Read Online Deborah Hale by The Destined Queen - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: The Destined Queen
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morning, Rath and Maura watched in fascination as a herd of sea beasts called nieda swam past the ship, lunging up into the air with surprising grace for their size. Now and then two of the larger ones would butt each other with their great, curled horns that put Rath in mind of Hitherland wild goats.
Through the warm hours after midday, Rath and Maura curled up in a quiet, shaded corner of the deck and let the motion of the ship and the soothing music of the waves lull them to sleep.
Later, the sound of a voice calling down from high on one of the masts startled Rath awake. Though he didn’t understand the words, the tone warned him it was not good news. The sudden, urgent rush of the crew confirmed it.
Maura stirred, too, as several men ran by in different directions. “I wonder what’s wrong.”
Rath had a good guess, but he did not want to alarm her.
Then the young crewman who had given Maura the sea grass dashed up to them. “Captain says you’re to go below and stay out of the way. We’ve spotted ships coming up fast behind us—the Ore Fleet, Captain says.”
The boy spat on the deck. “Slag the scum! If they catch up, grab something heavy and jump overboard with it. I’d rather be food for the fish than let the Han get hold of me!”
Rath could not concur with the lad’s dire advice, he realized as he hoisted Maura up from the deck. More than once when faced with the choice between death and capture, he had nothesitated to choose death. Now, when he looked within himself, and found a fragile bud of belief taking root, he knew that death was no longer an honorable choice for him.
4
W ould it never end? Maura wondered as Rath helped her up from the deck. Would the two of them never know more than a stolen moment’s peace before they were plunged once again into turmoil and peril?
Her belly no longer pitched and heaved as it had last night. Instead, a deep hollow seemed to gape inside her as she stared at the ominous dark shapes growing larger behind them. It was not as though she’d never faced the Han before. She had been running from them, hiding from them, and fighting them in one way or another ever since that fateful day the messenger bird had arrived for Langbard. Yet none of those encounters had shaken her in quite the way this one did.
Out on this vast water with nothing between the sea and the sky, there was no place to hide—nowhere to run. And the number of enemies was far greater than the few she and Rath had so far overcome on their travels. Only at the Beastmount Mine had they encountered anything like this. Then, they’d had time to plan surprise attacks.
This time, the surprise was on them.
Around her and Rath, the crew scrambled, adjusting sails and performing other tasks, the purposes of which she did not understand. The air was charged with a sense of alarm, ready to erupt into outright panic at any moment. It felt contagious and Maura feared she might be the first to catch it.
“Come.” Rath tugged on her arm. “Let’s get you somewhere safe. Then I will see if I can do anything to help.”
Maura braced her feet on the wooden decking. “You heard the boy. If the Han capture this ship, nowhere will be safe. I would rather stay with you and do what I can to make sure that does not happen.”
For a moment, Rath looked ready to argue.
She did not give him the chance. “We must trust in the Giver and in our destiny. They have never let us down yet, no matter how bleak things looked. I cannot believe they led us all the way to the Secret Glade only to abandon us so soon.”
Her words worked—on herself at least. A strange, potent energy swelled to fill the void of doubt within her. All the challenges she and Rath had overcome to get here flooded through her memory, magnifying that power. Looking back, it almost seemed those obstacles had been contrived to increase in difficulty and risk. Each time testing them harder, calling forth greater wit, strength, courage and
Through the warm hours after midday, Rath and Maura curled up in a quiet, shaded corner of the deck and let the motion of the ship and the soothing music of the waves lull them to sleep.
Later, the sound of a voice calling down from high on one of the masts startled Rath awake. Though he didn’t understand the words, the tone warned him it was not good news. The sudden, urgent rush of the crew confirmed it.
Maura stirred, too, as several men ran by in different directions. “I wonder what’s wrong.”
Rath had a good guess, but he did not want to alarm her.
Then the young crewman who had given Maura the sea grass dashed up to them. “Captain says you’re to go below and stay out of the way. We’ve spotted ships coming up fast behind us—the Ore Fleet, Captain says.”
The boy spat on the deck. “Slag the scum! If they catch up, grab something heavy and jump overboard with it. I’d rather be food for the fish than let the Han get hold of me!”
Rath could not concur with the lad’s dire advice, he realized as he hoisted Maura up from the deck. More than once when faced with the choice between death and capture, he had nothesitated to choose death. Now, when he looked within himself, and found a fragile bud of belief taking root, he knew that death was no longer an honorable choice for him.
4
W ould it never end? Maura wondered as Rath helped her up from the deck. Would the two of them never know more than a stolen moment’s peace before they were plunged once again into turmoil and peril?
Her belly no longer pitched and heaved as it had last night. Instead, a deep hollow seemed to gape inside her as she stared at the ominous dark shapes growing larger behind them. It was not as though she’d never faced the Han before. She had been running from them, hiding from them, and fighting them in one way or another ever since that fateful day the messenger bird had arrived for Langbard. Yet none of those encounters had shaken her in quite the way this one did.
Out on this vast water with nothing between the sea and the sky, there was no place to hide—nowhere to run. And the number of enemies was far greater than the few she and Rath had so far overcome on their travels. Only at the Beastmount Mine had they encountered anything like this. Then, they’d had time to plan surprise attacks.
This time, the surprise was on them.
Around her and Rath, the crew scrambled, adjusting sails and performing other tasks, the purposes of which she did not understand. The air was charged with a sense of alarm, ready to erupt into outright panic at any moment. It felt contagious and Maura feared she might be the first to catch it.
“Come.” Rath tugged on her arm. “Let’s get you somewhere safe. Then I will see if I can do anything to help.”
Maura braced her feet on the wooden decking. “You heard the boy. If the Han capture this ship, nowhere will be safe. I would rather stay with you and do what I can to make sure that does not happen.”
For a moment, Rath looked ready to argue.
She did not give him the chance. “We must trust in the Giver and in our destiny. They have never let us down yet, no matter how bleak things looked. I cannot believe they led us all the way to the Secret Glade only to abandon us so soon.”
Her words worked—on herself at least. A strange, potent energy swelled to fill the void of doubt within her. All the challenges she and Rath had overcome to get here flooded through her memory, magnifying that power. Looking back, it almost seemed those obstacles had been contrived to increase in difficulty and risk. Each time testing them harder, calling forth greater wit, strength, courage and
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