Snake Heart (Chains of Honor #2) -Lindsay Buroker Page 0,53

one thing, she still had him by the arm, like a mother dragging a wayward toddler around at the weekly market. For another, with Dak, Arayevo, and Lakeo gone with the journal, there seemed little point. If they had made it back to the underwater boat, they would have pulled away by now. They would be hiding beneath the waves somewhere out there. If they hadn’t made it because the boat hadn’t been attached anymore when they swam out... Yanko did not want to think about that.

Once he had a view of the ocean, he located the island. They were much farther out than he expected. He shouldn’t be shocked that the ships had moved during their combat maneuvering, but he winced at the idea of his friends having to swim that far to reach the shore. The island had to be two or three miles away now. He prayed to the ferret god that they were safely in the Kyattese vessel.

The commotion he had expected in the wake of the ramming incident was non-existent. Pey Lu’s other two ships were visible, forming a triangle with this one, and they appeared to be in decent shape. If anything, this vessel had taken the most damage. Sun Dragon must have known it was most likely to hold the lodestone. Except that it hadn’t held it.

The Turgonian ironclad floated off to the port side, attached by a couple of ropes. The other two Kyattese ships... at first, Yanko did not see them at all, but then he spotted their remains. One was sinking, the broken mast tipped over on its side. The other was in little better shape. Their crews had lowered their boats and were rowing away.

Yanko watched Pey Lu out of the corner of his eye as an older man came up, wringing his hands as he reported to her. He did not seem as competent as the gray-haired Turgonian at the pool had. Maybe that had been another ship commander rather than her first mate, as he had guessed.

Her face was flinty but unemotional. She listened to a damage report of her other two ships, followed by something that surprised Yanko.

“The ironclad is empty, Captain. We’ve got a boarding party going over it again, but they didn’t find anyone.”

“Get our people out of there now and cut those ropes,” Pey Lu said.

“But, if someone’s hiding—”

“Now. Those weren’t Turgonians attacking us, but that’s a Turgonian ship. It may have the means to blow itself up. Why else would they ram us with an empty vessel?”

The man’s eyes grew round. He cursed and sprinted away, yelling orders over the railing.

Yanko couldn’t see the exterior of Pey Lu’s craft from the deck, but wondered how much damage had been done when the ironclad struck. They weren’t sitting low in the water, not after Pey Lu had drained the hold, and nobody appeared too worried. The ironclad did not appear overly damaged, either, not like the wrecks floating in the distance. Why would Sun Dragon have abandoned it? It was the only vessel that could have taken him and his crew back to Kyatt—or wherever he intended to go next. Was he even still alive? How long had it been since he’d spoken into Yanko’s head? Ten minutes?

As the lines were being cut and the ship turned away from the ironclad, Pey Lu turned toward Yanko for the first time.

“I have questions for you,” she said.

Yes, he had been afraid of that. What would happen if he didn’t answer them willingly?

“Are you going to be reasonable or difficult?” she added. Her voice was calm. She did not appear pleased about anything that was going on, but she also did not appear daunted. It was almost as if attacks, thefts, and sabotage were normal parts of her life, a life she enjoyed.

“That probably depends on the questions,” Yanko said. “If you’re wondering how Father is doing, I don’t know. He was missing when I left, as were many of my friends and kin in the village. Our family has been on the wrong side of... just about everything since I was born. There are rebels trying to take the Great Chief off the dais, even now.”

He thought mentioning Father and home might cause a reaction, if only a masking of her features or a wistful look in her eyes, but she merely listened blandly, as if he were talking about people she had never met.

“I’m mostly wondering who those people are who just attacked