Page 45 of Return of the Vengeful Quee

Charis’s stomach sank. It was one thing to go up against a soldier in battle. It was another to ambush one who lay helpless and dying. No wonder Tal looked upset. She supposed even he had a code of honor.

“Why are the two of you looking like someone kicked your favorite puppy?” Holland asked. “They might be sick now, but they were only on this ship in the first place because they joined their queen’s mission to kill our people and take over our kingdom. If you can’t stomach putting the poison on their sores, I will.”

“They won’t trust you anywhere near the medical bay.” Tal squared his shoulders. “It has to be me.”

“Well, it shouldn’t be too hard. If you can trick Charis into falling in love with you, surely you can manage poisoning some monsters, right?” Holland sounded genuinely curious.

Charis tried to breathe past the sudden ache in her chest. Her face burned, and she was exquisitely aware of Tal’s silence.

After a long moment, Tal said flatly, “I said I’d do it, and I will. Now, Charis, it might be a good idea for you to brush up on your sword skills, too.”

Fine. If he could speak as though it didn’t matter that he’d tricked her into falling in love with him, so could she.

“It’s not like we can get past the Rakuuna’s long reach,” she said because she did not want to be on display in front of him.

“No, the impostor is right. The poison might not kill them.” Holland walked to Charis and handed her his sword. “It might just weaken them. We have to be ready for anything.”

The sword dipped toward the floor as Charis struggled to hold its weight.

When had she become so weak?

Setting it aside as though she’d always intended to and not because she was about to drop it, she reached for her dagger instead, begrudgingly grateful that Tal had retrieved it for her from where she’d dropped it on the deck during her confrontation with the Rakuuna. “I prefer weapons that they can’t see coming until it’s already too late.”

“The fact that they think you’re safely imprisoned on their ship and therefore aren’t a threat to them any longer is proof they’ll never see you coming.” Holland sounded confident, but a whisper of doubt snaked through her.

She hadn’t seen the Rakuuna coming until it was too late. Hadn’t seen Tal’s betrayal coming either. If she couldn’t trust her instincts, what could she trust?

Abruptly sick of being near Tal, she said, “I’m not going to practice with my dagger in front of the two of you. I’m going to check on Reuben after this latest bout of seasickness and then make sure the rest of our people understand the plan.”

“Are you sure you should tell everyone what we’re going to do?” Holland frowned.

“Figuring out how the poison works is only the first step.” Charis sheathed her dagger and headed for the door. “Once we reach Calera, one of us has to survive long enough to get that information to Nalani. While I think Tal has the best odds, the three of us are the Rakuuna’s prime targets, and I don’t feel comfortable assuming any of us are going to live long enough to even send a palloren.”

“You flatter us with your optimism.” Holland swept his hair out of his eyes and picked up his sword again.

“You can figure out a way through this,” Tal said quietly. “You always do.”

Something dark and heavy blossomed in her chest until she thought she might come apart at the seams.

The old Charis could scheme and strategize, confident that she could outwit any foe. This new, hollowed-out version of herself couldn’t see the chessboard clearly, couldn’t understand her enemies, and clearly, given Tal’s true identity, didn’t even know how many enemies she faced.

All she had left was the ability to learn how the poison worked and the desperate determination to get that information to Nalani before the Rakuuna executed the queen who stood between them and crushing the Caleran rebellion.

Seventeen

CHARIS INSISTED ON going with Tal to the medical bay the next morning. She needed information, and while Tal had proven to be an excellent spy, seers curse him, he didn’t read his opponents as quickly as she did. A sick Rakuuna, already defenseless, might be more prone to accidentally giving information away.

The medical bay was on the bottom of the ship, in the opposite corridor to the brig. It was damp and cold, the smell of rotting fish and mold heavy in the air. The main corridor was filled with buckets, piles of soiled rags, and trays with bowls of half-congealed fish soup gone cold. The bay itself was filled wall to wall with thin pallets of woven grass, most of which were occupied by Rakuuna who looked horrifyingly close to death.

Charis choked on the overpowering stench of rot as she followed Tal into the bay. Seven Rakuuna lay on pallets, their scales flaking into the air as they struggled to breathe, their bones jutting against their skin as though they might split the surface at any moment.

In the back corner, a male Rakuuna crouched beside the bed of a female. He rocked back and forth as one trembling hand smoothed the female’s hair. Bubbles of brackish-looking blood rose from her mouth.

“What kind of sickness is this?” Charis whispered, her skin crawling at the thought of catching what was killing these creatures.

“I don’t know.” Tal handed her a damp cloth and then took one as well. “But I’ve helped in here often and haven’t become ill. We should be all right.” He glanced at the satchel of moriarthy dust tied to her belt and looked away.

She swallowed as bile rose to scorch the back of her throat. The smell in the room was overwhelming, but if she was honest, her stomach’s distress had more to do with trying the poison on a creature who was already in so much pain than it did with the stench.

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