Snake Heart (Chains of Honor #2) -Lindsay Buroker Page 0,64

too much on magic. We idolize powerful mages rather than the handful of brilliant strategists we’ve had over the years. The ways of Shri Nah Strong Bear and Kahlee Black Badger should be studied in schools. Instead, our military academy teaches that your ship is powerless if it doesn’t have a Sun Dragon or a Water Wolf on board, standing at the bow with magic ready to unleash.”

She herself had come from the Water Wolf line, Yanko recalled, a clan with a history of powerful magic users, even if it hadn’t been quite so close to the Great Chief’s family as the White Foxes.

“Why kill them at all, though?” Yanko asked. “Turgonians, Nurians, anyone. When the war was over...” He groped for a way to ask why she couldn’t control her urges and be happy with the training exercises and practices. To pursue violence needlessly—at the least, it was selfish. In her case, it was homicidal. If not genocidal.

“The tools created to thrive in that war remain. Yanko, you don’t teach a dog to hunt rabbits, then condemn him when he brings home a kill, just because the stewpot is already full.”

“But you’re not a dog. You’re a human being.”

Another wry twist to her lips. “I shall thank you for such a magnanimous compliment.”

“Those villagers on the island, and the Kyattese in the cave,” Yanko said slowly. “They weren’t strategists who could challenge you. Why kill them?”

“I did not. Some of the men did.” She waved vaguely toward the deck. “These aren’t soldiers. Denying them their sadistic pleasures ends up being more trouble than it’s worth. And if they slaughter a village or two now and then, it adds to the Midnight Fleet’s gruesome reputation. Makes it less likely for unworthy foes to waste my time and their lives by challenging us.”

He swallowed. She spoke so casually. Honestly, he supposed, but it chilled him. He would rather have had an excuse. A suggestion that events sometimes got out of control and that she regretted it. Instead, he didn’t think she regretted much of anything. She had no conscience whatsoever. Had she been born that way? Or had the army inoculated it in her? Would the army have done that to him after five years at Stargrind and years more serving?

Yanko rubbed his face, afraid of the answer, of the idea that he could become a cold-hearted killer, someone who stopped caring about the rabbit that went in the stewpot.

Pey Lu stood up and gestured to the door. “Do you want to work on fireballs? We only have a few days until we reach our destination.”

“Our destination?” He unfurled his legs and slid off the bunk. No matter what he thought of her choices, he would be a fool to pass up a chance to learn magic from her.

“I looked over the Mausoleum Bandit’s journal before your friends stole it. He kept his valuables on Stone Key Island.”

Had that been the name of the place with the village? He hadn’t even known.

“The lodestone, however, was something he intended to use soon. And he would have done so if his ship hadn’t been caught and sunk. According to his journal, it and some other tools that would prove useful for the quest are on another island.”

She did not name it. She had been more open with him than he expected—perhaps than he wished—but she still saw him as a competitor in this matter. Not unwisely so. He shuddered to think of some future in which they led opposing fleets and had to fight each other. That might have happened if he had gone into Stargrind and become an officer in the army. And would she have seen him as one of those foolish Nurian officers who studied magic instead of naval tactics and military strategy? Likely so.

Yanko followed her out of the cabin. Today, he would learn from her, but for the sake of his people—and his family’s honor—he would have to find a way to escape and complete his mission. If he truly wanted to redeem his clan’s honor, and his own, he should find a way to kill her and end her reign on the high seas. At the least, he should deliver her to the authorities at home and let them figure out a way to incarcerate her.

“One mission at a time, Yanko,” he muttered under his breath as she led him up to the top deck. “One mission at a time.”

Chapter 15

The fireball struck the waves, briefly highlighting