Soldier, Brother, Sorcerer

That was a balancing act. Stephania looked up, seeing the sea birds flying overhead.

“They’re a sign we’re getting closer to shore, aren’t they?” she asked.

“Very good, princess,” Felene said, moving around from where she was trying to teach Elethe to fish off the bow rail, standing slightly closer than she needed to. The familiarity of her tone made Stephania’s hackles rise, but she did her best to disguise it.

“So we’ll be there soon?”

“A little while, and we’ll sight land,” Felene said. “Another after that, and we’ll reach the fishing village where Elethe says we’ll find her uncle’s people. Why? Eager to stop throwing up?”

“Eager to do a lot of things,” Stephania replied. Although putting her feet back on dry land was one of them. Morning sickness did not mix well with seasickness.

It was just one of the reasons she needed to kill Felene sooner rather than later. Sooner or later, she would realize that Stephania was pregnant, and that didn’t fit with the story she’d told about Lucious forcing her to drink his potion.

When would she guess? It couldn’t have been more obvious to Stephania that she was pregnant now, her dress feeling stretched tight across her expanding belly, her body seeming to change in so many ways as the life grew inside her. She put a hand on her abdomen automatically, wanting to protect the life inside her, wanting it to grow and become strong. Yet Felene continued to spend her time with Elethe, so easily distracted by a pretty face.

That was another thing to consider when judging when to act. Yes, Stephania needed to leave it long enough for them to close in on land, but the longer she left it, the greater the danger was that her handmaiden’s loyalties might be tested. As useful as Felene might be, Elethe would be far more useful when it came to finding the sorcerer. More than that, the handmaiden was hers.

For now though, Stephania waited, because she didn’t want to have to pilot this tub when there was no land in sight. She waited and she watched while Felene helped her handmaiden land a struggling fish, beheading it with a wickedly sharp-looking knife. That she looked over while she did it only told Stephania that she was running out of time.

Thoughts of what she was there to do drove Stephania on, hardening her resolve. Felldust held the sorcerer who had killed Ancient Ones. Felldust would provide her with a way to bring down Ceres. After that… after that, she could deal with Thanos, forging her child into the weapon she needed.

“It didn’t need to come to this,” Stephania said, standing so that she could look out over the rail.

“What’s that, princess?” Felene asked.

“I said, is that land over there?” Stephania asked.

It was, the black dust of the coast rising up on the edge of the horizon. At first, it was just a faint line above the waves, rising up like some rocky sun until it started to fill Stephania’s view.

“Aye,” Felene said, moving to the rail and looking out. “We’ll soon have you safe and sound on land, princess.”

Stephania’s hand dipped into her cloak. With the infinite care only known to those who worked with poisons, she palmed a dart. “Felene, there’s something I’ve wanted to say to you since we set off.”

“What’s that, princess?” Felene said with a mocking smile.

“It’s simple,” Stephania said with a smile of her own. “Do not call me princess!”

Her hand flashed around, the dart glinting in the sun as she went for the exposed skin of Felene’s face.

Pain flared in her wrist and it took Stephania a moment to realize that Felene had brought her elbow up, letting Stephania’s arm collide with it. Stephania’s hand spasmed open, and she saw the dart tumble over the side.

By then, pain was already flaring in her cheek as Felene slapped her, hard enough that Stephania reeled. This wasn’t the delicate, ladylike slap of some noble girl. It was a sailor’s blow, and it had weight behind it that sat Stephania down hard on the planks of the deck.

“Do you think I’m stupid?” Felene demanded. “Do you think I don’t know you’ve been working up to this since we left?”

“I – ” Stephania began, but the ringing in her ears wouldn’t let her keep going.

“You’re lucky you’re carrying Thanos’s child, or I’d feed you to the sharks right now!” Felene snapped. “Oh yes, I’ve spotted the signs! And now I’m debating whether to sell you on to a slaver, kill you outright as soon as Thanos’s child is born, or just call the whole thing a bad deal and set off back for Delos!”

Stephania started to stand, and Felene pushed her back down. “Oh no, princess, you can stay where you’re put. It’s safer for all of us that way, until I find enough rope to lash you to the mast.”

Stephania looked past her then, to Elethe. She gave just the barest of nods, hoping that it would be enough.

It was. Her handmaiden drew a short, curved blade and leapt forward. It seemed that Felene was ready for that too, though, because she spun and parried the first stroke, her own knife in her hand again.

“Pity,” Felene said. “We could have had a lot of fun. I survived the Isle of Prisoners. You think I can’t handle you?”

Stephania had to sit and admire the fight that followed for a moment, and not just because her head was still ringing from Felene’s slap. Normally, she had no time for the play of blades, or the carefully honed skills of warriors. These two, however, made their knives dance in the sun as they fought, hands trapping one another’s arms, looking for angles. Stephania saw Felene go for a low kick, then dodge back from a swipe. She moved close to Elethe, grappling with her as they both sought to thrust their blades home.

That was when Stephania stood, drawing a knife of her own and thrusting it into Felene’s back.

Stephania saw her fall to her knees, her face a picture of surprise as she put her hand to the wound. Her knife clattered to the deck as her fingers opened.

“I wasn’t on the Isle of Prisoners at all,” Stephania said. “Which of us does that make the cleverest?”

Felene turned toward her, but Stephania could see even that was an effort for her. Stephania smiled over to Elethe.

“Well done. Your loyalty will be rewarded. Now, we should cut her throat and throw her over the side. We can’t show up in Felldust dragging a body with us, and after all she’s done, I’m sure you’ll want revenge.”

Stephania saw Elethe hesitate before she nodded, but that was only to be expected. Not everyone could be as practical about these things as she was. Stephania could understand that, and Elethe had already more than proved her loyalty. Perhaps she would do it herself. After all, Felene wasn’t armed anymore.

Stephania took a step forward.

“Until you hit me, this wasn’t personal,” she said. “It was simply necessary. Now… do you know there’s a poison they use in some of the southlands, that kills by stopping all the muscles? In the right dose, it doesn’t kill at all, merely leaves someone immobile. Should I give you that before I throw you in?”

She took another step and saw Felene struggling to her feet. That didn’t matter; with Elethe’s help, she would be easy to overpower again.

“No, I owe you more than that for bringing us all this way. A cut throat it is.”

She saw Felene tense, as if ready to throw herself forward in one last burst of violence. Stephania readied herself, flinching back as she prepared for the onslaught of violence.

In that moment, the sailor did the one thing Stephania hadn’t been prepared for. She flung herself sideways, over the boat’s railing. Stephania heard the splash as she hit the water, and saw the foam of the waves rise up high enough to slop over the deck.

Stephania rushed to the railing, and Elethe was there beside her, looking down with an expression of worry that made Stephania glad it hadn’t come to throat cutting after all, because that might have pushed her handmaiden a little too far.

“I know it’s hard,” Stephania said, putting a hand on Elethe’s shoulder. “But sometimes, these things must be done. And you did well. I’m proud of you.”

“What about Felene?” her handmaiden asked. “Do you think we should wait and see if she survives?”

There was a note of hope there that Stephania needed to quash quickly. “You heard her say that there were sharks. The wound was deep, and it’s a long way to land. It’s done.”

She saw her handmaiden nod.

“Well done, Elethe,” Stephania repeated. “You have been the most loyal of all of my handmaidens.”

She needed to remind her handmaiden whose she was, but for now, there were more pressing concerns.

“We still need to find a way to get this boat to shore,” Stephania said. “And then we have to find the sorcerer.”

“I’ve learned a lot about piloting the boat from our time at sea,” Elethe assured her. “Felene was eager to show me.”

That probably hadn’t been all of it, but it was over now. The sailor was dead. They were almost to Felldust, and after that, it was only a matter of time before they found the sorcerer.

Things were going well at last, especially since her handmaiden really did seem to know how to pilot the boat now, guiding it unerringly in the direction of the mainland. All Stephania had to do was sit at the stern of the boat, letting Elethe do the work.

Stephania smiled as she watched the blood float on the water behind them, and imagined the sharks starting to gather.

CHAPTER EIGHT

A king should have been greeted by trumpeters, heralds, and pageantry. Instead, there was only the thud of Port Leeward’s dock as the sailors threw him onto it.

Lucious groaned, caught between pain and anger as he struck the wood.

“I am a king!” Lucious whimpered. “A king!”

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