The Raven and the Dragon

Chapter Sixteen: An Interlude

It took longer to get to the Raven Isle than Nimah had anticipated.

She liked to think she was a patient person. But she felt like she was going to start vibrating out of her skin by the time they were on the boat that would take them to shore. She tried to distract herself by watching Kit. He had been standing at the bow of the ship, staring intently at the approaching island. Despite the intensity in his eyes, he had been relaxed almost the entire trip.

Solomon, on the other hand...

"Are you okay?" Nimah finally asked.

"Fine," Solomon said immediately. It was a transparent lie; his shoulders had been tense the entire trip. His demeanor reminded her of someone who had been at a party too long for comfort and was trying to figure out how to excuse themselves. "I don't really have my sea legs."

"The boat builder doesn't know how to sail?"

"It's more common than you'd think. You need carpentry skills more than sailing skills." He leaned back enough to look at the approaching island. "You can't even tell there's a war on."

He was right; from where they were, everything looked positively peaceful. There wasn't even any fog to mask the island, which was a fairly common occurrence in this part of the ocean. If it weren't for the weight of what they had to do hanging over everyone's head—a kind of invisible fog, she supposed—this would be a nice little day jaunt.

"What do you think the chances are that this is going to go badly?" Solomon asked.

Nimah shrugged. "I'm trying not to be too pessimistic. Especially when we've already pulled off one impossible feat. Try not to think about it too much, all right?"

Solomon sighed quietly. "Easier said than done. I'm starting to understand why Bo looked so worried all the time. This must be what it's like in his head all the time."

Was Solomon really that worried? It was strange to think; he sure didn't look it. "Maybe." Their conversation was interrupted by Lord Laine approaching. "Is everything all right?"

"So far." If Solomon didn't have his sea legs, Lord Laine really didn't have his sea legs. He was keeping it together, but his skin had taken on a distinctly ashen tint. He was probably going to be glad to get off that ship. "Just checking in one last time before we land. You know what to do?"

"Keep our heads down, stay close to you, be ready to run when we've grabbed him. How many guards do you think he's going to have around him?"

"At least two. I assume you're decent at fighting?"

"We do okay." That may have been underselling their skills, especially in light of what they'd already survived, but she didn't want to oversell their abilities, either. Even if they had someone with them who couldn't die. "Do you think we should split up the herbs that Eve gave us? Just to be safe?"

"That's not a bad idea. Just make sure they stay hidden." Lord Laine grimaced briefly. "I'm going to...go see how the captain is doing."

Nimah was pretty sure that was code for I need someplace private to try and avoid throwing up, but she definitely wasn't going to say anything about that. She focused on getting the powder distributed to the boys. Kit, she noticed, looked at it curiously, holding the small pouch close to his face. "Don't get any in your mouth," she warned. "And don't let anyone know you have that, okay?"

Kit glanced up from the pouch, tucked it carefully onto his belt, and signed something. Solomon snorted quietly. "He says that most people don't notice him anyway. Advantage of being quiet."