by Rachel Aaron
“Majesty?”
Josef looked to see the admiral standing in the door. “The fleet is ready, sir.”
“Good,” Josef said. He turned to go, but stopped again as Eli’s hand closed on his wrist.
“Are you sure about this?” Eli whispered.
“Doesn’t matter,” Josef said. “If even one of those ships makes landfall, we’ll be overrun. Our only hope is to sink them before they reach the shore. The real question is, are you sure you can hold up your end of the plan?”
“Not in the least,” Eli said with a broad smile. “But we’re going to try.” As he said this, he laid his hand on his chest, just above the burn that held his lava spirit.
Josef nodded and started for the door. “Tell Nico to meet me on the ships when she gets back. And Eli,” he said, glancing over his shoulder. “Good luck.”
“You too,” Eli said.
Josef waved and stomped down the stairs. When he reached the landing, he saw Eli turn back toward the window, his face strangely determined, almost angry. The light around him seemed wrong, too white for this time of the afternoon. And then, as the door swung, Josef caught a glimpse of what looked like a woman’s white arm slide around Eli’s chest. Josef froze as the door clicked shut, and then he shook his head. It was way too early in the fight for him to be seeing things. He took a deep breath to clear his mind and hurried down the stairs.
Eli stood perfectly still as the Shepherdess wrapped herself around him from behind.
Why so dour, darling? she whispered in his ear. I told you this was coming, didn’t I?
Eli closed his eyes. “I was wondering when you’d show up.”
Benehime laughed in delight and spun him around. You were waiting for me?
“Don’t get the wrong idea,” Eli said, pulling away. He reached out, pointing to the endless line of ships. “Did you do this?”
Benehime tilted her head. Do what?
Eli had to fight to keep the shaking rage out of his voice. “You said that the Empress was coming to kill me in revenge for taking you away. Did she think of that herself, or did you plant the idea in her head?”
What a thing to say. Benehime pulled her arms back with a pained expression. I’m the Shepherdess. I don’t start wars. She paused, waiting for Eli’s expression to soften. When it didn’t, she walked to the window with a sigh. I don’t see how this is so difficult for you to grasp, love. Nara is a warrior; war is her nature. What other retaliation can she have but to come and kill the one who stole me from her?
“She could be mad at you,” Eli snapped. “You were the one who left. I was eleven and unconscious when you made me your favorite. That hardly counts as stealing.”
She can’t be angry with me, Benehime said, her voice ringing with musical laughter. Nara loves me. Everything does. You said it yourself.
Eli could feel the anger boiling up his body, and he forced himself to bite his tongue before he said something he’d regret. Beside him, the floor creaked in reverence as Benehime leaned over and laced her arms around him.
Don’t be stubborn, darling, she whispered, pulling him close. I don’t want this war any more than you do, but I can’t help you unless you ask. Your rule, remember? Not mine. Even so, I tried to warn you. I told you to come home, but you never listen.
Eli jerked out of her grip. “The moment you say something that isn’t self-serving, I will.”
Benehime’s eyes narrowed, and her fingers tightened, digging into his shoulders like claws. Must you always be so stubborn? she hissed, pulling him against her with terrifying strength. How can you stand there and play that you’re still capable of getting by on your own? Give up, darling! It’s over. You and I both know your swordsman’s pathetic little country has no hope of beating the Empress. All those men down there are going to die if you don’t ask for my help, maybe your Josef along with them. Can you bear that much blood on your hands?
“Blood on my hands?”
The words ripped out of him before he could stop them. This was too far.
“What of that is my fault?” he cried. “You were the one who abandoned the Empress. You were the one who made me your favorite. I had no say in any of it! I was a child. All I wanted was to live my own life. Now the Immortal Empress is here to destroy a kingdom in order to kill me because you don’t care for her anymore, and you’re saying the blood is on my hands?”
Dress it up however you like to make yourself feel better, Benehime said, her white face cold and haughty. Nothing changes the fact that you could stop this war right now. All you have to do is draw on my power, your rightful power as my star, and you could set everything right, but you won’t. People and spirits are going to die today, and it’s all because you’re a prideful, hateful boy who’s too stubborn to know his place and come back home where he belongs.
“You think I don’t want to go back because of pride?” Eli shouted. “Do you have any idea what it was like to live with you?”
Benehime’s voice grew frigid. Yes, she hissed. It was paradise, but you were too spoiled to know it.
Eli squeezed his eyes shut. He was going too far. The Shepherdess was very dangerous when she got cold, but he was so sick of this. So sick of walking the line of her favor. So sick of pretending.
“I’m not going to ask for your help, Benehime,” he said, his voice as cold as hers when he opened his eyes again. “I’m not going to use any power you gave me. And I’m never coming back to you.”
The temperature in the room dropped as the Shepherdess studied him. You shouldn’t tell lies, Eliton.
Eli balled his hands to fists at his sides. “I’m not lying.”
The Shepherdess looked at him a moment longer with that cold, terrible expression, and then she turned away. We’ll see how you hold on to that arrogance once the dying starts, she said, her voice tight. I will see you soon, beloved, and when I do, it will be on your knees. She looked over her shoulder one last time. That I can promise you.
She pursed her lips in a silent kiss, and then she was gone, vanishing through a white hole in the air.
Eli stood with his fists clenched and his chest straining, holding in all the foul names he desperately wanted to fling after her. Some risks were too great even in his anger, but he didn’t hide the look of disgust as he turned away from the empty air where she had vanished and began marching toward the door.
“Eli?” Karon whispered cautiously. “What are you doing?”
“What do you think?” Eli snapped, nearly pulling the door off its hinges. “We’re going downstairs, and we’re going to help Josef win this bloody war.” And he was never going back to her. Never. Never.
Karon didn’t say another word as Eli took the stairs three at a time down to the storm wall.
Josef’s admiral was waiting for him on the vertical stair leading down the storm wall to the bay. Tesset was standing beside him. They both stepped aside to make room as Josef joined them.
“You coming out on the water with us?” Josef said, studying the Council man.
Tesset smiled politely. “Absolutely not. I don’t care for boats, and I have a feeling I’ll be more useful here.”
“Have it your way,” Josef said. “But it’ll be a boring post. Nothing’s getting to the shore.”
“Consider me as insurance,” Tesset said. “On the off chance anything should slip by your blockade.”
Josef shook his head and pushed by, slapping Tesset on the shoulder as he passed. Tesset didn’t even wobble under the blow. He just stood there, smiling as he watched Josef and the admiral head down to the beach.
“Are the boats supplied like we talked about?” Josef asked, taking the steep, treacherous steps two at a time.
“Yes, majesty,” the admiral said. “All our remaining clingfire has been loaded, though I don’t know what good it’ll do.”
“We only need a little,” Josef said. He jumped the last stair and hit the sand running. All the boats but one were already out in the water. The last an
d largest, the Oseran flagship, was waiting for him at the end of the dock. It was a beautiful runner, twenty feet long and narrow as a barrel with a crew of fifteen strong oarsmen as well as a high, narrow sail. The men saluted as Josef ran up the plank, jumping onto the deck with a force that rocked the ship.
“I’ve put archers on the cliffs to cover your retreat, my lord,” the admiral said from the dock. “Remember, there’s only two hours left until the tide. I’ll set the signal fire thirty minutes before. You’ll have that much time to get in.”
“More than enough,” said the flagship captain, an enormous sailor who looked like he’d spent his life on the sea. He turned to Josef, and the swordsman saw a flicker of disgust on the sailor’s face. Josef tensed. King he might be, but most of Osera still thought he was dirt. But whatever the captain’s private feelings, he hid them with the discipline that made the Oseran navy famous.
“On your word, sire,” he said with a sharp salute.
“Go,” Josef said, moving up to the prow of the ship.
The moment the word was given, the deck jerked under his feet as the oars hit the water, and the narrow ship darted into the bay. The other ships rocked to life as well, falling in behind the king’s flagship as the fleet shot out of the sheltered Rebuke and into the blue water of the open sea.
Josef stood on the prow, letting his body adjust to the wind and the pitch of the boat. He’d almost got it when the boat suddenly dipped. Josef turned as the sailors cried in alarm, and his face broke into a smile as he saw Nico stepping out of the shadows beneath the mast.
“We’re fine,” Josef said. “She’s with me.”
This didn’t seem to reassure the sailors, but they kept rowing, glancing sideways at Nico as she squinted at Josef from beneath her dark hood.
“How’d it go?” Josef said.
“Pretty well,” Nico answered. “I went to every one of the outer villages just like you said. They didn’t believe me at first, but once I pointed out the Empress’s ships, they went along just fine. The catapults are being set up right now. If a palace ship gets within two hundred feet of the outer island shores, it’ll be bombarded.”
“Good,” Josef said. “Won’t be enough to sink a palace ship, but a barrage will make landing troops hairy. That’ll have to be enough to protect our flank for now.” He squeezed Nico’s arm and stepped past her, climbing back up on the prow so he could look the rowers in the eye. “Listen up!” he shouted. “The admiral and I explained this earlier, but since we’re the flagship and everyone’s following our lead, I’m going to say it again. We’re not out here to fight the Empress’s fleet. Our only objective is to stop her advance long enough for reinforcements to arrive from the mainland.”
He threw out his arm and pointed down at the water. This far out, it was beautifully clear. Down below, the shadow of their boat shot across the bright, rocky reef that waited thirty feet below the waves, the natural barrier between their island and the sea. “See that?” Josef said, stabbing his finger at the reef. “That’s our weapon. All we have to do is hold them over the shallows and let the tide do our work for us.”
The captain gritted his teeth. “Begging your pardon, majesty, but how are we going to hold ships that big with no clingfire? The admiral said you had some kind of secret weapon, but, and I ain’t intending to be speaking above my station, I don’t see nothing on you but a big metal bar.”
Josef grinned wide and reached over his shoulder, drawing the Heart in a smooth arc. “This big metal bar is all we need. Just row where I tell you to go. I’ll do the rest.”
“Aye, sire,” the captain said, though he couldn’t hide the tremble in his voice. “Full ahead.”
The flagship shot forward, cutting through the water like a knife toward the front line of the palace ships.
The Empress’s fleet slowed to meet them, the palace ships halting their unnatural speed as they reached the edge of the reef. Josef fell to a crouch. The other runners had fanned themselves out around the flagship and were keeping pace, just as they were supposed to. Josef was just starting to feel good about this whole crazy operation when he felt Nico tense beside him.
“What?” he said, glancing at her.
Nico was staring straight ahead, eyes wide. “Was there always an island there?”
“What are you talking about?”
Nico pointed at the sky behind the palace ships. Josef squinted against the bright sun, and then his eyes went wide as he saw it too. There, rising like a specter over the enemy fleet, was the shadowy shape of a large, rocky island. But that was impossible. Osera was the last land in these waters. Yet there it was, sturdy and large as any of the Oseran mountain islands. Even this far away, Josef could make out the shape of buildings clinging to the island’s rocky slope. Buildings in a style he’d never seen before.
His blood began to run cold, but even as the fear rose, Josef made himself let it go. “Forget it,” he said, raising his voice. “Nothing has changed! Full ahead!”
“Aye, sire,” the captain said. “Steady!”
The sailors obeyed, and the Oseran fleet flew at the line of palace ships like a tiny bird flying at a wall that spans the world.
Nara stood on the balcony of her war palace, watching the tiny specs of the Oseran fleet approaching her front line. Her ornate sword was out and naked in her hand, a rare sight, and one that made her general extremely uncomfortable.
“Hail, Empress,” he said after waiting a solid minute for her to notice he was there.
“One of the Hundred Conquerors has fallen,” the Empress said, raising her sword for him to see. “I still don’t believe it. I haven’t had a sleeper fall since I took the high mountains. What was that, two hundred years ago?”
“Two hundred and fifty-three,” the general said. “If my Empress is referring to her war with the Ascetics of the Great Glacier.”
“Oh, yes,” the Empress said. “That pack of ice builders. A good war, if I remember. I think I ended up commanding their glacier to provide the water that turned the northern plains green.”
“For which your people will forever sing your praises, Empress.”
The Empress nodded and sheathed her sword. “So long as the sleeper accomplished its task, it matters little, I suppose. I’ll just have to make a new Conqueror when this is finished. We have more with us, don’t we?”
The general bowed. “Seventy-three of the Hundred ride with your fleet, Empress. They await your command.”
“That should be more than enough,” the Empress said. “Report.”
The general stood at attention. “A hundred ships approaching from the island, all light attack craft, just as in the last war. None have shot the clinging fire yet, but your wizards are standing by to squelch the flames if needed.”
The Empress nodded. “And the shallows Den warned us about?”
“At our present speed, our front line should cross them in plenty of time to avoid the tide,” the general said.
The Empress frowned. “The front line is fifty palace ships?”
“Fifty-five, Empress,” the general corrected gently. “More than enough to take such a small island. We’ll begin bombardment as soon as the first ships are in range. The land will be yours before nightfall.”
“See that it is,” the Empress said.
The general bowed and backed into the palace, closing the curtain behind him. The moment he was gone, Nara felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle in a familiar way. A smile of pure joy spread over her face as she turned to find the Shepherdess lounging on her imperial couch.
“My Lady,” the Empress whispered, falling into a deep bow.
How goes the invasion?
Nara stiffened. The Lady did not sound happy.
“We’re about to crush the Oseran fleet,” she said quickly. “Do not worry, Lady. I told you I would give you the world, and I will, starting with this island.”
It is a dour little island, the Lady said, twisting her snowy hair between her
fingers. Promise me you’ll burn it to the ground.
“I will crush it into the sea,” Nara swore. “Anything to make you smile.”
And to her great joy, the Shepherdess did. She held open her arms, and Nara ran to her, falling into the Lady’s lap like a lost child.
Darling, loyal Nara, the Shepherdess said, stroking her dark hair. Would you die for me?
“In an instant, Lady,” Nara said, tears rolling down her cheeks as she pressed her fingers against Benehime’s bare, white skin. “I am loyal to you body and soul, life or death. Every breath I take is yours, as it always has been.” Unlike the boy, she wanted to say, but she did not dare. She would not bring that thief into this precious moment when she had her Shepherdess to herself at last.
The Lady pet Nara’s head like a cat’s. Remember, she said. Crush this island and its defenders. Break them utterly. I want them desperate.
“It will be done, Lady,” Nara said, clinging tighter than ever. “I swear it.”
The Lady smiled one last time and vanished, her body slipping through a white line in the air. Nara fell forward, collapsing on the couch where the Lady had been. As always, her absence left Nara reeling, and she lay gasping on the silk cushions, her eyes shut tight against the hateful darkness that remained when Benehime was gone.
When the weakness finally passed, Nara pulled herself onto the couch and opened her soul a fraction. A wind answered at once.
“Tell the front line commanders to fire as soon as they’re in range,” the Empress said. “I mean to make an example of this island. Tell the wizards to use every war spirit we’ve got. I want Osera burned to ash.”
“Yes, Empress,” the wind whispered, spinning away.
Nara smiled. She wasn’t sure what the island had done to deserve the Lady’s displeasure, but it was a boon to her. An absolute victory here could be enough to make the Lady remember at last who her true servant was. That thought made her sigh in happiness, and Nara sank into the pillows to watch the show as the first of her palace ships hit the Oseran fleet.