Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 137226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
The rest of the session was uneventful, with it being Vidar’s turn to stare into the fire, but his vision was hazy and unclear, or so he said. I couldn’t help but get the feeling that he was keeping something from us, mainly me, but I couldn’t quite call him a liar.
Because I’d left something out of my vision, too.
I never told them about the body.
Chapter 30
Brynla
“Remember, if any of you are going to be seasick, you best be hanging your heads off the side of this ship. Get one drop of your vomit on my deck and you’ll be strapped to the keel,” Toombs says from the helm, the wind whipping back his thin hair, grinning like he’s having the time of his life.
He is, of course. That’s plain to see. We’ve been sailing toward Esland for two days straight, on nothing but the open, glasslike seas. It’s been great for everyone to get used to being around each other as a crew, now that our heist is actually underway, and to go over the plan again and again. But I’d heard Toombs complain a few times that the voyage was boring somehow, and now that the waves and wind have picked up as we’ve neared Drage Passage, on the north end of Esland, he’s finally in his element.
Luckily, I’m used to taking small boats from the Banished Land to the Midlands, so I’ve had a lot of experience with rough seas. Vidar, on the other hand, looks more than a little green, hanging out by the railing of the ship, even when the rain whips up and everyone retreats downstairs. He doesn’t seem to have inherited Andor’s constitution for adventure.
“We should go over the plan one more time,” Andor says as he rolls out the map of Esland on the galley table. Everyone groans in response. It’s a different crew than I’m used to: Toombs, Feet, Belfaust, Kirney, Andor, me, Vidar and Vidar’s guardsman Raine, and Steiner. And Lemi, but when we were deciding who was going to do what role, it was unanimously decided that Lemi must stay onboard with Toombs, Feet, and Steiner. There’s no way we won’t be discovered with a magic dog.
“Andor, please,” I tell him. “We need to go to bed instead and get a good night’s sleep. If we’re going to be climbing up the cliffs before dawn, we need as much rest as possible.”
“I’ll be quick,” Andor says with a nod.
I sigh while a few others snort. If he’s not kept in check, he’ll literally ramble on for days with all sorts of tangents and contingencies.
“How about I go over the plan,” I tell him.
“Yes, please,” Kirney says with a tired sigh.
Andor stares at me and I can see his stubbornness wanting to fight me on it. Another example of him not wanting to yield.
But he knows his faults.
“Have at it,” he says, slumping down in his seat.
I stand up and look at the crew, clearing my throat. “An hour before dawn, at first light, Toombs will bring the ship here.” I point at a place on the map just off a rocky peninsula. “This is the most northern point of Esland and the least patrolled, from what we have gathered from the Kolbecks’ intelligence agents and what I know from my own birthland’s history. We won’t even anchor, for fear of the noise of the chain attracting attention. The two skiffs will be lowered and we will quietly row ashore. While there may be civilians about, there shouldn’t be any of the Black Guard—but that doesn’t mean we can relax. The six of us, armed with rope, will climb up the sand cliffs that line the shore. Once we’re up, we split into two groups. One group, consisting of me, Andor, and Kirney, will take this road here that leads to the underground spring. This spring isn’t mapped, but I know people do go down there and it should lead all the way to the cistern under the Daughters of Silence. With any luck, we will be able to come up through the bottom of the convent.”
“You keep saying ‘with any luck,’ ” Steiner says. “You do realize that luck is something we can’t depend on.”
I roll my eyes. Always so literal. “Yes, Steiner, I realize that. But most everything in life is luck.”
He purses his lips and frowns, and I know he doesn’t agree with that at all. “And you used the word ‘should,’ ” he adds. “As in it ‘should’ lead to the cistern. But you don’t know that for a fact.”
“Steiner, give it a rest,” Andor says, palming his mug of ale. “I think we all know that every second of this heist is based on nothing but sheer chance and foolish hope.”
“How reassuring,” Steiner comments quietly, looking at his nails.