by Morgan Rice
“One of our own betrayed you?” the king said. “Why?”
“He claimed to be sent by someone at court,” Thanos said. Again, he heard a gasp go around the room. “Although he wouldn’t say by whom.”
“How did you survive?” the king asked.
“I was left for dead,” Thanos said. “Fishermen found me, and brought me back when they realized who I was. They thought there would be a reward.”
It was the kind of lie he guessed the others there would believe. They understood greed far better than kindness, in Thanos’s experience. He paused. It was going to be hard lying constantly. He’d tried to build his life on honesty…
…and that had nearly gotten him killed.
“And my army?” the king asked.
“I heard the fishermen talking. They said that the Imperial fleet had been burned, the land forces cut off. I’m sorry, your majesty, but I believe General Draco is dead.”
King Claudius looked at him for a long time. Thanos found himself wondering how much of his story the king believed. He spent his life with courtiers telling him half-truths and outright lies. The only thing protecting Thanos now was the fact that he’d never lied to his king in the past.
“A terrible loss,” King Claudius said. “But I am more concerned with the fact that you were attacked. Every aid will be provided in finding the one responsible. If there is anything you require, you have only to ask.”
“Thank you, your majesty,” Thanos said, although he had no intention of simply relying on the king’s efforts. There was one thing the king could give him, though. “May I be permitted to see Ceres?”
That made the king’s expression change. It went from something that looked like genuine concern to anger almost as fast as Thanos could blink.
“All of this, and your mind is still on that girl?”
It always would be. Thanos found himself thinking of Ceres as she’d been when he’d left, angry with him for the betrayal of fighting against the rebellion. If he could whisper the truth to her…
“I would like to see her,” Thanos said.
“That is not possible,” Queen Athena said. “The girl is gone.”
Thanos spun to her. “Gone? What do you mean ‘gone’?”
“Mind your tone, Thanos,” King Claudius said. “What you have been through gives you some leeway, but remember where you are.”
The queen gave him an answer, though. “Your precious Ceres turned out not to be all she seemed. She was a slave who had killed her master, not fit to live, let alone fight in the Stade. As we speak, she is on a ship headed for the Isle of Prisoners.”
The queen seemed to take a certain cruel delight in telling him that. She smiled as Thanos reeled before the news, and it was all he could do not to start shouting. He wanted to demand Ceres’s return; to charge down to the docks and set off after her on whatever boat he could find. As it was, he found that he couldn’t bear to stay there any longer. Between the people who’d tried to kill him, the ones who’d gotten rid of Ceres, and the usual poisonous atmosphere of the court, how had he thought that he could stand to be here without exploding?
Somehow, Thanos managed to keep enough of a grip on himself to force a bow. “Forgive me, your majesties. My wound is paining me, and it has been a long journey. With your permission, I would like to retire to my room.”
“Yes,” King Claudius said. “Perhaps that is a good idea.”
Thanos hurried from the throne room, and he saw the courtiers there rush to get out of his way. He didn’t know what they saw in his face, but they stepped back quickly, leaving a clear route to the door. Thanos had made it out into an antechamber before he felt a hand on his shoulder.
He spun, his anger rising. If someone wanted to stop him now, in the moments after he’d learned that he’d lost Ceres, then—
“Prince Thanos,” Cosmas said, taking a step back. The old scholar looked much as he always had to Thanos: spry despite his age, bald, with pronounced ears and a beak of a nose that only seemed to draw attention up to the intense blue of his eyes.
“Cosmas,” Thanos said. The old man’s presence was enough to calm him a little, but only a little. “I’m sorry. I can’t talk now. Ceres—”
“I know, boy,” the scholar said. “Some pains are too much to deal with all at once. You came back thinking of a happy reunion, and it hurts to have that dashed.”
It did more than hurt. It felt as though something in Thanos was tearing itself apart. Even so, he nodded.
“I need some time alone,” he said.
“I understand,” Cosmas replied. “But when you are ready, we need to talk.”
“Why?” Thanos asked.
“Because I believe I know who tried to kill you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Ceres was resting when the ship lurched. She was on the edge of sleep with Eike near to her, and she barely had time to wake up before she was rolling as the ship listed. She only kept from tumbling right across the deck by grabbing for one of the long chains that bound prisoners in place.
It had to be a storm, and a big one too if it could rock the ship like this. Beside her, Eike grabbed hold of the same chain, and Ceres moved closer to wrap her arms around the girl, climbing along the chain until she could do it. As small as the girl was, there was no way she would survive if she found herself thrown across the hold of the ship.
Several of those prisoners who weren’t chained down were, and Ceres heard screams and yells of surprise as they fell through the air. She heard sickening crunches as some of them hit posts or the far wall. Several didn’t rise, while more screamed with broken limbs. The ones who fell into knots of other prisoners weren’t much better off. Ceres heard the fights starting, and clung harder to the chain.
She just had time to wonder what kind of storm could come out of nowhere like this before the boat righted, then swung the other way. Now prisoners crashed into the wall near her, and Ceres curled around Eike, shielding her from the worst of it. For once, Ceres was glad that they’d left her armor on her when they’d thrown her in here. A crazed-looking man landed next to them and lashed out reflexively with a knife that looked like it had been made from a length of bone. It skittered off the steel, and Ceres kicked out, knocking him away.
The ship leveled out once more, but only briefly. Something slammed into the side of the ship, and for a moment, Ceres thought that they must have hit a rock. Then the side of the ship split, and a tentacle as wide as a man was tall burst through.
It seemed they weren’t in a storm after all.
“Sea monster!” one of the prisoners screamed, and Ceres heard other voices join in the call.
The tentacle lashed like a whip among the prisoners, wrapping around a pair of men before jerking back. They were chained in place, but the strength of the tentacle was enough to snap them clear of it. Ceres saw one of the prisoners try to cling to the side of the hole in the ship, but the tentacle wrenched him out into the ocean.
Water shot through in a gout that swept people away, seeming to Ceres to pour in impossibly fast. She saw another tentacle punch through the wood of the hold, and then a beak like that of some giant bird of prey followed, tearing its way inside. Water followed each time, and Ceres looked down to find that it was already up to her ankles.
“We’re going to sink,” she said. “We need to get out of here!”
“How?” Eike asked.
Ceres didn’t have an answer for that, but she still headed toward the hatch that led up to the deck. It was covered in wide iron bars, locked firmly from the outside.
“I think I can fit!” Eike said.
“Then go,” Ceres replied. “You need to get off the ship!”
She might not be able to save herself, but at least she could save the girl. Other prisoners pushed up behind Ceres, crushing her against the hatch as they tried to get through, but Ceres held them back while Eike wriggled through. She scampered away and Ceres looked back at the hold.
T
he water was rising now. She could see those prisoners whose shackles held them to a particular spot yanking at them, trying to pull them away from their moorings. One man who had been knocked unconscious by the fall across the hold slid under the water as Ceres watched, while the tentacles of the monster continued to flail inside the hold, dragging helpless prisoners toward that waiting maw. There was nowhere to run to, and already the ship felt as though it was delicately poised, ready to tip over at any moment.
“Quick, Ceres! Up here!”
Ceres looked up and saw sunlight, unencumbered by bars. Eike was there beyond the hatch, a set of keys held proudly in one hand.
“I stole them from a guard,” Eike said. “I bet one will open your shackles too!”
She grinned down at Ceres, and Ceres found herself smiling back up. She hauled herself up through the hatch, onto the deck, trying to make sense of what was going on as she took the keys from Eike and fitted them to her shackles. She hurried as much as she could. It wasn’t just the rising water. Other prisoners were already pushing their way up onto the deck behind Ceres, and Ceres didn’t want to have to fight them for the keys.
The ship was clearly in trouble. The monster attacking it had tentacles wrapped around the masts, tearing men from the rigging and crushing them in its grasp. Ceres saw one sweep around like a flail, knocking sailors and guards into the water like toys. Above, she saw sea raptors gathering, as though sensing the potential feast to come. She saw some of the guards jabbing at the tentacles with swords and harpoons. None of it seemed to make any difference.
She saw one of the guards look over in her direction as she succeeded in getting the shackles off.
“The prisoners are escaping!” he cried, and ran at her with a sword outstretched.
Ceres didn’t have any time to think, and the terror of the monster was too great for any more fear to break through. Instead, she swung the shackles that had just confined her around as a weapon, catching the guard on the side of his head and knocking him sprawling. A questing tentacle reached out and grabbed him, dragging him screaming into the water.
More guards came her way, despite the greater threat of the monster attacking them all. Ceres tossed her keys to the prisoners coming through the hatch behind her, then struck out with her shackles at the sword a guard held, tangling it. She moved in close to rip the sword from his grasp, then kicked the guard away.
“You really were a combatlord, weren’t you?” Eike said. Despite everything, she sounded surprised by it.
Ceres nodded. “Stay close to me. We have to find a way off this ship.”
The ship creaked as if in response to that as the tentacled monster continued to tear through it. One of the masts shivered and fell under the power of its assault, crashing down into the water like some huge tree while Ceres held Eike and tried to keep her back from the danger. There had to be small boats for landing, didn’t there? There had to be a way off the ship besides the gangplank.
Ceres barely had a chance to think that before the ship tilted, its bow plunging into the water. The world seemed to turn on its side, and for a moment, she had a view of the water below, filled with blood, struggling men, and the seething mass of the creature attacking them. She could see fins too, as sharks swam around the edges of it, looking to pick up stragglers.
Ceres had a moment to experience the full horror of it before the water came up to meet her. She clung to Eike, but the girl was ripped from her grasp as they plunged into the cold of the sea. Ceres tried to take a breath, tasted salt water, and managed to get her head above the surface for a second.
It didn’t last. The weight of her armor dragged her down, and Ceres found herself dropping beneath the waves once more. She fumbled for the straps of her breastplate and iron kilt, swimming free in just her tunic and watching them tumble into the depths among the flailing tentacles and dying prisoners. She saw a whole chain of prisoners dragged down into the depths by their bonds, sharks already plunging in toward them.
She spotted Eike more by chance than anything. A tentacle had wrapped around the girl’s leg, ignoring her futile efforts to kick free. Ceres dove down toward Eike, reaching out for the tentacle even though she knew there was no way she could hope to pull it clear. She silently begged for the strength to save the girl, bracing her legs as she tried to break the monster’s grip.
Ceres felt the moment when the power that she’d wielded in the Stade come to her like a wave rising within her. It seemed to start somewhere deep inside her, bursting up through her and out into the tentacle that gripped Eike. The power blasted into it and the tentacle let go of the girl, jerking back the way Ceres might have from a hot piece of iron. Ceres grabbed Eike and swam upwards while her lungs burned with the effort.
They broke the surface together, not far from the upturned remains of one of the ship’s boats. The rest of it was sinking rapidly, while sailors screamed in the water as they fought sharks, tentacles, or both.
“Quick,” Ceres said, “get aboard.”
She helped Eike out of the water, then climbed up beside her. A tentacle stretched out toward them, then pulled back, as though some part of the monster could remember what had happened the last time it had touched Ceres. Instead, it grabbed for another of the guards in the water, and the sharks followed close behind.
The feeding frenzy seemed to go on forever, while Ceres sat in the middle of it all on the hull of the small boat, her arms wrapped around Eike for protection. Nothing came close to them. Nothing seemed to dare. Even the sharks that brushed by veered away, making for other prey.
Eventually, the last tentacle plunged back into the water, and stillness replaced the violence that had come before. Ceres looked around for other survivors, but she couldn’t see any. The remains of the ship had long since fallen below the water, and anyone clinging to the wreckage had been ruthlessly picked off by tentacles or sharks. Only a spread of splintered wood and supplies showed that the ship had ever been there at all.
“They’re dead,” Eike said in a small voice. “They’re all dead.”
Ceres held onto her while the girl started to cry, trying to think of a way to comfort her, even though she could barely find a way past the horror of it herself. “It’s all right. I’m here. You’re alive, and I’m alive. We’ll find a way through this.”
Yet as they drifted on the open sea, without any idea where they were, Ceres had no idea how survival would be possible.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Anka kept her head down, trying not to attract attention from the soldiers of the 23rd as she walked through the city of tents. So far, she’d been lucky. She’d had nothing more than a few suspicious looks. With the way soldiers were, it could be a lot worse.
She’d managed to gain entry to the camp by dressing as one of the washer women who made their way between the campfires. There were no female soldiers in the army but there were always servants and camp followers who trailed after it as it moved. Dressed as one of them, she was as invisible as if she’d crept in under the cover of darkness.
At least, she hoped so.
She didn’t want to think about what might happen to her if they caught her, or worse, what might happen to the rebellion. Since Rexus had died, she’d been the one trying to pull things together, assuring people that they could still continue, and still succeed. She’d smoothed over arguments, passed messages, and found ways to persuade their supporters that it wouldn’t rebound on them.
Every second she spent away from Delos cost the rebellion dearly, but she kept picking her way through the camp, holding her bundle of washing like a protective shield. Whatever it cost, she’d promised Ceres that she would do this.
That mattered to her, more than enough for her to brave the stares and occasional catcalls of the soldiers as she passed, and to dodge past the larger groups of them. Ceres had given her back her freedom. Without her, Anka would be suffering a lot worse than this.
The hard part was finding one conscript in the middle of
the Empire’s vast army. Sympathizers had provided some information, bribery had gotten her more, but ultimately, Anka had found herself having to track along the route the conscript takers had followed, asking questions and hoping for the best.
She knew that wouldn’t work here. Ask after Sartes, and it would bring as much trouble for him as for her. Anka looked around the army camp, trying to make sense of where she was. In the distance, she could see soldiers drilling in lines and running while officers shouted at them. Others dug ditches or cut wood for palisades.
She passed by a space between the tents where a soldier was tied to a post, being whipped for some infraction. She could hear the muffled cries as the man bit down on a leather strap to keep from screaming, while other soldiers, probably members of his unit, stood around to watch the punishment.
Anka didn’t stay for it. Hating the army wasn’t the same thing as wanting to see the individuals in it hurt. Instead, she headed for the larger tents near the center of the camp. The army had to keep records somewhere, didn’t it? Surely there would be payrolls, or details of who served with whom? A roll call or a note of punishments dished out? Something, at least.
In her disguise, she was able to get closer to the tents than she would have believed. No one challenged her. Probably it helped that she walked briskly, trying to look as though she knew where she was going, while looking around out of the corner of her eye until she was sure that she did.
She found the tent she was looking for next to a larger commander’s pavilion, and slipped in once she was sure that no one was looking. It made sense that the 23rd’s commanders would want to keep their adjutants and administrators close by. Sure enough, a writing slope and parchment sat on a folding camp table, along with box after box that clearly held records.
Anka dared a glance outside before she began, wanting to make sure that no one found her. This was the most dangerous part, because no one but a spy would ever go through the army’s papers. She pressed down the anxiety and started work.