Waterfire Saga, Book Four: Sea Spell: Deep Blue Novel, A (34 page)

Sera gave her a look. “Does sarcasm
really
help at a time like this?”

“I
know
it’s dangerous,” Astrid said in a more conciliatory tone, “but it’s all I’ve got. And I’m doing it.”

“How long will it take you to get to the Southern Sea?” Becca asked. “Where is Shadow Manse?”

Astrid snorted. “The Black Sea. Where else?”

“Wow. That lumpsucker’s
seriously
hung up on black,” Neela said.

“It should take me about two months to get to the Southern Sea. Orfeo told me exactly where the Carceron is.”

“Where?” Sera asked excitedly.

“At the north face of Bleak Mount, on the Weddell Plain.”

“Astrid, that’s huge! It will save us weeks of searching, if not months,” Becca said.

“You’re welcome,” said Astrid. “I could get there a lot faster if I went through the mirror realm, but I don’t dare risk it. If Rorrim caught me, he’d turn me in in a heartbeat. He and Orfeo are close.”

“Funny how soul-stealing fiends tend to stick together,” Ling observed.

“Two months is tight to move a large number of troops, but I think we can do it,” Sera said.

“How many have you got?” Astrid asked.

“One hundred thousand,” Sera replied.

Astrid whistled. “I don’t know what Orfeo has, if anything,” she said. “But I bet it’s not a hundred thousand.” She glanced over her shoulder again. “Someone’s coming. I’ve got to go!”

“Be
careful
, Astrid!” Becca said.

“I will,” Astrid said. Then she looked directly at Sera. “I can do this. Have faith in me.”

“I know you can,” Sera replied.

And then Astrid was gone.

“Wow,” Neela said.

“We’re closer than we’ve ever been to uniting all six talismans, and defeating Abbadon,” said Sera.

“Or getting ourselves slaughtered,” Ling pointed out.

“Sitting here worrying won’t get one hundred thousand soldiers ready,” Becca said. “Getting to bed so we can wake up at first light and get busy, will.”

“True,” agreed Sera.

The five friends rose. Becca, Neela, and Ling already had rooms in the palace and knew how to get to them. Sera summoned Gianna to take Ava to hers. But before they said their good nights, they turned to each other once more. Astrid had found out where the Carceron was. She’d been training her voice. She might even be able to snatch the last two talismans. That was all good. The five friends sensed that they had a new advantage, and they were excited about it, but a new solemnness had settled over them as well.

“Surviving on the swim, building an army, convincing Alítheia not to eat me, battling my uncle…it all feels like child’s play compared to what’s ahead of us,” Sera said.

Ava nodded gravely. “That’s because it is. Your uncle and Lucia were mortals with flaws and weaknesses that you could use to defeat them. But Orfeo’s immortal. Abbadon, too.”

“The Antarctic waters are going to make the North Sea feel like the Bahamas,” Becca said. “Food will be scarce. Some of the soldiers won’t make it. I wouldn’t be surprised if skavveners follow us the whole way.”

“We need to prepare our troops well, for sure,” Ling said, “but first we need to prepare ourselves. Because the hardest part of this whole thing is about to begin.”

“W
ELL DONE, CHILD,” Orfeo said, stepping out of the shadows.

He’d hidden himself at the side of the large wardrobe in Astrid’s room, well out of range of the convoca.

Astrid turned to him. “You heard everything?”

“I did.”

“Then you know she has one hundred thousand troops.
One hundred thousand.
They were supposed to be
your
troops,” Astrid said anxiously. “They would have been, if Serafina hadn’t beaten her uncle.”

Orfeo flapped a hand. “A minor inconvenience.”

“Minor?”

He smiled. “I’m touched by your concern, but your worry is misplaced. We’ll go to the Southern Sea with an army, too, Astrid—a powerful one. Have no doubt about that. And once I’m inside the Carceron, one hundred
million
soldiers couldn’t stop me.”

Astrid nodded, unconvinced.

“Practice now, child,” Orfeo advised. “Songcasting should be your only concern. Work on your stilos, your vortexes, your apă piatrăs. We’ll need them in the Southern Sea, and again when we march on the underworld.”

Astrid promised that she would, and Orfeo bade her good night. Before he left, he kissed her forehead, then took her face in his hands.

“You are all that I hoped you’d be, and so much more,” he said to her. “I’m so proud of you. So proud of your strength, your talent. So proud to call you daughter.”

Astrid smiled. “If I’m strong, if I’m showing talent, it’s only because of you,” she said. “You gave me my magic back, Orfeo. I’ll never forget it.”

Orfeo looked pleased. He kissed her again, then left her room.

Astrid watched him go, then closed the door behind him. She conjured an apă piatră, and then a fragor lux, but her heart wasn’t in it and the spells fizzled.

“Betray my friends?” she whispered. “Or betray my blood?”

That was the decision she’d had to make. She hadn’t expected to find herself so torn when she’d left the Karg, but that was before she met Orfeo, before he gave her back her magic—and her pride.

Astrid had made the decision. Some time ago. Now she’d have to carry it out. And live forevermore with the consequences, whatever they might be.

She swam to a tall window and stared out of it, her thoughts, and her heart, as inscrutable as the night-dark waters.

“G
OOD EVENING, Your Grace,” said the nurse as Sera swam into Mahdi’s hospital room.

“Has there been any improvement?” Sera asked hopefully, as she did every time she came to visit Mahdi.

“I’m afraid not,” the nurse said, shaking her head. “We’ve changed the anemone arrangement above his bed, though, so he has something fresh to look at.”

“Thank you,” said Sera, glancing up at the ceiling, where a new pattern of orange, purple, and pink had been laid out. Mahdi’s blank eyes stared up at it.

Is he seeing them?
Sera wondered.
Can he hear me? Does he even know I’m here?

She sat down on the edge of his bed and smoothed a lock of hair off his forehead. Sylvestre, draped around her neck, turned dark blue.

“We’re ready, Mahdi,” she said, sharing her day with him, as she did every evening. “Weapons, ammo, food…it’s all in place. We provisioned the troops when we were in the Karg, and Becca made sure everything was loaded into Marco’s ships, but we needed
so
much more. We only had twenty thousand soldiers then, and there are one hundred thousand bivouacked outside the city tonight. This is it, Mahdi. After all this time, we’re finally going to the Southern Sea.”

She smoothed his pajama top and fastened an open button. “At least, I
hope
we are.” She paused, then said, “Back when we were with the Iele, Vrăja asked me to help the others believe in themselves. She said that’s what a good leader does. Ling, Neela, and Becca have changed. They
do
believe in themselves now. I think Astrid does, too. Getting her magic back has given her the confidence she needed. But I haven’t succeeded with Ava.
Help Ava believe the gods
did
know what they were doing
. That’s what Vrăja said. But Traho took Nyx’s ring from her, and he killed Baby, and I think she’s lost faith. In the gods, and in herself. And nothing I say or do makes any difference. I wish I knew how to help her.”

She gently lifted Mahdi’s head and fluffed the anemones underneath it.

“Desiderio’s staying here. He’ll be in charge in my absence, with Fossegrim as his advisor,” she continued. “I’m glad I’m leaving the realm in such good hands. Yaz is coming with us. Astrid’s meeting us there with two of the talismans. I
hope
.”

She took Mahdi’s hand in hers. “They’re so brave, all of them, so tough, so smart. But this thing—Abbadon—it’s made of immortal souls. How are
we
supposed to destroy what the gods have made immortal? Vrăja gave us this task; she believes we can carry it out…but
how
? Am I leading one hundred thousand soldiers into a justified battle, or straight to their destruction?” She smiled sadly. “I wish you could tell me.”

Sera sat for quite some time, saying nothing, just holding Mahdi’s hand and gazing at his face. “I have to go,” she finally said. “We leave at dawn. I have no idea how I’m going to sleep tonight, but I guess I should try. Before I go, I have to tell you something. I—I don’t know if I’m coming back. I don’t know if you’ll be here if I do. All I know is that I love you, Mahdi, with all my heart. You were ready to give your life for mine. Maybe you already have. But
you
are my life. Remember when we Promised ourselves to each other? Maria said something, right before the ceremony.” She leaned over and kissed his lips. “I believed her then. I still do. Love is the strongest magic.”

She touched her forehead to his, then quickly left.

She didn’t look back. It was easier that way.

If she had, she would have seen it.

A single silver tear rolling down Mahdi’s cheek.

C
LIO TOSSED HER HEAD and thrashed her long serpent’s tail. She didn’t like canyons.

“Easy, girl,” Sera said. She’d been reunited with her hippokamp after the Black Fin invasion. A death rider captain had taken a liking to her, and had taken good care of her.

Krill Canyon, in the Haakon Basin, rose steeply on both sides. At its far end, a sheer bluff soared high into the water. Rocks and boulders obscured its base. Anything could be hiding in them.

Sera and her troops had been traveling to the Southern Sea for five weeks now and not making the kind of progress she’d hoped for. They’d been battling the cold, which stiffened joints, snapped harnesses, jammed weapons, and sickened soldiers. A few had succumbed and had been buried along the way. They were also going through food stores faster than they’d planned, which meant that part of every day was spent foraging and hunting instead of swimming or marching.

There were other threats to be dealt with as well. They’d encountered a clan of Fryst on the Scotia Ridge, who’d menaced them at first, but then decided to join them when Sera told their leader where they were headed and why. They’d also run into several EisGeists. The creatures had regarded them hungrily, but had moved off, obviously intimidated by their numbers. As Becca had predicted, skavveners trailed them constantly.

As dangerous as all those creatures were, Sera was much more worried about Orfeo and Lucia. Orfeo knew where she was headed. And Lucia could have easily found out. Either could be waiting in ambush.

The decision to go through Krill Canyon had been made to save time. It was a direct route out of the Haakon Basin and into the Weddell Plain. Like Clio, Sera didn’t relish swimming through it. Normally, she swam over canyons, but a large chunk of her army was goblin, and goblins walked. They could swim, but weren’t much better at it than the goggs were.

“Whoa, Clio,” Sera said now, halting the hippokamp. She raised a hand to stop the long column of troops behind her.