game, popping in curiously to observe which countries deserved your aid and which didn’t.
“Is Petra coming with us?” she asked.
“No. She’ll stay on Jinzha’s ship.” Nezha hesitated. “But, ah, Father told me to make it clear that your meetings resume as usual when we rejoin my brother’s fleet.”
“Even on campaign?”
“They’re most interested in you on campaign. Petra promised it wouldn’t be much. An hour every week, as agreed.”
“It doesn’t sound like much to you,” Rin muttered. “You’ve never been someone’s lab rat.”
Three fleets were preparing to sail out from the Red Cliffs. The first, commanded by Jinzha, would go up the Murui through the center of Hare Province, the agricultural heartland of the north. The second fleet, led by Tsolin and General Hu, would race up the rugged coastline around Snake Province to destroy Tiger Province ships before they could be deployed inland to fend off the main vanguard.
Combined, they were to squeeze the northeastern provinces between the inland attack and the coast. Daji would be forced to fight an enemy on two fronts, and both over water—a terrain the Militia had never been comfortable with.
In terms of sheer manpower, the Republic was still outnumbered. The Militia had tens of thousands of men on the Republican Army. But if Vaisra’s fleet did its job, and if the Hesperians kept their word, there was a good chance they might win this war.
“Guys! Wait!”
“Oh, shit,” Nezha muttered.
Rin turned around to see Venka running barefoot down the pier toward them. She clutched a crossbow to her chest.
Nezha cleared his throat as Venka came to a halt in front of him. “Uh, Venka, this isn’t a good time.”
“Just take this,” Venka panted. She passed the crossbow into Rin’s hands. “I took it from my father’s workshop. Latest model. Reloads automatically.”
Nezha shot Rin an uncomfortable glance. “This isn’t really—”
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Venka asked. She ran her fingers over the body. “See this? Intricate trigger latch mechanism. We finally figured out how to get it to work; this is just the prototype but I think it’s ready—”
“We’re boarding in minutes,” Nezha interrupted. “What do you want?”
“Take me with you,” Venka said bluntly.
Rin noticed Venka had a pack strapped to her back, but she didn’t have a uniform.
“Absolutely not,” Nezha said.
Venka’s cheeks reddened. “Why not? I’m all better now.”
“You can’t even bend your left arm.”
“She doesn’t need to,” Rin said. “Not if she’s firing a crossbow.”
“Are you insane?” Nezha demanded. “She can’t run around with a crossbow that big; she’ll be exhausted—”
“Then we’ll mount it on the ship,” Rin said. “And she’ll be removed from the heat of the battle. She’ll need protection between rounds to reload, so she’ll be surrounded by a unit of archers. It’ll be safe.”
Venka looked triumphantly at Nezha. “What she said.”
“Safe?” Nezha echoed, incredulous.
“Safer than the rest of us,” Rin amended.
“But she’s not done . . .” Nezha looked Venka up and down, hesitating, clearly at a loss for the right words. “You’re not done, uh . . .”
“Healing?” Venka asked. “That’s what you mean, isn’t it?”
“Venka, please.”
“How long did you think I’d need? I’ve been sitting on my ass for months. Come on, please, I’m ready.”
Nezha looked helplessly at Rin, as if hoping she’d make the entire situation dissipate. But what did he expect her to say? Rin didn’t even understand the problem.
“There has to be room on the ships,” she said. “Let her go.”
“That’s not your call. She could die out there.”
“Occupational hazard,” Venka shot back. “We’re soldiers.”
“You are not a soldier.”
“Why not? Because of Golyn Niis?” Venka barked out a laugh. “You think once you’re raped you can’t be a soldier?”
Nezha shifted uncomfortably. “That’s not what I said.”
“Yes, it is. Even if you won’t say it, that’s what you’re thinking!” Venka’s voice rose steadily in pitch. “You think that because they raped me, I’m never going to go back to normal.”
Nezha reached for her shoulder. “Meimei. Come on.”
Meimei. Little sister. Not by blood, but by virtue of the closeness of their families. He was trying to invoke his ritual concern for her to dissuade her from going. “What happened to you was horrible. Nobody blames you. Nobody here agrees with your father, or my mother—”
“I know that!” Venka shouted. “I don’t give a shit about that!”
Nezha looked pained. “I can’t protect you out there.”
“And when have you ever protected me?” Venka slapped his hand away from her shoulder. “Do you know what I thought when I was in that house? I kept hoping someone might come for me, I
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