Crowned (Beholder #4)(43)

Chapter Twenty




Racing away from Rowan, I quickly reached Nan and her rope ladder. Wrapping my hands around the rough cords, I held the ladder steady as Nan climbed upward.

I shivered, thinking of Rowan’s prone body lying on the jungle floor. How did it come to pass that I would hurt my own mate? Shaking my head, I decided not to think about Rowan any more. There was a ladder to climb and—with any luck—once I reached the treetop, Nan had planned some way for us to hide or escape.

Once Nan had scaled high enough to give me room, I began to climb up behind her. I was only a few yards from the jungle floor when it happened.

The ladder began to rise.

And when I say rise, I don’t mean that it happened because I was climbing. The entire rope structure lifted up into the trees. Panic tightened every muscle in my body. I clung hard to the rough cords.

“Nan!” I called. “What’s going on?”

There was no sense of magick in the air, so whatever this was, it couldn’t be a spell. Were there people in the trees hauling us up higher? That didn’t seem likely, either. The motion was too smooth for the heave-ho of physical pulling.

“Wait for it,” cried Nan. “It’ll be glorious.”

I didn’t have much of a choice, considering. The thought flitted through my mind that this was all some kind of trap from my one-time friend. After all, Nan seemed to change her opinion of me rather rapidly. Back then, I thought it was because I’d faced Kila Kitu, but who knows? Maybe I’d lived through what that mage showed me only to be killed now.

Tree branches and wet leaves smacked against my body as the ladder rose higher and higher. It was an effort to keep my breathing even. I recited every Necromancer meditation I could think of.

“One more moment!” yelled Nan.

I’d have replied, but I was halfway through my mantra of calm. I really didn’t need to lose any further focus—the leaves and branches in my face were distraction enough.

After that, we broke through the treetops. What I saw was so shocking I almost lost my grip on the rope ladder.

The MAJE had transformed. All those yards of silk in the hull had been blown up into a great balloon that was somehow holding the entire ship aloft. I blinked hard, wondering if the vision before my eyes would change. It didn’t.

Jicho leaned over the side of the vessel and beamed a gap-toothed grin. “Wonderful, isn’t it?”

I gripped the rope ladder so tightly my knuckles whitened. “It’s a bit of a surprise.”

“If you’d let me tell you about the MAJE, I would have explained. After I finished my story about the bolts. And the metal.”

At that moment, an arrow sped by me. Glancing down, I could see the heads and torsos of Caster warriors peeping out from the treetops.

“Better get moving,” said Jicho. “Your friends are already on board.” He lowered his voice. “They’re really nice.”

My mind blanked. “My friends?”

Nan then looked out over the edge. “It’s me and Mrefu, silly.” She rolled her eyes. “I thought you said you were come kind of climbing prodigy.”

This entire situation still had me flummoxed. “I was. I am.” I’d spent five years learning Necromancy at a mountain cloister. For exercise, I used to climb the rock walls.

Nan rolled her eyes. “Then get your bony arse up here.” Another arrow sped by. This one came fairly close to Nan’s head. She ducked out of view.

The bony arse part jogged my head back into working condition. I scaled up the ladder at top speed. More arrows flew by as I continued my ascent. Within seconds, I reached the MAJE and slipped on deck, landing on my back. Nan, Mrefu, and Jicho all knelt around me.

“Took you long enough,” said Nan.

Mrefu let out a grumble. Nan translated.

“And Mrefu says you need to regain your magick soon, since your skills as an athlete are rather poor.”

“Mrefu said something? I only heard a grumbling noise.” I tilted my head. “I can understand what he says, you know.”

Nan winked. “I enhanced things a little.”

“Can I tell you about the MAJE now?” asked Jicho.

“Not yet.” I couldn’t say that without chuckling, however. The boy looked simply too pleased with himself. “We have to get out of here first.” In truth, there were a ton of things I wanted to know. What else could this mechanical ship do? Why were Nan and Mrefu along with us? But there wasn’t any time, especially because the archers had changed their target away from me.

Rowan’s warriors were shooting at the balloon itself.

Great rips sounded as the arrows found their target. Our flying ship lurched, sending me rolling onto a pile of metal tools. I get a few scratches, and that was certainly fortunate. Some of Jicho’s tools looked more deadly than knives.

“Right,” said Jicho. He turned to one of the panels of gauges and levers that lined the interior of the ship. “We need to get back to the water.”

I scanned the distance to the shoreline. “It’s close, but we’ll make it.”

Possibly.

Mrefu, Jicho, Nan and I all crouched on the deck as the MAJE lurched closer to the water.

Thirty yards.

Twenty yards.

Ten.