“Konto Theucinian hired them to kill Markos,” I said. “Won’t he be mad when he finds out they didn’t?”
“Likely greed clouds their judgment. Why get paid once when you can get paid twice?” Her mouth twisted. “I know Diric Melanos. That’s what he’ll be thinking.”
“You know him?” This was something I hadn’t heard before.
“We’ve met. I’ll tell you this much, he’ll be sorry he ever dared touch my daughter.”
“Your daughter.” Pa shook his head. “But you were willing to hand the boy right into those Theucinians’ hands.”
“I told you, nothing had been decided yet.” Ma held her jaw stiffly. “We were only discussing our options. As it happens, the dice have fallen the other way. You can afford to have your high-and-mighty principles, Nick. I can’t. Bollard Company must maintain our relationships—”
“With usurpers and murderers,” Pa grumbled.
“Emparchs, kings, and Margravinas rise and fall, but trade goes on. The current carries us all. You know that. I can’t take sides. This Emparch isn’t one of ours.”
“Yes, yes, because you’re either a Bollard or you’re nothing. Don’t I know it.” Pa rubbed the stubble on his chin. “Ayah, I know enough about that anyway.”
I had a horrible thought. “What if this letter is a lie?” My voice wavered. “What if they only mean to cheat Markos’s family?”
Ma rested her hand on my shoulder. “If it’s a trap, we’ll find out soon enough.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like I said.” The jewel in her nose twinkled as she smiled. “The dice have fallen the other way. We’re going to rescue your Emparch.”
I studied her face. As an accomplished negotiator, she could easily conceal a lie. But Pa seemed to trust her. “In that case,” I said slowly, “there’s someone you should meet.”
Kenté, Nereus, and Daria emerged through the hatch.
“I have the honor of being Lady Daria Andela,” the girl said in a small but formal voice. The ragged hem of her nightgown waved in the wind.
“Your Grace.” Ma bowed.
“Andela?” I asked, surprised. “That’s your name? Is that Markos’s name too?” All at once I remembered the man who’d attacked us in the safe house in Siscema. You have the Andela look about you, to be sure.
“Whyever wouldn’t it be?” Daria narrowed her eyes. “Are you saying you don’t know his name?”
I felt a little sheepish. “He never said.”
“If you don’t even know a boy’s name,” she said with a saucy lift of her chin, “I think you haven’t any business going around ki—”
“Shush,” I said loudly over her, but Pa gave me a suspicious look anyhow.
Ma whistled at Kenté. “Well, your parents will certainly be happy to hear you’re not murdered in a ditch somewhere. Whatever were you thinking, running off like that?” She spotted Nereus, and her voice changed. “Identify yourself at once, sir. For if you figured in my daughter’s story, I do not recall it.”
“You,” Pa said hoarsely, the color draining from his face.
Nereus flashed him a grin. “Surely you didn’t think she’d be left to fight alone.”
“I—No.” Pa glanced at me, then quickly away. He seemed troubled. “It’s just—You ain’t who I expected.”
“The current carries us all as it will,” Nereus said. “As your folk are wont to say. Ain’t that right?”
I looked back and forth between them, bewildered. So Pa had been responsible for sending Nereus. But how—
Sudden understanding flooded through me. The god at the bottom of the river.
Somehow I knew that was the answer. It explained everything: how Nereus had mysteriously appeared on Vix, his secretive manner, and the cryptic references to being three hundred years old. Nereus had mentioned the Bollards, but thinking back, he’d never actually admitted he knew Ma.
“Pa—” I began, eager to hear the whole story.
Abruptly he shook his head, glancing sideways at my mother. “Not here. Not now.”
To my annoyance, he refused to say anything further. Nereus volunteered to stay and guard Vix while Kenté, Daria, and I rowed across to the Antelope, which meant I was prevented from questioning him about it either. Not that he was capable of giving a straight answer.
We ate dinner in the comfort of the Bollard ship’s well-appointed cabins, where Ma’s cook had prepared pasta and clams in a delicate wine sauce. I practically shoveled it into my mouth.
Ma spread a chart on the captain’s table, pinning it down with a brass paperweight engraved with the Bollard crest.
“That’s it.” I put my finger on the map. “Katabata Island.”
“You’re certain that’s what they said?” Ma’s eyes flickered up at me.
“Positive.” I thought back to that night under the dock. “One of the Black Dogs said he voted to go back to Katabata.”
“I know that island. There’s an abandoned fort with a harbor due north—here.” Antelope’s captain, a solid man with long side whiskers, spoke. “Likely that’s where they’re holed up. It’s only a few hours’ sail from here. We could come upon them in the dark. Surprise them.”
“No,” I said, and they all looked at me. “The shadowman, remember?”
Ma twisted one corner of her mouth, watching me with speculation. I suppose she wasn’t used to me speaking up. “We’ll attack at sunup, then.”
Kenté froze with a forkful of pasta halfway to her lips. She gave an almost unreadable shake of her head.
“Dawn might be cutting it too close,” I said. “Noon is when he’ll be weakest. The brightest part of the day.” At my mother’s curious look, I added, “Markos told me lots about shadowmen.”
Markos. It was strange, daring to hope. For the first time, I started to believe I really might see him again.
It was after sundown when we rowed back to Vix. Kenté stared out into the dark, her arm around Daria, whose head kept nodding. I pulled my right oar to turn the dinghy toward Vix’s lantern. Just two days ago we’d been on the run from that cutter, but tomorrow I would be sailing her into battle. Restless anticipation danced in my stomach.
As I rowed under Antelope’s high stern, voices stilled my oars. Lamplight spilled out between the curtains on the windows many feet above us. I held my breath.
“You can’t really be meaning to let her keep that ship.”
“It’s her choice, Tamaré,” Pa said. “She were given a letter of marque from the Margravina. She’s authorized to capture a prize.”
“She’s not of age.”
“A letter of marque is a letter of marque.” I listened to the familiar rise and fall of Pa’s voice. Strange that I’d spent so many days wondering if I would ever see him again. “It’s her ship. Nereus’ll help her with the sailing.”
In the excitement of the battle plans, I’d forgotten Pa’s enigmatic exchange with Nereus. You ain’t who I expected. Desperate for answers, I strained to hear more.
“Of course you won’t tell me where you know him from.” Ma sighed. “Oh, go on with you. You’ll do as you please, just as you always have.” A wistful note crept under the stubbornness in her voice. “I know I gave you the keeping of her, but she’s still my daughter.”