Stormbreak (Seafire #3) - Natalie C. Parker Page 0,13

needed, and she’d been afraid of rejection.

“I can make the approach on my own,” Caledonia had said. “You don’t have to come with me.”

Caledonia knew what she was asking of her friend. When Amina left the Braids with a small group of her extended family to fight against Aric’s oppressive regime, it had been with the knowledge that they would never return. The Hands did not fight. And any who chose that way of life acknowledged that the cost was exile. To return was to disrespect their entire people.

But Amina knew what was at stake here. And she had answered Caledonia in a firm tone: “I won’t let you go without me, Captain.”

Now Amina raised a hand and gestured straight ahead. When they had traveled for a mile or more, they cut their engine and let the vessel drift. Cold seeped into Caledonia’s skin, making her fingers ache and the tip of her nose go numb.

Fog made it impossible to know how far they’d come or whether or not they’d reached the rivers. Behind them, rain swallowed the silhouettes of their ships and ahead the world was nothing but gray water. All she could hear was the urgent scatter of rain against the ocean, all she could smell was cold and salt. They were completely, uncomfortably alone out here. It was as if they’d sailed into the sea and the sea had decided to keep them.

Then the rain thinned, and the clouds began to sift up from where they’d come to rest against the water, and suddenly Caledonia and her crew were no longer alone.

A cluster of slender-nosed boats appeared in the mist. Seated in each was a single figure, their legs cradled inside the vessel as though it were an extension of their bodies. Their skin was as dark as Amina’s, all shades of brown earth and the night sky, and they wore their hair in braids that gave an impression of movement and power. Their fingers were wrapped with rings of silver and polished granite, and their clothing was woven in snaking patterns of blue and gray and silver.

The old world had ended in an explosion—of weapons and technology and maybe even people. Very few cultures had managed to survive intact, but the Hands of the River were an exception. They’d held on to each other and never let go.

Amina stood up and raised both hands, palms out to show she was unarmed.

For a moment, no one spoke, then a man raised his hands, mirroring Amina’s gesture. He did not smile, but he nodded.

A small sigh of relief fell from Amina’s lips.

“I am Amina of Maryam Water and I have come to seek aid in the fight against Aric’s Bullets,” Amina called.

The man did not move his gaze from Amina as the sea shifted beneath him, shuffling him up and down. Around him, the others waited calmly, adjusting their boats with a single oar dipped low in the water.

“Amina of Maryam Water, I am Osias of Kyrasi Water. What sort of aid do you seek?”

It was only a question, but it filled Caledonia with hope. Perhaps they could be convinced. Perhaps they’d only been waiting for the right moment.

“This is Caledonia Styx,” Amina said, sweeping one arm toward her captain. Caledonia stood, bracing her feet against the curved hull of the bow boat. For the first time, Osias looked away from Amina. His gaze landed heavily upon Caledonia.

Amina continued, “She is our captain and led the fight against Aric Athair. He no longer threatens these seas because of her actions. But another has assumed his power and his Bullets. We need your help to defeat him.”

The rain continued to push north, dragging the low-lying clouds away from the water to reveal thin fingers of grassland on either side. Amina had led them directly to the mouth of the river.

“What aid do you seek, Caledonia Styx?” Osias asked.

“Skintech,” Caledonia called. “Amina has designed a skintech weapon that allows us to stop Bullets without unnecessary death. We can take their ships and not their lives. We can do so much with so little, but we need your help.”

“You want our tech to create weapons?” Osias asked. “You will implicate us in a fight we have no claim to.”

The others made disapproving clicks behind their teeth. One shook her head, accusing eyes traveling to Amina.

Still, Caledonia pressed on.

“The Bullets are vulnerable right now. They have tormented the people of these seas for long enough. I intend to change that. I will