Page 32 of Witchshadow

Faster,Vivia coaxed the waves.Just a little bit faster.

“The maidens north of Lovats,” sang the crew. “None ever looked so fair! When they catch your eye, you’ll fall in love, so everyone beware!”

Winds cycloned. Water kicked. TheIrismoved faster, and the first glimpses of land came into view, crowned by rocks and exposed reefs. Not that Vivia could see it—her attention was wholly focused below, on the tides thrusting and currents carrying. But she felt the shore. Felt the waters shallow and the waves break over shipwrecks from navies past.

“The maidens north of Lovats are as strong as ten large men!” The singing grew quieter. Strained. And even the winds seemed to weaken.

“Do not slow!” Vivia screamed, briefly turning her gaze to the fore. “Trust me!” Then to prove her point, she wrenched her arms sideways and the waters wrenched theIristoo. “To port!” she shrieked at Sotar, who instantly threw his weight into the tiller.

The ship listed, the world dragged while the drum beat on. And the singing bellowed once more: “With minds as sharp as hammered steel, when they fight they always win!”

When the ship was upright again, it was perpendicular to the approaching Dalmottis. Dangerously exposed. Dangerously visible. But ahead, the first of the rocky outcroppings waited. They would dart and hide like a minnow. They just had to reach it before—

“Cannon fire!” The ship’s girl’s voice cut through song, drum, and winds. “Two incoming!”

“I have them,” Vaness said, somehow as loud as the ship’s girl, though she did not shout. Somehow flat and detached, like the iron she controlled.

Vivia turned, briefly startled. She hadn’t realized the Empress had returned to the deck or that the woman stood only paces away, braced against the rail and watching the chase unfold.

Now her arms were rising, her face draining of blood as the two shots zoomed in. With a sharp gasp, she stopped both midflight…

Then let them fall into the sea. No sending them back. No using them against the enemy. Her arms dropped. She gripped at the rail, and Vivia knew instantly that such a display could not be repeated.

“And you’re worried I overdid myself?” Vivia hooked an arm behind the woman. “Get back to your quarters.”

Vaness resisted. “Who will stop the cannons?”

“No one, because in just a few moments, we won’t need to—”

“Cannon fire!”

“Shit.” Vivia lurched back to the rail; Vaness stumbled with her, and before Vivia could forcibly stop the Empress, Vaness had her arms high and magic out. Again, she halted the iron shot—three balls this time—but it was slower. Like trying to get a dog to change its course, they dragged to a halt. Then fell, one by one.

Vaness swayed, and again Vivia grabbed her. Rage licked up from her toes. Sharp and fueled by a hot sea. The Empress could barely stay upright. Her eyes were rolling, her posture wilting.

“Take her,” Vivia barked, pushing the woman onto a nearby sailor. Likely she’d get an earful later, but better that than a dead empress on her decks.

She didn’t wait to see what happened. As she’d said, it was only a little longer before theIriswas fully covered. She thrust her magic into the sea, her whole body swelling with power.Faster,she practically screamed at it.Almost there.The first of the rocky outcroppings hissed past, near enough for her to see the barnacles, near enough for her to see slick patches of algae.

Water sprayed against Vivia. Her waters, warm yet cooling. Powerful yet calm. She let her breath ease out and motioned at the Windwitches to do the same.

The sails slackened, and the sailors silenced. The wind-drum silencedtoo. TheIriswas hidden, meaning now was the time for stealth, and tactics like the Foxes of old. “Keep your winds going,” Vivia ordered as she strode past the witches. “But lightly. Very lightly. And sailors, pick up the oars. From here until we lay anchor, your strength is our salvation.”

Her crew obeyed, launching for their stations along the main deck. With muffled attempts at quiet, they unlocked oars and gathered two by two against them.

Vivia reached the tiller, where Sotar stepped aside, fist to his heart. Respect in his eyes. Hell-waters, he looked like Stix. And hell-waters, Vivia missed her first mate. If Stix were here, then they’d already be at the Lonely Bastard. In fact, Stix would have capsized those blighted boats—or at least frozen the sea long enough to hold them back.

But Stix wasn’t here.And might never be here again.

With a sharp sawing of her hand, Vivia set the oarsmen to their grueling work. Wood scraped and water splashed. Muscles rippled and breaths panted, but no one slowed, no one spoke. Soon theIrisskated atop the choppy sea. They passed gaps in the rocks. Sometimes large enough for them to spot the warships. Sometimes large enough for them to be seen in turn and fired at. But always they were covered before any cannon could make contact.

The Lonely Bastard soon appeared, a wicked knife to pierce the sea. Behind it, hidden from view, was a narrow passage in the seaside cliffs. It had been years since Vivia had come to Nihar—a place that had never welcomed her. That had never felt like home. It had been Merik’s domain, not hers.

“Sonja!” Vivia lifted her voice to the crow’s nest, where the ship’s girl waited. The first words uttered since the oarsmen had begun to row. “Do you see the ships?”

“Hye,” the girl called back. “They’re almost through the rocks.”

And once they were fully through, theIriswould be visible. Vivia’s plan for hiding would be ruined. But they were so, so close. She wasn’t going to miss this chance. Oh, theIrismight scrape her hull. Holes might rip through. But if they could reach shore unseen, then the cost would be worth it. It had to be worth it.