The witches nodded.
“When we reach the top,” Han said, “swim for each other. We’ll be safer if we stay together.”
“What about . . .” Nassa cleared her throat. “What about Merlay and the others?”
Han took a deep breath. “If they’re up there, hide. It’s all you can do.”
They all nodded grimly. Lilette tried to prepare herself, but how did one prepare to die? She looked at the surface, speckled with flotsam and so far away. And she accepted that she might not make it. If so, she had at least saved some of her people. She could die knowing that.
Han took her hand. “Sometimes you just have to move.”
The other witches stopped singing. Cracks appeared in the barrier’s surface, and it was as if the pastel purples and blues caught fire and smoldered to ash.
Lilette took a deep breath and held it as water roared toward them. She instinctively turned away from it, burying her face in Han’s chest. He held her tight as the water slammed into them. But even the strength of his arms couldn’t hold her as the water hit, ripping them apart. When it stopped dragging her, she was blinded by debris again.
She spun in the water, pain piercing her ears. When she finally came to a stop, she was surrounded by debris, so thick she couldn’t see up or down. It was too dark to even see bubbles. Her lungs burning and raw, she turned in the circle, searching for the surface.
And then something registered in her brain. There was tension at her neck. The chain attached to the pendant was pulled taut to the left and down. It had been activated. Han was trying to find her. That meant up was that direction. The thought shocked the fear out of Lilette, and she clawed and kicked at the water. She suddenly broke free of a pocket of wreckage. Morning light shattered across the surface in golden waves.
But she’d been down too long. Of its own volition, her body took a breath. She coughed more water into her lungs, the brine abrasive and foreign inside her. Her eyes fixed on the surface. Just as everything began to grow dim, something touched her head. A hand latched onto her hair and yanked.
Her body was pulled through the water and she surfaced. Han squeezed her chest violently, forcing water from her lungs and sending a blaze of pain through her. It made room for her to draw a little air, which she devoured greedily. She coughed more water from her lungs and gasped in the barest trickle of air. Han wrapped his arm around her upper shoulders just as a wave slammed them into them, forcing them underwater again. But the hands holding her never let go. His legs kicked, and she forced hers to do the same. She came up again, choking out half the ocean. Water streamed down her face, brine filling her mouth.
Han swam with powerful strokes as the coughs locked up her whole body, making it a struggle to keep her head above water. He hauled a chunk of wood through the water toward her. “Grab onto this.” She hugged it to her chest, too consumed with coughing to do anything else. “We have to get away from all this flotsam!”
She realized with a shock how loud everything was compared to the stillness of the water. She could hear cries in the distance—people and animals. “We have to help them,” she said between coughing fits, her voice sounding rough and raw.
Han made a helpless gesture. “How?”
He was right. There was nothing they could do. “Where are the others?” Lilette asked.
“There.”
She turned in time to see four of them holding onto ropes that pulled them onto a Harshen ship Lilette hadn’t noticed before. Nassa and Doranna were among them. Her relief was immediately overshadowed by sorrow. There had been eleven of them on the ocean floor. “Are you sure that ship is ours?”
A broken piece of wood came rushing at them, and Han had to let go of her to shove it away. “We don’t have much of a choice. It’s too dangerous to stay here.”
He lugged her toward the ship. As they came closer, Harshens shouted at them and threw ropes over the side. Lilette took hold of a rope and held tight as they pulled her onboard. She collapsed onto the deck and lay panting in a puddle of water.
One of the Harshens stared at her in horror. “Empress!” His face contorted with fear. “Jump!” he cried, waving his arms.
Lilette gaped at him in confusion. Then the hatch opened and Pescal stepped into view. He took one look at her and shouted, “It’s Lilette!”
More guardians rushed from below, one of them killing the sailor who’d warned her. She pushed herself up to jump overboard, but Pescal grabbed the ankle of her broken leg. She screamed and went down.
Han brandished his knives and lunged at Pescal, but he was swarmed by at least five guardians and knocked down. While another guardian bound Lilette’s mouth, Pescal pinned her arms behind her. She cried out, sure he was tearing her arms from their sockets.
Pescal was breathing hard—she could feel his chest rising behind her. “I’ve got her.”
She cocked her foot to kick him, but he wrenched her arms up higher and an involuntary cry slipped from her throat. Han gave a shout of outrage, but the guardians had him pinned to the deck. Lilette struggled against Pescal, tears of pain and fear coursing down her face.
Merlay came from below decks and surveyed her in disbelief. “You just won’t die, will you?”
Chapter 38
Learning that Lilette was alive and about to be executed burned all the fear out of me. ~Jolin
Merlay drew back her hand and slapped Lilette. “You think you saved any of them? You’re just forcing me to kill them, one at a time. Soon as we’re clear, I’ll have to send a storm that will sink every ship for a hundred miles, and even more will die!”
Lilette could taste blood from where her teeth had cut her cheek. “I’m not the one soaked in blood.” Her words came out muffled around her gag.
Shaking, Merlay wiped her face. “I risked so much to spare your life for your sister. I sent you to Harshen—made you an empress. All you had to do was stay out of my way.”
Rage boiled inside Lilette. “You murdered my entire family! Sent Pescal to drug me, and who knows what else.”
When Merlay looked away, Lilette realized it wasn’t just Pescal. “You sent Laosh after me too?” She shook her head in disbelief. “Sash trusted you! I trusted you!”
Merlay took a step back, and her eyes clouded over for the smallest moment. And then her face hardened. “I did what I had to do. What I’ve always had to do.”
Lilette ground her teeth around the gag. “You’ve been playing God.”
Merlay made a slicing gesture. “We are Gods! The Creators endowed us with the power—us and no other! Nations can either obey us or they can feel our wrath!”
The guardians hauled Han to his feet. “Like Harshen felt your wrath,” he growled.
Merlay’s glittering eyes met his. “Yes. Like Harshen.”
“Having power doesn’t make us better,” Lilette said through her gag.
Merlay raised a brow. “Of course it does!”
Lilette’s gaze shifted to Brine as she came up from below decks. “What’s all the commo—” Her gaze lighted on Lilette. “Oh.”
Lilette tossed back her head. “And you? You knew what was going on, didn’t you?”
Brine only grimaced. Beside her, Nassa growled through her gag, “Brine, if you’re going to murder me, I deserve to know why.”
The stolen zhou turned, probably toward the next batch of survivors. Brine took a shaky breath. “This isn’t about Merlay or your family. This is about the fact that Sash and the others were singing a counter-curse that rendered us completely powerless.”
Brine pressed the heel of her hand into her forehead. “What do you think will happen if the world realizes how vulnerable the witches are? We risk becoming slaves to the very people we rule.”
Nassa shook her head desperately. “I won’t tell anyone. I swear I won’t! Take me with the rest of you.”
Brine looked toward the back of the ship, and Lilette realized the stern deck was coated with blood. “I’m sorry, Nassa. But the
others have proven their loyalty. You haven’t.”
Brine tipped her head toward the stern. “Cut their throats and throw them overboard like the others. We have more of them to dispatch.”
Pescal dragged Lilette to the back of the ship. “Merlay sent you to drug me into oblivion,” Lilette muffled around her gag, “so I wouldn’t realize what she was doing.”
Pescal leaned in, his breath whispering against her neck. “You would have enjoyed it immensely, I promise you.”
She threw her head back, but he dodged her. “Easy now, there’s no point in adding any more pain. You look like you’ve suffered enough.”
Lilette gasped in horror as tacky blood squelched beneath her bare feet. How many other survivors had they “rescued” only to murder?
The other four witches were screaming and begging as a guardian pulled out a knife and stalked toward them. Lilette pinched her eyes shut and turned away as one of their cries was abruptly cut off.
Merlay and Brine headed below decks, most of the guardians following. The ones who remained were either guarding the prisoners or had hidden themselves on deck, their weapons trained on the captive sailors maneuvering the ship toward the next batch of survivors.
Han was struggling, fighting. He wasn’t any closer to free, but he was distracting the guards from killing them.
And then Jolin climbed from below decks, Galon beside her. The two of them rushed toward Lilette.
“What are they doing?” Merlay’s shout could be heard from below. “Get her back here!”
Her friend had betrayed her. Lilette rose up, her anger cresting. She threw herself back and kicked, but Jolin dodged her and slammed into one of the guardians holding Han, just enough to knock him loose.
Galon tossed Han a sword and stabbed the other guardian holding him. Han caught the sword, whirling about so fast Lilette couldn’t follow his movements. The two of them cut through the guardians holding them. Pescal scrambled away from Lilette just as Han grabbed an extra sword.
Galon and Han turned to face the guardians constraining the crew. A dozen against two. Pescal exchanged an amused glance with another guardian and they started forward. But then one of the sailors tackled him. As if it was the cue they were waiting for, the rest of the sailors jumped into the fight. One of them even managed to batten the hatch and trap the rest of the guardians below.
Jolin produced a thin knife and cut Lilette’s and Han’s gags, then rushed for the hull, her small knife frantically working at the ropes holding a small dingy to the side. “Help me,” she cried.
Lilette wanted to kill her instead, but there wasn’t time. The three of them scrabbled and pulled until the ropes slithered and the boat crashed into the waves.
The guardians busted free. They streamed from below, quickly overpowering the sailors.
“Han! Let’s go!” Lilette shouted. Galon cried out. A guardian had broken through, slicing his arm. Galon stumbled back. The guardian cocked his arm for the killing strike.
One of Han’s swords snaked out, deflecting the stroke. The movement cost Han. His right flank was open. Pescal sank his sword into Han’s side.
“Han!” Lilette started toward him, but Jolin grabbed her and hauled her toward the railing.
“Go!” Han growled as he countered with a blow to Pescal’s thigh.
When Lilette hesitated, Jolin tightened her hold. “They won’t break away until we’re safe.”
Han’s blades twisted about him like a whirlwind. Nassa had already jumped into the water and was pulling herself into the drifting boat.
Doranna wasn’t far behind. “Come on!”
Gritting her teeth, Lilette leapt off the side, her legs and arms windmilling as she fell. She crashed into the water hard, slamming into more flotsam. Pain, old and new, flared inside her. She pulled herself out of the water, pushing flotsam out of her way as she swam to the boat. She pulled herself in and turned back.
His swords crossed, Galon forced a guardian back. Then Galon jumped.
With the scrape of steel, Han twisted Pescal’s swords to the side and head butted him. Pescal stumbled back and Han’s sword whipped forward, stabbing him in the throat.
Mouth open in shock, Pescal gripped the sword, blood welling between his fingers. Han threw himself back. Pescal grabbed something at his waist. Even as he tipped forward, he threw a knife.
Lilette didn’t see where the knife landed. Han hit the water hard. The boat had drifted from the ship, so she snatched an oar. “Help me.” They brought it closer. “Han!”
Merlay appeared at the railing. “Stop them!” Other guardians jumped in after them.
Galon climbed into the boat and went to the stern, his swords at the ready. Holding the oar like a club, Lilette scanned the water for Han. He would come up. He would.
And then he did. She barely recognized his face, it was so dark. With both swords clamped in his teeth and red surrounding him, he swam for the boat and pulled himself inside. Lilette saw blood streaming from his body and panicked. He barely spared her a glance.
Doranna snatched the oar from Lilette. She and Jolin started frantically rowing. More guardians were coming through the water. Han and Galon hacked at them as soon as they came within range. The rest of them stomped on their hands as they gripped the boat.
Lilette’s gaze swung to the ship as it turned toward them. Nassa kicked one of the guardians in the face. “You have to bring that ship down—now.”
Lilette hesitated.
“You have the power to do it,” Nassa cried. “I’ve seen it!”
The panic in Lilette’s chest turned to something else—something dark like the shadows around the stars. As her chant built, the elements turned toward her, eager and hungry for her command—almost as if they knew they’d been used for evil and were eager to right the wrong.
Her voice lashed out like a whip, calling down lightning from the clear sky. It slammed into the ship. Once, twice, three times. Flames licked across the bloody deck.
Their boat picked up speed, fast enough that they’d left the guardians in the water behind. And Lilette knew what she had to do. She sang a current, one strong enough to pull them to her island.
The fire grew higher, spreading faster than the guardians could fight it. The screams started. It was the screams that brought the memory crashing down on her. This wasn’t the first time she’d escaped from a burning ship. Not the first time those she loved had died. Her eyes wide with horror, she swung around to face Han.
“You’re safe,” he said, relief in his voice. And then he collapsed.
Chapter 39
Han fell from his father’s grace and wore the brand of that encounter on his face the rest of his days. ~Jolin
The boat was packed with survivors. Through the dark night, no one spoke. No one made eye contact. Besides Lilette and the others, none of the Harshens seemed to know each other. They were a smattering of living who survived their dead.
Lilette was crammed in one end of the boat, Han’s head on her lap. He hadn’t opened his eyes since he’d collapsed. Hadn’t even flinched when she’d wrapped his wounds with strips from her robe. And that knife wound in his chest—she couldn’t think about that. She was safe here in this empty place. If she allowed herself to think, the emotions would kill her.
“There!” Nassa cried. “I see it.”
Everyone in the boat whipped around. Lilette didn’t need to. She knew the shape of her island by heart. They drew closer, passing battered ships and boats. Hundreds of haggard Harshens lined the beach, their forms dark against the moon-bright sand.
Some of the men in their boat took the oars and steered them neatly between the other vessels. Their boat pushed right up against the beach and began tipping to the side. The people inside spilled out onto the sand.
Galon knelt before her and gently lifted Han, passing him carefully to another man. The two of them carried him to a bright spot of fire, Lilette following numbly. The people made room for the men to set Han
down beside the warmth. She took up her place beside him, watching his breath rise and fall for what felt like days.
Jolin suddenly appeared, plants filling her arms. She set them down and came back with two rocks, which she used to crush some of the plants. Others she laid whole on Han’s wounds.
Lilette watched her. “Why?” she finally asked.
Jolin froze and then started working again. “I didn’t know. Not all of it.”
Galon looked between them. “I’m going to see if anyone needs help. Call if you need me.” He squeezed Jolin’s shoulder and left.
Lilette felt no anger, no pain. She was in a place as vast and empty as the night sky. “I don’t believe you.”
Jolin’s shoulders slumped, but she didn’t stop working. “I helped them develop the veil. I gave them all my research. Dozens of new concepts—including one with variations of sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal.” She looked over the ocean. “They tricked me, but only because I let them. I’m smart enough to put the pieces together—smart enough to know the pieces didn’t fit into the picture they were showing me. But by then I had already done so much for them.”
“And now they don’t need you anymore.” Lilette’s words tasted bitter. “They have all your potions and research.”
Jolin gently opened Han’s mouth and set the mashed leaves inside. “No. I wanted credit for my discoveries, so I always supplied some of the potions—I’m the only one who knows all the ingredients. It’s why they took me with them when they left.”
Lilette stared off into the darkness. “Did you know they were going to sink the island?”
“No,” Jolin said simply.
Lilette rested her hand on Han’s cheek. It was cold, but she had no blanket. She took off her robe and laid it over him, leaving her in nothing but her smallclothes.
Jolin watched her. “When they turned our ship and I realized what they were going to do, they locked Galon and me in my cabin. We dumped every single one of my books out the porthole.”