The Bone Shard Daughter (The Drowning Empire, #1)(55)

Steeling myself, I strode back inside the drinking hall.

The whole room went silent again; the only noise was the creak of the lamps swinging from the breeze that came with me in the door. “I’m just here to buy some food and water,” I said to the patrons. “I’m not here to rescue anyone, or to cause any trouble. Just food.” I lifted my hands as one would when approaching a wounded animal.

They watched me as I went back to the counter and pulled four silver coins from my purse. “And I’ll pay for what I take,” I said to the owner.

She took my coins grudgingly.

“Jovis,” a voice said from behind me.

I was getting very, very tired of hearing my name on others’ lips. I turned and found my way out of the hall blocked by my least favorite member of the Ioph Carn.

Philine.

I almost expected to see her wet and bedraggled, as if she’d just emerged from the bay I’d dumped her in. Instead she was back in her leathers – new ones, by the looks of them, with various sharp implements planted in various places on her body. Her baton was out and in her hand. “How long did you think you could run for?” she asked me. “The Ioph Carn has more resources than you do, and our ships are nearly as fast.”

“I don’t want trouble,” I said. “There are a lot of people here that could get hurt. Yourself included.”

She rolled her eyes. “What, more cloud juniper bark? Please. I don’t fall for the same stupid trick twice. You’re coming with me. Back to Kaphra.”

I just wanted my thrice-bedamned rice and water. I curled my hands into fists and felt the strength in them. “I don’t want to hurt you,” I said, and was surprised to find that I meant it. All I’d ever wanted was just to be left alone to find the woman who had been my wife – years ago.

“Oh, you’re very funny. Keep trying me, though, and I’m going to start to feel insulted. Besides, you think it’s just me here for you?” she said, scorn in her voice. “I’ve five more with me, all of them trained by my hand.”

“Let me pass,” I said. “I’ll get you your money, and I won’t hurt any of you.” Mephi, on my shoulder, crouched and shoved his nose behind my ear.

Five more men and women filtered in behind Philine, all wearing the same leathers. Philine laughed. “What are you going to do this time? Summon the Alanga Dione back from the dead? Call a sea serpent to eat us? How many more stories does Jovis have up his sleeve? You were lucky last time. There are more of us now. And we all know you’re a liar.”

“Let everyone here leave,” I said, eyeing the nervous patrons.

Philine looked to the ceiling as though she found the wood pattern there particularly interesting. “And then what, Jovis? What do you think is going to happen here?”

I nodded to the owner behind the bar, and she walked swiftly around it. “You can settle your debts later,” she said. She gathered the other people inside the hall and ushered them out. The Ioph Carn didn’t move to allow them to pass, but neither did they stop them.

“What about your pet?” Philine said, her voice mocking. “Aren’t you afraid he’s going to get hurt too?”

“I just want to go,” I said. I took a step toward the door. All six of the Ioph Carn took a step forward.

“Ah ah ah,” Philine said. “No farther.”

“Or what? You’ll kill me? Isn’t Kaphra planning on that anyways? To make an example?”

They all stepped toward me again, and Philine raised her baton.

I lifted a hand. “Don’t.”

“Well, now I am feeling insulted.” Philine’s mouth twisted on the words, the look in her eye sharp as the daggers at her belt.

I felt a thrumming deep within me, tremors like the shaking of Deerhead, vibrating outward to the tips of my fingers. I drew myself up and made for the door. “Don’t stop me.”

A smile quirked at the corner of Philine’s mouth. She’d wanted me to try because she wanted to hurt me. The baton came down swiftly, right toward my shoulders.

I caught it.

Despite what I’d done outside with the branch, I was still surprised. Philine seemed more surprised still. Her eyes widened in disbelief, and then she gritted her teeth, trying to force the baton down.

No. Not ever again. I seized the baton with both hands and this time I was not afraid. I broke it cleanly in two. The snap reverberated from the walls of the drinking hall, and Philine let go. I tossed the two broken ends of it to the side. “Let me pass.”

Philine studied me for a moment, puzzled, as though I were a freshwater fish she’d found in the ocean. And then she shook her head slowly. “No.” With steady fingers, she pulled two daggers from her belt.

The Ioph Carn behind her didn’t waver at all. They were with her to the end.

I took a deep breath. I hoped I wasn’t wrong about this. “Go, Mephi,” I said. He hopped from my shoulders and ran beneath a table.

Not one of the Ioph Carn shouted, not one grimaced; they only darted in, quick as swallows.

I ducked to the left of Philine’s swing and gave her a push. Not even all my strength, and she flew back. Mugs shattered as her body wiped a table. Another woman swiped at me with a sword. I caught her hand and gave her a kick to the ribs. I felt the bone give way and break beneath my foot. She crumpled.