That didn’t make sense. She had been working for Rhain—hadn’t she?
At least she had kept the Collector away from Keyall. If nothing else, she would pull his attention away.
“We haven’t seen anything in the last two days,” Alayna said. “What makes you think today will be different?”
“A hunch,” Carth said.
“A hunch. That’s all you intend to tell me?”
Carth moved away from the railing and approached her friend. Alayna was dressed in a light dress that caught the wind, whipping around her body. She was muscular and cut a striking figure. “We have been sailing for the better part of two days, but haven’t you noticed that there has been a particular pattern to our movements?”
“A pattern? I thought you had us patrolling, as if we could stop the Collector by ourselves.”
“Perhaps they patrol, but what we’ve been doing is something a little different.”
Alayna chewed on her bottom lip, a frown plastered on her face. “The smugglers. That’s what you have us doing. We’re chasing them.”
“Following.”
“I thought you didn’t care that they were departing.”
“I don’t necessarily care that they’re leaving. I don’t agree with that, but I’m not about to stop them.”
“Then why are we following them?”
“Because they’ve already angered the Collector.”
“You want to be there in case the Collector comes after them again? You want to be there when he reaches the smugglers to get vengeance?”
“I want them to draw him out. I want to be able to be there and react when his ships appear.”
“It’s a dangerous tactic,” Alayna said. “What happens if they get free from here and continue to sail westerly and…”
“Then we turn back.”
“You won’t continue to follow?”
“I won’t abandon Keyall. The constables think that they can manage, but I doubt that they are as capable as they would like me to believe. Whoever this Collector is, he managed to reach the constable’s ships and destroy them.”
“And the smugglers? If this fails and the smugglers are exposed to the Collector, will you feel guilty about that?”
“No guiltier than they felt when they attacked the Collector’s ships and pulled several of the women free.”
“But you know that the Collector’s people were guilty of so much more than the smugglers.”
Carth stared out at the water. It was a calm day and the occasional wave swept toward them, but not with any real strength. The sky was cloudless, and in the distance, she saw birds circling. There was a sense of peace here. Soon, if what she planned was successful, she would be attacking. Peace would be disrupted and the calm of the sea would be destroyed.
She hated that the Collector made her do that. She hated that the Collector was able to force her into such a position. And she hated that Alistan Rhain had been greedy enough that he had drawn the attention of the Collector, attempting to continue moving products despite the constables and what they had intended to do to keep all of Keyall safe.
“I think that we all tend to make sacrifices. Sometimes, our sacrifices are more difficult than other times, but in this case, I know that the smugglers were taking on a job. They didn’t ever intend to get caught up in something like this. Still, when they did realize what they were caught up in, they didn’t back off. They continued to press, and they created much more difficulty for us—and for Keyall—than there would have been otherwise. For that reason, I don’t feel quite as guilty about using them as bait.”
“Remind me not to ignore what you want me to do in the future.”
“You think this is some sort of revenge for them choosing to do something other than what I asked?”
“Isn’t it?”
“If only it were so easy. If only that were all that I had done, then perhaps it might be the simpler solution for us and we could be done with all of this. We could be done with all of Keyall. But it’s not.”
“When this is over, and when we return north—I presume we’re still returning north?” she asked, arching a brow at Carth and waiting for a nod. “What’s your intent with Keyall? Do you plan for the people here to be pulled into the Binders?”
“I don’t think they can be.”
“Good. I don’t think so either, but I never know quite what you intend, especially when it has to do with the Binders.”
Carth glanced over, smiling at her. “Especially then? The Binders are only for information. They aren’t meant for anything more than that.”
Alayna laughed softly. “Perhaps originally we were intended as only information gatherers, but you saw the need for something else. Because of you, we have trained them to be more than that. Now they’re fighters.”
“Only to keep themselves safe.”
“It’s more than that, and you know it.”
Carth looked into the distance. Maybe it was more than that, and maybe she did know it, but that didn’t make it easier. She had never wanted to prepare a fleet of fighters—an army—but she couldn’t deny that was what they were. They had come so far from the frightened women they once had been, and because of that, they were able to move freely.
Possibly too freely. Could it be that she and the Binders had set up events? Could it be that they were the reason that people like the Collector existed?
And it was exactly what the constable had accused her of doing.
She had argued because she hadn’t wanted to create anything more than a way for those with her to protect themselves, but that didn’t seem to be possible without adding the extra capability of destroying others.
“That’s not what I wanted.”
“Maybe it wasn’t, but sometimes our moves have unintended consequences.”
Carth smiled at her and patted her on the shoulder. “Let me know if you see anything.”
Alayna nodded and Carth went below deck.
She stopped to check on Jenna first and found her sitting in her cabin, her eyes still wearing that haunted expression that Carth had seen when she had first rescued her. So far, the constable hadn’t made an effort to recapture her, and Carth suspected that had something to do with the fact that Carth had helped the constables. How long would that last before he decided his internal morality overrode all the help that she had offered?
The cabin was like most of the others on the Goth Spald and sparsely decorated. Most of them had few belongings, and Jenna had the fewest of all. What she had was weapons. A collection of knifes was spread open on a table, nestled into black leather. A longsword was slung over a chair, likely too long to be of much use to Jenna, though Carth was never certain what Jenna might be capable of doing. With enough rage, she might be more than able to handle such a weapon. A pitcher of water rested on the floor, the boards around it stained with moisture. Carth imagined Boiyn responsible for bringing the water to Jenna.
“How are you?”
Jenna glanced up and blinked slowly. “I am fine, Carth.”
“If you were fine, you’d be up in the mast nest. The fact that you are here tells me that you still need help.”
“I need less help than most think.”
“We care about you.”
Jenna looked up at her, those haunted eyes almost enough to make Carth take a step back. “Do you? Sometimes it seems that all you care about is your games.”
“We’re all a part of what needs to happen,” she said.
“And just what is it that needs to happen, Carth? Do we need to be here and fighting the people in Keyall? Do we need to fight this Collector?”
Carth took a seat next to Jenna.
“Do you remember when I found you?”
Jenna’s eyes narrowed. “I remember it like it was yesterday.”
What she said next would be hard, but Carth thought it necessary. “You were caged. The people of Ynal claimed you were feral.”
“They claimed that I was no
thing more than an animal.”
“And why was that?”
She knew some about Jenna, but not as much as she thought she needed to, especially not to help her. “It doesn’t matter. Not anymore.”
“I think it does matter. What you went through was wrong. What you experienced affects you to this day. Understanding the why of it will—”
“Will what?” Jenna snapped, looking up at Carth. “Help you make me stronger? Allow you to teach me? Turn me into something that I don’t know that I want to be?”
“I was going to say that it would help me know you better.”
Jenna stared at the wall behind Carth, a blank expression in her eyes. “You don’t have to pretend that you’ll do anything other than use me.”
“Why do I need to pretend anything? I care about you. We all do.”
Jenna grunted. “Linsay doesn’t.”
Carth shrugged. “Linsay has her own issues, much like Alayna does. And I do. We’re all broken in our own ways, and we’re all trying to find a way to understand what we need to do.”
They fell into silence for a while, and eventually Jenna looked up at her. “I don’t know how to let it go,” she said with a whisper.
“You don’t have to let it go. I’m not sure that you should.” She reached for Jenna’s hand and took it. “I think about when I lost my parents. That was an awful day. Before then, I had been happy. We had traveled a lot, but that had never bothered me, not the way it might have had I known why we traveled. We were always happy. A family. That day, everything changed. The world became… darker.”
Jenna met her eyes. “You discovered your connection to the shadows then?”
“Not then, but it wasn’t much later that I discovered what I could do. I think that I would have learned of my connection to them regardless, and I think my mother wanted me to learn from the A’ras, but would I be the person I am now had I not had those experiences? Would I have been there to help you?”
“I haven’t helped anyone.”
“You have helped more than you realize. Most people we help will never know what we’ve done. They will only know that something changed, but they won’t necessarily know why or who to thank. And that’s the way it should be.” She squeezed Jenna’s hand a moment. “You had something horrible happen to you. Maybe you don’t want to share, but I think it can help. And you shouldn’t forget what happened to you. You need those memories. Those are what make you strong.”
“I didn’t feel strong when I was trapped in Keyall. I felt… I felt like the savage you saved. All I could think about was getting free, and all I could do was stand there, unable to get out.”
“I’m sorry we didn’t break you out sooner. I’m sorry I had Boiyn make an enhancement that would calm you. I didn’t think… I didn’t expect…” Carth couldn’t finish. It was hard for her to admit to making a mistake. Jenna had needed her compassion, not some easy fix from Boiyn. Wasn’t that the same reason she had wanted to train Linsay without enhancements?
Jenna said nothing and Carth was content to hold her hand. There was a comfort there, and there was calm and quiet and peace. Jenna needed that peace the same way that Carth needed the peace she experienced when staring out at the sea.
“They destroyed my homeland.”
“What?”
“Ynal. When you found me, they had destroyed my family. Everything I knew. My way back to my homeland.”
“Where is your homeland?”
“Far from here. We were sailors and we came east to trade. Ships from Ynal found us first and attacked. They took me to Ynal and wanted to… I don’t know what they wanted. Whatever it was, you saved me from it.”
“You’re from the west? Beyond the map?”
She unfolded her map and set it on her lap in front of Jenna. The other woman stared at it, a trace of a smile slipping onto her lips. “Beyond your map.”
“You aren’t that good of a sailor.”
“That wasn’t my task,” Jenna said softly.
Carth studied her. “When this is over, would you guide us to your homeland?”
Jenna licked her lips. “That was all I thought about when you first rescued me. I would spend hours staring at your maps, searching them for signs of my people, but your maps…”
“They’re incomplete,” Carth said.
Jenna nodded.
“How long were you captive?” Carth stared at her friend, thinking that she understood why Jenna had panicked the way that she had when they had captured her in Keyall. Had Carth known, she would never have allowed the constables to hold her, not for nearly as long as they had. “It was longer than you led us to believe, wasn’t it?”
Jenna closed her eyes. “It was.”
“How long?”
“Years.”
Years. Carth thought that she understood. Her reaction made more sense knowing what she must have experienced. And Carth thought that she had suffered. “Oh, Jenna. I’m so sorry.”
“You saved me from it.”
“Not soon enough.”
Jenna took a deep breath and opened her eyes. When she did, some of the darkness had faded. The haunted expression remained, but it wasn’t quite what it had been. “It happened when it needed to happen. I’m thankful you came for me. I don’t know how much longer I would have survived had you not.”
“You’re a fighter. You’re strong. Stronger than I had even known. You would have survived.”
“I don’t know that I would have, Carth. Without you coming for me, I don’t know.” Jenna sighed. “Which is why I think you’re right. We do need to help people who are like me.”
“I don’t think the people of Keyall quite compare to what happened to you.”
“Not yet, but if this Collector gains more strength? If he begins to rule in Keyall? And if his reach extends beyond here and to other places? I think that’s exactly what we need to stop.”
“You will help?”
Jenna took another deep breath and then nodded. “I’m with you, Carth.”
Carth sat by her for a few moments and then made her way to the door. It was time to check on Boiyn and Linsay and see what progress they had made with understanding the fire—and a way to possibly counter it. As she reached the door, Jenna called out.
“Carth?”
She looked over her shoulder and met Jenna’s eyes.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For you. For what you’ve done. For standing by me and rescuing me again.”
“There might come a time when I’ll need you to rescue me.”
“I would do it. Anything for you.”
Carth hesitated and made her way back to Jenna, pulling her into a quick embrace. When she let go, a tear had started down Jenna’s cheek, but she smiled. With that, she erased most of the haunted expression from her face.
29
They found no sign of the Collector as they sailed.
Carth was growing frustrated. They had followed the smugglers away from Keyall for days, hoping that the Collector might have some way of tracking them and that he would come after them, but he had not. Could he have learned that Carth was chasing them?
That didn’t seem likely.
Then again, how could she count on the Collector finding them? They might have several ships, but they certainly didn’t have enough to draw attention in the massive ocean. It wasn’t as if the Collector could watch everywhere.
“How much longer do you intend to sail?” Alayna asked.
The skies were still clear to the east, but the longer she looked toward the west, the more she saw darkness and clouds. Thunder rumbled, and if they intended to continue sailing in that direction, they would face storms. She didn’t fear getting caught in most storms, but there were some that could be devastating. There were some that could be incredibly destructive. It would be better—and easier—to ride out the storm in port.
“I think we need to turn back,” she said.
“I
know you’re frustrated by that,” Alayna said.
“Not so much frustrated as I am disappointed. If we can’t find any evidence of the Collector, there’s nothing that we can do to make an impact on Keyall.”
“Maybe we have to let them handle this on their own.”
“And if they can’t? If there’s nothing they can do despite their desire to do so? I don’t like it.”
Thunder rumbled again, and this time it sounded close, close enough that it practically filled her, trying to rattle her bones. The clouds thickened, the kind of thickening that threatened a significant rain.
Jenna slid down from the mast nest and made her way over to them. “I’ve seen clouds like that,” she said.
“I think we’ve all seen clouds like that.”
“No. This is different. This is from when I was younger.”
Carth studied her a moment. Since Jenna had acknowledged her past, she had become much more willing to open up about it, even if only a little. Maybe there would be some good that could come out of what had happened to her in Keyall.
“It’s a storm,” Alayna said.
“It is a storm, but there is violence in that type of storm. If it reaches us…”
“How do you know?”
“Because it’s the kind of storm that forced my family farther east. Had we not encountered something quite like that, I don’t know that I would have been captured. I don’t know that I would have been placed in the cage. I don’t know that I would have—”
Carth rested her hand on Jenna’s shoulder. Jenna was starting to escalate, her anxiety beginning to increase, and Carth wanted to settle her down, if only a little. “We will turn back,” she said. “Let Boiyn and Linsay know that we are returning.”
“Do you think he can find an answer to the strange fire that consumed the constable’s ships? If the Collector attacks like that again—”
“He has a day until we return,” Carth said.
“We’ve been sailing for several days,” Alayna said. “It will take us at least that many more before we can return to Keyall.”
Shadow Hunted (The Collector Chronicles Book 1) Page 23