Page 12
Story: Shadow of the Forsaken
One heartbeat. Then another. And —
"There's going to be a visitor tomorrow," Liam said, his voice a rumble in the silence.
My heart skittered.
What was he up to?
"It's some VIP from the Capital," he continued. "But not the Reaper."
The Reaper —
Fury burned in my chest at the mention of Frexin.After what she'd done … and whatI'ddone in service to her.
"Thank you, Liam." Mr. Harlsted's voice was soft.
Others began talking over each other, guessing at who the VIP would be, but my mind was still on Liam.
He'd been so moody since he arrived, refusing to get involved in anything with the escape.So why help now?
Perhaps he'd finally decided to go along with the escape plan?
"Liam, did you hear which port we're headed to or when we'll arrive?" Mrs. Harlsted asked. "Tomorrow, perhaps, with the visitor's arrival?"
We'd docked roughly every seven days since I arrived.
Except this last time. We were already three days late …
"It's an airship," he admitted. "While mopping, I heard the guards say the VIP is coming by airship."
Well, damn.I dropped the straw. If he was right, that would do us no good.
"Why don't we take over the airship and use it instead?" someone asked.
Gods, let someone realize what a terrible idea that is!
If I mentioned the dangers, most of them would latch onto the idea just to spite me. It would just make things harder for the Harlsteds, and that was the last thing I wanted.
No. Someone else had to say it.
I bit my cheek to keep from talking.
"We could adjust plans," Darlene added, "and —"
"Hush," Mrs. Harlsted interrupted. "Unless one of you has flown an airship before, that's not an option. In fact, the only thing this tells us is that we're not close enough to land for our plan to work tomorrow. Whichmeanswe have at least another day before there's any chance of escape."
I smiled to myself. Thank the gods for the Harlsteds — always the voices of reason.
"But what if we make port somewhere inhospitable … like theFaecontinent?" asked the man to my right. "We'd starve or be taken as slaves."
"Do we really have a choice?" Mr. Harlsted said. "Anywhere else is better than on this ship."
People murmured agreement.
"So, it's settled? Everyone lies low until we hit the next port?"
The group agreed, then broke into smaller conversations, chattering with each other once more.
If I closed my eyes, I could even imagine I was one of them … part of a village where everyone knew everyone. Or a team who'd worked together and could feel their goal finally nearing. Or a family …
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12 (Reading here)
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213
- Page 214
- Page 215
- Page 216