Page 120 of Scorched Earth

Madoria believes Teriana is where she needs to be.

Lydia jerked as Magnius’s voice invaded her thoughts, as did Killian, though Bait only scowled. “Quit eavesdropping, you overgrown snake.” He pressed his hands to the table. “Madoria may be correct that Teriana is best placed for whatever the Six hope will happen, but that doesn’t mean she won’t get hurt. Doesn’t mean that she hasn’talreadybeen hurt, and I’m not willing to sacrifice her on the basis of vagaries. Give us a reason, Magnius. Something concrete that explains what Madoria thinks Teriana will do. A reason why she needs to be with those Cel dogs.”

Show more faith in the goddess. You yourself are proof of her power.

Bait snorted in annoyance. “Right. You don’t know either.”

Lydia blinked. “You’re marked by Madoria?”

“Oh. Well, yes.” Bait seemed surprised she didn’t know. “Most Maarin ships have one of Madoria’s marked aboard because we are good for salvage, among other things. Fara is theKairense’s diver.”

Lydia had met Fara, the marked girl who was part of theKairense’s crew, when she’d traveled with Dareena. Fara had calmed the seas when they’d escaped from the opening in the cliffs beneath the palace in Mudaire, but the girl had kept to herself during the journey, so Lydia had learned nothing more about her mark. “This seems a foolish question, but what does your mark allow you to do, Bait?”

“Breathe underwater.” He hesitated. “Control the tides, though we avoid that if at all possible as it has unintended consequences.”

“You should just flood the legion camp,” Killian grumbled. “Drown the lot and steal Teriana back in the chaos.”

“As tempting as that is, a lot of innocent people would drown as well.” Rising to his feet, Bait went to a storage cabinet and extracted a bottle and three glasses. “The wave that I’d have to form to reach that far inland would be immense and far reaching. It would flood all of Aracam, which is full of civilians, killing many and then dragging more back out to sea when it retreated. I’d consider it a tool of last resort.”

Lydia took the glass Bait offered her and sipped the wine, recognizing it as Atlian vintage. “What about theQuincenseand the rest of the crew? Where are they?”

“On an island off the coast of Arinoquia,” Bait said. “It’s where the legions keep their injured, all under heavy guard. They know about Magnius, so they keep several crew members under heavy guard far away from the water as hostages.”

“Are they well treated?” Her mind went to Lydia’s aunt Yedda, the old woman near and dear to her own heart.

“Yes.” Bait gave a sharp shake of his head. “But still prisoners, just like Teriana.”

Lydia ran a fingernail down a scratch on the table, thinking. “Madoria’s words make me wonder if Teriana has a strategy in play. I think it needs to be her choice whether to leave the legions, not ours. We focus on ensuring she has all the information she needs, and then trust her to make the right choices with it. Agreed?”

Bait nodded. “Agreed. I’ll get you to Serlania and then travel to Revat to learn what has developed, then I’ll go find her.”

“We will travel with you,” Lydia said. “Malahi needs to rejoin the High Lords, but I need to seek the aid of the library in Revat. What we learned in Anukastre is only part of the picture, and everything depends on the Gamdeshians having the final piece, even if they don’t know it.”

Killian abruptly stood, rubbing at his arm where Ceenah had cut him, his jaw tense and his eyes distant.

“What is it?” Lydia asked, her unease rising.

“My skin is crawling,” he muttered. “Every instinct in my body is telling me that something is happening and that I need to act.”

Her heart lurched. “Teriana?”

“Maybe. Bait, I know you have means to travel faster than any ship. Could you go ahead and track down Teriana?”

“Yes. Magnius can carry me, and we can use the ocean paths that ships can’t access.”

“I think you should go ahead of us,” Killian said. “I can’t give a reason, but I sense that speaking with Teriana can’t wait.”

“I’ve never known your gut to be wrong. I’ll leave tonight.” Bait gestured to the wineglass. “But first I want to hear of everything that has happened since we parted. I might only have one chance to speak to Teriana, and I want to be able to tell her everything she needs to know. Everything. Magnius will listen as well, because he doesn’t believe in private conversations.”

He gestured at the porthole in the polished wooden walls, and Lydia nearly choked on her wine when she saw an enormous eye looking through. “Is he the only one of his kind?”

We are three.

“Magnius, Aspasiana, and Lorander,” Bait clarified. “One for each of the Maarin triumvirs. Aspasiana is nearby, because Vane is a triumvir, but Lorander has been moving back and forth between Revat, Serlania, and Taltuga.”

Taking another sip of her wine, Lydia mused over how deeply everyone underestimated the Maarin. For all they were relegated to the role of traders and messengers, they held more power at sea than all the navies of the world combined, for she’d no doubt that Magnius and his kind were more than capable of sinking ships. But rather than saying as much, she rested her elbows on the table. “Let’s start from the beginning.”

Hours later, when they’d exhausted both wine and conversation, they stood next to the railing with Bait and Vane. “Be careful,” Lydia warned her friend. “You heard Agrippa. The legions won’t hesitate to kill you if they believe you’re a threat, and you know better than to underestimate them.”