Practical to a fault, Becca pushed her painful feelings down and kept swimming. She arrived at the storehouse a few minutes later, unlocked it, and swam inside. Glancing around, she spotted some shovels leaning against a wall.
The work crew in charge of the lava detail had covered a lot of seafloor, but there was a good deal more to search. Becca grabbed a shovel, locked the storehouse, then swam north through the black water, determined to get a head start on the day, organize her work crews, keep everything and everyone under tight control.
It was the only way to silence the one thing she couldn’t control: her willful, traitorous heart.
MAHDI WATCHED closely as Vallerio, Miromara’s high commander, moved tiny marble soldiers across a map that lay on the table in front of them. Mahdi’s dark eyes were troubled. He’d returned from the western border an hour ago, only to be pulled into a military meeting.
“We have over fifty thousand weapons hidden in warehouses throughout Qin,” Vallerio said, frowning, “and the same number of troops infiltrating the realm. The question is: Do I move more soldiers in and attack now, or do I wait?”
“For what?” Portia Volnero, Vallerio’s wife, asked, with an impatient toss of her head. “The sooner Qin is ours, the better.” She’d recently returned from Ondalina, where she’d forced the new admiral, Ragnar Kolfinnsson, to swear allegiance to Miromara.
“I’m worried about the Black Fins,” Vallerio said. “I’ve sent battalions to the Southern Sea as well. Just in case.”
“In case of what?” Mahdi asked. He knew, but his information had come from Sera, not Vallerio, so he had to pretend ignorance or Vallerio might become suspicious.
“In case of trouble,” Vallerio said evasively. “One of our allies has…” He paused slightly, then said, “…interests there that require our protection.”
“Which ally is that?” Mahdi pressed.
“You haven’t met him yet. But you will. All in good time,” Vallerio assured Mahdi. His tone brooked no further discussion. Mahdi let the matter drop, but he knew who the unnamed ally was: Orfeo.
The fact that Vallerio was moving troops into the Antarctic waters raised the scales on Mahdi’s tail. Was Orfeo planning to enter those waters soon? He would have to get word to Sera, via his courier. Allegra, a Miromaran farmer, secretly brought and took message conchs for Mahdi when she delivered produce to the palace kitchens.
Vallerio frowned at the map now. “If the Black Fins discover we’ve moved so many of our soldiers out of Miromara, they might attack us.”
Portia laughed. “The Black Fins shouldn’t worry you, Vallerio. According to our spy, Guldemar only gave Serafina twenty thousand troops. She wouldn’t dare attack with such a paltry number.”
Vallerio’s frown deepened. “Serafina has Guldemar’s ear. She might get more troops out of him. Perhaps we should neutralize the Black Fins before we attack Qin.”
Mahdi’s stomach lurched at that, but he kept his expression neutral and chose his words carefully, knowing that what he said next could save or doom Serafina. “I think that would be a mistake.”
Vallerio raised an eyebrow. “Do you? Why?”
“Serafina only has Guldemar’s ear as long as she has gold,” Mahdi explained. “Thanks to your spy, we know how much treasure the Black Fins stole from us, and how much of it Sera paid to Guldemar. Because of our ambushes, she’s also had to pay for additional shipments of food and weapons. She’s running out of funds, her troops are few, and she has no idea that many of our soldiers are in Qin and the Southern Sea. She wouldn’t dare attack us now. We should take Qin, and then annihilate the Black Fins.”
Vallerio digested Mahdi’s words, then nodded approvingly. “I like your thinking,” he said. “I’ll have death riders continue to harass the Black Fins, but no large-scale attack. Not yet.”
Mahdi forced a smile. Relief washed over him. He’d bought the Black Fins more time. He’d kept them safe. That was why he was here in Cerulea, why he’d gotten close to Lucia and her parents, why he risked his life every minute of every day conducting this dangerous charade.
But his relief was short-lived.
“In fact, I like the way you think so much, I’m sending you to Guldemar,” Vallerio said.
“For what purpose?” Mahdi asked. His fins were prickling, but once again, he hid his true feelings.
“To get him to break with the Black Fins. Bribe him, Mahdi. Threaten him. Do whatever you have to do, but make him see that it’s in his best interest to ally himself with us, not Serafina,” said Vallerio. “I want you to go tomorrow.”
“That’s a wonderful idea!” Portia trilled.
“I’ll leave first thing in the morning,” Mahdi said. His smile was still in place, but inside he was cursing Vallerio. The last thing he wanted to do was talk Guldemar out of helping Sera.
“Excellent. Now,” Vallerio said, focusing on his map again, “after we take Qin, I think we should—”
His words were cut off as the door to the stateroom opened and Lucia entered, in a swirl of lavender sea silk.