CHAPTER SIXTEEN
But even though I didn t want to refuse him, I had to. I had to stay in control of myself and my emotions.
No matter how difficult that might be.
Needing to put some distance between us, I walked over to the railing on the coastal-facing side of the ship. I knew that he would follow me, and he did.
Maybe he felt the draw as strongly as I did.
There was a strange light coming from the water. It glimmered in a vibrant shade of light blue and white, almost as if it were alive, pulsating and moving with the waves as they traveled to the shore.
What is that? I asked, fascinated.
Jason stood next to my left shoulder, peering over to look. My breath caught from his nearness, from that warmth he gave off, like he was the sun and I wanted to bask in his rays. No one is certain. Magic? Spirits? The gods?
Gods? I repeated, turning my gaze to him. As in, more than one?
There are many people who worship many different gods and goddesses.
I hadn t realized. My worldview had been so limited. The book my grandmother had given me only contained stories of the goddess. I d never even imagined that there could be a god or goddess besides her.
Are you afraid to die? he asked, and I was surprised by the question. I probably shouldn t have been, given how many times I had thrown my possible demise in his face.
I m not afraid. I don t want to die. I want to succeed. But if saving Quynh cost my life, I would gladly pay that price.
What of your family?
I couldn t help but let out a short, bitter laugh. My family was in complete shambles. I didn t know if my mother would ever be whole again unless Quynh and I returned. My elder brother died a couple of years ago. They got past that; they will get over our deaths.
Our ?
Quynh is my sister. Adopted, although that makes no difference to me. I love her as I do my other siblings. As if my mother were at my elbow, reminding me to treat others with courtesy and respect, I felt compelled to ask, Do you have siblings?
A sister and three brothers, he said, but there was a tightness to his face that made me think I shouldn t ask any further questions about his family. Was he not close to them? Did they disagree with his decision to make his living this way? Had something happened to them?
My curiosity would be the death of me one day.
If a sword didn t take me out first.
I had to stop thinking about Jason altogether. I needed to remember why I was here and how I could prevent Quynh s death.
Is there anyone on the ship who can be bribed? I asked.
He leaned against the railing, folding his arms over his broad chest. I had seen the members of my regiment without the top of their tunics many, many times, but I was overcome with a desire to see what Jason would look like underneath his clothes.
To run my fingers over the ridges and planes I d felt against my chest when he d held me close.
His slightly sarcastic response snapped me out of my reverie. I haven t had an occasion to test whether or not my crew places money above honor.
What about the captain?
He s sworn an oath, like all trierarchs do. Who do you plan on bribing?
Anyone who would take Quynh and drop her off somewhere. It doesn t matter to me where she d go, just anywhere that s not Troas. When we arrive in Ilion, we can tell whoever s in charge that she died on the voyage over. Maybe when our ship was attacked by pirates. This was brilliant-why hadn t I thought of it before? We were already so close to land. We could dispatch the rowboat now and be back before anyone even missed us.
Jason seemed to consider my request seriously before answering. I am sorry, but we ve already had this discussion. Our hands are tied. The goddess wants her priestess replaced.
She would have had that two thousand times over if she d allowed the maidens to live.
We do her will.
Even if her will is terrible? I countered.
Even then, unfortunately.
I d never been able to ask anyone about the tribute who might have witnessed it. What if Quynh stays on the ship? Refuses to get off or participate at all?
Then someone will come and drag her out and they ll kill her on the docks. Neither one of you will have a choice but to run.
He was knocking down every plan that I had come up with so far and I felt my vexation and anger mounting. There had to be something I was missing, an angle I hadn t considered.
You may have more of a chance than you realize, he said. There are many in Ilion that disagree with the tribute. Just past the docks and before you enter the city s walls, there is an open area called the Fields of Sithon. The men who will participate in the hunt will line up there. Those who do not want to take part will stay in their homes, living their lives as usual. Many have said the tribute should be done away with completely. But it takes time for these things to change.
I am out of time, I told him. And I m terrified that Quynh will not survive the race! I hit my fists against the railing out of frustration.
She matters that much to you?
Hadn t I just told him that she was my sister? She matters more to me than almost anyone in the world. I will not see her die. Please help me find a way to keep her safe.
He was silent for a long time. I wish that I could. But I m only one person.
It only takes one person to change the world, one person to save a life, I snapped back. I was furious with him and myself. I should have known better than to ask for his help. He had shown me that he was a man who cared only for himself and his desires.
I pivoted and strode away from him. He called my name, but I didn t look back. There would be no more clandestine meetings on the deck at midnight.
I would not allow him to distract me further.
The next morning, two members of the crew came in to mop away the blood that had already stained the planks of the lower deck.
They were also cleaning up the red dirt I had found around my cell. I d gathered a handful of it and studied it. This was what the first pirate had retrieved from his pouch and thrown on the floor. It also must have been what I had felt under my feet when I d gone up to the top deck last night.
Why would someone throw dirt down before they began a fight? I knew so little of the world that it might be some battle ritual that I was simply unaware of. I had no memory of Demaratus mentioning it.
Although he had said something about ancient Sasanians demanding a tribute of earth and water.
Was this tied to that? But how? If anything, the pirate had given me the tribute. He hadn t demanded it in return.
It didn t make sense, and I was annoyed that I didn t understand and that I couldn t ask anyone about it.
Jason might have had the answers I wanted, but I d promised myself that I wasn t going to interact with him at all.
Over the next few days, I kept my word. Jason and Acmon took turns bringing us food and fresh water, and I ignored Jason whenever he came in. Quynh exchanged pleasantries with him, and I could feel his gaze upon me every time he approached the cell, but I only showed him my back.
I spent those days sharing as much knowledge as I could with Quynh, the things Demaratus had drilled into my head over and over again. To stay out of reach, to never let an attacker get his hands on me, to make myself small. That a moving target was nearly impossible to hit.
That she would have to keep running no matter how tired she got.
I also wanted her to remember that she had to go on if something happened to me. If you make it to the temple and I don t, you have to get the eye and go back to Locris. Kidnap or bribe a life mage to help you. I didn t need to tell her the plan, she already knew it. I d certainly run it past her enough times.
You should take my bracelet. Just in case. She started to untie it, but I put my hand over hers.
No. You re going to be wearing it when you walk through the temple doors.
The sadness in her eyes told me she didn t agree with my prediction. Lia-
Don t. I heard from her tone exactly what she was about to say. Do not ask that of me. You can t. I won t leave you, no matter what. Promise me that you won t give up, that you ll stay with me.
The corners of her mouth turned down, and after several long heartbeats, she finally said, I promise.
It felt like I could breathe again. She had brought up me leaving her behind so many times that I was afraid she would find a way to force my hand. But Quynh never broke a promise.
Good.
The rowers on the deck above us began to sing that infernal song of theirs and I wanted to pound my head against the wall until I passed out so that I wouldn t have to hear it again.
Quynh seemed to share in my frustration and asked for a distraction. Can you sing me one of your Daemonian songs?
Demaratus had told me that before battle the Daemonians would sing songs to soothe themselves, but the only ones I knew from him were drinking songs. And while they did little to ease my worry, they did make her laugh.
I had reached the first chorus when the entire world went black. Someone screamed, and there was the sound of confusion as the crew called to one another, of oars being dropped, a bench being knocked over.
What s happening? she asked.
Let s go find out, I said. I opened our cell and took her by the hand, climbing the stairs to the top deck.
I shaded my eyes and looked up. It was an eclipse.
Acmon was at the back of the ship, curled up in a ball, screaming.
We should throw him overboard, I heard a man say. He ll bring a harbinger upon us.
Jason seemed to materialize out of nowhere, so quickly that I nearly jumped out of my skin. Sailors are superstitious, he said, and I didn t know if his words were meant for me or himself. They already don t like having women on board, and Acmon behaving that way, as if he s taken leave of his senses . . . they won t tolerate it. It ll spread like a disease.
He headed over to Acmon s side. What was he going to do?
Another man behind me said something about Acmon cursing the ship with his hysterics, and with a sigh, I realized that I couldn t let anything happen to Acmon. He had been very kind to both Quynh and me since we d come on board. My conscience wouldn t allow me to stand aside.
Jason was talking to him, but Acmon continued to shriek loudly, and his words were hard to make out. I heard sun, blotted out, death, omen, all die. There was an easy way to handle this.
I grabbed a cloak from one of the nearby sailors, ripping it from his shoulders. He protested, but the cloak fell easily into my hands.
When I d been very young, we d had horses. I remembered a large chestnut stallion who had been spooked by something the rest of us couldn t see. He had bucked off his rider, throwing his body around the pen, slamming into the fencing, braying continually.
The trainer had thrown a blanket over the stallion s eyes and he had immediately calmed down.
So I did the same. I threw the cloak over Acmon s head, and just like the stallion, he stilled.
Take deep breaths, I told him. In and out.
The crowd who had been watching him dispersed. Thankfully, now that Acmon was calm, there was no more talk of throwing him into the ocean.
From underneath the cloak he moaned, The sun has abandoned the earth. We have displeased the goddess. Something terrible is about to happen.
I pulled the cloak from him and held it aloft. He blinked at me several times as his eyes adjusted to the light.
See this? I asked, shaking the cloak. An eclipse is like a large cloak being thrown over the sun, only bigger and farther away. Nothing more. It s not a bad omen.
You ve studied Aristarchus and his heliocentric model of the universe? Jason asked. I d honestly forgotten he was there.
I heard the shock in his voice and it was understandable. While Locrian women could read, most did not have tutors or attend specialized schools. And from our interaction at the palace, he thought I was a servant. Quynh nudged me with her elbow-she had come to the same conclusion. I had to tread carefully here.
My father is interested in astronomy, I said. That was certainly true and I hoped it was enough of an explanation to deter him from investigating further. I have this in hand. You can go.
He didn t move and I resisted the urge to shove him, knowing that it would be like pushing against a stone wall, an exercise in futility and frustration.
I turned my attention back to Acmon. Will you be all right now?
He nodded, but I had my suspicions. I felt like I should stay above deck until the eclipse had ended. I walked away, leaving both Jason and Acmon behind.
That was close, Quynh said worriedly, and I nodded. The last thing I needed was the crew of this vessel to discover my real identity.
I hadn t managed to shake Jason and his questions, though. Why did you help Acmon? he asked.
I could hear in his tone how important this question was to him, even though I didn t understand why. I answered honestly. Because he needed it and he has been kind to me.
The look in his eyes made me think that he wanted to protest that he too had been kind to me, had even saved my life, but he didn t. As you like to keep reminding me, he is one of the men that is taking you and your sister to Ilion.
Maybe Quynh and Jason were right and I shouldn t blame any of the men on the Nikos . They weren t personally responsible for this system. Just as I was not responsible for the actions of one man a thousand years ago. But here I was, still paying that price.
There is no reason to give in to ridiculous superstition, I said. That eclipse is based on a physical phenomenon. It doesn t mean that there s magic involved or that something terrible is about to happen to us.
A loud, watery roar emanated from the depths beneath us, making the entire ship vibrate and pitch.
What was that? Quynh asked, looking every bit as terrified as I felt.
A dragon, Jason responded as he pulled out his sword.