Thread of Frost

Ch. 20: A Song of Blood

"It really wasn't my fault," Ryne said.

They stood on the dock, surveying the burning wreck. Flames licked the at the ship, devouring the wood with hungry tongues. The orange light flickered in the water. It would have been beautiful, Anna thought, if it wasn't so gods-damn inconvenient.

She crossed her arms. "You should have checked the cargo hold."

"I did," Ryne said.

"And you didn't see the dragon?" Anna asked.

Ryne shrugged. "In my defence, it was a very small dragon."

"Gods above," Anna muttered.

She stepped aside as more healers charged past them, carrying buckets of sea water. Several crew members were wrapped in blankets, and Slaine knelt on the dock in front of them, running a gentle hand over their burns. Althea was giving them cups of steaming tea. Ryne shielded his eyes.

"The captain," Ryne said, "thinks it hatched on the ship. Might have even been a dragon egg when we left."

Anna rubbed at her neck. "What are we going to do?"

Ghostly flames flickered in his eyes. "A healer's taking the dragon to Monmou. It's an island with plenty of goats. There's a former dragon trainer that's very eager to look after the hatchling, apparently. He's Gongonian. Comes with excellent credentials."

"Not with the dragon," Anna said. "With the ship."

"Oh. Right."

They lapsed into silence. The sun was setting, melting into the waves like a cube of butter. Gentle footsteps pattered toward them. Althea appeared, her dark braid coming loose in the evening breeze.

The other girl whistled. "That's a doozy."

Slaine materialized beside his sister. "There are some things that cannot be healed. You must surrender them to nature."

"Yes," Anna said wryly. "Thank-you, Slaine."

Althea stuck out a hand. "I'm Althea. This is my brother, Slaine."

To her surprise, Ryne took it. "I'm—"

"Ryne Delafort," Althea cut in. "I know. Our parents hate you."

"Thea!" Slaine said.

"What?" Althea shrugged. "They do." She dropped Ryne's hand, looking entirely unconcerned by his reaction. "Most people on this island hate you, actually, for slaughtering the Cidarius family. I'm surprised you two are friends."

"We're not," Anna said.

Ryne looked out at the burning wreck. Althea nudged Slaine in a way that felt like a loaded glance. And Anna watched as a hunk of burning mast tumbled into the water and wished that this wasn't her life.

"How soon can the ship be repaired?" Anna asked.

Slaine shook his head. "Better to procure a new one."

"And how long will that take?"

He rubbed absently at a ruby ring. "Oh, not long."

"A week?" Anna guessed.

"A month."

Something clenched in her stomach. "A month?"

Slaine twisted the ring. "The ship will have to be built from scratch, you see. Few people leave Zarob. We have little use for ships here." He dropped his hand. "We travel almost entirely by foot or balloon."

Anna shielded her eyes, looking up at the dots peppering the sky like hot sparks. Surely the balloons couldn't be that hard to fly. "How far can a balloon travel?"