Ceren’s men had arrived.

“How did they get here so fast?” I asked.

“Ceren must have commandeered a galley manned by dozens of oarsmen—and paid handsomely for it,” Talin said through gritted teeth as he rowed us toward his vessel. “It’s far faster than a sailing ship.”

Faster, I thought as I took over the rowing for Talin, but I could tell from its long, low design that the ship was not meant for sailing far out to sea. If they planned to chase us, they would be at a disadvantage, especially if we encountered any large swells.

Fortunately, Talin’s men had brought his ship as close as possible, and we reached it quickly. Though I had just been aboard, I hadn’t properly taken in how small it really was, a sloop with only one mainsail. Talin was right about one thing: we couldn’t have taken any more passengers.

Within minutes of our boarding, the sails had been trimmed, and we were pulling away from Varenia. I hadn’t expected to leave again so soon, and I was filled with a mixture of regret and longing for a place that no longer felt like home. As I turned back to catch a final glimpse of the village, I saw someone emerge from the governor’s house. I wished I’d had the chance to explain everything to Sami’s parents. Instead, I would forever be a liar in Kristos’s and Elidi’s eyes. But we would find Sami, and perhaps that would be enough to prove I’d never meant to hurt them.

Osius approached Talin and handed him his spyglass. “You’d better take a look,” he said, pointing toward Varenia.

“Damn it,” Talin hissed, lowering the glass.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “What did you see?”

Talin handed me the spyglass wordlessly. I raised it and focused on Varenia. A boat containing about a dozen men had left the galley and was heading toward Governor Kristos’s house. I focused in on the smaller vessel and gasped when I saw who was at the bow.

As if he’d heard me, Ceren’s pale head swiveled toward our ship. Even from this distance, I had the sense that he knew I was watching him. And somehow, even without the spyglass, I had the strange feeling that I would have known he sensed my presence, too.

“Can we go any faster?” Talin shouted to the captain, but he only shook his head.

“Why would he come himself?” Zadie asked, clinging to the railing for support.

I could see that Talin was cursing himself for not leaving Varenia sooner. Any minute, Ceren would return to his ship and come after us, and we might not be able to outrun him.

But, to my surprise, Ceren’s small vessel remained where it was, and several more boats had set out from the ship to join his. I was about to raise the glass again when something caught my attention in the corner of my eye. “No,” I breathed, my stomach dropping. The Varenian fishing boats were returning.

Heart pounding, I found myself waiting—and suddenly hoping—for Ceren’s boat to circle back to his ship, but, to my horror, he instead continued moving toward the dock. As he disembarked, I remembered too late that Governor Kristos was with Father, so the figure I’d seen come out of the house could only have been Elidi.

“What is he doing?” I shouted, running along the railing. “Turn us around! We have to go back.”

In horror, I watched as several of Ceren’s guards disembarked and began striking down Varenians. Moments later, they were herding the villagers into their small boats, as if...

“They’re taking the Varenians!” I screamed.

“What?” Zadie ran up beside me. “Why? I thought he was coming for you and Talin.”

“So did I.” The fishing boats were getting close to Varenia. I groaned, wishing Father and the others would turn away. But of course they wouldn’t, not now that they’d seen Elidi and the other Varenians were in danger. I turned to Talin and grabbed him by the front of his tunic. “Please, we have to go back.”

Talin looked down at me, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “We can’t, Nor. It’s too dangerous.”

I briefly contemplated wresting the ship’s wheel out of the captain’s hands before acknowledging that I would be quickly overpowered.

“Please,” I cried. Realizing they weren’t going to listen to me, I started to peel off my skirt, ready to leap from the ship and swim back to Varenia on my own.

It was Zadie who stopped me. “Nor,” she shouted, grabbing my shoulders. “You can’t go back. Even if you made it, Ceren would capture you and take you back to New Castle.”

The thought made me weak in the knees, and I slid to the floor, bile burning the back of my throat. “But don’t you see? He’s taking our parents. He could throw them in the dungeon, just like he did to me. Gods, he could do even worse things.”

Zadie sank down next to me. “We don’t know that he has our parents. We have no idea what he’s planning. But we can’t stop him, not without help.” She pulled me against her, cradling my head in her lap. “You did the right thing, Nor.”

I shook my head, but she continued to shush me and stroke my hair. “All I’ve done is put everyone in danger, including you,” I said.

“You didn’t put me in danger. I chose to come.”

I glanced up at her. “But you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”

“I know I’m heading toward Sami, and I’m with you. I also know Mother and Father are stronger than you give them credit for.”

How could she be so calm about leaving the Varenians to face Ceren alone?

I studied my sister’s hands, browned from the sun and callused from rowing. The village had turned their backs on her, and she had managed to help take care of our family despite severe injuries. She was not the girl she’d been, I reminded myself.

And neither was I.

6

Zadie and I passed the afternoon in silence. I didn’t want to speculate on our parents’ fate and cause her more worry, and I suspected she felt the same. As the sky grew dark, I glanced up at the stars to orient myself. We were heading northeast, toward the shore. Zadie had fallen asleep, and I rose carefully so as not to wake her, then went in search of Talin.

He stood at the prow, staring into the darkness, but he glanced back at my approach.

“Are we heading to the port?” I asked, stepping up next to him. “Everyone in Ilara will be looking for us.”

He sighed heavily. “I know. But what choice do we have?”

He was right. The ship didn’t have enough supplies for a long voyage, and anyway, Talin had to get back to his mother. “Where do you plan to look for troops?”

“We’ll start in Meradin,” he said. “It’s well forested and fairly neutral territory. My father did a poor job of ensuring their loyalty, due to their proximity to shore.”