Chapter 26 #2
Monty remained snoring, leading to a dilemma.
The wheelbarrow had been incinerated, meaning they had to improvise.
They laid Monty on the sturdiest blanket in Basil’s bed and would use it to pull him.
Avera located a satchel and loaded the rocks inside along with some of the scrolls Basil had been obsessed with.
She might not be able to read them, but perhaps she could learn on her voyage back to Daerva.
Assuming she made it. After all, they had tunnels to navigate, a city to traverse, a boat to find and the Emperor’s lackey to avoid.
Numbed by Griffon’s death, Avera might have given up if not for Monty and Simhi. They kept her going and reminded her there were still people in need of saving in this world.
The tunnels proved the easiest part of the journey, despite the fact they encountered oversized bugs that Simhi savagely hacked. Monty woke whilst they were dragging him past the body of a dead rat. A rat so big it took both her and Simhi to fight it.
And what did the man remark? “What a waste, leaving it behind. Me mother would have made the best stew with its meat.”
Avera didn’t gag, imagining how much the Verlorians struggled with starvation when they first escaped.
Simhi had smartly marked their path on the way in, not taking any chances she’d get lost. It meant they emerged in Griffon’s father’s study where Avera glanced around and murmured, “So, this is where Griff grew up. Quite royal.”
A comment that led Monty to chuckle. “He would have hated to be called that. Verlora prided itself on being progressive. Our chancellors were always voted in.”
Avera frowned. “My history lessons showed a string of Leifs in charge going back centuries.”
“Longer than that,” Monty added. “While the people did vote, they always chose them to lead.”
Not anymore. Griffon had been the last of his line. It made her throat tight to think she’d been the cause of his demise.
Their trip across the city proved perilous. Knowing of the bugs, they stuck close to buildings using a stagger-type walk that her friends claimed wouldn’t draw them. It must have worked for they made it across the city just as dawn crested, the lightening sky a welcome thing to see.
Less promising? The bugling cry of the creature in the sky.
They ducked into a derelict warehouse and watched as the dragon did a circuit over the city, coasting on its massive wings, most likely seeking out Avera and the treasure she’d stolen.
She hugged the bag tight. She’d already lost Griffon on this quest. She would die before leaving empty-handed.
The dinghy remained moored where Griffon had left it, and they soon cast off, drifting into the perpetual fog. Avera kept the sack of eggs in her lap and lay Griff’s sword in the bottom. She averted her gaze from it lest she give in to the tears that threatened.
Monty kept watch as he rowed.
“Do you think there’s another kraken?” Avera murmured.
“Hope not. But who knows what’s hiding under the waves, waiting for the right moment to capsize us for lunch,” he darkly declared.
Not the most encouraging statement.
Avera tried to tune out Simhi and Monty’s bickering, Monty insisting his sense of direction wouldn’t lead them astray, and Simhi huffing he couldn’t find his way out of a room with one door. To which Monty exclaimed, “It happened one time and I was very drunk.”
Personally, Avera didn’t think it mattered where they exited the mist, so long as they did. Kreed would find his sister, although how happy he’d be about the fact Avera had returned and not his captain remained to be seen.
When the pair stopped bickering, the silence in the fog stifled, the stillness broken only by the wet slap of oars hitting the water. Stroke, splash, stoke. A monotonous motion that did little to ease her grief, but one thing did help. The mist abruptly ended and bright sunlight left them blinking.
Monty crowed, “Aha, told you we’d make it. And look, there’s the boat.”
A boat, yes, but not the one any of them wanted to see. Avera’s stomach clenched, for it wasn’t a griffon emblazoned on the sails of the waiting ship, but the emblem of Merisu.
“Oh shit.” Monty summed up their situation succinctly.
“Where’s my fucking brother?” Simhi grumbled, craning to look.
A ship in the distance, smoking and listing was probably the one they were looking for, but even if it weren’t visibly damaged, it would never reach them before the Emperor’s Folly. Already the Merisuan crew were tacking in their direction.
“Row!” Monty yelled, stroking hard and fast.
The women didn’t bother. They couldn’t outrun the big ship.
Avera glanced at Simhi. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. This ain’t your fault.”
“You wouldn’t be here if not for me,” was her quiet reminder.
“Bah. Do you know how long we’ve wanted to check out Verlora? You just gave us an excuse.”
The Emperor’s Folly neared enough for her to see Captain Koonis standing at the prow. As they came alongside side, he smirked down at her. “I’m surprised you made it out alive.”
“Your crew didn’t,” she pointed out.
He waved a hand. “They were expendable. The emperor will be pleased. I take it you were successful.”
Should she lie?
“Before you think up a falsehood, let me say that I am willing to let your companions live if you come aboard quietly with the stones. I’m sure we can find another cage for them.”
The threat had her eyeing Monty and Simhi. She refused to be the cause of their deaths or capture. She stood, clutching the satchel. “I’ll come but only if you leave them alone.”
“You’re hardly in any position to bargain.”
“I wouldn’t wager on that.” Avera held the bag with the rocks over the side of the skiff. “Your word you’ll leave them alone, or you’ll have to explain to your emperor why the stones he wants are at the bottom of the ocean.”
The captain’s lips pinched. “Annoying woman. Very well, they are free to go.”
“I need more than that. Swear on your life that you won’t harm them.”
He arched a brow. “I just agreed to your demand.”
“A man is only as good as his honor. If you make that promise in front of your crew and break it, then they’ll know you’re not to be trusted. A captain who’s lost the faith of his crew doesn’t stay captain for long.” Something she’d heard said aboard Griffon’s ship.
Koonis sighed. “Very well. I swear upon my life that your companions may continue to row their little boat unharmed. Satisfied?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t be asinine,” Simhi hissed. “You can’t go with him.”
“There is no choice,” Avera said aloud. Then more quietly, “I’m so glad I got to know you.”
Simhi almost capsized the boat, jumping to her feet to hug Avera. Tears once more brimmed. Another new friend lost to this stupid quest.
“Watch out below,” shouted a sailor as a rope ladder unrolled and dangled over the rail.
Avera secured the satchel crosswise on her body before gripping it and beginning to climb. It bumped her as she ascended, making her wonder if the emperor knew what the stones truly were. Basil hadn’t, and their secret drove him mad.
As Avera made it to the deck of the ship, the lookout shouted, “Dragon in the sky.”
All eyes turned to see the mighty beast coasting above the fog, circling the continent.
Koonis barked orders. “Let’s get moving before it decides we’re tastier than that kraken.”
The ship took sail, not that Avera got to watch. Back to the cage she went, minus the satchel.
It was a miserable trip. Days and days of no daylight and rancid food. When Koonis appeared to announce, “We’re about to dock,” she could barely muster the strength to lift her head.
She was marched, bedraggled and filthy, onto the dock where a grand entourage waited. A young man dressed in silken finery took one look at her and said, “Is this the Queen of Daerva?”
“Aye, Emperor.” Koonis dropped to a knee in front of the man and bowed his head. “I’ve brought her and the stones, as ordered.” He dropped the satchel at the emperor’s feet.
The emperor’s lips tightened. “Why is she so filthy and starved-looking?”
Koonis raised his head, fear in his eyes. “Your eminence? I simply treated her like I would any other prisoner.”
“She’s not a prisoner, you fool, but my soon-to-be consort.” The emperor didn’t make a sign, and yet a soldier stepped forward, and before Koonis could protest, his head went flying. It rolled across the dock and plopped into the water.
To Avera’s surprise, the emperor bowed. “Apologies, Majesty, for your mistreatment. I didn’t think I had to explicitly tell the captain that, as my fiancée, you should have been treated like a precious treasure. Let me make it up to you.”
By the end of that day, Avera was ensconced in luxury, bathed, pampered, fed. And more surprisingly, the stones were on the dresser of the room she’d been given.
The note with them?
Please accept these as a wedding gift and a promise that together we shall stop Zhos from ruining the world.
Perhaps she could still save Daerva. The price?
Marriage to a stranger.