She said, “There could be many reasons, but the most obvious is that failure of the plan would warn you and cause you to respond, to fight back. If you are more powerful than him, or he suspects you are, he wouldn’t attack until he knew he would be successful. There is also Kendra and she might scare him—her and her association with the dragon. He might feel that he would only get one chance, and that might be true. Or maybe he only thinks that.”
“You’re guessing,” I accused. “Everything you’ve said is a guess.”
“Of course, I am. If I knew for certain, we’d be having a different conversation.” Elizabeth turned away. She was not irritated or anything. Just thinking deeply, trying to make rationalizations that fit the facts. She was a princess and used to considering a topic and making a royal ruling.
I was more of an achiever in my actions. Thinking, or over-thinking a subject was not one of my weaknesses. Being impulsive was.
But her conjecture might hold more than a grain of truth.
I said, “Listen, tell me if this sounds stupid, but hear me out. The Young Mage has gone to extraordinary lengths to kill us. Whichever of us is his target is beside the point right now. He tried in Trager, during the storm at sea, when we got close to Kaon, and then at the chain of lakes outside Dagger.”
“You’re just talking endlessly, or do you have an idea?” Elizabeth asked, her total attention focused on me. I noticed both Anna and Kendra listening.
“We’ve passed a few fishing boats in two days. All of them waved or talked to Captain. Why have no boats sent by the Young Mage caught up with us? No warships, no soldiers chasing us, no Wyvern attacking. Nothing.”
“He does not know where we’re going?” she mumbled.
“He’s too smart not to know. His men searched the desert south of the lakes. He knows we didn’t go to Dagger because he has it blockaded. That leaves the coastline to the south. It would take half a day to move troops there and find out if we’d been seen. As close-knit as the fishing community is, one of them would take the generous reward he probably offered.”
Elizabeth shrugged and said, “Maybe they sailed around the other side of Dead Isle.”
Even Kendra appeared satisfied with her answer.
I raised the level of my voice a little. “Maybe there is a Waystone or two in Landor and Fairbanks—I’d bet on it. He has been planning his expansion for years, so why wouldn’t he have mages and assassins already in Landor and Fairbanks? Especially if the local king is ill. We all know what that means. If not, he didn’t chase after us, he just sent them via the Waystones to wait in ambush.”
She seemed to shrink in size. “Why chase after us when we are sailing right into his hands?”
Will spoke for the first time, “Damon, you are welcome to my recommendation for military planning any time. I will personally give my approval to our king to make you an officer.”
“So, what do we do?” Kendra asked in a hushed voice. “I can’t get the dragon to fly, so there goes our best protection.”
“Have you tried today?” I asked and immediately wished I hadn’t. Her scowl would make me think before speaking on that subject again.
Elizabeth turned away from the rail and faced everyone in the boat, her face haggard, her eyes dull. When she spoke, the words included Captain. “I’m sorry. We cannot sail to Fairbanks or Landor—at least not yet.”
Captain spilled the air from the sail and swung the tiller. I didn’t know where we were going, but only where we were not, same as him.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The fishing boat ceased to move ahead. Instead of the sail keeping the boat steady as it plowed ahead, it bobbed and rolled with each movement of the wind or sea. We were all huddled together near the bow, under the shade of the tarp.
Will said, “We have options. Better that we figured this out now than after reaching port to find a company of soldiers waiting for us.”
Elizabeth asked Captain to display his charts again. He removed them from the waterproof tube and unrolled the first. When it didn’t contain what she wanted, he allowed it to spiral back into the rolled shape of a tube and spread another.
Elizabeth pointed to Lander at the very bottom. “The map ends just below there. What is to the south?”
Captain hesitated, choosing his words carefully. “I do not have a map nor been there, but all sailors talk. The sea goes on and on. A great city-kingdom lies there to the south, a powerful nation called Malawi.”
At the mention of the name, five sets of eyes went to the stash of weapons leaning against the hull at the bow. They looked at my damaged sword, presented by our king to me. The singing-sword. Made of Malawian steel, the finest in the world.
I was stunned but shouldn’t have been. I’d known it was far to the south. Elizabeth had even mentioned it when she told me about fitting all the maps together, but she had mentioned several kingdoms with unknown names, and it had escaped me.
My heart pounded and my breath halted for so long I almost passed out. Malawi, the place where my sword had been made. Where it had been enchanted to sing when it encountered Prince Angles’ sword, or whatever the right word was for the keening we both heard. I couldn’t speak.
The others were a little better off.
Elizabeth said to Captain with a forced calm, “A great sea kingdom, you say? With sailors, so they also have a navy?”
Captain realized he’d struck a nerve and just nodded as he watched for more strained reactions.
Elizabeth closed her eyes for a moment and a faint smile grew. “I have the basics of a plan to discuss with all of you. Please allow me to provide the bones of it, and then we can flesh it out.”
Everyone waited. My mind was on my sword. As long as the boat sailed for Malawi her plan would sound good to me.
“Here is the outline. This boat will sail to the Landor coast tonight where Kendra and Anna will depart. They will make their way to Landor City and Anna will communicate what they find to Damon, using their unique communication skills. They will do nothing but observe and report.”
Kendra gave her a curt nod of agreement.
Elizabeth continued, “The Young Mage probably has plans ready for Landor, but we are going to leap ahead to Malawi, where he probably has only begun. Captain will either steer the boat to Malawi or sell us the boat and we’ll sail there. I’m sure Will can manage to hug the coastline until we reach it.”
“I’ll take you,” Captain huffed. “But I cannot remain. My family.”
“Good. Will must go with Damon and me because he will not leave my side because he has an oath to the king to uphold, so instead of fighting that directive, I’ll compromise, but request that he reconsider. He can better serve me, our group, and his king if he accompanies Kendra and Anna who will be alone in a foreign land. We, meaning I, will attempt to contact the Malawian authorities and secure their help. The plan will develop from there.”
I relaxed slightly. While my sister would go to Landor, I’d be sailing to where my sword was created. The nick in the blade might even be repaired there, but there might be more information about it to learn. Most of all, I might learn about why it ‘sang’ when near Prince Angle’s sword. Instead of worrying about Anna and Kendra, my mind stayed with my sword.
I said, “Are we sure the Young Mage will not have people waiting there also?”
“I expect he will,” she said. “But at the beginning stages. An attack there wouldn’t happen until Dire, Fairbanks, and Landor are conquered and officially part of Kaon, or well on their way to defeat. Malawi is far enough away that he will need those kingdoms to send his army. Every day’s travel away is harder for any army.”