Encrypted (12 page)

A gifted swordsman made it to the front.
Blade a blur, he forced Rias back.

Metal screeched in Tikaya’s ears. She drew
the bow, hoping for a clear shot. Two men slipped in behind the
swordsman. Tikaya shot one, but more piled inside.

A thunderous crash buried the din, and the
ship lurched and tilted on its side. Men scrambled and fell over
each other, sliding toward the lower wall. Tikaya tumbled into
Rias, but he grabbed the jamb and kept them from falling. Even in
the stern of the ship, the cracks of wood breaking against wood
were audible. Water gushed in from one of the cannonball holes,
which was now submerged. Men flailed and floundered, struggling to
get back to the door.

“
I can’t swim!” someone
yelled.

“
Time to go,” Rias
said.

Tikaya grabbed one of the glowing orbs from
a sconce before he pushed her toward the upper wall. They had to
pull their way along the block and tackle to reach the escape hole.
Though the orb hampered her, she refused to release it.

Finally, with Rias’s help, she clawed her
way through the hole. The ragged wood tore a new gash in her
beleaguered dress, but she wriggled free and slid down the hull
into frigid black water.

The icy shock stole her breath. Salt stung
her wounds, and she almost dropped the orb.

Rias plunged in beside her, spraying
water.

The Nurian striker had rammed into the side
of its sister ship, and water gushed into a great hole in the hull.
Fire still burned on the deck, lighting up the night. Timber, from
splinters to broken beams, littered the water.

“
This way.” Rias swam away
from the ships, pushing the large pieces of wood out of the
way.

“
You sure you don’t want
to stay?” She was already swimming, side-stroking with the orb
clutched against her hip. “You seemed to enjoy having people trying
to kill you.”

“
You seemed to enjoy it
less.”

“
Probably—” she spit icy
salt water out of her mouth, “—an acquired taste.”

They paddled away from the ships, rising and
falling with the waves. Both vessels burned now and flames crawled
up the sails of one. Neither would trouble the Turgonians again
that night. As they swam out of the shadow of the Nurian vessels,
the ironclad came into view. Only one of the two ships on its
opposite flank remained, and both masts had been toppled, so it was
falling behind. Tikaya and Rias, too, were falling behind. Her
chest tightened at the idea of being left in the middle of the
sea.

“
Hope they see this.”
Tikaya lifted the glowing orb overhead, waving it in the
air.

“
Me too,” Rias
said.

The lookout in the crow’s nest shouted
something down to the deck. Tikaya’s teeth chattered, and it felt
as if hours, not minutes, passed before the warship dropped a
boat.

“
It’s fortunate you’re
here,” Rias said, bumping her arm as they treaded water. “I doubt
they would have bothered coming for me.”

“
Not sure how fortunate I
feel about going back to the Turgonians.” Tikaya swiped water out
of her eyes and grimaced at the cold drops tunneling into her ears.
“I guess it’s better being wanted than being wanted
dead.”

“
Prevailing opinions agree
with that sentiment.”

Oars lifted and dipped as
the craft neared. Lanterns at either end provided light, and Tikaya
spotted Agarik leading the rowers. She smiled a bit, glad he had
survived the chaos. He gazed at Rias with a wide-eyed, openmouthed
stare of adulation and helped him out of the water first. She tried
not to feel a twinge of envy. She
had
helped after all. At least
Agarik managed to notice her second and gave her a hand into the
boat. She collapsed on an empty bench between rows of burly, young
oarsmen.

“
Turn this dinghy around,”
Agarik yelled, and the men set to work.

Tikaya wrapped her arms around herself. The
breeze needled her soaking dress, cold water dripped from her hair,
and she had lost her sandals in the fall so the puddles on the
bottom chilled her feet.

Rias settled on a bench next to her, and she
pressed closer than she normally would have. Shivers coursed
through her body. He put his arm around her, though he must have
been just as cold and miserable. Their proximity caused raised
eyebrows and significant looks between the marines. Agarik’s jaw
tensed.

“
Here, sir.” A marine
handed Rias a blanket.

The use of the honorific made Agarik give
the man a sharp look, though Tikaya was not sure if it was quelling
or curious. Rias draped the blanket over his and her shoulders.

On the short ride back, the marines peppered
him with questions. How had he gotten out of his cell? How had he
and Tikaya gotten aboard the Nurian craft? Had they seen the
Nurians on board their ship? Did they know what they wanted?
Apparently, the Turgonian chain of command meant nobody not
commanding had a clue was happening.

Tikaya thought Rias might share the story,
but, back in the presence of the marines, he grew reserved and
quiet. Was this the real man or had she glimpsed that person on the
Nurian ship? Or neither? She liked the amiable fellow she had
chatted with while target shooting best, though she suspected she
could grow accustomed to the soldier she had seen tonight too. Not
that it mattered. Certainly, she appreciated his help, but it was
not as if she was going to develop feelings for some ex-officer
from the military that had tried to take over her islands.

Still, when their knuckles bumped beneath
the blanket, she gripped his hand.

“
Thank you,” she
whispered, wanting to say more, but their hulking male onlookers
stilled her tongue.

Rias smiled and squeezed her hand.

Back on the warship, Captain Bocrest waited,
arms folded across his chest, a scowl accompanying his usual glare.
Tikaya had not expected gratitude from the man, but the anger
radiating from him surprised her.

As soon as Rias came over the railing behind
her, that anger found an outlet.

“
How could you make such
an idiotic decision?” Bocrest snapped.

“
He didn’t do anything
wrong,” Tikaya said. “The Nurians teleported us to their ship. What
was he supposed to do?”

The captain did not spare her a glance. His
glare stayed pinned to Rias.

“
What are you talking
about, Bocrest?” Rias asked.

“
You know what I’m talking
about.” The captain jerked his hand at a squad of marines standing
by with pistols. “Take him back to his cell.”

“
Wait.” Rias lifted a
hand. “Did you find the assassins?”

“
The dead men in the brig?
Yes.”

“
No.” Rias gave Tikaya a
concerned frown. “There are two others, at least, who can skulk
about invisible.”

“
They killed the man
guarding my cabin,” she said.

“
We’ll find them,” Bocrest
said.

“
I can help,” Rias
said.

Bocrest scowled again.
“You can go to your slagging cell and
stay
there this time.”

“
Captain.” Rias stepped
forward, staring down at Bocrest. “The Nurians want Tikaya dead and
are making great sacrifices to ensure that happens.”

“
I’m aware of that.”
Bocrest did not back off, nor shrink away from Rias’s glare. “I
have orders to keep her alive until she decodes the runes, and I’ll
do that.”

“
She’d be dead now if she
hadn’t escaped on her own. You already botched your
orders.”

Afraid he would land himself in irrevocable
trouble for her sake, Tikaya grabbed Rias’s arm and tried to pull
him away.

“
I
botched
my
orders?” Bocrest yelled, fists clenched. “If you hadn’t
screwed up two years ago, you could—” He cut himself off with an
audible snapping shut of his jaw, and Tikaya sensed the ‘idiotic
decision’ he accused Rias of had less to do with this night and
more to do with whatever had landed Rias on Krychek Island. Bocrest
glared around at the watching marines. “You men have duties,” he
roared. “Get this ship repaired. Now!”

Men sprinted from his wrath, leaving only
Rias, Tikaya, Agarik, and the guards waiting to escort their
prisoner below.

“
Let me stay with her
until the assassins are found,” Rias said, as if he had not heard
the captain’s outburst. “Or stand guard outside her door. I’ve
tangled with enough wizards to survive them.”

“
You’re not her bodyguard,
you’re our guide. I thought I explained that to you when you were
taking swings at me.”

“
A job for which you don’t
need me until we arrive at the tunnels,” Rias said.

Tikaya’s ears perked. Tunnels? Was that
where the rubbings had come from? She still needed Rias to explain
his history with the runes.

“
No,” Bocrest said.
“You’re a prisoner. You don’t get your way.”

Tikaya still gripped Rias’s arm, and she
could feel the tension in the knotted muscles beneath the damp
sleeve. Though she hated seeing him angry, especially on her
behalf, she had to wonder how much more might be revealed if she
simply stood quiet and listened.

“
Bocrest...” Rias tried
again.

“
Go. To. Your. Cell.” The
captain jerked his arm to wave the guards forward.

Rias tensed and dropped into a fighting
crouch. He had not noticed when she grabbed his arm, so Tikaya
stepped in front of him and planted two hands on his chest.

“
Don’t.” She gazed into
his eyes and made herself smile, though, she would have preferred
Rias stay by her side too. “I’ll be fine. You won’t accomplish
anything by getting beaten up.”

He closed his eyes, seemed to struggle for
his calm, and finally sighed, a deep long exhalation. “Be
careful.”

“
I will.”

Tikaya watched glumly as the guards
surrounded him.

“
This way, sir,” one
said.

Bocrest’s head jerked up. “Don’t you ‘sir’
him. He’s Prisoner Five, and that’s it.”

The guard gulped. “Yes, captain.”

Head lowered, Rias offered no reaction to
the terse conversation. Surrounded, he trooped belowdecks. Bocrest
stalked in the opposite direction, grinding his teeth.

“
Ready to go back to your
cabin, ma’am?” Agarik asked.

She shook her head but followed him. “Who is
he, Corporal?” She had asked the question before, and Agarik had
not known, but that was the second time someone sir’d him that
night. Maybe it was out respect for what they had done aboard the
Nurian ship, but somehow she doubted it. She wagered that shave and
haircut had made him recognizable, at least to some.

“
I wish I knew.” Agarik
led her down a ship’s ladder. “It seems like he must be an officer
at least, someone who fought during the war. But I fought as well,
and I don’t remember hearing about anyone court-martialed and
exiled to Krychek.” They threaded through the wardroom, where
furniture had toppled and slid against the wall, and stopped at her
cabin. “He hasn’t told you?”

“
Just to call him Rias.
Does that mean anything to you?”

The corporal’s expression grew thoughtful,
but eventually he shook his head. “No.”

Tikaya stepped into her cabin. Thankfully,
the bodies had been cleared, though a few bloodstains smudged the
deck.

Before Agarik could close the door, she
leaned back out, remembering something. “He did say...”

Agarik paused, eyes questioning.

“
If I was ever at the war
library in your capital I should look up a book called
Applications of the Kinetic Chain Principle in
Close Combat
, because he wrote
it.”

Agarik froze. Utterly and completely. His
mouth hung open, and he stared at her for a long moment before
recovering. “I see. Thank you.”

“
Wait.” Tikaya raised a
hand as he started away. “You know, don’t you? Is he somebody I
would have heard of?”

“
I don’t—I can’t. I’m not
sure. I—”

A lieutenant passed through the wardroom on
the way to his cabin, and he frowned at Agarik.

“
I have to go.” Agarik
chopped a wave.

“
Could you at least have
someone bring me a towel?” Tikaya called to his receding
back.

* * * * *

After dripping a puddle of water onto the
cabin floor, Tikaya wondered if she should take off her dress and
dry in the blanket on her bunk. What were the odds the Turgonians
would supply her with a change of clothing at some point? She
plucked at the damp dress. At least the sea had washed out most of
the blood.

When she reached for the blanket, her gaze
fell across the desk. It was empty.

The rubbings, her notes, and the reference
books Bocrest had provided were missing. She searched the tiny
cabin, thinking they might have been knocked off during the
scramble, but no. They were gone.

A shiver ran through her that had nothing to
do with the wet dress. The assassins must have returned and taken
them.

Tikaya eyed the corners of the cabin, all
too aware that they could be right in front of her and she would
not know it.

She opened the door, wondering if a new
guard had been posted or if she could leave and find the captain.
Sergeant Ottotark leaned against the wall outside, and she did not
manage to hide her groan.