Page 54 of The Rebel's Prize

Lucien glanced at the horizon, where the sun had nearly set. "We’re going to wait. We’ll find an inn where we can eat dinner while we send a few of the men on ahead to touch base with the navire," he said. "Find out when the captain plans to get underway again. We may need to stay here for a night. If we do, then, as far as anyone else has to know, we will tell them we’re planning to depart in the morning via the portals."

Chloe frowned. "Isn't that a waste of time?"

Lucien shrugged. "The captain sets the schedule for his vessel. I can’t change that."

"You're a major," she pointed out.

"Who does not know how to fly a navire. I will not presume to overrule someone who does. We won't reach Basali faster if we fall from the sky because the mages grow too tired."

She grimaced. "It feels as though we're giving them time to get away."

"With all due respect," Lieutenant Envier said, "the troupe uses wagons. They weren't due to reach Basali for a few more days. We will be traveling at a pace much faster than a wagon's. Trust me, we'll be able to catch up."

"And in the meantime," Lucien said with a grin, "we can rest, as you have been so fond of telling me to do for the last few days."

* * *

They rented a pair of rooms so they could wash, eat, and then drink too many cups of the local bitter coffee while they waited for the lieutenant to return. Despite the coffee, Chloe was yawning by the time he made it back, half an hour or so before midnight.

Envier looked as tired as she felt, stubble starting to shadow his jaw. She hoped he'd at least managed some time to eat at the barracks.

"Well?" Lucien asked quietly. "What is it to be?"

"We'll go to the barracks now," the lieutenant replied. "The captain says the mages are rested enough to fly tonight, though we'll probably have to land tomorrow night to let them rest again. There was a matter with a sail that needed some sort of repair, but apparently that has been taken care of, so they await your pleasure, my lord."

"Perhaps we should make that 'Major' now," Lucien said gently. "Once we're aboard the navire, we'll be under military protocol again."

Lieutenant Envier looked almost relieved about that. None of the guards had seemed particularly sad to leave the caravan, and no doubt most of them would be happy to be back in their uniforms.

Which left her only too aware that she hadn't brought any of hers with her. Perhaps just as well, when she still had no clear confirmation that the diplomatic corps wished her to remain amongst their number. But the nerves that tried to rise with that thought were quickly subsumed by the excitement of knowing they were on Deandra's trail once more. The anticipation bubbled through her veins, waking her up in a manner the coffee had failed to achieve.

It didn't take long to gather their things again before they were bundled into a carriage the lieutenant had waiting and driven across the now mostly silent and dark streets of Fierra to the outskirts of town. The barracks had sizable grounds, protected by a high fence and guards.

But they were waved through the gates quickly and driven around to the back of the cluster of low stone buildings, where the navire rested in a field behind the parade ground. As always, the sight of what was, for all intents and purposes, a large ship, resting on grass, was incongruous. An effect not lessened by the light glimmering around it from the lanterns both hanging from the deck rails and held by guards stationed at intervals around the vessel.

It looked like something out of a dream, as though it had lost its way trying to find an ocean and might rise up seeking its true home any second. Which it would once they were aboard.

Soldiers surrounded the carriage as soon as it halted, helping them alight and whisking luggage away.

"You can board whenever you're ready," Lieutenant Envier said before he hurried toward the navire.

"No time like the present," Lucien said, offering his arm.

"No," Chloe agreed, keen to be underway.

Still, when they reached the gangplank, she paused to stare up at the navire. The last time she'd been aboard one had been the frantic journey home from Andalyssia. Her memories of that trip were a blur of panic and exhaustion as she and Irina worked to keep Lucien alive and any spare moments she had were spent trying to spur the captain on to push the vessel as fast as possible, all the while doubting her ability to do the first and her authority to do the second.

[Strange,] Octarus said in her head.

[It's perfectly safe for you,] she replied. [Sanctii help fly the navires.] She hadn't thought to ask him before now if he had traveled on one, too caught up in wondering what was going to happen.

[Yes. Still strange] came the reply.

[Sorry. It's the faster way.]

[Yes.] He fell silent again.

"Everything will be fine," Lucien said reassuringly.

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