Read Online The Bonemender's Choice by Holly Bennett - Free Book Online

ship, broken by a barred iron door. Their captors pulled back the bolts and pushed them inside. Madeleine listened to the dry grating of the bolts being shoved home. This was her life now, she supposed: the sound of locks.
    She looked around the dim, almost triangular space. There was just enough floor space to walk a few paces, and a raised platform fitted into the tapering bow. It stank—she smelled urine, and that fishy smell that seemed to permeate the wood of the ship...and body odor.
    Matthieu nudged her and pointed. Huddled into the narrow end of the platform, draped in a ratty blanket that made him almost invisible against the dark planking, sat a boy. He regarded them silently for a moment and then scooted to the edge of the bed—it served, it seemed, as a bed—and stood.
    He was taller than Madeleine, a little older too, she judged. Rough-cut straw hair, rough-woven clothing with patched knees—a peasant boy. He, in his turn, was taking in the children’s fine cloaks and garments. He hesitated, cleared his throat and spoke.
    “I guess we’re all equal here, whatever we are back home. I am Lucien.” His formality dissolved into a sad fleeting smile. “People just call me Luc.”
    D OMINIC COULD NOT stop moving. Dawn was not far off, and still they had no workable plan. He needed to go after his children—
now—
and with every passing hour they drew farther away.
    Dominic and the others had wakened the whole household on their return: just telling what had happened and everyone’s shocked reactions had taken up precious time. It had been terrible to watch the blood drain from Justine’s face, to see the soft edges of sleep transform into terror. That terror gripped her still, Dominic knew, though she had pushed it back enough to sit at the big table with the others, searching for some plan that would bring back her babies.
    Derkh was not with them. His eyes had grown big on hearing the news, and then he had blurted out, “I’ll be back,” and bolted from the room. They had seen no sign of him since. Well, it wasn’t Derkh’s family or his problem. Dominic put the man from his mind.
    “All right, let’s go over it again.” Tristan, sensing Dominic’s growing agitation, took the reins. “We have to go after them, that much is obvious. But there are two huge obstacles. The first, I would take my chances with: Our ships are designed for coastal waters, not the open sea, and our sailors aren’t used to sailing more than a day or two away from landmarks. But the second has to be solved: We don’t know where the pirate ship is headed.”
    “We need someone who can guide us to the Tarzine lands,” Gabrielle said. “Can we pay one of the Tarzine navigators now in port?”
    “I think Derkh is trying to find out just that,” put in Féolan quietly. He sat with a wad of cold toweling pressed to the back of his head. He was pale, taxed by the pounding pain that radiated through his skull, but Gabrielle had said there would be no lasting damage.
    Tristan smacked himself on the forehead. “Gods, I am stupid! Of course, he has gone to find Yolenka!”
    Dominic stopped his pacing. Yolenka had even less reason than Derkh to help them. Yet here was a thread of hope. If her heart was as expansive as the rest of her nature, surely she would at least translate for them and plead their case...
    It was a long wait, long enough that Dominic was ready to ride down to the docks himself to speak with any Tarzine who had a bit of Krylian. Only Solange was able to persuade him toeat breakfast first, with her usual practical sense: “You will not help your children by refusing food, Dominic. You must eat while you can.”
    He had just forced in the first bite of bread when Derkh returned with Yolenka in tow.
    She surveyed them with fierce amber eyes.
    “So, we chase Turga. Take back your childrens. Is past time somebody stops this man.”
    Justine beat Dominic to a reply. She stood, took Yolenka’s hands and asked,