Tam sat with his head propped up against his fingers, and his right ankle resting atop his left knee as he watched Eli.

After waking her up to take over the helm, Tam had gone and slept most of the day away, and had only woken a short while before he had to make dinner.

So he took the few brief moments of freedom he had to watch the woman he loved.

Oddly enough, she hadn’t seemed to notice he was doing this as she stared off into the distance with a line deepening the space between her brows.

Tam wondered if she’d want to wear a wedding dress when the time came to get married.

He then envisioned her wearing a proper white gown and found a half smile pulling his mouth up. Though something about the image didn’t quite seem like Eli…

Maybe there was a different type of formal wear Zinferan’s wore during their weddings? Tam was surprised with himself that he didn’t already know this.

Wait… After they got married, Eli would have to live with him at the keep he grew up in?

Tam scrunched his nose. The dark keep with its damp smell didn’t fit her. She would probably be happier with lots of light, and a forest nearby she could run through unencumbered when in her beast form…

Tam’s mind turned to the keep his mother’s first husband, Hank Jenoure, had loved in Sorlia. That would be perfect. The woods weren’t large, but there were plenty of deer to hunt and a pond filled with fish, an apple and a pear orchard… Maybe they would add a corn field. Luca had seemed to really enjoy corn the past few times Tam had cooked with it.

Living in Sorlia also meant Luca could grow up near the three princes, his cousins…

Excitement swelled in Tam.

The library at the estate in Sorlia was in a state of minor disrepair there, but that only meant they could reconstruct it to their liking and—

“The winds are changing. They’re blowing us inland,” Eli suddenly announced, revealing that she was in fact aware of Tam’s presence and attention.

It took a great deal of effort for Tam to free himself from his lovely daydream. His mind was slow and sluggish as he moved to standing, and joined Eli at the helm. Her eyes were bloodshot from having to be so fixated on the compass and horizon.

The mountainous range to their left soared majestically along the skyline. The sun, as it lowered toward the edges of the world, cast streaks of pale oranges and pinks that set the snow atop the mountains ablaze.

The skies had been clear at least for the first two days of their journey, which was very fortunate given how much Eli and Tam had had to learn about sailing. It truly was a miracle and a blessing that Lord Harris knew as much as he did, and this was entirely thanks to his beloved duchess.

Duchess Mackenzie Harris of the Iones Dukedom had been the middle daughter of a wealthy baron who had earned the majority of his wealth thanks to the ships he owned. And so when Harris, with all of his eccentricities and illegitimate birth, declared his sincere love of the man’s daughter, the baron hadn’t agreed at first. The old baron had believed Harris was a madman, and so announced that he would only agree to bless their wedding if his future son-in-law knew everything possible about the ships that would come as a part of Mackenzie’s dowry.

Well, the baron had underestimated the sincerity of Lord Oscar Harris, and they were wed within a year and a half of the stipulation.

“I guess this is when we start tacking.” Tam sighed as he stowed his hands in his pockets and looked out at the vast expanse of the Tinoo Ocean to their right.

The water still looked calm. Though some time over the next fortnight they’d enter into the storm season…

“PROBLEM!” Lord Harris’s shout made both Eli and Tam jolt.

They’d never heard Harris sound any measure of panicked.

“What is it?” Tam started walking toward the steps the duke was sprinting up with impressive speed.

“Three ships behind us. Luca spotted them,” Harris explained before thrusting the spyglass at Tam.

He instantly lifted it to peer off their bow, and after a couple of sweeps over the horizon found that there were indeed three tall masted ships.

“Shit.”

“Exactly.”

“Is there any chance that they are merchant ships?” Eli asked though her grim tone indicated she didn’t have much hope.

“No. Their v-formation tells us they’re military,” Harris responded ruefully.

Tam continued squinting. “The speed they’re moving tells me they have air and water witches on board helping. If I were to guess? I’d say they’ll catch up to us within a day. A day and a half at most.”

Eli’s grip on the spindles of the wheel tightened. “We could do what we did before. Hide and sneak aboard their own ship, or lure them here and take care of them that way?” She didn’t sound certain of that plan.

“They probably brought more witches this time,” Tam guessed before looking to the distant rocky beaches. “I wonder if going on land would give us a better chance.”

“If we get trapped on land we won’t have enough supplies to navigate our way through the mountains on foot. It doesn’t look like a lot grows there.” Harris shook his head.

“There are some forests about a week and a half on foot due west,” Eli pointed out. “And the maps in the captain’s quarters I found are up-to-date. So we wouldn’t be guessing where we would be going.

“It would give us some coverage, and they’d have to split up as well,” Tam added.

“They will torch the ship to stop you from leaving. They won’t be making the same mistake twice about leaving their own vessels unguarded. And all they have to do is see where we anchored to guess roughly where we landed on shore.” Harris stared in the direction of the ships that were barely visible to the naked eye.

“What do we do then? Go ashore, or wait here like a sitting duck?” Tam asked both in irritation at this new problem as well as genuine curiosity.

Lord Harris, a seasoned warrior, pondered this conundrum.

“There are a few other options,” Eli interjected, her gaze homed on Tam.

Tam raised an eyebrow.

“One relies a lot on you, but… What if you simply appeared on their ships at night when they pull closer and sink them? Or at the very least damage them enough to slow them down.”

Tam tilted his head, a subtle grimace on his face. “They’d have to be a lot closer for me to be able to do that. I can only travel longer distances if I know the space really well, and even then it would still mean they’d be a lot closer than I’m comfortable with with their air and water witches on board.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Sometimes, in war and desperate times, there isn’t a perfect plan. You just pick one of your best ones and pray to the Goddess it works out,” Harris informed them somberly.

Both Tam and Eli fell quiet, both trying to find some magical solution to the coming threat, but found that their weary minds couldn’t come up with much else.

That is until at last, Eli spoke up. “Alright. Here’s another plan that I think gives us the best chance of avoiding any fighting with the children on board. We just have to make it a little more north to not hinder our travel time, and it is not an elegant plan in any way.”

Harris and Tam faced her earnestly, both hoping that she had indeed found the best possible option available to them… Otherwise things were going to get even messier.

***

Katarina had draped herself over the ornate chair she found herself in and stared over the faces before her.

There were four concubines present, along with their attendants. The concubines were seated around a large, ebony table in Katarina’s quarters. The table had been ladened with baked delicacies, on beautifully painted porcelain. The windows and shutters were closed, and all screens and long drapes had been removed from the room as per Katarina’s orders.

This resulted in two successful occurrences.

The first being the room was cooler despite the roasting summer heat outside. The second being Kat had managed to remove most of the spots someone could hide or attempt to surprise her with an attack.

Soo Hebin was not amongst the women present, but that didn’t mean the woman wouldn’t try to send spies.

Even amongst the attendants accompanying the concubines there could be someone in Soo Hebin’s pocket, which was why Kat had limited the number of serving women permitted to join the event. One maid, one concubine. And the reason for this was because the concubines would of course pick their most trusted women to remain by their sides. While it didn’t completely eradicate the threat of Soo Hebin still having one of them under her command, it did minimize the risk.

After a particularly infuriating exchange with someone who ‘allegedly’ served the emperor after Thomas Julian had been discovered, Katarina wasn’t feeling fond of the concubine Soo Hebin, and she wasn’t afraid of letting it be known.

“Your Majesty, thank you for inviting us to this meal.” The concubine that sat the farthest on Katarina’s left spoke first, bowing her head as she did so.

Kat regarded her with an eyebrow raise, then looked around at the rest of the women present who kept their faces lowered.

They looked tense.

“Do you know why I’ve invited you here?” Kat tapped her finger against the ornate armrest of the chair she sat on.

The women didn’t speak, but maintained a dignified quiet.

“Do you know why I’ve been summoned here to Zinfera?” Kat wondered if they were ever even told what really was happening in the outside world. The emperor’s concubines were always so well guarded that it was a difficult thing to discern.

“Your Majesty is either here because of the rumors, or because of the dead coven member,” the same concubine that had spoken before responded.

Kat fixed her attention on the woman.

Her name was Deoh Rin. She was in her early forties, and wore a periwinkle silk shirt and bright pink glass flowers on her hair pins.

“What rumors would draw me here?” Kat wondered with a feigned air of laziness.

“The rumor regarding how the coven exploited an ancient beast and has now incurred the wrath of the Gods.”

Kat’s cool demeanor cracked.

What? I didn’t hear anything about this!

Blinking rapidly she shook herself back to the present and hoped the women merely thought she was surprised by the blunt response.

“And what sin is it that the coven committed against an ancient beast?” Kat did her best to make her voice sound confident, hoping Deoh would keep revealing the details of this rumor the monarchy in Daxaria had most definitely not heard about.

“There are rumors of the coven and nobles associated with Soo Hebin experimenting on a sirin. Even going so far as to brew tea from her hair or drops of her blood to see if any humans could gain power.”

“That’s gross as hell,” Kat blurted before schooling her expression again with a grunt. “Where did this sirin come from?”

The room once again fell silent.

This time no one answered.

Sensing that she was about to get stonewalled, Kat sighed and leaned her forearms on the table in front of her.

“I’m here because of the dead coven member, but also because there are a lot of alarming rumors going around. This news that people are tormenting an ancient beast is newer information to me–”

“That happened decades ago. The reason we say we’ve angered the Goddess is because of the beast attacks on our ships.”

Kat’s golden eyes glinted in the candle light. “Oh?”

“The beast has destroyed most of the merchant vessels that try to leave out of Gondol. It’s one of the reasons Her Highness Soo Hebin argues we should make Junya the capital once more as the attacks have not been occurring at that end of the kingdom.”

“And you do not believe it should be the capital?” Kat ventured.

The women didn’t reveal their thoughts in even a twitch of their eyebrows.

Which wasn’t all that surprising. Doing so would reveal their own alliances and self-interests.

“The beast must be stopped or we will have no choice. Junya will have to become the capital. Supplies in Gondol I’m told are running low, and several merchant families are nearly penniless because of the attacks. Even Soo Hebin’s own ships have been attacked, so it is happening indiscriminately,” Deoh informed the Daxarian queen, an edge of passion coming into her voice.

Kat was willing to bet some respectable amounts of gold that this woman was one of Soo Hebin’s most powerful and outspoken adversaries.

“Tell me more about this creature, and who knows? Perhaps Daxaria can offer some kind of help. Assuming of course that there isn’t something far more rotten going on here.” Kat settled back into her chair, her fingers clasped over her toned belly.

The women exchanged looks with each other, but after a while, most likely came to the conclusion that the Daxarian queen would hear about what was happening one way or another, and so, they proceeded to relay the very detailed information they themselves had gathered.

By the end of the discussion, Kat was pale.

She bade the concubine’s farewell, and then waited in her chamber, her hand lightly covering her mouth as her gaze bore into the ebony table.

When Annika Ashowan eventually entered the room having completed her own secretive tasks for the day, the duchess tilted her head. “What’s wrong?”

Kat slowly pushed herself to her feet, the air practically crackling around her. “We need to write to Da. Now. Things are much worse than we thought.”