But he wasn’t the only one with such training. Graylin shifted closer to the bow window on the starboard side. Kanthe mirrored the knight, moving to the portside. They both searched the glare of fog ahead, alert for any ominous shadow sweeping toward them.
Then a faint boom echoed through the mists, strong enough to swirl the clouds and tremor the ship. Then another and another. Flashes of fiery orange lit the distance, bursting brightly, then going dark.
Kanthe spoke, knowing the blasts would deafen the warship for now. “They’re trying to cut us off from reaching Landfall. The blasts will open the mists ahead, exposing us if we try to pass through.”
Proving this, more fiery blooms lit the mists, drawing a line across their path.
“That’s not all.” Graylin pointed lower. A deeper ruddy glow smoldered in the wake of those blasts. “They’re burning a fire line across the forest. I wager they’re intending to set a flaming noose around Havensfayre.”
Confirming this, a new cannonade of blasts rose to the north. A peek out the round windows on the starboard side revealed flashes of fire from that direction.
“The other warship,” Kanthe said. “Laying down a barrage along the shore of Eitur.”
Graylin nodded. “The one ahead will soon do the same to the south, burning a fiery swath along the banks of the Heilsa.” The knight glanced behind him, as if trying to peer through the breadth of the ship. “Then they’ll circle to both sides and secure Havensfayre mooring fields to the east.”
“Where they’ll offload their forces and scour the city,” Kanthe added, earning a nod from the knight.
“Then what is our course from here?” Darant asked.
“We only have a moment to decide,” Graylin warned. “We can’t head east as we’ll run into the cliffs that front the Shrouds of Dalal??a. To climb above those heights, we’d have to rise out of the clouds and expose ourselves. The best option is to fly due south. If we hurry, we might escape that noose before it closes off that direction.”
Darant frowned. “If we go that way, we’d still have to course over the Heilsa. There’s no cloud cover over those waters.”
“That’s why we must be swift—burn every tank of flashburn if we must—and duck back into the mists on the other side.”
Darant nodded, turned to his wheel, and hauled it around. He swung the prow of the Sparrowhawk toward the Heilsa.
Kanthe closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, bothered by this plan. He considered his father’s temperament and all that had transpired. Toranth sent two warships. That alone told Kanthe that the king must be hunting for more than an errant son, even one who escaped an assassination. He glanced over to Nyx, who stood beside Jace with her eyes wide and fixed open. Frell also stared at the young woman, then over to Kanthe, his expression worried. The alchymist suspected what he did.
The king knows about her, maybe even about Graylin.
He also pictured who he knew must be commanding this excursion.
Liege General Haddan.
Knowing all this, Kanthe was certain the war group would not let them escape by such an easy ploy. In fact, he imagined Haddan would already be expecting it, even encouraging it. He pictured armed hunterskiffs, maybe another swyftship, already heading to the Heilsa’s far side, like a pack of wolves set loose to prowl those mists and be waiting for them.
He hurried toward Darant. “We can’t go that way.”
The pirate scowled at him; even Graylin’s brow darkened. Both men looked little ready to consider the judgement of Highmount’s Dark Trifle, a prince who had only completed his eighthyear at Kepenhill.
Kanthe pressed them anyway. “It’s a trap.” He quickly laid out his suspicions and finished with, “I know Haddan. That stony bastard will have that escape route covered.”
Darant tightened his grip on the ship’s wheel. “We’ll have to take that chance. And trust me, this Sparrowhawk has talons. They will not take her down easily.”
The pirate’s confidence did not soften Graylin’s frown. The knight kept his focus toward Kanthe. “What do you propose we do?”
Kanthe looked between the two men. “You’re not going to like it.”
43
NYX CLUTCHED THE edge of the draft-iron stanchion that held one of the Sparrowhawk’s two sailrafts. She remembered how she had hoped earlier to never have to use one of these tiny skiffs.
Now I wish I could.
Ahead of her, winds whipped into the cargo hold from the open stern. The flat hatch had been winched down and locked in place, forming a wooden tongue sticking out the back of the swyftship. Beyond that platform, mists swirled. Below them, the crowns of giant alders passed by like ominous dark shoals.
“Be ready!” Darant’s muffled shout reached them through a series of metal tubing and baffles from the forecastle. “The mists brighten ahead. We’re almost to the Heilsa.”
That was not the only reason to be prepared.
To Nyx’s left, more fiery blasts lit up the western forest as the giant warship neared the lake, as if already tracking them. Soon it would sweep along the shore toward them. She and the others would have to act fast—and swim even faster.
Graylin shifted over to their group, trailed by his two vargr, who nervously paced at his heels. “Once we reach the lake, the ship will drop fast from the treetops. So hold tight. Once we’re skimming the water, you bail out the back.”
She looked across at Frell, who had stripped out of his alchymist’s robe and wore a borrowed set of breeches, boots, and jerkin. Kanthe had both quivers tight to his shoulders and wrapped in oilskin. Jace had his Guld’guhl ax strapped across his back.
“We won’t have time to slow,” Graylin warned, “so brace yourself to hit the water hard. Then make straight for shore.”
Nyx knew their only hope of escape was to abandon the ship unseen and pray the continuing flight of the Sparrowhawk would draw all eyes and any hunters after the swyftship. With luck, the ruse would allow their group to hide within the woodland labyrinth of Havensfayre until the fires died down and the others could return.
Still …
She turned to the grizzled knight. She read the past agony in his face and the fear shining in his eyes, but not for himself.
He gripped her shoulder. “I abandoned you and your mother long ago. Hoping to lure the king’s legions away.” His fingers squeezed harder. “I won’t fail you this time.”
She wanted to deride him, to let him know even this sacrifice would not be enough. But she could not find any words that would hurt him more than the pain already there. She read his desire to draw her into his embrace, but also his disappointment in knowing that it would not be welcome.
Instead, his fingers released her. He turned to one of the vargr. “Aamon, go with Nyx.” He pointed to her, then gripped his wrist with his other hand. “Protect her.”
The vargr’s amber eyes turned upon her. He shifted on his paws, a sharp whine flowing at her, bathing over and through her. The thread that bound her to this pair shone even brighter. Aamon padded to her side and nosed her hand up, letting her palm rest between his ears.
With his eyes on the beast, Graylin whispered so low the winds whipped his words away, but his lips could be read. “Thank you, my brother…”