It’s an interceptor,” Aram said, lowering the spyglass and passing it to Jasher. Aram was short again, his voice pitched higher than at night. More than two days out from Durna, Jason, Nia, Jasher, and Aram huddled together at one side of the Valiant. Minutes before, a drinling high on the mainmast had spotted a ship on the eastern horizon.

“It’s on a course to intercept us,” Jasher said. “Of all the foul luck!”

“Don’t scold luck,” Aram said. “Word of the debacle in Durna must have traveled more swiftly than we imagined.”

“Maybe from displacer to displacer,” Jason guessed.

Aram grunted. “By displacer or eagle or gossiping fishwives, the word is out, and imperial vessels are checking the sea lanes away from Durna.”

“There are only two other interceptors in the whole Inland Sea!” Nia complained. “What are the chances?”

“Does it matter?” Aram replied. “One has found us. How do we respond?”

“How we deal with the interceptor is most vital in the short term,” Drake agreed, approaching the group alongside Farfalee. “How they found us so quickly may matter more as time goes by.”

“We razed their waterfront,” Aram said. “They started looking hard. They found us.”

“Too quickly,” Drake said.

“Weren’t you the one predicting disaster?” Nia asked Drake.

“Only because I hate being wrong,” Drake replied. “Personally, I would much rather beat the odds and live. I expected travail, but not such early detection.”

“I haven’t let my eagles fly since the day before our rendezvous,” Farfalee reminded everyone.

“Could our foes have anticipated our destination?” Jasher asked. “Doesn’t seem likely. Sailors have avoided the sight of Windbreak Island for generations. Who could have leaked our intentions?”

“Impossible to guess,” Drake said. “But whatever we do about our visible pursuers, we should be braced for more. Our enemies must have uncovered our plans. In situations like this, I’m slow to credit coincidence.”

“What do you suggest?” Farfalee asked Aram.

“The wind is from the southeast. It will benefit both ships. Given our current positions, I expect we could evade the other interceptor and win a race to Windbreak Island. But the other ship will never lose sight of us. We’ll be trapped between the abominable guardian and the oncoming interceptor.”

“What if we engage them?” Jasher asked.

“You’re familiar with our armaments,” Aram said. He was referring to the miniature catapults—three on each side—poised to launch burning pitch. “The enemy ship will be similarly equipped. Most likely we would roast each other, which would serve the emperor fine.”

Jason winced. The prospect of combat aboard flaming ships with no land in sight was not appealing.

“We don’t just need to survive this,” Drake muttered. “We need to make it through virtually unscathed, or the rest of our efforts will be hobbled.”

“What about our orantium?” Jason asked.

“It’s our biggest advantage,” Farfalee agreed.

Jasher scowled in thought. “The problem becomes how to get close enough to deliver the explosives without taking fire ourselves.”

“Would the catapults fling orantium farther than pitch?” Jason wondered.

Drake shook his head. “Probably not much farther.”

“What if we moved a catapult to the bow and went straight at them?” Farfalee asked.

Aram shrugged. “Unconventional. Might catch them off guard. We might get off a few spheres before they could adjust. Once they adjusted, the maneuver would swiftly bring us into close range.”

“Orantium impacting the deck of the other ship would cause damage,” Jasher said. “But orantium against the hull near the waterline would sink them.”

Aram chuckled. “That would require quite a shot.”

“We want to hit them before they can hit us,” Nia said. “And it would be best to strike the hull near the waterline. Would losing some dead weight help us sail faster?”

“Only a little,” Aram said.

“We should run, but let them get close,” Nia replied. “I have a plan.”

* * *

Jason stood at the stern beside Farfalee, watching the interceptor gradually gaining on them, sails billowing in the breeze. The sun would set before long.

“They don’t seem to suspect anything,” Jason said. “They’re trailing straight behind us.”

“They assume we’re incompetent sailors,” Farfalee replied. “Getting directly between us and the breeze gives them a chance to steal wind from our sails and gain even more quickly. Aram is deliberately doing nothing to counter the tactic. And he doesn’t have us rigged for maximum efficiency.”

“How is Corinne?”

Farfalee shook her head sadly. “Green as ever. I had hoped that the larger vessel and calmer water would reduce her stomach problems. Not so.”

Jason nodded. Journeying southward last year, Corinne had been seasick all the way from the Silver River to the Durnese River aboard a drinling longship. Not an hour after coming aboard the Valiant, she had fallen ill again. She was currently in a cabin belowdecks. When Jason had visited, she had been flat on the floor, perspiring and moaning, a bucket at her side. He hadn’t stayed long.

Behind the Valiant and off to one side, a school of kitefish leaped from the water, more than a dozen in total. They looked like a cross between barracuda and manta rays, long bodies sporting wide, winglike fins. The kitefish sprang into the wind, triangular fins spread wide, gliding smoothly upward, then hanging suspended before plunging back into the water.

With nets and rods, several of the drinlings worked round the clock catching kitefish and other sea life. Drake had explained that because of the high salt content, only select species of fish could survive in the Inland Sea.

“Would kitefish attack people?” Jason asked. They looked large enough.

“They mostly prey on other fish and birds,” Farfalee answered.

“You don’t have anything like them in the ocean?”

“Not really.”

“I wonder where they came from,” Jason said. “If the Inland Sea is too salty for most fish, how did they get here in the first place?”

“Wizards,” Farfalee answered. “Anciently, this sea was lifeless. Using Edomic, wizards engineered fish that could withstand the intense salinity. Several species of bioluminescent seaweed, as well. The introduction of fish to the Inland Sea allowed for settlements to develop. Without the tampering of ancient wizards, there would be little life or industry here today.”