. He stepped onto the plank and stopped walking.
“Walk,” Nayara said, not in a whisper but a deadly silent voice. Fredrick took careful steps as he crossed the plank. He stopped when he was halfway across.
“Take another five steps towards the edge,” Nayara told him. By this time a sizable crowd had gathered, and they all watched with bated breath.
Fredrick did as he was told. He hoped that he wasn’t being thrown overboard, and while the chances were slim, Nayara had not commanded him to stand by the edge.
Nayara turned to address her audience. “I hope, for all your sakes, that you are more faithful than this weak coward.”
The Queen turned back to face Fredrick. She pulled out a long, thin piece of crystal and pointed it at Fredrick. “No, I will not ask you to jump overboard.”
Relief filled Fredrick’s face for just a small instant. Nayara smirked and then shot out a purple bolt that hit Fredrick in the chest, turning his look of relief into fear and confusion. He was blasted off the ship and his body froze solid midair before shattering into dust when he hit the rocky ground by the edge of the river.
15
The Crossing
Tyson led Katie away from Koran, walking quickly and holding her hand, dragging her along with him. In this new world where he didn’t understand much, Cyrus was the one who kept him sane. Having Cyrus there, someone he knew he could trust, made all the difference to Tyson, and now that he was gone, Tyson wasn’t sure how to feel. He wasn’t sure how to think, or what to do.
What made him angrier was that Cyrus had, intentionally or not, replaced himself with a kid who was around the same age as himself. Koran was young, and while he may be well acquainted with Narque, he probably wasn’t well acquainted with teaching and keeping others safe. Koran seemed like a guy who was always alone.
It didn’t help that Katie was so quick to trust him. Tyson wasn’t happy with that.
No matter how far Tyson tried to get them away from Koran, Koran trailed behind, keeping his distance, but was never out of sight.
The trees here were denser, and it was even harder to see because the night was so dark. Tyson stumbled over some overgrown roots but kept his balance.
“Tyson, slow down,” Katie pleaded. “I’m exhausted and every time you trip I get dragged down with you.”
With a sigh, Tyson stopped walking and turned around to face Katie. He did not release his grip on her hand. In the distance, there was a dark figure he knew to be Koran.
“Just give us some space and a goddamned minute!” Tyson shouted. While Koran didn’t understand every word that Tyson spoke, he stopped walking to grant Tyson’s request.
Tyson let out a breath and looked into Katie’s eyes. He spoke calmly, considering his exhaustion and overwhelming emotions. “I don’t know what’s happening, or what you’re thinking, but I want you to stop.”
“Stop what?” Katie asked, getting annoyed. “Stop what I came here for?”
“Came here for?” Tyson asked sarcastically, though still not raising his voice much. “Do you honestly feel you willingly came here or did circumstances force you into this?”
Katie took a moment to answer. “I didn’t have to come. I could have told Cyrus no, and with my mind set on that, he would have left. But I trusted him, so I followed. And now I’m trusting his son.”
Tyson looked to his sides quickly and back at Katie. “We’ve been thrown into an entirely different world, jumping out of a plane. We don’t know what we’re doing here. We don’t know what other dangers we will have to face, and I have a feeling it isn’t going to get any easier.”
“All I’m getting from you is that you wish you hadn’t come,”
