A Country Falls (Greatest Thief 3)

Chapter Nineteen

Figuring something out proved to be harder than I hoped it would be. For most of the trip towards Deorun, Castin and I were tied to the mast. Whenever we were untied, it was one at a time and with Sarnio breathing down our necks. He would let us relieve ourselves, then walk in circles on the deck to stretch. We were usually given food to eat while we walked, I guessed because Sarnio didn't want to deal with feeding us while we were tied up.

Kovin had the misfortune of being considered useful, so the Deorans kept him busy. They worked him so hard that whenever he was tied up beside us, he did little more than sleep. Mayah was being kept belowdecks. Once a day, Kassia allowed her up for fresh air, but she was kept far away from us. Seeing her was a relief, even if I couldn't speak to her.

A few days into our journey, Kassia came to speak to me.

I was resting my head back against the mast, facing the sky with my eyes closed. I was thinking, running through every detail that might be remotely useful to an escape. All the while trying to ignore the fact that even if I managed to get everyone untied without being noticed, there was the not insignificant distance between us and the Deoran coast. Water wasn't something I could just think my way around.

"Finagale?"

I inhaled deeply and opened my eyes. "What?" Exhaustion robbed me of any attempt at being polite. Kassia didn't like that, anyway. She liked honesty.

She was sitting on the deck in front of me, just far enough to be out of kicking range, for whatever good that would have done. Her legs were crossed, and she was balancing a tray of roasted fish on her lap. My stomach grumbled, but I forced myself not to stare at the food.

Kassia idly picked at the fish with her fingers, stripping bits of flesh from the bones. "I'm considering drugging you."

If she was hoping for a dramatic reaction, she didn't get it. "Why?"

"Because." She paused to eat a bit of fish. "I don't like that you're just sitting here. Thinking."

"I can't swim."

"Ah." Her expression brightened. "Well, that's certainly a relief. And I know you aren't desperate enough to risk drowning yourself. At least not yet."

I was quickly remembering how much conversations with her felt like tests. "Yet?"

"You're predictable. You fight and lie just enough to feel out your boundaries, then you back down until you can more confidently make a move. You fought me in East Draulin, now you're waiting for an opportunity. We're not in Deorun yet, so you think there's still a chance of escape. That's why you're not desperate enough to risk drowning."

"I'm not desperate because I know you don't want to hurt me," I said, maybe a little more firmly than I should have. But I didn't like how she kept calling out my behaviour so accurately.

"I would like to keep you in one piece for as long as possible." Kassia shrugged, but her attention was on the fish. "But don't attribute that to any noble intentions on my part. You're better leverage against Tandrix if you're alive."

"This isn't about Tannix," I said. "You still think you can convince me to join you. I'll be much more useful in one piece. You can protect me here, because these men report to you. Once we're in Deorun, Kalvahi won't care about hurting me."

Kassia scoffed, but I didn't let her interrupt me. "Or maybe you aren't going to hand me over to Kalvahi. You were sent to get Mayah, not me. Are you going to try to keep me away from him?"

Kassia looked up. "You're overestimating my interest in you, and you're underestimating my loyalty to Prince Kalvahi."

"You hate him."