Shocked, the three of them gawked at Uther.

“I know,” the dragon said confidently. “Emotions. They can torment you.”

Not knowing what to say to Uther, Aidan focused back on Keita. “You should have said something and you know you should have said something, but you didn’t because you didn’t want anything to get between you and us going to the Eastlands.”

“Oh, so what?” Keita asked. “It’s a beautiful day, we’re already on the boat, on our way to the Eastlands, and look at this . . .” She pointed at Brannie who’d suddenly sat up and, struggling a bit, got to her feet.

“Look at my beautiful cousin,” Keita said, her grin wide. “Bravely facing her fear!”

The boat pitched and Brannie stumbled into Keita. But always a warrior, Brannie slammed a foot against the hull behind Keita and grabbed her cousin by the arms, keeping them both safely on the boat.

The boat righted and Keita smiled up at her much bigger cousin, but her expression changed just as quickly to panic and she tried to pull away.

But Brannie’s grip tightened on Keita’s arms, holding her steady while she vomited on her again and again and . . . aye . . . a third time.

Mortified, Keita stood there, covered in dragon bile—which meant it was like lava—while Brannie stumbled back to Aidan’s side and sat down beside him.

“Heard everything?” he softly asked Branwen.

“Every gods-damn word,” she growled out.

* * *

Brannie didn’t know how long she’d slept after vomiting all over Keita, but the arguing woke her up as it had before.

She was still sitting on the floor of the boat, her legs bent, her knees under her chin. Seabirds and crows circled overhead, fighting each other, more aggressive than she’d ever seen them. The sky was overcast and forbidding even though she sensed it should still be light out.

“What’s going on?” she asked, shocked at how hoarse her voice was, how raw her throat. It hurt even to swallow.

“Well?” Uther barked. “Are you going to tell her?”

Brannie focused on Keita. “I see I need to vomit on you again. And I will.”

“It wasn’t me.” Keita pointed at the Riders. “It was her.”

Kachka and Nina moved back, leaving Zoya Kolesova to stand alone.

“I thought I helped,” she lazily said with a shrug.

Uther spread his arms out, motioning to the surrounding empty seas. “Does it look like you’re helping?”

“I will not get yelled at by weak male!”

“Fine!” Keita snapped. “I’ll yell at you!”

“What is wrong?” Brannie demanded even while her stomach roiled.

Keita faced her. “My plan was simple. Take a boat to the Eastlands, kill the Empress and all of her kin. See? Extremely simple.”

And stupid, but Brannie wasn’t going to add that at the moment. “So? We’re on a boat, headed to the Eastlands. I don’t see the problem.”

“Thank you, large-shouldered one!”

“Really?” Brannie snapped at Zoya. “Throwing boulders from that glass cave?”

“What you need to know,” Keita continued, “is that there are several ways to get to the Eastlands. There is a mystic doorway, which we cannot use because of the Zealots. Sailing northeast across the seas, which takes one around the Rock of the Blue Birds. This trip requires several weeks—”

“See?” Zoya interrupted. “I—”

Keita held up her hand and, to Brannie’s shock, Zoya stopped speaking.

“Several weeks that I had already built into our schedule, assuming that by the time we got there, the war in Outerplains would be over—one way or another—and I could do what I need to do before the news arrived in the Eastlands about Ren.”

“So the problem . . . ?” Brannie asked.

“Most ship captains who trade with the Eastlanders will tell you they will only go that way, despite the storm issues. It’s the northeast way or no way. But Zoya managed to find the one captain who goes the southeast way.”

“It is faster!” Zoya interjected. “We get there in two, three days tops.”

“Do you want to know how we get there in two or three days?” Keita asked gently.

Brannie thought a moment and finally answered honestly, “No. Not really.”

“We’ll get there in two or three days,” Keita said anyway, “if we survive. That’s a big if.”

“I thought I helped,” Zoya said with another shrug.

“Well, you didn’t!” Keita barked. “This is bad.”

“We are Riders,” Zoya explained. “You are dragon. We will be fine.”

“I don’t understand,” Brannie said, gratefully taking the canteen of fresh water that Aidan handed her. “What kind of ship captain would take such a dangerous route?”

“What kind, you ask?” Keita stepped back, her arm sweeping wide toward the front of the boat. “A Northlander!”

Covered in furs, the captain stood on the deck of his boat, laughing into the rising storm winds and telling his men that, “If all goes well, we will die with honor among the sea gods, my friends!”

The dragons and Riders turned their attention back to Zoya, who shrugged once more and said again, “I thought I helped.”

* * *

Aidan sat down next to Brannie and offered her dried meat. She waved it away with a distinct look of disgust on her face.

“While I am stuck on this death trap,” she said, her voice nothing more than a rough growl, “I am not eating anything.”

“At least keep drinking water.” His canteen was beside her and he picked it up and handed it to her.

She took several large gulps of the water before putting the stopper back.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly.

Aidan blinked. “For what?”

“For being afraid to stand up because I’m afraid I’ll fall into the water and never come up again. For being afraid to eat because I’m afraid I’ll vomit . . . everywhere. For being afraid to even look in the water because I’m afraid of what will look back.”

“It’ll be you,” he said simply.

“What?”

“If you look in the water, you’ll mostly see yourself looking back. Water’s reflective.”

“Yes, you’re right.” She gave a little laugh. “Silly me.”

“If it makes you feel better, the closer we get to the storm area Keita is so concerned about, the less we’ll see of the Fins.”

“Have there been Fins?” Brannie asked.

“None. But it’s probably best they don’t know there’s a boat of dragons making its way across their ocean.”

Brannie looked down. “Excellent point.”

Aidan moved closer to her, their shoulders touching, but Brannie immediately leaned away.

“I don’t need that, Aidan.”

“What if I do?”

She thought a moment. “Fair enough.”

Brannie leaned against him and Aidan put his arm over her shoulder, pulling her even closer.

“We’ll get through this,” he told her. “I’m sure it won’t be that bad anyway. You know how Keita can exaggerate.”

“You think?”

Aidan rested his temple against Brannie’s head, closed his eyes. “Of course. She’s overdramatic.”

“Really?” Brannie asked. “Is that overdramatic, too?”

Aidan opened his eyes and saw the wall of water heading right toward them.

* * *

Kachka watched the wall of water bearing down on them.

“This cannot end well!” she yelled over the roar of the ocean.

It was what they had to get through, though. Not just the wall of water heading straight for them, but the violent storms behind that water. They’d need to deal with all that if they hoped to make it through the night.

The Northland men yelled orders to each other as they prepared themselves and their boat to fight what was before them.

Nina Chechneva held up a rope. “We can tie ourselves to the mast!” she yelled.