Among the mass of bodies, I spotted the curly-haired little girl who I’d seen call Garren Pappy, and with her a young woman, similarly curly-haired, who watched Tallyn and I warily and pulled the child close as we passed.
The soldiers and Garren stopped before a door, and when it hissed open, I saw something on the other side that made me inhale sharply. The Sagessor leader from the council at Basin, wearing a plain white robe. Commander Valli, her head bent over a map on a table, and beside her, Nol.
Nol stilled at the sight of me. His shoulders rose and fell with a quick breath, and relief carved itself into his face, although he did not smile or otherwise give any sign of even knowing me.
Valli looked up at us. Her mouth turned in a ghost of a scowl. She was the Battalia commander who had been in charge of our imprisonment the last time we’d been kidnapped by the Dron.
It occurred to me that we had been prisoners of the Dron perhaps more than any other Itlanteans in the last twenty years.
“What is this?” she said. “Where did they...?”
“What is going on?” the Sagessor asked, her voice threaded with exhaustion.
Garren looked as though he’d rather speak to Valli, but the Sagessor leader was clearly the one in charge. After a moment’s hesitation, he hastened forward and spoke in the Sagessor leader’s ear, who turned to the others.
Valli crossed her arms. Nol was looking at me, questions in his eyes that I didn’t know how to answer even if I wanted to. His presence made my stomach curl and clench.
Once again, we stood on opposite sides with armed men and women around us, and my neck on the line.
“We came across an Itlantean ship that had rescued this Itlantean prisoner,” the Sagessor said to Valli, sounding frazzled. “This isn’t my area of expertise; however, I am the leader of this rescue ship...” She shook her head. “We don’t have room for prisoners. Our mission is survival. We need to get these people to safety. I think even Battalia can concede that now.”
Valli gazed at me with open hostility. “What safety? We have nowhere to go. The city is in ruins.” She paused and indicated me with a flick of her hand. “This one is important to Nautilus. We could bargain for our so-called safety with her.”
The Sagessor leader looked at me with a flicker of hope in her eyes.
Tallyn and I exchanged glances.
“No,” I said.
They turned to me in surprise. Garren’s lip curled, and Valli arched a brow. Nol’s chest rose and fell, and his eyes stayed focused on my face. I felt his confidence as I spoke.
“If you want to make a bargain,” I said, my heart pounding even as I spoke the words firmly and clearly, “then make it with us.”
I waited for her to mock me, but she said nothing.
After a beat of silence, I continued. “First, Nautilus just destroyed your city. We led one of his ships on a chase to give your people more time to get away. We aren’t your enemies here. In fact, we just did you a huge service. Is this how you repay people who help you?”
Garren made a scoffing sound. I ignored him.
“Second, I am the daughter of a wealthy Itlantean and the granddaughter of a senator. I can get you an audience with some of the most powerful of the Itlanteans. Alone and scattered, I do not know that we can stop Nautilus. But together, we might.”
Nol spoke, surprising me. “We should listen to her.”
Valli and the Sagessor leader looked at Nol. His input appeared unexpected, but they listened. I knew he had a place in Battalia, but I didn’t know how respected he was, given his recent joining. But both of the others gave him space to speak.
“Think about it,” he urged. “Nautilus is slowly hunting down our people. He’s killing us. We know this. We are on the run. We don’t have a plan here. There are no Dron cities with the resources to receive us.”
“I cannot sign a peace treaty for all the Dron,” the Sagessor said with an exasperated huff. “Only for the Sagessor. We are not warriors.”
“But it would be a start,” I said.
“And what exactly do you propose?” she asked me. “Do we simply follow you back to an Itlantean city, and hope that we are not shot and killed on sight?”
My mind felt heavy with her arguments and my counterarguments. I took a deep breath and let my eyes close for a second. What was I proposing? I had to think. What would a Graywater do? My mother was many things I did not understand, and she might be trying to kill me, but she was a good role model for a moment such as this. I called her up in my memory, the sight of her standing in her library in a gray dress that matched her steely demeanor. She would negotiate, she would be calm, and she would be decisive. So I channeled my mother, grave and solemn with a spark of fierceness, as I opened my eyes again and met those of the Sagessor leader. I straightened, feigning confidence until I felt it creep through my bones and fill my lungs.
“No,” I said slowly but firmly. “You’re right, that would be foolish, especially given the chaos everyone must be in thanks to Nautilus. However, someone needs to be able to speak to the senators all the same.” I looked at Tallyn, seeking ideas from him, some kind of indication of what I should say, but his face was expressionless. He was waiting for me to speak.
He had confidence in me.
I was humbled and energized. I turned back to the Dron with a lift of my chin. I heard Garren make a noise of annoyance in this throat, but I ignored him completely.
“You send a team of Dron with us—secretly—back to Itlantis, to speak with the senate and observe our situation. Then, they can report back to you at a neutral meeting place at an arranged time, and you can decide if you will work with us based on what they say. This will give you time to speak to the other divisions of the Dron.”
The Sagessor leader tipped her head to the side. “You know of our other divisions?”
“I have not been idle during my capture,” I said. Multiple captures, I thought, but no need to bring that up. “I’ve learned a lot about your people. I know that they are weary from years of famine and scarcity. I know that your cities are overcrowded, so much so that there is no good place for these refugees. And I know that many are tired of hiding and running. I’m offering you another choice for all of those things. I’m offering you a new way forward.”
She studied me a long moment. The silence stretched, and I resisted the urge to curl my fingers in frustration. I kept my posture straight and my hands loose, as if I had the utmost belief that she would agree. Nol’s gaze bored into me, making me warm and twitchy and calm all at once.
Finally, she nodded.
Behind her, Nol relaxed ever so slightly, his shoulders lowering and his fingers uncurling. His eyes, however, remained watchful, and his stance was alert.
“All right,” she said. “I will select a team to send with you. But until they are assembled, you will stay aboard our ship.”
I dipped my head in what I hoped was a diplomatic gesture that my mother might use, as if the offer were a gift of friendship and not an order that was essentially keeping us prisoner.
The soldiers escorted us out and down the hall to a room filled with diving equipment. Garren glared at me in particular after we’d been ushered inside.
“You will stay here under guard,” he snapped, and then he turned on his heel and left, slamming the door behind him. A light sputtered in the ceiling above, bathing us in a pale green glow.
Tallyn and I looked at each other. I could barely make out the contours of his face, but he was smiling.
“You impressed me,” he said.
I rubbed the sole of my boot against the floor. “I was trying to act like a Graywater.”
“Your grandmother would be speechless with pride,” he said.
I dragged in a breath as warmth spilled through me, mingled with something like fear. Would she? I felt afraid to hope. Then shame rushed over me as I remembered my words to my sister, words that kept echoing through my dreams.
You really are a Gray
water.
An identity that I used to my advantage while throwing in her face. An identity that might lead to my death.
“How long do you think they’ll hold us?” I asked, changing the subject away from my family and the confusing feelings they evoked in me.
“They don’t have a great deal of time,” Tallyn said. “Their air supply will be limited, and the ship is overcrowded. Not long, I’m sure.” He paused. “I recognized the man who kept staring at you.”
“Nol,” I said quietly.
“Hmm,” Tallyn said, and I wasn’t sure what that meant. I said nothing. I didn’t feel like defending... Well, whatever I might feel was worth defending.
“I can tell he cares about you,” Tallyn said after a pause. “As your bodyguard, I—”
I snorted. “Don’t pretend this is about that. This isn’t a matter of my bodily safety.”
He moved one hand restlessly. “Isn’t it? He is Dron, Aemi.”
“It’s a little more complicated than that, and besides, he wouldn’t hurt me,” I replied, and again I wondered what I was defending. Nol and I were not together. We were nothing.
Weren’t we?
“There is nothing to discuss,” I said brusquely. “Nol and I have known each other for a long time. We are on different sides now, but that doesn’t mean I can’t—” I stopped. I’d almost said trust him.
Where had that come from?
“It’s a moot point,” I finished.
The door opened to admit Garren. He crossed his arms and surveyed us. “Come on, Itlanteans.” He looked especially unhappy, and I wondered what decisions had been made by the Sagessor.
We returned to the war room where Valli, Nol, and the Sagessor leader waited. Nol gazed at me steadily. Valli was scowling at Tallyn, I noticed briefly. He met her eyes and something passed between them that I couldn’t quite understand. It appeared to be hostility, but there was the weight of something else, something I couldn’t put my finger on.
The Sagessor wasted no time with diplomat pleasantries. “We have decided upon a meeting point. We will convene there in two weeks.”
“Two weeks? That isn’t much time. It will take a few days merely to travel to Verdus and to the meeting point—”
“Time,” she interrupted, “is a luxury that few of us have these days, certainly now that we are refugees. The emissaries will need to be swift in their jobs, as will I as I speak to the other divisions. I trust you can understand that.”
“And the meeting place?” I asked.
“The Blackjaw Channel. Do you know it?” She waved at the map behind her.
Tallyn nodded. “I know it.”
“It is located at the boarder of Itlantean and Dron territories. My team will know the coordinates, but here they are anyway.” She passed us a sheet of paper with numbers scribbled on it. “I am sending three Dron emissaries with you to speak with your leaders. I would trust any one of them with my life. Treat them well.”
“And where are these Dron emissaries?” I asked.
The Sagessor made a motion with her hand, and a young woman who had been standing off to the left, slightly in the shadows, came forward. She wore the uniform of the Sagessor, and her dark hair hung short around her ears in curly tendrils. Her large brown eyes were without emotion, but I saw the sweat that beaded her olive skin. She was terrified, although she stood tall and proud.
“This is Olis,” the Sagessor said. “She is of the Sagessor division, and she will accompany you, along with two others for protection.”
At the words “two others,” Nol and Garren stepped to Olis’s side. My heart tumbled at the realization that Nol would be coming with us, swiftly followed by a stab of dismay at the thought of Garren tagging along.
“Him?” I said of Garren. “Do you really think it’s the wisest idea to put someone with his temper in such a delicate situation?”
The Sagessor’s mouth turned in a ghost of a smile, but her eyes remained hard. “I will not force my people to go into enemy territory unarmed. These are the ones who volunteered.”
“I’ll need their word that they won’t cause trouble. I need to be able to trust them.”
Garren spoke gruffly. “I will do my duty to the Dron in this mission. You can count on that.”
The Sagessor frowned. “I, Caliona of the Sagessor, give you my promise.”
I saw no use in arguing. They had agreed. This was happening, and that much was a success, whether or not I thought Garren would be a disastrous addition.
“They will come with us now?” I asked. “There isn’t much time.”
Caliona sighed. “They will go with you now.”
“Then we’re free to go?”
She extended an arm toward the door. The soldiers parted.
“Well,” I said to the Dron emissaries, carefully avoiding Nol’s gaze. “Come with us.”
CHAPTER NINE
TOB AND LYSSIA both recoiled at the sight of the Dron when we arrived back at the ship and pulled off our gear. Lyssia drew back, clutching a tool in her hand like a knife, and Tob braced himself as if Garren or Nol were about to launch at him in attack.
“Are we being boarded?” Tob demanded. He scanned them, noting their lack of weapons and the bags they carried, and then his eyes ticked to mine, questioning and angry. “Or are they... our prisoners? What exactly happened over there?”
“They’re neither,” I said wearily. “They are emissaries to Itlantis. We are discussing a truce in order to concentrate on Nautilus.”
“A truce. With the Dron.” Tob looked from me to them. “You can’t be serious. Can we trust them not to murder us?”
Garren stared back without blinking. “I don’t like it either, Itlantean. But you can put your accusations back in your ugly mouth, because this is what’s happening.”
“Let’s try to remember that we’re all working for a common goal here,” I said. I was keenly aware of Nol’s presence in the room although he hadn’t spoken. It set me on edge in a way that was both uncomfortable and intoxicating.
“I remember you,” Tob said to Garren, ignoring my words. “You were one of the ones who held us captive before. And so were you.” He pointed at Nol.
Garren gave him a smile that promised dismemberment. “And I remember you. You were the one that cried because he thought he was going to die.”
Tob flushed to the tips of his ears. “Have you ever seen a whale gutted, Dron? Because I have. I’ve done it multiple times, actually, and I have all the knives. They’re sharp and jagged for cutting flesh. Bet they would work just as well on a Dron.”
“The sea is smaller than we realize,” Tallyn said as he pushed past to head for the control room. “We’ve all been enemies; now we are allies of sorts. Let’s remember what we are now, not what we were then.” He paused in the doorway. “Emissaries can bunk with me. That way I can keep an eye on them.”
Olis made a small sound in her throat and clutched her bag. Despite her coolness earlier, I got the impression she’d never been far from home. She hovered in the middle of the common room near Garren and Nol as if the walls of the ship were going to reach out and grab her.
“I think Olis will be fine staying with Lyssia and me,” I said.
Tallyn frowned. I could see he was weighing propriety and safety.
“We’ll be fine,” I said firmly. “Olis, follow me.”
I headed for the sleeping quarters without looking back, afraid I’d catch Nol’s eye. Now that we were confined on this ship together, working together, I was humming with nervous, caged energy.
I reached the room where Lyssia and I slept. Lyssia’s things were strewn about, and I noticed a small bag in the corner that they must have brought for me. The room had two beds, bunk-style. I felt Olis stop beside me, and I gestured at the top without looking at her.
“Take that one. Lyssia and I can bunk together.”
She crossed the room and set her things on the top bed. She was still for a moment before turning to
face me, but when she did, her face was carefully composed.
“How long is the journey to your city, Itlantean?”
“Verdus is a few days’ journey,” I said. “And it’s Aemi. We should probably not refer to ourselves as Itlanteans and Dron if we want you to blend in once we reach the city.”
She nodded gravely, and I couldn’t tell if she wanted to disagree. Her expression was diplomatic. “Verdus is the city of agriculture, is it not?”
“It is,” I said, surprised at her knowledge. “How did you...?”
“My mother has made sure I know much about the enemy,” she said. “I mean, the Itlanteans. Your people.”
I scrutinized her. She bore a marked resemblance to the Sagessor leader Caliona, now that I was paying attention. “Your mother?”
Olis lowered her eyes. “She wants me to succeed her. Such training is useful.”
The weight of this settled over me. We not only had three Dron on our ship, but we had one very important Dron, or at least as important as the Dron could be, I supposed, given that they did not honor blood and birthright the same as Itlanteans. I wondered if it would renew war between us if anything happened to her.
I didn’t want to leave her alone. I knew Tallyn at least would insist that the Dron be watched at all times. “Let’s go into the common room.”
Olis followed me. So far, she was proving meek and unthreatening enough.
Garren and Nol sat on the padded bench that ringed the wall, Garren with his arms crossed and one leg bouncing as he scanned and rescanned the room as if looking for an exit to appear by magic. Nol was still, his hands folded. I felt his gaze on me as soon as I entered.
Tob and Lyssia were missing. I knew where they must be.
“You stay here,” I told Olis. “I’m going to see about the food.”
In the galley, Tob hunched over a steaming pot, stirring so hard the water sloshed over the sides and hissed against the stove. Lyssia sat beside him, sorting dried starfish.
They were both silent when I entered.
“I don’t like it,” Tob burst out before I could say anything. “The mean one is going to murder us all. I should put puffer fish in his dinner.” He took a starfish from Lyssia and dropped it in the steaming water, and then reached for the salt.
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