Chapter 59
The crowded harbor was every bit as agitating as Orra remembered.
Ever since her days sailing, she’d avoided Andel for that exact reason.
One benefit of life as Pirate Redwood had been the open waters—distance from the distractions and chaos of the world.
Sailing might have separated her from the earth that grounded her, but it had still felt freeing.
Now she was reminded of all the reasons she’d kept a reclusive lifestyle with most of her personas.
Marnok and Rildan found an inn, and while the women cleaned up, the men went out to hunt down anyone who might have news of Larkos.
With a city this size, Orra feared they could be there for several days, ruining their odds of catching up to Aeliana and the others.
She’d used minimal bits of her energy to sense Aeliana growing closer, which most likely meant Aeliana’s group had stopped somewhere, and Orra and the others were the ones gaining ground.
A murmur of voices outside their shared room made it impossible for Orra to fall asleep, so she rose, wrapping a shawl around her shoulders in anticipation of the inn’s drafty hall.
“Eight days?” Emeris asked as the door creaked open. Marnok, Rildan, and Emeris turned Orra’s way, a small smile crossing Emeris’ face even though her brows still pinched with concern.
“I take it you’ve heard news of Larkos?” Orra asked.
Marnok grimaced. “He left harbor eight days ago, heading west.”
Orra nodded, unsurprised, but her chest tightened with the confirmation.
“Is Aeliana still on the west coast?” Rildan asked.
“I believe so,” Orra said slowly. “It will be easier to trace her when she’s closer, but Larkos will likely reach her soon. We could be chasing them all around the coast of the continent, wasting precious time.”
Emeris’ eyes narrowed. “Are you tracing Aeliana or the starbridge?”
Orra tensed, but Emeris’ eyes clouded over.
Rildan wrapped an arm around Emeris’ shoulder, his efforts to direct the conversation away from his wife’s confusion also, thankfully, distracting everyone from Orra’s lack of an answer to the priestess’ question.
“We’ll continue west as well. Even if we can’t catch up, we could reconsider our plan to warn the Elanesses.
Maybe General Nels has already sent Gullet. ”
They all exchanged weary glances, the reality of the fortress’s fate in the Myndren Mountains weighing heavily on them.
Orra frowned, thinking of all the ships in the harbor and which ones might be faster than Larkos’ borrowed galleon.
“If we could convince a navy ship to take us, we could possibly beat Larkos to Elanesse.”
“And pass by Aeliana and the others completely?” Marnok asked.
Orra nodded. “I suspect they would also stop in Elanesse for Gaeren’s sake, if not for supplies, on their return to the fortress. It might be better to get ahead of them rather than continuing to trail behind.”
“And how would we convince our enemy’s navy to take us?” Rildan asked.
Orra pressed her lips in a thin line. “By proving they are no longer your enemy. By giving them the knowledge we carry, the warning we held back in an effort to save face on General Nels’ recommendation. If we can assume General Nels has fallen, his advice no longer needs to be heeded.”
While the men considered the idea, Orra contemplated all the ways this plan could fail and succeed without actually searching through the future to see how it might turn out.
With her own presence on board the naval ship, she couldn’t completely trust anything she saw to be true.
It would be a waste of her magic anyway.
“It could work,” Marnok said.
“And if it doesn’t?” Rildan asked.
Orra sighed. “Then we could be chasing them as they head straight into Mayvus’ trap at Ahmranan’s Viewpoint.”