Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 93948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
“A horn?” Siobhan frowns, her gaze flicking over my shoulder to Bastian. “What are they talking about?”
“I was speaking with Evelyn earlier when I grabbed food, and something she said got me thinking. Horns and drums and the like are used on mundane hunts.” As he speaks, he becomes more animated, excitement written all over his gorgeous face. “There’s a horn in the library in the Council’s building. It might be a way to summon the originals.”
“It’s a long shot,” I cut in. “You’re operating on a lot of assumptions. It might just be magically protected to preserve it because some ancient asshole liked it a lot. There’s no reason to connect it to the Cŵn Annwn.”
“Except it’s in the Council’s building, and the Council controls the Cŵn Annwn.”
I open my mouth to keep arguing, but he has a point there, at least.
Siobhan frowns harder, seeming to ignore us. “I don’t know anything about a horn or the Wild Hunt, but my parents used to tell us a bedtime story about our history and how the ancestors would come if we called, but we’d only get one chance to ask a boon. You think there’s some truth to that? That the horn might be the way we summon them?”
“I think…” He glances at me and sighs. “Nox is right. We don’t have enough information. Certainly not enough to set course to Lyari right now.” He half lifts his hands and then lets them fall back to his thighs. “But I thought it might be worth looking into.”
I expect Siobhan to close that door firmly in his face, but she just crosses her arms over her chest and her gaze goes to somewhere far beyond this cabin. It’s eerie, as if she can really see something that is lost to both me and Bastian. I glance at him, but he’s watching her closely, as if this isn’t new or unexpected.
Finally, she exhales slowly and gives herself a shake. “Dia might know. She’s lived a particularly long life, and she’s connected with Threshold on a level not even I can match. She has a particular interest in the originals and the old gods that most people have forgotten.”
I glance between them. “Dia? As in the former navigator of the Crimson Hag?” She was a member of my crew for a very short time, but I dropped her on First Sister weeks ago.
“The very one.” Siobhan is still frowning. “I’m not entirely certain where she is now. She’s not one to linger in a place for long, not with her vow compelling her to join another crew.”
I hold up my hands. “Hold on a moment. Dia is a member of the rebellion?”
“Not in the way you mean.” Siobhan huffs out a sound that’s almost a laugh. “Dia’s loyalty was always to Ezra, and then by extension to Bowen. When the crew voted Bowen out, she left as well. But she’s no friend to the Cŵn Annwn. She told me to come find her when I was ready to actually do something.”
“Why didn’t she stay with Bowen?” Bastian asks.
Siobhan shrugs. “Who can say? That woman moves to the rhythm of her own tide. But if anyone has an answer to that riddle, it’s her.”
“We don’t even know if that riddle has an answer that can help us.” I almost hate to pull their enthusiasm up short, but it has to be said. “We’re operating under some rather large assumptions. We don’t know if the originals even exist, if the Wild Hunt is actually connected to them, and we certainly don’t know if they’d be sympathetic to our cause if they do exist and it can be summoned. It’s far more likely that even if we could find a way to summon them, we’d just be bringing a destructive force into Threshold with no way to stop them.”
That sobers them both. Bastian nods. “So, we go to Dia and ask. If she knows the answer to those questions, then we’ll create a new plan. If she doesn’t? Then we’ll create a new plan.”
“That’s not what—”
“Nox,” Siobhan says quietly. “We’re going to be hunted to the ends of Threshold and beyond. Even if we could gather all the members of the rebellion, it will be a slaughter if we attempt to meet the Cŵn Annwn in battle. We have to find a different way.”
I don’t tell them we should run. It was never really an option, and even if it was, neither of these fools would take it. I suppose I’m a fool, too, because I’m going down with my crew, one way or another. “First Sister is on the other side of the realm. Our chances of making it there without encountering the Cŵn Annwn are nonexistent.”
Siobhan and Bastian are so different, but their expressions are identical. Stubborn, hopeful, bent on this course of action. I’m captain of this ship, which means the final decision should be mine, but that’s a naive thought. The truth is that a good captain weighs the needs of their crew against all their hard-earned knowledge.