Tessa
Erik hates literally everything about this plan.
I know this because he’s told me at least a thousand times a day since I first announced it.
“If I do this and we succeed, Rian will take us home,” I keep telling him.
“If you do this and we fail, you could be dead,” he keeps responding. Then he’ll grip his waist and try not to wince, because I know he’s still in pain.
“Well, if I’m dead, then it won’t matter at all!” I’ve started snapping, just because I’m as nervous as he is.
Olive and Ellmo have begun to exchange glances when we start this up. She usually drags her son out of the house while he keeps hanging back, wanting to watch the fight.
But now it’s nightfall, and Ellmo is at the palace with Anya and some of the others, because Olive won’t risk her son getting anywhere near Oren Crane.
I honestly didn’t expect her to risk herself, but she’s here at the house with me, waiting while Rian’s people are outside, checking the coastline, preparing the house to look like it’s holding a prisoner.
I expected dozens of armed men, but there aren’t.
“Do you think I made a poor choice?” I whisper to Olive.
She passes me a cup of coffee with milk and honey and says nothing for a long moment. “I think my uncle terrorized these islands for a long time. I think Rian sees a chance to finally win, and he’s going to take it.”
I accept the coffee, but I don’t take a sip. “That doesn’t answer my question.”
She looks at me. “You shouldn’t have to risk yourself, Tessa. You aren’t a part of this war.” She pauses. “This war shouldn’t be happening at all anymore. It was over.”
I swallow, thinking of the revolution in Kandala. The way Harristan and Corrick tried to keep the peace. “Was it really over, or was your uncle biding his time, waiting for another chance to take over?”
She doesn’t say anything to that.
“Was he gone from this island,” I say carefully, “while he was terrorizing another one?”
Her eyes flick up. “The bridges are down. Communication is slow. I don’t know.”
“Rian took Oren’s daughter prisoner. Now he’s going to take Oren prisoner.”
She sighs heavily.
So do I.
Erik appears in the doorway of my bedroom. He’s wearing the utilitarian parts of his guard uniform, and he clicks a bolt into a crossbow. “Maybe we can get them in the room together and I can shoot them both,” he says sourly.
“We need Rian to get us home,” I say.
He grunts. “I still don’t trust him.”
“He made a bargain,” I said. “I’m going to hold him to it.”
But a little voice inside me whispers that I’m doing this while tricking someone else, the same way Rian tricked me and Corrick.
Oren is someone who did horrible things. And I’m doing this with good reason.
But is it justified? Were Corrick’s actions justified? Were Rian’s?
Ugh.Everything is all tangled up, and I’m still not sure about any of it.
“Do you still have your dagger?” Erik says.
I pat my hip, because I do, but Rian appears in the doorway. “She’s a prisoner. She wouldn’t have a dagger.”
Erik steps between him and me. “No one should get close enough to know the difference.”
“You’re wrong,” Rian says. “Someone might. I’m not risking this on a technicality. I wouldn’t have a hundred soldiers guarding one girl, especially if she’s supposedly hidden. I’d barely have more than one. Oren won’t come close if he’s spooked, and it’ll ruin this whole plan.”
Now I understand why there aren’t dozens of soldiers outside.
“So you didn’t bring . . . anyone?” I whisper.
He blinks, then gives me a wounded look. “Of course I brought my people,” he says. “I have a hundred men waiting in the road. But we need to draw him off the water. You don’t understand why he’s always been so hard to catch. Oren has always been behind his cannons. He has a dozen henchmen doing his bidding. I wouldn’t be surprised if he sends someone to make sure you’re really here first.”
“So she’s bait,” Olive snaps. “Not a decoy.”
Gwyn Tagas pokes her head in the room. “Rian. A lookout spotted a ship on the water.”
My heart gives a lurch. None of this is what I expected at all. “I don’t look anything like Bella,” I say. “They’ll know I’m not her if they get close.”
“We’ll tie you up and put that over your head. I’ll guard you myself.” Rian tosses a cloth sack in my lap.
The cloth falls over my fingers, and I stare down at it in shock.
I’m remembering the last time I had a cloth sack tied over my head.
He drops to a crouch in front of me. “Tessa,” he says quietly. “I know you hate me. But I never lied about the most important parts. I care about my people just as much as you care about yours—and I know you see that.” He pauses. “I didn’t force you to do this. You volunteered—just like you volunteered to help people in the villages.” His gray eyes seek mine, and I remember what they looked like when we were clinging to the rigging, thirty feet above the ocean. “You can help them again.”
I swallow, thinking of everyone in Kandala waiting for us to return. “I said I’d do it, and I will.”
He lets out a breath, and relief blooms in his eyes. “Thank you.” He presses a palm to my cheek. “I swear to you, I’ll be right here the whole—”
“No.” I straighten, pulling away. “Rocco will be my guard.”
Rian stares back at me. “Tessa—”
“That’s my requirement,” I say. “If you still want me to do this, I want Rocco.” I hold his eyes. “Not you.”
Rian stands. He looks at Erik. “You’re still injured.”
“I only need my hand to shoot a crossbow.”
Rian scowls. “I will not—”
“How far away was the ship?” Olive says. “Do you have other people to move into position?”
Rian swears. “Fine.” He tosses a length of rope at my feet, then glares at Erik. “Make sure she’s really bound. If this fails because of you, nothing she says will save you.”
Then he’s through the door before any of us can respond.
Erik gingerly bends to fetch the rope.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “Are you sure you can—”
“Of course I can, Miss Tessa. I wouldn’t have left you with him regardless.”
“No matter what happens, I won’t let him harm you.”
Erik’s eyes meet mine. “I’m not afraid of him.” He looks up, past me, at Olive. “Do you have a safe place to hide?”
She nods. “I’m going into the barn.”
“And Ellmo is safe?”
Her face softens. “Yes. He’s soaking himself in sugar and cocoa in the palace. He hasn’t seen Anya in ages. I think they’re baking something sweet.”
“Good.” He uncoils the rope. “Give me your hands, Miss Tessa.”
When I hold them out, he looks up at Olive again while he loops the rope around my wrists. “Do you have a weapon?” he says to her.
“I stashed my crossbow,” she says.
“Livvy!” Rian calls from somewhere outside. “You need to get out of there.”
Olive doesn’t move.
Erik doesn’t tie my wrists tightly at all, then reaches for my ankles next. “What about a dagger?” he says to Olive.
“I have a blade hidden under my skirts.” Her voice is serious, but she gives him a wink. “You really are a big brother, aren’t you?”
“In truth, I’m the youngest.” He tugs the knot at my ankles—again, too loose—and stands.
“Livvy!” Rian calls again, and Olive scowls.
“Go,” I say to her, and I hate that my voice is breathy. “Be safe.”
“You be safe,” she says.
I swallow and nod briskly.
She still doesn’t leave. Instead, she smacks Erik on the arm. “And you keep her safe. I haven’t had a friend in ages, so you’d better not let anything happen to her. Do you hear me, you big—”
He takes hold of her waist and kisses her.
It’s not a little kiss either. I gasp out loud. I think my cheeks are turning pink.
Hersdefinitely are. A small sound escapes her throat.
Erik lets her go. “Trust me.”
She’s staring up at him. “I do.”
His eyes flick at the doorway. “Go, before he comes in here to get you, and I have to shoot him in the face.”
Her flush deepens, but she nods quickly, and then, without another word, she’s gone.
Erik turns back to me. “Don’t you say a word.”
“Can I say I appreciate the distraction?”
That makes him smile. He drops to one knee again, and I don’t miss the slight sound of pain on his exhale.
“You’re still hurting,” I say.
“Eh. Not like before.” He shrugs it off and draws his dagger. “I’m going to slip this under your thigh,” he says, and his voice is very low, like he’s worried he’ll be overheard. “If someone gets close to you, if anyone touches you, I want you to use it. Point down, just like I showed you.”
I think about the times I’ve practiced in the barn, which just now feels completely inadequate. “I won’t be able to see—”
“I don’t care. Anyone on our side won’t be sneaking up on you. Move your leg. I’m sure Rian is going to look in soon, and I don’t want him to see.”
I inhale sharply and obey. He slips the dagger under my thigh, the hilt pressing against the skin behind my knee. I can feel the danger of it, like a promise. His brown eyes look into mine.
“It’s all right to fight for what you believe in,” he says.
I frown. “Am I fighting for what I believe in, or am I fighting for what Rian believes in?”
Erik goes still for a moment, considering that. “I’ve heard enough about Oren Crane to know he shouldn’t be ruling a country.”
“Should Rian?” I say, thinking of the steps Rian has taken to get to this point. But my words are lost, because another shout comes from outside.
“Douse that lantern! The ship is drawing closer.”
Erik disappears from my side. The room goes dark.
Then he’s back in a heartbeat, and the cloth of the hood brushes against my hair. I remember another night in the dark just like this, when my hands were bound, and I was left in the dark to wait for my fate.
“I’ll be out of sight, Miss Tessa. But I’ll be here.” Erik ties the hood, and then he’s gone.
I shiver at his sudden absence. I have to close my eyes and pretend the darkness is intentional. The dagger under my leg presses into my thigh. I’m remembering a carriage ride. Blue eyes daring mine. Corrick offering me his dagger, when I was terrified of everything I’d learned. Offering me escape.
Oh, Corrick. My love.
I miss him so much that my heart aches. I can hear his voice, smell his scent, feel his touch. I’d give anything for him to be here now.
But I stop the sob before it can form. He’s not here. I am. And maybe Rian has made mistakes, but so did Harristan. So did Corrick. So have I. We’re all just doing our best with the information we have.
So I shift my weight against that dagger, and I tug my wrists to see how loose the rope is.
When Oren Crane comes, I’m ready.
