The Bone Shard Daughter (The Drowning Empire, #1)(53)

But none of this changed the fact that Ranami was right: what Phalue was doing now was woefully inadequate. If she was to rule these people, she had to truly fight for them. And she’d never backed down from a fight.

She took in a few deep breaths, the air cooling the heat in her chest. She’d rather have faced a thousand swords. Nonetheless, she pivoted and plunged back into the darkness of the farmers’ home. It took her a moment to find Ranami, who was speaking to a farmer sitting at one of the few tables in the building. The dim light cast them in faded shades, like a rug that had seen too much sun.

In two quick strides, Phalue was at Ranami’s side. She took her hand. If Ranami would not protect herself, then Phalue would have to do it for her.

Ranami let out an exasperated sigh. “Are you trying to propose to me again? Every fight we have doesn’t mean I’m about to leave you. And if I were about to leave you, I’d just leave.”

“No.” All the words she wanted to say were tight in her throat. She swallowed and tried again. “I want to help. I really want to help.”

Ranami brushed the wet hair back from Phalue’s cheeks, her touch a caress. “I know.” She squeezed Phalue’s hand. “This has to happen soon. We’ll need a distraction.”

Phalue coughed in an attempt to hide the tears in the back of her throat. “Yes. I’ll give you one. A large enough one for you to steal a hundred boxes of caro nuts.”

Ranami laughed and seized Phalue’s ears, bringing her face down to eye level. “Just the few, love. That’s well enough.”





20





Jovis


Somewhere in the Endless Sea

I dropped the children off on Unta, with the woman from the Shardless Few. She glanced at my tattoo, more than a little awe in her gaze. “How did you do it?” she asked. “How many did you have to fight?”

“A dozen,” I told her glibly before turning to leave. It hadn’t occurred to me until the island was out of view that she might not have known I wasn’t serious. I made good time, gliding through the Monkey’s Tail like a feather in a stream, even without witstone. Everything seemed to come easier – hoisting the sails, trimming and hauling up the anchor after we’d made port. Mephi took his turn at the sail a couple of times, though he seemed to tire quickly. The isolation on the ocean gave me time – perhaps too much – to think things through.

I’d found Mephi near Deerhead, which was close to the end of the Monkey’s Tail. I’d never seen a creature like him. He had to come from somewhere, so there had to be others of his kind. But what kind of creature could blow clouds of white smoke?

Mephi, for his part, didn’t seem to notice my brooding. He dove overboard whenever I gave him permission, asking “not good?” and “very good?” in equal measure, until I began to sit him down in the evenings in an effort to teach him something else. Anything else. The word “good” was starting to lose all meaning to me. But he was a fair bit better at catching fish than I was, and I was soon glad I’d kept him with me, if for no other reason than this.

At night, he curled up by my cheek, his nose nuzzled in the space between my ear and shoulder, murmuring until he fell asleep.

I kept an eye out for the blue-sailed boat, but I fell into the sort of haze that routine brings. So it was more than a little startling when I stopped in a small harbor and heard the first stirrings of the song.

Mephi had grown to cat-sized in the interim, but still small enough to ride on my shoulders. I had stopped at a drinking hall to see if I could buy some supplies from the owner. A musician in the corner played with a set of bells and a small drum at his belt.

“Just the barrel of fresh water, if you have it,” I said to the woman behind the corner. She had the same staid attitude as Danila. I stopped her as she started to turn around. “Actually, a sack of rice too?”

“That’s an extra two silvers,” she said.

“Two?” I had the money, but I did enjoy a good bargain.

The tune sneaked up on me from behind, like a thief taking your purse. It wormed its way into my head before I’d realized it, my foot tapping in time to the beat. Catchy, no matter that I didn’t dance.

“Aye, two,” the woman said, scowling. “If you haven’t been living in a cave, you’ll know about Deerhead. More people wanting rice. Less rice.”

And then I heard my name. A shock ran through me, my heart freezing and then kicking at my ribs like a horse trying to get free. It was my name. In a song.

He steals your children, sets them free

The constructs’ power source they’ll never be

He’s a star in the sky, the twinkle in your eye

He’s Jovis.



Mephi chirruped right in my ear, his tail winding around my throat. He definitely knew more words than not good and very good.

“We need to get out of here,” I muttered to him. “Yes, I’ll pay the two silvers,” I said to the woman. I fumbled for my purse, missing twice before I found it, my wrist catching against my belt. “Here.” The coins clinked on the countertop.

She looked to the coins, and then her eyes looked a little higher.

I felt the air against my wrist before I realized that the bandage had slipped. There was my rabbit tattoo, in all its glory. If I knew what was good for me, I’d have scarred it over.