Sineater

Hyer looked beat.

The Griffon hadn’t stopped using his air abilities to propel the ship for the entire trip. I knew it was hard on him, but he wanted to get us back as soon as possible, because the navy had their own air users that could propel their ships. Those ships were no doubt out looking for us right now and he wanted to get us back before we got caught.

Starna had gone below deck to secure what she’d done so far and I’d barely seen her the entire way back. She still looked a little upset at me, probably over my joke. I took a small bit of pleasure in knowing that her complaining about it would only prove my point.

The pirate town looked pretty much the same, the only difference being that the Mage's Bane had a repaired mast and no hole in the side.

“Back so soon?” Vin walked on board with my father as soon as we docked. His eyes got wide when he saw Hyer. “You don’t look so good birdie.”

“The regent has sent Karse Dragonsbane after us.” Storbek patted the Griffon’s shoulder. “We had to leave fast.”

“The navy’s not too far behind, no doubt.” Garm looked around. “Islands should give us some cover, but we should be on our way as soon as we can.” He nodded at my brother. “Get the rest of the crew ready to cast off.”

Vin nodded and jumped off the deck onto the dock and headed to the other ship.

“Where’s the lass?” My father looked at me.

“Below deck. She had to brew it herself.”

Garm nodded and headed for the stairs to take him to her.

I fell in step behind him and once we made it down the stairs, I was surprised at what I saw. It looked like she had stolen part of the lab from the Ranger’s Station.

“Where did you get this?” I looked at how she had secured a lot of the equipment with ice to hold it in place. Considering she was also using heat, that seemed like it wasn’t a great system, but she had to secure things somehow.

“Once Alessa takes back the throne, she can reimburse you .” Starna turned to my father. “Captain Garm, how is she doing?”

The Dwarf seemed unfazed at the prospect of owing the Rangers however much the instruments that she’d stolen were worth. “Not much better than when you left.” He nodded at the red vial. “How long until it’s ready?”

“I can give her the first dose now, but I’ll need to keep refining it.” Starna grabbed the vial and headed for the stairs.

“We need to talk.” My father moved to cut her off.

“What’s going on?” Starna looked over at me.

I shrugged. I had no idea what he was talking about.

“I’ve been talking with the boys and we were on the fence, but now it seems like we don’t have much of a choice.” He looked over at me. “As soon as we can make landfall, Sectum will have to take you over land.”

“CAPTAIN GARM!” I could feel the air getting colder around me as Starna fixed an icy glare on my father. “WE HAD AN ARRANGEMENT!”

“The arrangement was to keep the princess safe.” My father didn’t seem the least bit concerned about the potential magic attack. “Every ship in the Lithe Sea is going to be looking for us. There’s no way I can safely get the princess to the Wraiths…” He gestured at me. “But Sectum can get you to the Iron Forge. The Dwarves might be Elven allies, but they won’t just hand the princess over. That’ll give us time to come up with a more permanent solution.” He shook his head. “Besides, if they’re looking for her at sea, then no one will be expecting you to be heading for the mountains.”

“You don’t think that the princess can actually travel…”

“I talked with the princess.” My father cut her off. “She agreed that this was an option and now I think it’s the only one we have.” He nodded at the instruments. “Pack up what you need. We’re casting off as soon as all the boys are back.”

Starna was speechless as my father turned and went up the stairs first. As soon as he was gone the brunette mage turned to me. “Did you know about this?”

“I’ve been with you the whole time.” I held up my hands. “It’s news to me too.”

“It’s…” Starna shook her head. “Whatever. I’ve got to pack this up.”

“Do you need any help?” I watched her start to take some of the instruments apart.

“I’ve got this.” The tanned woman wouldn’t look at me. “You should get whatever you need.”

“Okay…” I started to go up the stairs, but stopped on the first step. “Starna?”

She ignored me, furiously packing up her stolen equipment.

“It’s going to be okay.”

She paused for a moment, but resumed her task without saying anything.

I hoped I hadn’t lied to her as I finished climbing the steps.