Chapter Twenty-Four

The ship pitched forward under the strength of a forceful summoned wind, its sails bulging as it glided over the waters of the Akkenthian. Tanitha held the kaika's rail, her hands white from the tightness of her grip and the chill from the ocean's salty spray. She looked back toward the harbor. The distance between her and Karazhen's coast was rapidly increasing, as was the creeping surety that she was making a terrible mistake.

She looked over at Alethia. She was standing at the ship's prow with Hathia and Torius, who had indeed arrived moments after Tanitha had boarded the ship. They'd both greeted her with quiet respect, which surprised her, though she wasn't sure why it should; it wasn't as if she'd had any indication that they wanted her dead. The ship was empty but for the four of them. The demons had apparently decided to simply drive the ship forward using elemental manipulation of wind and water rather than utilize rowers, as was more typical on a ship like this.

Tanitha supposed it made sense. It would be easier to make her death look like an accident if there were fewer witnesses.

Alethia must have felt her eyes on her, because at that moment, she broke off whatever conversation she was having with Torius in favor of walking across the main deck to approach Tanitha.

"So," Tanitha said, pitching her voice low as Alethia approached. "What task have you invented to finish this?"

Alethia sent her a look. "I've told you," she said, keeping her volume equally low, "that I have no say in selecting your Trials. I am arbitrating only, and I don't believe you can argue that I've been in any way unfair in that regard."

Tanitha didn't bother replying to that. Instead, she just waited for Alethia to answer her question.

"As for your Trial," Alethia said, "It requires some explanation. About two months ago, I was tasked with ending the predations of a group of pirate ships."

Tanitha looked at her warily, but despite her calm manner, her mind was racing. If she was asked to do something similar… if she was asked to somehow defend Akkenthian shores, she didn't know if she could. Leaving aside the "how" entirely, she wasn't a warrior. She wasn't like the demons, wasn't inured enough to the idea of killing to feel certain that she could do it even to enemies.

"I heard about that," Tanitha said carefully. "You transformed into a leviathan?"

Alethia sent her a look, one eyebrow raised. "You heard about that from Darius, I assume?" she asked, a faint barb in her tone. "Since you would have already been in his Hold?"

Tanitha pursed her lips. "I thought you and I were playing the part of allies," she said. "I think that's to protect your reputation more than mine?"

Alethia snorted. "I wish you had the slightest idea of how deeply I detest the entire concept of playing a role," she said. "But most especially, the one I am playing right now. It grates against my very being." She gave herself a small shake. "In any case, I suppose in a way it's gratifying that even the most isolated peasant girl in our lands heard about that escapade. Yes, I took the form of a leviathan. I destroyed the fleet, and then I traveled directly to Karazhen to explore the possibility of courtship with a certain prince."

Tanitha restrained a wince. Although it was difficult for her to be sympathetic to someone who was actively trying to destroy her, Alethia had been badly wronged.

"What I was only tangentially aware of," Alethia said, her voice still cool, "was that several of the pirates were pulled from the waters alive. And as some of us suspected, they were not, in fact, pirates."

"Mercenaries disguised as pirates, then?" Tanitha guessed, though a part of her was just relieved that the conversation was moving away from the topic of Alethia's almost-betrothal. She had a vague recollection of hearing about suspicions that Sabria had hired pirates to take the risk of attacking Shadowborn ships, but it was too long ago for her to remember the details, if indeed she'd ever been aware of them.

"Very good," Alethia said with a nod. "The sailors weren't Sabrian by blood, so we weren't certain at first, but the confessions came soon enough. We thought the piracy was just a standard way to soften and harass us, but a few days ago, one of the prisoners came forward. He was willing to exchange what he claimed was extremely valuable information for the remaining lives of his crewmembers, a ship, and safe passage from Akkenthian shores."

Tanitha looked at her sideways. "What sort of information?" she asked slowly. ‘Extremely valuable' would have to be an understatement, for that sort of mercy. Meanwhile, she wasn't at all sure how this could be tied to something Naratha would see fit to task her with.

"He refused to say, except to Zharen's magistrate directly," Alethia said. "Magister Alodion wasn't inclined to waste his time on wild claims, but I was curious, and asked him to humor the man. Out of respect to my earlier role, he agreed. The man claimed that they had been attacking our ships, not in hopes of plunder, but in deliberate provocation. They had been hoping, you see, to attract a demon's attention."

Tanitha blinked. She could not in any way conceptualize a reason why one would deliberately try to draw a creature like Alethia into combat. The thought of facing a leviathan was enough to turn her blood to ice.

"Why?" she asked. "That sounds…"

"Like madness?" Alethia supplied wryly. Tanitha nodded. "So one would think. But the man's claims went further. He said that Sabrian elementalists have been at work for some time developing weapons meant to target demons. We've known about some of them," she said with a shrug, when Tanitha's eyes widened slightly. "We do have quite an effective spy network, after all. We weren't overly concerned. But this… he claimed they had developed a device, a type of construct that could momentarily cut off enemies' connection to the Elemental Rifts."

Tanitha stared. Being cut off from the Rifts and their power… that would mean a sudden inability to soul-speak, to manipulate the elements, or even to shapeshift.

Alethia gave a grim nod. "You see the implications of this, then," she said. "Such a thing, if effective, could be devastating in a combat situation. It would entirely shift the balance of power in this region, and not in demonic favor."

"But…" Tanitha thought quickly. "Your source, he claimed they were trying to attract a demon to test this device?" she asked. Alethia nodded, waiting. "And then you went," Tanitha said. "You went, and you defeated them. So that means it was ineffective?"

Alethia shook her head. "The device in question was never brought to bear," she said. "They were… shall we say, unprepared for the sudden appearance of a demon of my strength?" She gave a small smirk. "They didn't know I was there until I'd already sliced through the hulls of three ships. One of which, apparently, was carrying the device."

Tanitha tried not to think of how terrifying that would have been, of the incredible strength of the woman in front of her.

"Was he telling the truth?" she asked, forcing herself to refocus. "About the device? Or was it all just… some elaborate story meant to secure the freedom of his men?"

Alethia's expression was grim. "It's true," she said. "Or at least, it seems to be. We sent a lesser demon to investigate the wreckage. He barely returned alive. It seems that the device is active, sending out pulses that do exactly as we were told. It forced him to return to his birth form, and he nearly drowned."

Tanitha swallowed. "So… if I understand correctly," she said, "there is a device, extremely dangerous to demons, at the bottom of the Akkenthian Sea right now."

"We weren't so very far from Zharen's shores, so referring to it as the bottom of the Akkenthian Sea is an overstatement," said Alethia with a shrug. "But otherwise, correct."

That really didn't make her feel any better. Tanitha waited for Alethia to continue, her heart beating hard.

"Queen Naratha was, rather despite herself, impressed that you managed to survive your first two Trials," Alethia said. "However, she rightly noted that you had yet to demonstrate any particular desire to stand by demonkind. As a woman with a history with Sabria, that is rather important. For the peace of mind of the people, you understand," she said lightly. "They need to have confidence in their leaders' loyalties."

Tanitha's mouth was dry. "So," she said, "you want me to retrieve this device, thus demonstrating my loyalty and my ability to inhibit enemy developments that could endanger your kind."

"Precisely," Alethia said.

"At the bottom of the sea, in a location that a demon couldn't reach, due to the nature of the device," Tanitha said flatly.

"An admirable summary."

Tanitha stared at her. Then, without a word, she walked away.

She stalked to the far side of the ship, then leaned forward, gripping the railing hard. She didn't understand Alethia. She'd been certain that the demon wanted her dead, and that had been true up until the second Trial. She'd thought perhaps there had been some shift in Alethia's feelings there. But now Alethia seemed perfectly content to force Tanitha into a situation that was sure to be fatal. Perhaps, having offered Tanitha an opportunity to flee, she considered her conscience on the matter clear.

Or perhaps she was assuming that when the critical moment came, Tanitha would give up.

Tanitha set her jaw. If that was the case, Alethia was about to be sorely disappointed.

She stalked past the shade pavilion, past Torius and Hathia. Both demons were sending curious glances between her and Alethia, who'd remained at the prow. Tanitha ignored them and continued to the stern, heading for the latched storage compartments there. This type of boat was built for fishing off the shore, and even if that wasn't its present intended purpose, she thought it likely that there were still supplies aboard.

Her luck, such as it was, was with her. She found a coil of rope, two nets, a hopelessly jumbled collection of weights in a damp and warped satchel, and a knife, this last tucked into the recesses of a dark corner. Ignoring the continued curious gazes of the demons, she withdrew what she needed and set to work.

She had barely finished her preparations when the magically-summoned wind died down, and Tanitha looked up to see Torius lowering the sail just as she tied the last of the largest fishing weights into place. She took a deep, steadying breath.

They'd arrived.