Chapter 3
They were woken early the next morning by an apologetic messenger who had been sent to summon them to the ambassador’s private office. He could only be persuaded to wait outside with the promise that they’d join him just as soon as they were dressed, and they fell out of bed, heads aching, still feeling fuzzy from the late-night alcohol.
“And this is another reason why you can’t try and banish me to the window seat,” Eleanor said as she pulled clean clothes from the closet. “We can’t have aides coming in and finding us like that, it’d cause all kinds of talk.”
“Fine,” Daniel said, voice muffled by the tunic he was pulling over his head.
“Seriously. There’s no privacy here, and we could do without raising any more suspicions.”
“Yes, fine, you win. Is that enough for you?”
“I was just making an observation. If we can’t maintain a cover story within our own embassy, we’re not much good at this.”
The messenger rapped impatiently at the door, and moments later they were following the him along the corridor, their own conversations halted.
“I’m sorry to do this to you,” the ambassador said as they were shown in. “I wouldn’t normally disturb you, but we find ourselves in a most uncomfortable situation, and I hoped you could lend your expertise.”
“Tell us what has happened,” Daniel said.
“My deputy wasn’t at her usual duties when I got up today.” The ambassador pressed his palms together as he spoke, barely maintaining the composure that would normally be expected of an Imperial official. “In the five months she’s been here she’s always been awake before me, and I got up around my usual time, a little after dawn. Anyway, she wasn’t there, so I sent someone to check on her and she was missing from her room.”
Eleanor stared at him. “Gisele’s missing?”
“Yes. Really, this is most unlike her. I can’t imagine a harmless explanation.”
“We saw her at dinner,” Eleanor said. “What do we know after that?”
“Not much. She retired early, but her bed hasn’t been slept in.”
“I am not sure how we can help,” Daniel said. “She could have gone anywhere in the city.”
“Can you show us her room?” Eleanor asked. “That seems like the best place to start.”
“There’s not much to see, but by all means, follow me.”
They went across the hall to Gisele’s bedroom, and as the ambassador had noted, there was no indication of anything out of place. Eleanor lifted the pillow to reveal a neatly folded nightdress.
“So she didn’t get into her nightclothes,” she said. “And as you said, no-one has slept here. Do you have a regular laundry service in the embassy?”
“Of course.”
“And your servants would come round every night to collect your dirty clothes?”
“We put them outside the door and then the boy comes for them, yes.”
“Could you go and find him, and ask whether Gisele put her laundry out last night?”
The ambassador nodded. “Wait here. I’ll send someone to wake him.”
“Why does it matter whether she put her laundry out?” Daniel asked as the ambassador left.
“I think I can guess what’s happened,” Eleanor said. “But I wanted him out of the way for a moment. If I’m right, I’m sure they’ll find that she put her clothes out, just like normal. She’s smart enough to avoid giving herself away.”
“Where do you think she is?”
“I’m not sure where she’ll be now. But we know we were followed last night.”
Daniel pushed the door closed and lowered his voice. “You think that was her? Why would she do such a thing?”
“She wanted to know what you were up to. If there’s any chance she overheard us mention going out, I wouldn’t be surprised if she followed us to see what she could find out.”
“Do you have any evidence of this?”
“I know Gisele. I know the kinds of things that’d cause her to go sneaking about in the night.”
“We cannot trust something so important to your instincts, Eleanor.”
“I warned you she’d do something stupid,” Eleanor said. “Besides, she’s gone out fully dressed but she’s left her boots here. That means she’s gone out in her house-shoes.”
“That suggests she did not plan to leave the embassy.”
“Or that she didn’t want us to hear her. She may not have our training, but we spent enough years together creeping down to steal midnight snacks from the kitchens. She wore her slippers so we wouldn’t hear her.”
“And where is she now, if you are right in your hypothesis?”
“If we’re lucky she’s still in there, whether hiding or imprisoned.”
“And if she is not lucky?”
“On a ship bound for Taraska La’on.”
Daniel had his mouth open to speak when the ambassador opened the door, accompanied by a young man who was still in his nightshirt.
“If you could repeat what you just told me,” the ambassador said, encouraging the young man ahead of him into the room.
“The ambassador asked me about collecting the assistant ambassador’s laundry,” the youth said, a slight blush rising in his cheeks. “And I was just saying that everything seemed to be normal last night.”
“She was wearing a blue tunic at supper,” Eleanor said. “Did she put that out for you?”
“Yes ma’am. Do you need me to fetch it?”
“No, that’s fine. Have you worked here for long?”
“About a year.”
“And would you say you’re quite familiar with the range of the assistant ambassador’s wardrobe?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“You’ve collected the assistant ambassador’s laundry ever since she arrived here.” Eleanor opened Gisele’s closet and beckoned him forwards. “Has she been through all of her clothes?”
“At least twice, yes.”
“And could you identify what she might be wearing right now?”
He considered it for a moment, shuffling through the stack of clean clothes. “Everything that stands out is here or down in the laundry room. She must be in one of her plain black tunics.”
“Thank you. You can go back to bed now.”
He nodded, looking immensely puzzled, and left the room without another word.
“Do you have any ideas?” the ambassador asked.
“She put her laundry out and changed into clean clothes that weren’t her nightwear,” Eleanor said. “And there are no signs of any struggle. She obviously went somewhere of her own accord, but it’ll take a while longer to work out where that may be. Can we have full access to her office?”
“Whatever you need. I’m just glad you two happened to be here.”
“We’ll see what we can do.”
“You will make our excuses to the Faliskan traders?” Daniel asked. “They are expecting to see us this afternoon.”
“I’ll tell them you’ve taken ill. It’s quite normal to lose a day or two when you come to a strange country.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll unlock Gisele’s office for you, and then I’ll be in my rooms if you need anything.”
“You could have someone send breakfast,” Eleanor said. “I can’t concentrate on an empty stomach.”
“If you are right,” Daniel said once they were alone behind the closed door of Gisele’s small office, “what do you think we can do about it?”
“If I’m right? Do you have a better explanation?”
“Not yet. So, if you are right, what would you have us do?”
“We have to try and get her back,” Eleanor said. “We can’t leave her in the hands of those Tarasanka bastards.”
“It is a lot to risk on a hunch, when for all we know she could walk back in at any moment.”
“She went out in her slippers! And she’s been gone all night. How long would you wait, knowing t
hey’ll want to make her talk?”
“Well, we cannot simply walk into the Taraska embassy in broad daylight. We have time to consider other options.”
Eleanor picked up a sheaf of papers and flicked through them. “There’s nothing here that’s going to help us.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I’m right. And Gisele’s job was boring. Embassy accounts, taking care of visitors, occasional meetings with minor Falisanka officials. Nothing that could possibly be worth disappearing over.”
They were disturbed by a servant with a platter of fruit and cheese. Eleanor picked up a slice of something green with watery flesh, and sat down in Gisele’s chair to think as Daniel continued to work meticulously through notes and files.
“I wouldn’t expect you to know this,” she said, reaching for another piece of the same fruit. It wouldn’t be her first choice of breakfast, but at least its faint flavour was relatively inoffensive. “But I wonder if there are any plants growing in this part of the world that are illegal in Faliska. Something that they’d refuse to sell to us.”
Daniel looked over the top of his papers at her. “Why would you expect me to be ignorant of something so simple?”
“Well, unless you made a detailed study of Falisanka trade laws when I wasn’t looking?”
“I would not claim to be a legal expert but ngali’a grows in the sands, and no sane government would permit the sale of such a deadly poison.”
Eleanor smiled. “I suppose I underestimated you. That sounds like it’ll do nicely for our purposes.”
“And what are our purposes?”
“I think I’d like to make a small purchase. We’re here with a trade delegation, after all. It’d hardly be out of character for us to visit a neighbouring embassy if we were struggling to fulfil a particularly challenging requirement.”
“You cannot possibly be suggesting–”
“I’m going to the Tarasanka embassy.” She licked her fingers clean and dried them on her trousers as she got to her feet. “But if Gisele’s paperwork is that interesting, you don’t have to come.”
“Now?”
“Now. Are you coming?”
He made space for his stack of papers on the corner of the desk. “I would not trust you to go alone when you are in this mood.”
“What mood?” Eleanor asked. “On second thoughts, don’t answer that. Come on, then, if you’re coming.”
There was a young man guarding the door of Taraska’s embassy; though he was heavily armed, he smiled as they approached.
“I can to helping you?”
“I hope so,” Eleanor said. “We’re here with the trade delegation from Charanthe, and we’re having a little difficulty finding something we need. Is there somewhere we can talk in private?”
He waved them into his guard room, where he could keep an eye out for any further visitors as they conversed.
“Have you heard of the plant called ngali’a?” Eleanor asked.
He shook his head. “What it being?”
“It’s a plant that grows out in the desert.” If he didn’t know they were asking about a poison, she didn’t need to enlighten him. “Faliska refuse to sell it and it’s not practical for us to send an expedition to search the land, but I’ve heard it’s possible to buy anything in Taraska.”
“Anything, yes, if you having right money.”
“We can pay well.”
“Today, five dollars Charanthe,” he said. “And the rest when you collecting your parcel.”
Eleanor nodded and reached for her coin purse. The guard rummaged on his desk, tore a blank strip from the bottom of a scroll of parchment, and inscribed a few words in the flowing Tarasanka script.
“You writing here what is called,” he said, indicating a gap between words. “And here, your names.”
Eleanor took the quill, dipped it, and inscribed “ngali’a” with letters of the Charanthe alphabet. And then, because she was afraid her own details might have been noted in some Tarasanka records, she added Daniel’s name to the bottom.
“Will they understand Charanthe letters?” she asked.
The guard squinted at her handwriting. “Yes, is fine. I will sending this to ship later, and ship is going for Taraska La’on at daybreak. Your message will arriving in four days. You should expecting your parcel from me when ship returning, ten days from now. Then you paying.”
“We’ll be going down to the harbour shortly – I can take the message myself, if you let me know the name of your ship.”
“Ship is name Ktasi’on.” He handed her the note. “You should be easy to finding it. You giving this to captain, and he arranging everything for you.”
The Ktasi’on was easy to spot in Faliska’s quiet harbour, its red Tarasanka flag whipping against the mast. Eleanor gripped the note tightly against the winds as she approached the sailor who was guarding the gangplank.
“Is this the ship heading for Taraska at dawn?” she asked.
The sailor nodded. “Taraska, yes.” He was a young man, but months of sea air and sun had left heavy lines on his face.
“I have a message for your captain.”
“Okay.” He held his hand out. “I giving.”
“It’s an important trade request,” Eleanor said as she handed the note across. “Please make sure your captain sees it before you sail.”
The sailor tucked the paper inside his waistband without looking at it. “I giving,” he repeated.
“Thank you.” Eleanor took Daniel’s arm and made as if to leave, then hesitated after a couple of steps and turned back to the sailor. “We actually have a number of interests to pursue in Taraska. Is there any space on the boat for passengers?”
He looked blank. “Sorry, not understanding.”
“We would like to travel on your boat. As passengers.” Eleanor waved her hands to indicate herself and Daniel, and the boat.
The sailor shook his head. “We not taking peoples, no.”
“Do you know of any other boats which might be heading that way in the next few days?”
“Sorry?” He looked thoroughly confused.
“Never mind. Thanks anyway – you’ve been very helpful. Please do make sure our message reaches your captain.”
They stopped as soon as they were around the corner and out of sight of the harbour.
“That’s the boat,” Eleanor said. “I’m sure of it. They won’t let us travel with them because Gisele’s locked up in the hold.”
Daniel shrugged. “Perhaps.”
“Do you think I’m wrong?”
“I think he did not understand much of what you were asking. And there are many reasons why a ship may not take passengers.”
“Well, obviously, but in the circumstances...”
“In these particular circumstances, we need more information before we act.”
“If you can distract that lad’s attention, I can sneak on board and check.”
“When I said ‘before we act,’ I meant it. I will not allow you to jeapordise our position.”
“Where are we going to get more information without doing something? If you’re not going to help, I’ll just have to do it alone.”
“No.” He caught her arm and stopped her as she began to walk.
“Let me go.”
“I cannot. Sorry.”
“Daniel, don’t make me fight you.”
He kept a tight grip on her arm. “I should prefer to avoid it.”
“Then let me go. I can have her free before lunch and we can get back to business.”
“We do not know for sure that Gisele is even there. You cannot destroy our mission on a mere feeling.”
“If they hurt Gisele to make her talk she’ll blow our cover all by herself. Which way would you prefer it?”
“The boat does not leave yet. We must be patient.”
She sighed. “Okay, what do you propose?”
“There are a couple of guesthouses by the harbour. We should t
ake a room with a sea view at one of them, and wait.”
“For what?”
“If you are correct, they captured her last night. Would you not prefer to keep your prisoner safely in an embassy cell until the last moment? And would you not wait for darkness to move her to your ship?”
“Okay.” Eleanor nodded. “We’ll watch to see if they move her in the night, but if we don’t see anything then you have to let me go and search the ship.”
“If the ship comes to leave, you may do as you wish.”
The first guesthouse they tried had a shortage of guests, so it was easy to negotiate a forward-facing room with a view of the harbour. They paid for one night in advance – to knowing looks from the landlord – and went up to make themselves comfortable in their new watchtower.
“We’d better take shifts,” Eleanor said, sitting on the pallet which took the place of a bed. “It’s going to be a long day.”
“Can you sleep now?” Daniel asked.
She stretched out and yawned. “I can sleep any time. Wake me up when you get tired.”
He took a seat by the window, and Eleanor watched him from between half-closed eyes until she drifted into sleep. Daniel woke her in the late afternoon, and took his turn on the pallet as she assumed the watch duties.
The harbour was quiet for most of the evening, although a couple of carts stopped near the Tarasanka ship. But the crates they unloaded could never have contained any prisoner who might survive to tell of it, and then darkness fell, and all traffic stopped. She had nothing else to report when she at last woke Daniel to swap roles again.
She slept lightly and dreamed of a man who looked very like Daniel, but in her dreams he was warm and cheery, nothing like his usual reserved and formal manner. She rolled over as she woke and reached out to where she expected to find him, starting in surprise when she found the bed empty. But of course he was still at his seat by the window, watching, waiting. It all came back to her as she sat up and rubbed her eyes, but she couldn’t quite shake the alternate reality of the dream world.
“How late is it?” she asked, trying to bring her mind back to the present.
“Not late. You did not sleep for long.”
“Have you seen anything?”
He looked round. “I would have woken you.”
“I know.” She stretched, throwing back the sheets. “Nothing’s going to happen, anyway, because she’s probably already in there.”
“My logic failed to convince you, then.” Daniel sounded amused.
“They don’t mess about. I don’t think they’re natural strategists. I think we should just go and raid the ship.”
“And warn them of our interest? Better not to give away our suspicions.”
“Well if I’m right she’s already in the hold, and if you’re right then they’ll leave it till the last possible moment and bring her just before dawn.” She tilted her head and waited for him to respond.
“So?”
“So I don’t know why we’re bothering with this all-night vigil. We could both get some sleep while we wait.” She stretched out on the bed and beckoned him to join her. “We didn’t get much rest last night.”
“I am fine,” he said. “I can stay here. Go back to sleep. It is not your shift yet.”
“You’re not listening to me. If we both sleep for a while now, we’ll be more awake when we need to act.” She patted the empty half of the bed. “Come on, we’ll both be more effective if we get a good night’s sleep.”
“Well, she is your friend.” He came across to the pallet and removed his trousers before sitting down next to her. “If you are prepared to risk it, I will sleep.”
“We’ll both wake up as soon as there’s any light in the sky, and probably before. It’s not much of a risk.” She slid her hand beneath his tunic, and rested her head on his chest. “And this is much nicer than sleeping alone.”
“Take care,” he murmured. “We cannot afford dependencies.” But he made no move to dislodge her.
It was still dark when Eleanor woke, only a little moonlight illuminating the room. Her hands wandered beneath Daniel’s tunic as he slept beside her; she’d dreamt about him again, and more than anything she wanted her dream-Daniel to be real. He woke suddenly and she pulled away, embarrassed to have been caught out in her daydreams, but he turned and pressed his lips against hers, rolling her onto her back and pushing her down onto the bed as he slid one hand between her legs.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him closer, breathing deeply into his neck, hopeful that her dreams might not have been so far from the truth after all. Reality was more sticky than dreams, and Daniel less expressive, but those were details she was prepared to overlook. At least he’d stopped trying to persuade her that they shouldn’t be doing this.
There was no water at the wash stand, and it felt an unreasonable time to disturb their landlord, so they pulled crumpled clothes over sweaty skin. Daniel went to look out of the window as he laced his shirt.
“Look,” he said, turning with laces still half-fastened. “The ship is gone.”
“No, it can’t be.” Eleanor yawned and joined him at the window to see for herself. “The guard said they were sailing at dawn. Maybe they moved further along the quay?”
“See?” He waved down at the space which the boat no longer occupied. The rest of the harbour was equally quiet; wherever the ship had gone, it was out of sight, and the sun hadn’t yet broken the horizon.
“Bastards!” Eleanor slammed her palm against the wall. “I can’t believe it. They must’ve guessed we were going to try something.”
“Impossible.”
“They know we were asking questions – and now they’ve changed their departure. Don’t you think it’s possible they were suspicious?”
“Any number of things could have altered their plans.”
“These things are set by the tides. You don’t change your course unless something drastic happens – it must be our fault. We must have made them suspect. Come on, we need to do something.”
“Such as?”
“We have to find a fast boat to take us to Taraska La’on,” she said. “They’ll be half a day ahead of us, at best, and we can’t give them time to hide her in the city before we get there.”
“We still do not know–”
“They’re running,” Eleanor said. “That means we know.”
Daniel nodded. “Go back to the embassy and fetch an interpreter,” he said. “We cannot negotiate this ourselves.”
“Where are you going?”
“I need to visit the market. I will meet you back here.”
Although it was barely dawn, the ambassador was already in his office when Eleanor arrived. “And?” he asked as soon as he saw her. “What news?”
“A Tarasanka ship left the harbour early this morning,” Eleanor said. “We’re almost certain that Gisele’s on board.”
“And you allowed it to leave?” He shook his head. “Sorry, that isn’t fair. You don’t even have a boat. What are we going to do?”
“We’ll follow them. But we need to borrow an interpreter – do you have someone we can trust?”
“Of course. How long will you need her for?”
“We just need someone to come down to the harbour and find us a captain. Can you wake her now?”
“Wait here.”
The ambassador returned a short while later, followed by a middle-aged lady with tousled hair and her shirt buttons fastened off-centre.
“Eleanor, this is Lana,” he said. “She can speak six local dialects as well as standard Falisanka, and she can get by in Tarasanka and Magrad.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Eleanor said, extending her hand. “And I’m sorry to get you out of bed.”
“It’s no problem,” Lana said. “Urgent requests don’t come around that often, for translators.”
“No, I should think not. But we’re in something of a hurry today. If you’ll excuse us, ambassador?
”
“Of course, of course. I’ll be expecting to see you all safely home any day now.”
“And you want me to find you a boat?” Lana asked. “Do you have a budget?”
“You’d better ask the ambassador,” Eleanor said. “It’s his deputy we’re trying to rescue. I assume we have whatever resources we need.”
“Take whatever you need,” the ambassador agreed, and handed across a heavy purse. “Just send Lana back with the rest.”
As Eleanor and Lana walked back down to the shore, Eleanor started to give instructions on what she was hoping to achieve.
“Wait here, and I’ll see what I can do,” Lana said as they came within sight of the harbour.
“It has to be a fast boat,” Eleanor added. “We have a lot of time to make up.”
She waited by the city gate as Lana walked across and exchanged a few words with a young fisherman who was folding his nets. He shook his head and pointed along the quay towards another boat, and Lana followed his directions to engage an old sailor in conversation. With much muttering and waving of hands they seemed to reach some agreement, and Lana came back to Eleanor.
“I can try some other boats if you like,” Lana said. “But that one is about to leave now, heading east, which seems to fit your requirements.”
“I’d like to talk to the captain,” Eleanor said. “If you don’t mind translating.”
“That’s what I’m here for.”
They walked back down to the harbour together, and Eleanor shook the old seaman’s hand.
“Is he the captain?” she asked Lana, who nodded. “Can you ask him exactly when he’s hoping to leave?”
Lana’s voice dropped a few tones when she spoke in Falisanka, with several sounds which croaked from the back of her throat. Eleanor just looked on with interest. She’d made a short study of the local languages, but not enough to understand a fluent speaker in full flow.
“He was about to leave,” Lana said. “He can wait for you, but not for long. He says he must be away before the tide turns.”
Eleanor nodded. “That’s fine – we don’t want to wait as long as that. I just need Daniel to come back from the market. And how long will it take him to reach Taraska?”
“Three days,” Lana said after another brief exchange with the captain.
“And his price? I can sail competently, if that helps you negotiate.”
Lana turned and said a few more words in Falisanka. The captain shrugged, and held up three fingers.
“Three dollars,” Lana said, though the gesture barely needed translating.
“Charanthe?”
“I assume so. They don’t really have their own currency here.”
“Okay, that’s great. Will you ask him to wait? I’ll give him a dollar as a deposit, and we won’t be long.”
Eleanor thanked Lana, sent her back to the embassy with the rest of the ambassador’s money, and went up to the guesthouse to wait for Daniel. He came in from the market with a bag full of shopping, and she wondered what he’d thought was so important that it couldn’t be bought in Taraska.
“Here.” He threw a jar towards her, and she caught it instinctively.
“What’s this?” she asked, peering at the thick, dark liquid.
“Indigo paste. To colour your hair – you do not wish to risk triggering any memories in Taraska.”
“Now?”
“I think you should.”
She held her head over a bowl and slicked the dark gloop through her red hair. “Now what?” she asked. “How long do I have to leave it?”
“Not long. If you wash it now, your hair should be black.”
By the time she’d rinsed her hair in three changes of water, she had long black tresses and dull grey fingers. She scrubbed at her hands, but the colour wouldn’t shift.
“I look a mess,” she said.
“We will be at sea. Who is going to care how you look?”
She pouted. “I thought you might care.”
“The colour of your fingertips does not interest me.”
“Okay, let’s go.” She picked up her bag, leaving the half-empty jar of dye on the side.
“Take that with you,” Daniel said. “I am not sure how many days before the colour will fade.”
“You could’ve told me that before I used it. The exposure on the boat isn’t going to help it last.”
“You will be fine. We can probably find more in Taraska, if we must.”
“It’d be better to avoid that. If anyone’s watching us, we don’t want them to suspect a disguise.”
“If it is necessary, I will go. There is no chance of my being recognised.”
The boat cast off as soon as Eleanor and Daniel were on board, and they’d barely moved out of the harbour when the rain started falling, big droplets splashing on the deck at their feet. Eleanor looked up at the gathering clouds.
“We’re going to get a storm,” she said to no-one in particular.
The weather turned quickly and before long Eleanor was helping the crew to rig the storm sails, and preparing for a rough day ahead. The boat lurched violently as she climbed back down to the deck, and she glanced across to where Daniel was leaning over the gunwale, regurgitating his breakfast into the sea.
When he turned back to face her, he caught the amused look on her face. “It is not funny.”
“But you grew up on a ship,” she said, unable to stop herself laughing.
“You know I get seasick.”
She nodded; on their journey across the ocean to Faliska, he’d been green from the moment they moved beyond the sheltered waters of the Imperial archipelago. “It doesn’t stop being funny, though. It’s just not what I imagined of your school.”
Daniel just glared at her and sank to the deck as another huge wave crashed into the boat, clinging to one of the mooring ropes for support. Eleanor made her way across to him, feet slipping on the spray-soaked wood.
“Seriously, are you okay?”
“Could you fetch my bag from the cabin? I need to take some of my peppermint mixture.”
“I’ve got a better idea.” She reached out to help him up. “Come with me.”
He took her hand and she led him across the deck, supporting him as the boat rolled in the storm, until they reached the hatch into their cabin. She watched him climb down first, then followed to make sure he reached the bunk without further incident.
“Now, lie down, and tell me again what you want from your bag.”
“You know, my little bottle for nausea – probably it has fallen to the bottom by now.”
She rummaged through the bag until her hand came on something cold and hard, and pulled the bottle out with a flourish. Daniel took it from her, uncorked it, and put it to his lips.
“Lucky you’re good at apothecary,” she said as he replaced the cork.
“This is only peppermint, with a little adjustment. Even you could make it.” He handed her the bottle and she tucked it back inside his bag. “Now, I think I will sleep.”
Eleanor glanced around for the nearest bucket and put it on the floor near his head. “Just in case,” she said as she turned to scramble back on deck.
When the skies eventually cleared, Eleanor borrowed a telescope and squinted over the bow. She could see a ship ahead of them in the distance, about the size and shape of the Ktasi’on, but it was too remote to be sure.
“Can we go any faster?” she asked the one man on the crew who spoke a little Charanthe.
He shook his head.
“But now the storm’s died down, surely we can afford to let out the sails?”
She reached for the nearest line, but he put his hand out to stop her from opening the sails.
“Not yet. More winds will to coming.”
She kept hold of the rope. “Are you sure?”
“I am knowing this waters – and this winds. We not yet being out of the storm.”
“But the wind’s blowing eastwards now, and the storm was comin
g in from the south. We should be clear of it now.”
“You must to waiting.”
She leaned against the gunwale and watched as the wind whipped up small waves around the boat. “These conditions are fine,” she said at last. “We need to go faster.”
Before she could insist, though, the wind suddenly turned and picked up again.
“It is how I was telling you,” the sailor said, waving at the sails which were now beginning to snap loudly against the mast. Thunder rolled in the distance, and a moment later it was pouring with rain again.
“Okay,” Eleanor conceded. “How long until it clears?”
“Maybe tomorrow, maybe not. You should be resting.”
There wasn’t much else for her to do in the storm and it was getting dark, so after staring forlornly into the distance until the last of the pink light faded, Eleanor took his advice and went down to the cabin. At least the ship on the horizon – if it were the Ktasi’on – was also being buffeted and slowed by the storm.
Below decks there was only one small sleeping area for all the crew to share, and Eleanor and Daniel would be squashed together on the narrow bunk he currently occupied. He was curled up on the bed and snoring; she tried to move his feet without waking him, but he stirred.
“Top and tail?” she suggested as she hung her bag from a nail on the bulkhead. “I’m not sure how else we’re going to fit in here.”
“Fine,” he murmured, rubbing his eyes. “Is it late?”
“Just past sunset.”
He rolled over and flattened himself against the wall, and Eleanor slid into the narrow space he’d vacated. She gripped his ankles – partly for stability, partly to try and stop him from kicking her in the night – and traced the edge of his foot with her thumb. Unlike her own, callused from so many barefoot runs, his heels were soft.
“You should be training more,” she said, prodding gently at the skin. “These are a scholar’s feet. No strength.”
He ran one hand along her calf and rested it in the crook of her knee. “I am a scholar,” he said, his voice low and sleepy.
Moments later, she heard him snoring again. She was awake much longer, finding it hard to sleep in such a precarious position. It wasn’t comfortable but she didn’t dare move, for fear of losing what little space she had as Daniel thrashed in his sleep.
She replayed the day’s events in her head, wondering if there was any way she could have stopped Gisele falling into this mess, or any chance they could have got her out sooner than this, or whether she should have ignored Daniel completely and stopped the Ktasi’on before it left the harbour. She chided herself for allowing unproductive thoughts to run away with her; regretting the past would do nothing to get Gisele home safely. Hugging Daniel’s soft feet against her cheek, she closed her eyes and waited for sleep to come.
She woke when he tried to climb over her. As she got to her feet she could tell from the boat’s movement that the storm had passed and now, finally, they were racing along in the wake of the Ktasi’on. She could only hope the Tarasanka ship had also been delayed by the weather.