Soldier, Brother, Sorcerer. Morgan Rice

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!”