Chapter 101 Keris
Keris
Long before they could see the ships, they saw the smoke.
Though all eyes were on the great cloud of black that rose like a demon in the sky, no one said a word. But for his part, in the silence, Keris prayed to every higher power that they weren’t too late.
That there had been even a hope they might make it in time had felt like a miracle.
After swiftly gaining passage on a Valcottan merchant vessel in port in Elmsworth, the city still reeling after failing to prevent Aren and the others from escaping, he and Zarrah had sailed south ahead of Harendell’s fleet.
The horror of seeing the siege equipment mounted to the naval vessels was a thing that would haunt Keris’s dreams. Was a thing that now haunted his reality as they drew closer to the cloud of smoke over Ornak and the enormity of the fleet came into view.
“Drums!” Zarrah shouted, one hand resting on the rail of the quarterdeck. “Let them know we are not here to negotiate. There is only one outcome in this fight, and it is Lestara’s capitulation!”
The beat of the drums should have fired his heart, but instead it turned his stomach sour, bringing back old memories. Bad memories that he now feared would soon have company when they tormented his dreams.
He’d been so sure that they’d make it when they had come into sight of the Valcottan fleet, the Maridrinians with them, already past the midpoint of the bridge. He and Zarrah had boarded the flagship to find Arjun in command.
“We received your message,” Zarrah’s father had said, and when they’d looked at him in confusion, he added, “Alexandra’s banking records, which we easily tied to the proof we’d discovered of her conspiracy to infect our herds.
We’d already been preparing to set sail with the calm season, but this broke all resistance within the nobility.
And also revealed conspiracies within our own ranks.
We sent the information to Vencia with all haste, and their parliament took equal issue with Alexandra’s crimes. ”
It was a relief to learn that his people had not lost their nerve. That they still had the capacity to fight for what mattered.
“Alexandra is dead. Lestara rules, and her fleet is set to destroy the last remaining Ithicanian resistance on Ornak Island,” Zarrah said. “We must sail with all haste for there to be any hope.”
“Lestara.” Arjun spat on the deck. “That will light a fire in the Maridrinians, sure and true.” Then he lifted his voice and bellowed, “Sails up! North with all haste!”
Zarrah went with him, adding in orders of her own, as well as signals to be sent to the other ships in the fleet.
But Keris had held back with Saam and motioned to Daria.
“The last time we had those banking records was when Zarrah hid them behind a painting. Then they went missing. How did you get them?”
Daria flung her arms around Saam, but over his shoulder she said, “A maid in the Sky Palace named Hazel. Do you know her?”
The Sky Palace had been full of servants, every one of them seemingly loyal to the Ashfords.
“She was one of Alexandra’s maids,” Saam said. “But she’d been Ahnna’s maid before that.”
“Ahnna must have made quite an impression.”
The moment had felt like hope. Like salvation delivered from the least expected hands, but as they drew closer to the battle and the carnage became clear, it felt like a fool’s hope.
Dozens of ships were damaged and sinking, the water covered in debris, but the island was what stole Keris’s focus.
The cliffs were scarred, the jungle around the perimeter crushed and burned, and lines of black crisscrossed the island, smoke rising from multiple fires.
It seemed impossible that anyone was alive, but from the crow’s nest, a scout shouted, “There are survivors! Ithicana fights on!”
“Do you wish to offer them the chance to surrender?” Arjun asked Zarrah, but she only shook her head. “Ramming speed. I want them to know that we are here to sink them, and we shall see what they do with that certainty.”
The fleet moved into lines, decks full of archers and swordsmen, their eyes hard and ready for the fight.
As Keris lifted a spyglass to his eye, he saw chaos on the decks of the Harendellian ships as they pivoted to meet the threat.
Closer and closer the fleets drew together, the thunder of drums matching the beat of his heart.
“Brace!” Zarrah shouted.
And Keris drew his sword.