“Zosia.”
I snapped out of my maudlin thoughts and buckled my skull helmet back on. Lorcan and Keryn waved me over.
“Look at this.” Lorcan handed me the binoculars. The creamy outline of a yacht swam into view. I adjusted the glasses and looked again.
“That’s our boat!” I popped my head up. Lorcan put his hand on top of my skull helmet to bring me back down behind the safety of the rock formation. “Why didn’t it crash? Every boat that size goes down in these shoals!”
The yacht we used to escape from Trissau, then sent out into the ocean without a captain, has been commandeered by the pirates. Bastards. It’s enraging.
“Want me to shoot it?” Keryn offered, lining up the ship in their sights.
“No.”
“No?” Keryn and Lorcan both look at me as though I’ve lost my mind.
“Keep it from landing. But don’t sink it yet. I need that boat.”
I scrambled back. There might be a way to point the pirates at Humayun, and vice versa, thus ridding me of two problems at once.
There came a familiar high-pitched beeping. It set my teeth on edge. I glanced at Lorcan. His mouth was tight and tense, his face focused and serious. The beeping became a solid whine. Keryn’s finger moved. Blue light shot out of the tube into the water right in front of the ship’s hull. A massive wave swamped its triangular front. The vessel jerked so hard to the side that it nearly capsized.
A warning shot. Keryn fired a second one. The boat completed its turn and sped into the distance.
Irate figures ran out onto the rocky atoll, shaking fists and yelling. Whatever was on that boat, they needed it. Badly.
“Nice work, Leader.” I patted Keryn on the shoulder. “You’re a good shot.”
“Had some practice.” Their lips stretched wide around broad, slightly crooked teeth. Red hair semi-corralled in braids fluttered beneath the huge maned tiger skull they wore as a helmet.
Popping sounds as the pirates shot at us.
We moved to a new position and waited for the boat to return. It made a second attempt to land. Keryn drove it away once more. Eventually, it sped back out into the open sea.
Now, we just need to alert Humayun to its existence. As soon as I have Laila and Hallie’s mother’s backing, I’ll call the king we both jilted and inform him that his daughters prefer to stay with me. I saved them from pirates. Take back your boat and go home with your consolation prize. If it works, I’ll have decommissioned the Skía’s delivery ship.
In the meantime, a global PR campaign highlighting Auralia’s record of peace and equality, in contrast to Trissau’s record of gender-based violence, ought to discredit any trafficking accusations the scorned king might make—especially if his own wife is willing to go publicly on the record as to why she left.
It’s time I proved my worth as leader of this country.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
Back at the Ansi village, I briefly outlined my plan to Brenica. She seemed skeptical, which I admit unnerved me. My confidence might be marginally higher than it was when Sakaya scolded me (except where Lorcan and everything sex-related is concerned), but only because I doubt I could make the situation worse.
After our brief discussion, I went up to our room to clean up. I removed my leather top and skirt and put on one of Cata’s old undershirts and a pair of underwear, which are more than sufficient coverage for this sultry place. The leather is more practical. It doesn’t stick and wrinkle the way fabric does, and in this humidity, washing and drying is difficult. With thin leather, all you do is wipe it with a damp cloth and hang it from the piping. Easy to maintain.
Sweat curled the hair at the nape of my neck. It’s grown a bit longer in the weeks since I was first rescued. When I get back to Covari Village, I’ll have to ask Saskaya for a trim. I rinsed away the grime with a cloth dampened with cold water from the pipe system. The purple paint on my body didn’t budge.
Through the partially open flap covering, I caught sight of Lorcan and Tovian talking with a clearly upset Tahra. Poor girl. She didn’t like being left behind this morning.
When she wrapped her arms around Lorcan’s neck, my empathy evaporated. He didn’t push her away. Instead, he hugged her back.
I waited. The longer Lorcan let her linger in his arms, the lower my stomach sank. Tovian glanced uneasily at me. I met his eyes for a brief second before tugging the entrance flap closed.
I have bigger things to worry about. But this is exactly why I cannot marry Lorcan. I always hated my father’s focus on optics. Now, I understand their importance. Look perfect. Be unemotional. Never let anyone rattle you, no matter how rude or how deeply their words and actions cut. I don’t want to stick a cork back inside my emotional champagne bottle, but I can’t go around letting everything bubble out, either.
By tolerating Tahra’s overt affections, he’s giving the impression that he isn’t faithful to me. Tovian saw it. Even if Lorcan is only begrudgingly humoring her the way he did Raina all those years—and after weeks of observation, I’ve come to believe that’s all there is to it—Lorcan’s behavior invites questions. I know he’s been with women from this village, overheard whispers about his first visit here. Will they try again, now, thinking that he doesn’t honor his commitment to me?
Lorcan doesn’t seem to understand this, and I don’t feel as though I can bring it up. He’ll brush my concerns aside as unwarranted envy. Iamjealous. But that doesn’t mean my worries are unfounded.
