A boat came instantly towards us from the darkened shore, as if someone had been anticipating our arrival, or maybe some scouts from the property had seen us. Something whistled through the air, and I yelped in shock as a heavy metal hook landed in our boat, its chain pulling tight as it snagged on the side. The sound of something grinding across the water echoed, and I became aware of our boat being forcibly pulled towards the other. Koltar killed the power and let it happen.

Maybe I should try jumping now...

We’d been heading towards the building, and the water wasn’t as deep here. I could probably swim to shore...

But then what? I’d just be pursued by the other boat and maybe even killed all the faster. And now I knew it wouldn’t just end my life, and the new one inside it. It would kill Skalla, too. Skalla would be back soon – he had to be. I just had to get him enough time.

“I spoke with Prince Joleb this morning,” Koltar said to the two massive Bohnebregg warriors manning the other boat as ours got near.

I know that name. Jolakaia’s brother!

“Here is the creature I promised him,” Koltar continued.

Creature?! What the hell had Koltar told them about me? That I was some kind of exotic hog they could roast over a fire?

Koltar gestured towards me, as if showing off the merchandise, and in that moment it was as if everything in my vision had pulled inward into a single point. There it was. The stun weapon he’d used on Zev and Jolakaia, tucked into the inside of his robe. Like an angry cat, I leaped for it, surprising him just long enough to snatch it and aim it directly at his chest. Swearing, I pressed my fingers uselessly along its length, searching for some kind of trigger or on-switch.

I was too slow. A clawed hand seized on the side of our small boat, dragging it over the last bit of the way until the two boats collided, rocking each other violently in the water. I lost my balance, stomach flipping, and probably would have fallen if that same hand hadn’t lifted from the side of the boat and grabbed my wrist in a powerful grip.

“What is this?” hissed the Bohnebregg male who’d grabbed me, staring down at the metal tube. He squeezed me hard enough to bruise, and I cried out, dropping the tube involuntarily. He caught it with his other hand.

“Merely a torch to light our way,” Koltar said smoothly, though I thought I could sense some nervousness beneath his polished demeanour.

“Doesn’t look like a torch,” the male said.

His companion grunted in agreement. “Looks like a weapon. But not like any design I’m familiar with.”

The first one’s finger must have found the hidden notch or button, because suddenly the end began to glow.

“Ah, look, Bracka,” he said, grinning dangerously. “Shall we test it?”

My mouth went dry.

It doesn’t kill. It doesn’t kill...

Well, it didn’t kill broad-boned, scaly, Bohnebregg people. Who knew what the hell it could do to a squishy, soft-skinned, pregnant human?

But it wasn’t me the warrior aimed the tube at.

It was Koltar.

“This was not the agreement,” Koltar said sternly, as if he could use his authority to frighten these two. But these men were not his devoted Mother’s Claws. “I was to deliver the god Skallagrim’s mate and then leave.”

“Our Prince never planned to let you leave,” said the one holding the weapon. “A man seemingly from nowhere coming down the river in a boat as nice as any of ours? A man no one knows, whom none of us have ever seen before, with no allegiance and no warlord? And now, you come with a weapon unlike any I have ever encountered? No, we were always going to take you, too. It was only the promise of killing this strange creature and her god that kept us from imprisoning you when you came to us this morning.”

The weight of Koltar’s miscalculations seemed to hit him all at once. He spun and crouched, looking like he was going to dive right into the water the way I’d thought about doing so many times already. But the male holding me just laughed, the sound vibrating right down into my tender arm. Then he aimed the weapon at Koltar’s back and fired.

Koltar instantly collapsed into the bottom of the boat.

“River drown me,” swore the one who’d fired. “He dead?”

“You’d better hope not, Tarak,” said the one called Bracka. “You know Prince Joleb wanted to interrogate him. Find out which army he’s spying for.”

“But he did actually bring us...” Tarak frowned down at me, lifting my hand to inspect it with a half-fascinated, half-repulsed look. “This thing. It seems he did speak true about bringing us the foreign creature. Perhaps he is no spy.”

“Then where did he get this boat from?” Bracka said. “Do you know how much good, forged metal went into this thing? There are no nearby villages with hoards like that these days – we have conquered them all. And look at the design. It is very unusual. And his weapon! What, did he just pull that fully-formed out of the river? Prince Joleb is right to think him a spy. The only question is for whom. I know of no army with boats or weapons like this one.”

“Hmm. You speak true. So. Is he dead?”

Bracka jumped into our boat and nudged Koltar with his foot.

“Still breathing.”

Relief sighed out of me, not because I was glad Koltar was OK, but because it meant he’d told the truth about Zev and Jolakaia not being dead. They were alright back in Callabarra. And they’d be able to tell Skalla what had happened, assuming he and I both lived that long.

“Alright,” said Tarak. “Let’s tow it all back, then.”

I thought maybe I’d get left in the boat to be towed, but it turned out only the lump of Koltar remained there. Bracka returned to their vessel, and Tarak lifted me into their boat, too. They began to steer towards shore and the great house. Their boat seemed a little slower, a little louder, than the one from Callabarra, as if their tech was less advanced.

It was strong enough to make decent speed, though, even while pulling along the other boat. Soon, Bracka was mooring both vessels at a wooden dock while Tarak dragged me out viciously by the arm.

“Let’s go. Do not keep our Prince waiting.”

I bowed my head and kept my mouth shut for now, trying to keep my wits about me as I let Tarak haul me along by the wrist. He and Bracka both wore some kind of leather trousers, studded with metal, huge blades strapped to their hips. Thin metal chains were draped over their chests and woven into the hair they wore long and braided the way Skalla did. Bracka hoisted Koltar’s limp body and pulled up the rear, which meant I was basically sandwiched between the two hostile warriors. My bare feet padded over the wood of the dock, then the sandy shore, then up a path through the grass and reeds to the house. The stars and moons no longer cast down their silvery veils, having retreated behind clouds as if they couldn’t bear to watch what was about to happen to me. Ahead, the house provided the only light.

For a disorienting moment, it reminded me of the temple at Callabarra, because it had similar white cotton curtains hanging to act as a wispy barrier between the outside and the inside. But the temple was always peaceful, lush with quiet. The air here was discordant with alien shouting and booming laughter.

I hoped the laughter was a good sign. It sounded like there was a feast going on, or some kind of party. Maybe everyone would be in good enough spirits not to want to hurt me, at least for a little while...

And by then Skalla would come.

Tarak shoved the curtains aside and pulled me in. I squinted against the light. It wasn’t all that bright in here, but it was certainly brighter than outside, and it took me a second to adjust.

“Prince Joleb,” Bracka said as I squinted and blinked. “We have the god-mate and the spy.”