Chapter 16
We are well and truly off course and utterly fucked. We had to abandon our flight northward when they sent the entirety of Alaha’s armada after us.
White sails littered the horizon in our wake, so we had to make an abrupt turn west, a direction to nowhere. We rowed and rowed and rowed. When we were unable to row anymore, we rowed some more, unable to raise the sails out of fear we’d be too visible, too easily spotted against the dark water.
A clatter jerks me out of my mindless rowing. Acker’s oar hits the deck a split second before he wretches over the side. I move toward him, but my legs give out, so I crawl across the deck to my bag to retrieve my waterskin.
I hold the skin to his lips. “Drink.”
He’s pale and drenched in sweat, eyes closed as his head lolls against the side of the boat. He groans but manages to tip his head back far enough
to take a few swallows.
“Let me see your side.”
He groans again when he moves to give me access. His shirt is soaked with blood and sweat. The gash is wet, bright red seeping through the
cracked, dried blood around the wound.
“I need to clean it. Don’t move.”
He manages to speak. “Wasn’t going anywhere.”
I get my feet underneath me and wobble to the hatch where the emergency medicine kit is kept. While gathering the clean dressings and a tin of salve, I’m grateful to find an extra skin of water, left by someone at the end of their last excursion.
I bring everything to Acker and settle on my knees at his side. “This is going to hurt,” I tell him, uncapping the water.
“Wait.” He tries to sit up, and blood gushes from the wound—more blood than he can afford to lose.
“Woah! I told you not to move.” I place a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
“You,” he wheezes, eyes cracking open to look at me as he reaches for
the water in my hand. “You drink.”
“After I clean your wound.”
He attempts to sit up again, abdominals clenching from the effort.
“Okay, okay.” I maintain a firm hand on him to ensure he doesn’t move any further while I bring the water to my mouth with the other. My lips are cracked and water dribbles out of my mouth, but I find myself taking large gulps when I mean to take only a few sips.
Acker finds a way to look smug even when he’s half dying from blood loss. I don’t bother warning him when I tip the rest of the contents on the cut and reach into the med kit for some salve.
Dang rabbits.
Upon opening the pot, I discover it’s empty but for a smidge coated along the rim. I gather as much as I can and pack it into the open wound. He sucks in a hiss of breath, but the little bit of medicine seems to do be just enough to staunch the blood flow. I make him drink the rest of the water from the second skin while I wait for the wound to clot.
“We need to wrap it,” I tell him.
He’s able to keep his eyes open for longer than a few seconds. “I’ll heal much faster on land.” Every word out of his mouth is coarse around the edges.
“It’s going to be a while before we see land.”
“My people have been waiting, keeping their ships moored out of sight,” he says. “If we’re lucky, we might run into them.”
I don’t voice my doubts. We went west because it’s the least likely of the paths we could have taken, and it’s the least likely place anyone will look for us, whether Alaha or Kenta.
I place the gauze against the wound, using my other hand to bring the length of wrap around his waist. My nose is inches away from his abdomen as I reach behind him to tie the bandage, ignoring his gritted teeth when I
tighten it and secure the ends.
I look up at him. “It had to be done.”
He tries and loses the battle to remain focused on me, so I help him lie on the deck, where he passes out in an instant. The sky is gray, the rising sun within an hour of cresting the horizon, and when I push to stand, my knees shake. Hell, I might pass out.
It takes all my remaining strength to get the headsail off the front mast. I stretch the oars across the width of the hull and secure them as best I can with some spare rope before I drape the sail over it, creating a makeshift canopy for shade. There’s just enough room for me to lie on my side next to him, and I finally allow the exhaustion to win out.
