Page 66 of Damned and Broken Gods
The door opened again, and this time Araz entered, a frown pinching his eyebrows. “Leela, why didn’t you wake me?” He joined us at the table, his gaze going to the bowl of gruel. He pressed his lips in a thin line. “Your cook is incompetent,” he said to Ramashi.
Ramashi twisted in his seat, slinging one arm across the back of his chair to look up at Araz with an amused expression. “Minty is old, and he does the best he can with the supplies we have.”
Araz sighed. “Show me the supplies.”
Ramashi’s brows went up. “Are you offering to cook for us?”
Araz snorted. “No. I cook for Leela.”
My chest warmed, but I shook my head. “No need. I’m done. I have to get to work anyway.”
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Positive.”
“Then I’ll come help you.”
“Uh-uh,” Ramashi said. “You know the rules. Drohi cannot assist in the chores.”
Araz’s jaw flexed, his gaze wandering over my features. I knew how I looked. Pale and pinched. The sea wasn’t good to me. The first day had been spent puking and then the last two days had been spent washing the sails, which involved climbing, dangling, scrubbing, and carrying buckets of seawater. Every inch of my body ached. But it was a pleasant ache, the kind that came with a job well done.
“And she won’t be alone,” Ramashi said. “She’ll have company.”
I perked up. “Oh, I didn’t see another name on my rota.”
“You won’t, and they won’t see your name on their rotas.”
“Who am I with?”
“Bina and Vick,” Ramashi said. “You’ll work as a team.”
Araz tensed but didn’t say anything. I sighed. “You know that Bina hates Vick, right?”
“I am aware.”
“So why put them to work together?”
He grinned, the smile so much like Pashim’s that I had to look away. “They’ll have you as a buffer. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
“Is this some kind of test?”
He gave me a wide-eyed look. “Test? I have no idea what you mean.” He pushed back his chair, stood, and stretched. “I’ll seeyou both for midday repast. Happy scrubbing.” He left the room, and Araz took his seat.
“Everything is a test, Leela,” Araz said. “At least we need to assume as much.”
“So what? I need to keep the peace between them?”
“I don’t know.” He pursed his lips, then sat back with a sigh. “My advice, follow your intuition.”
The door opened, and the others began to file in. I caught Bina’s eye, and she lifted her chin in greeting. Yeah, things between us had settled a little the past few days, but I had a feeling that playing buffer between her and Vick was about to rock that boat.
The sun climbed,and it got warmer on deck. It was a strange ship, wood giving way to the dark gray of Vairanya’s shell. I was on all fours, scrubbing green algae off one of those areas when I caught movement several yards to my left.
I sat back on my heels, lifting my arm to shield my eyes from the sun. My stomach dropped at the sight of Bina striding toward an unaware Vick. I should have known putting them at opposite ends of the deck wouldn’t stop a collision.
“Move out of my way!” Bina snapped at Vick, shoving her mop toward his legs to force him to step aside.
Vick stumbled but caught himself before he could fall. “You could have gone around me. Why are you even over here, anyway? You’re meant to be cleaning the other side of the ship.”
