Shadow Road: Book 1 of the Shadows Rising Trilogy

46. Wait and See

20th of Nema, Continued

The docks were alive with activity. NaVarre's crew was outfitting the Coralynne, and there were platforms of food and water waiting to be loaded into the hold while the pulley booms were being readied.

I caught sight of Arramy on the Stryka. He was dressed as a dock worker again, his dingy white shirt drenched with sweat and sticking to his back as he took turns with two of his men, sledgehammers rising and falling in a steady rhythm while they pounded something into place on the main deck.

I wasn't looking for the Captain, though. NaVarre. I needed to talk to NaVarre. I skirted a pile of Island citrus and headed for the whitewashed building, pushing through the large swinging double door.

NaVarre was right where Persha the Gopher Driver said he would be, sitting at the far end of a long trestle table, scribbling notes in a ledger.

I must have looked about as nauseated as I felt, because NaVarre took one glance at my face and got up, brows drawing into a frown. "What is it? What happened?"

I couldn't meet his eyes. I felt silly, like a child running from ghosts. Feeling silly didn't quiet my anxiety, though, and my "Oh, nothing, really," sounded annoyingly small and far away.

NaVarre lifted an eyebrow and waited.

I cleared my throat. "Ah. Um... You remember Char?"

"Of course."

I wheeled about and began pacing. "I translated for the patients in the medical ward today," I got out. "And... ah... Char was one of them. And she said some things... For instance, she ah... she saw a bulletin of me when she was kept in a shed, and these men who kept her were supposed to hunt me down and kill me. So, there's that. She also said that one of the other girls who was with her was an assassin. She – this other girl, not Char – she died, but before she died, she said she had been sent on a mission to ah... to get to the Island. And that she knew my real name. She – Char – said that there may be other spies we don't know about. Which means nowhere is safe. Not even here —"

I was on my way past NaVarre as I said that, and came to a stop, brought up short by his hands on my shoulders.

He spun me gently around, golden-green eyes serious as he peered down at me, his gaze roaming my features. "Stop. Take a deep breath."

Obediently, I dragged air into my lungs. Then I let it out on a strained, "I thought I was finally going to belong somewhere." I tried to smile but my lower lip wouldn't stop quivering, so I covered my face with my hands, fighting to keep some semblance of dignity. "I love this place," I managed from behind my fingers. "I love everything about it. Ydara and Jinny and Grenna and the Longallis. The School. I just wanted one thing to be safe, one thing to feel real again, and now everywhere I look, every face I see, I think, 'Is that person going to kill me?'"

NaVarre was shaking his head. "You are safe," he said, his voice gruff. He gave my shoulders a slight squeeze. "Don't let a confused Shacklefoot steal that from you."

He hadn't heard what Char had said, or the tone of her voice. Don't trust anyone. There is nowhere you can hide. "Char seemed to be in full possession of all of her faculties," I muttered.

For a moment, NaVarre was silent. Then he rubbed my arms, let go and stepped back. "You don't have anything to worry about. I have eyes all over the Island. And I trust my sources far more than a girl fresh off the Blocks."

The threat of tears had passed somewhere in all of that. I took a shaky breath and lowered my hands.

NaVarre was regarding me with an oddly reserved expression, as if he knew something but wasn't willing to tell me.

I frowned and narrowed my eyes. They were outfitting the Coralynne. "You received word from your agent."

There was a flicker of surprise in his gaze and he looked away, but then, reluctantly, he nodded. "He'll be here tonight. Tomorrow morning at the latest."

So soon. "Did he give you any indication whether I would..."

"Whether you'd have to go to Nim K? No. That's not something I would risk sending by letter. We'll have to wait and see."

That queasy, displaced sensation bubbled up between my ribs again.

"Come on. I'll walk you back to the Dorm," NaVarre said quietly, moving toward the door. He held it open and offered a wry grin. "You'll be absolutely safe there. Ydara may seem sweet, but I've seen her in action, and my bet wouldn't be on any assassin."

21st of Nima

I was allowed to stay in the Dorm since it was already walled up like a fortress, but I had to pack a bag for a trip to Nim K and move to a small, windowless room next to the kitchens on the first floor so the pirates NaVarre had posted outside could more easily guard my door. I wasn't allowed to leave, either, and no one was allowed to visit, not Jinny or Grenna, not even the Doctor. No one but Ydara and NaVarre were permitted past the guards.

Once again, I had been carved out of society and stuck somewhere 'safe,' waiting to find out what would be expected of me.

I tried telling myself that this was only temporary. No matter what happened, I could always come back and work at the school again.

What is that Rosephyra Daguerre saying? Don't trust a bridge over a misty gorge unless you can see the other end, and even then, send the guide over first?         

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