Page 37

Now, I thought I could never tell him what I had done. I could never even hint at it. He had killed imperials during the war, but this was akin to releasing an avalanche upon them. Would my father have done that?

I didn’t answer the question, because I wasn’t sure I wanted to know whether my father was the same sort of monster I was.

No one said anything as we passed over what I had left of half of Kacha’s army, not even the Bemishu twins, who I knew must have questions about Kacha’s flags poking out of the earth, the abandoned imperial armor and remnants of the electro cannon still visible, even partially buried in the ground.

Then we reached what had once been our camp.

The tents and supplies were scattered, and forest animals had already worked over the corpses, leaving behind bones and bits of clothing. The forest was already taking back what little space we had cleared to live in. I could see vines and plants inching toward the last signs of civilization, as though it had just been waiting for us to leave.

“Pass by the island,” I directed Naî.

She grunted at me in annoyance. I am not your personal steed.

I looked back, at the Bemishu twins clinging tightly to each other and to the crest along Naî’s back. Tallu sat directly behind me, his warm thighs pressed against mine. I saw no evidence of the forest dragon, and that worried me.

Part of me had assumed that it had only temporarily died off, like leaves falling in the autumn. But if it had, why hadn’t it returned? Why were we left now with only the orange dragonets trailing behind us?

The poisoned elder tree seemed to want proof that we were acting in good faith, that we weren’t about to betray its trust as soon as we were out of its sight.

Either that, or it was attempting to help us in its own way.

The island was abandoned, evidence of our forces only in the flattened grass and footprints. Two bodies wrapped in cloth had been left at the top of the small hills, waiting for the storms. I wondered who they were. Servants? Soldiers? Either way, they were two I hadn’t been able to save.

Is there anything else you would like to see, Your Highness? Naî snarked.

“No.” I put a hand on her neck, patting gently. “Can you find them?”

The owl had said they were on the boats, but I saw no evidence of the rest of Kacha’s army attacking from the land, nor the fleet that made up Namati’s navy. Kacha couldn’t have defeated all of the pirates in a single night, could he?

Naî used the drafts near the ocean to lift higher into the air, floating on an updraft that sent us nearly into the clouds.

Pito screamed but cut herself off quickly. Tallu wrapped one arm around me, and I put my hand on his forearm, reassuring myself that he was all right, that he was not about to fall.

Suddenly, Naî banked left, sweeping away from the coast out into the ocean, the blue-green of the water sparkling underneath us in the sunlight as she raced toward an island in the distance.

“Do you see them?” I shouted over the scream of the wind.

Yes, Naî said. She didn’t say more, and I could feel her tension underneath me, as though she was waiting for me to ask something. Perhaps she wanted me to suggest leaving, fleeing everything and heading north. I didn’t. I couldn’t.

The island was shaped like a crescent, the bay on the opposite side from the mainland. The fleet had collected there, with several vessels even further out at sea. I could see movement on the decks below, sailors shouting at each other, soldiers wearing imperial colors working alongside Spider’s pirates.

Naî dove, her body skimming close to the waves before she beat her wings once, to get us over the railing so that we could land on Spider’s ship. Spider was already on the deck, holding her hat on her head so that it wouldn’t fly off in Naî’s wind.

Namati and Saxu both came out of the captain’s quarters. Namati shook his head, as though he couldn’t believe we had survived, while Saxu actually smiled, bowing in relief when Tallu dismounted.

Tallu reached up for my hand, and I took it, sliding off of Naî’s neck. Before we were even off her back, Naî shifted in size, turning into a creature no bigger than my arm.

The Bemishu twins weren’t fast enough and ended up thudding to the deck with shocked yelps. Saxu straightened, his eyebrows twitching when he looked at the two of them.

“Has the Kennelmaster finished your training?” he asked.

“The Kennelmaster is dead,” Topi said.

“He passed away last night,” Pito said, glancing at me. “We believe it was relief from finally being able to advise the emperor one last time.”

I wasn’t sure why they were protecting me, but Saxu turned, as Sagam came down off the quarterdeck. Hearing the words, he paused on the last step, Asahi behind him, one hand on his shoulder.

“The Kennelmaster is dead?” he asked.