‘And never again! But Mother heard, didn’t she? She did. How can that not be worth the sacrifices?’
The handmaid said nothing, sitting back and assuming a meditative pose.
Felash studied the older woman with narrowed eyes. ‘Fine. Opinions differ. Have cooler heads finally prevailed?’
‘I cannot say, Highness. Shall I—’
‘No. As you said, exercise will do me good. Select for me a worthy outfit, something both lithe and flaunting, as befits my sudden maturity. Fifteen! Gods, the slide has begun!’
Her first mate, Shurq Elalle saw, was having trouble managing the canted deck. Not enough sound body parts, she assumed, to warrant much confidence, but for all his awkwardness he moved quickly enough, despite the winces and flinches with every step he took. Pain was not a pleasant thing to live with, not day after day, night upon night, not with every damned breath.
‘I do admire you, Skorgen.’
He squinted up at her as he arrived on the poop deck. ‘Captain?’
‘You take it with a grimace and not much else. There are many forms of courage, I believe, most of which pass unseen by the majority of us. It’s not always about facing death, is it? Sometimes it’s about facing life.’
‘If you say so, Captain.’
‘What do you have to report?’ she asked.
‘We’re sinking.’
Well. She imagined she’d float for a while, and then eventually wander down, like a bloated sack of sodden herbs, until she found the sea bottom. Then it would be walking, but where? ‘North, I think.’
‘Captain?’
‘The Undying Gratitude surely deserves a better fate. Provision the launches. How long do we have?’
‘Hard to say.’
‘Why?’
Skorgen’s good eye squinted. ‘What I meant was, I don’t like saying it. Bad luck, right?’
‘Skorgen, do I need to pack my trunk?’
‘You’re taking your trunk? Will it float? I mean, if we tie it behind the lifeboat? We only got two that’ll float and both are a bit battered. Twenty-nine left in the crew, plus you and me and our guests. Ten in a launch and we’ll be awash at the first whitecap. I ain’t good at numbers but I think we’re off some. Could be people holding on in the water. But not for long, with all those sharks hanging around. Ideal is eight to a boat. We should get down to that quick enough. But your trunk, well, that messes up my figuring.’
‘Skorgen, do you recall loading my trunk?’
‘No.’
‘That’s because I don’t have one. It was a figure of speech.’
‘That’s a relief, then. Besides,’ he added, ‘you probably wouldn’t have the time to pack it anyway. We could roll in the next breath, or so I’m told.’
‘Errant take me, get our guests up here!’
He pointed behind her. ‘There’s the well-born one just coming up, Captain. She’ll float high in the water, that she will, until the—’
‘Lower the launches and round up the crew, Skorgen,’ Shurq said, stepping past him and making her way to the princess.
‘Ah, Captain, I really must—’
‘No time, Highness. Get your handmaiden and whatever clothes you’ll need to stay warm. The ship is going down and we need to get to the launches.’
Blinking owlishly, Felash looked round. ‘That seems rather extreme.’
‘Does it?’
‘Yes. I would imagine that abandoning ship is one of the very last things one would wish to do, when at sea.’
Shurq Elalle nodded. ‘Indeed, Highness. Especially while at sea.’
‘Well, are there no alternatives? It is unlike you to panic.’
‘Do I appear to be panicking?’
‘Your crew is—’
‘Modestly so, Highness, since we don’t quite have the room needed to take everyone, meaning that some of them are about to die in the jaws of sharks. My understanding is, such a death is rather unpleasant, at least to begin with.’
‘Oh dear. Well, what can be done?’
‘I am open to suggestions, Highness.’
‘Perhaps a ritual of salvation …’
‘A what?’
Plump fingers fluttered. ‘Let us assess the situation, shall we? The storm has split the hull, correct?’
‘We hit something, Highness. I am hoping it was Mael’s head. We cannot effect repairs, and our pumps have failed in stemming the tide. As you may note, to starboard, we are very nearly awash amidships. If we were not becalmed, we would have rolled by now.’
