“Earlier. She summoned Captain Hin too. We’re changing course. The Dia River is only a few miles from here, and that will take us all the way to Aridia if we follow it.”
“Is he okay?” Nick asked, agitated.
Mini blinked, eyes far too knowing for his young age meeting Nick’s. “He never is after meeting her, but she couldn’t keep him; there’s too much to do. He’s getting everything coordinated for us to move.”
Nick sank back onto the bed, his knees feeling weak. “I told you to get me if he’s summoned.”
“He had me down here listening for you. I didn’t know.”
Nick ran a hand through his hair. He heaved a heavy sigh. Okay. Right. Desre.
“Come here.” Nick rose again from the bed and went to the table. The broken pieces of the slate he’d dropped were collected and placed carefully in Kit’s trunk. Nick retrieved a new one. “Sit.” He pointed, and Mini obeyed, looking curious. Nick sat too and circled the part of his arm he suspected was the symbol that had protected him from Desre’s power. “Can you draw these as exactly as you can?”
Mini cocked his head to the side and leaned in. He took up the chalk and began to draw. His first attempt was decent. His second attempt was also okay. The third and fourth were alright. By the time Nick had made him copy the same thing a dozen times—and he had to give Mini credit for not questioning him or hesitating for a second—it looked identical.
Mini offered the slate to him. Nick peered at it, holding it side by side with his arm.
“Is this change of course because of the mermen yesterday?”
Mini nodded. “Dia weaves right through where all the fighting is. Lady Desre didn’t want to take this route since when we left, the rebels held several checkpoints on the river. We might have to fight our way through.”
Rebels. “Rebelling against what? The government?” Nick asked idly, his focus on the drawing. Would inking this onto Kit’s skin protect him from Desre? If it did, so long as they kept a copy of it, Mini could keep reapplying the symbol.
“Against the council,” Mini told him. “General Valor is leading them all.”
“Why do I recognise that name?”
“That’s Lady Desre’s husband.”
Nick looked up from the slate. “Isn’t she part of the council?”
Mini nodded. His expression said he saw no problem whatsoever with the information he was sharing with Nick. “Her husband is leading a rebellion against her?”
“He hates her too,” Mini said.
There was a rebellion against the council, the people Nick was abducted to be handed over to. Desre was one of them. They were about to sail through rebel territory. What were the chances Nick would get a chance to slip away if they ran into trouble? He couldn’t let himself be down here. He needed to be above deck, ready to jump into the water and hightail it out of there. And to be able to do that without hesitating, he needed this damned symbol to work. He wouldn’t manage a single step away if he couldn’t find a solution.
“Can you get Kit?”
“He’s very busy.”
“This is important,” Nick insisted.
Mini was gone long enough that Nick began to pace. The surrounding noises grated on his nerves, winding his anxiety higher and higher until the door opened. Kit entered the room,and the anxiety released. Kit looked put together. His clothes weren’t messed up, he wasn’t pale the way he’d been after his last encounter with Desre and his gloves were in place, sleeves tucked over them. Nick hesitated when he saw that Kit’s tail was wrapped around his leg but was ready for the wary look in Kit’s eyes when he met them.
“I didn’t feel good earlier,” Nick said. “And I lashed out.”
Kit’s expression didn’t change, but his tail unwound in a quick sweep that had Mini jumping out of the way with a yelp.
“However, you were also acting like a dick. So. Yeah. I accept your apology. Don’t make that face, your tail said it for you. Anyway, come here. Mini’s going to draw this on you. Let’s put it somewhere she won’t see.”
Kit stood warily in the room, casting his gaze over the slate on the table. “What is it?”
“Hopefully, the symbol that blocked Desre,” Nick said, turning the slate towards himself again. Because his focus was on the drawing, it took him a few seconds to realise that Kit had frozen. When Nick noticed and glanced at Kit, he couldn’t interpret his expression. Shock? Confusion?
“You are still trying to help me?” Kit asked, a tremble in his voice.
Nick met his eyes. He saw a desperate hope rekindling. Nick softened. It didn’t matter how angry he tried to be with Kit; he was always going to cave when he saw this. Saw that he was trapped by a monster and needed help getting away. “I’m not going to change my mind about helping you just because you pissed me off. You stop caring about your aunt when she gets on your nerves, do you?”
