Page 2 of Veiled Fate
“Swim to shore. You want us to goback. Into Arcadia. The place we just left. Where they want to kill us very badly.”
“Yes,” Kiel said, helping me up, cautious of my arm. I didn’t bother telling him it barely hurt any longer. It was healing incredibly fast. Too fast. There was a lot going on, and he didn’t need to bother with that. All that mattered was that I could use it enough to float with.
“So, we just take our chances?” I asked, allowing myself to be led out of the captain's cabin and back on deck.
The rest of the crew was attempting to look busy, but it was easy to see the tension weighing them down. They knew what our presence meant. What it would cost them. As it circulated that we were leaving, none looked happy. But neither did any of them try to stop us.
“A chance is the best we can ask for at this point,” Kiel said. “Hopefully, it’s all we’ll need.”
“And us? Is there nothing else we can do?” the captain asked as we reached the far side of the boat. There was no pier below us, only water. A rope ladder was swiftly tied into place and lowered down.
“There is, actually,” Kiel said, explaining the second part of the plan to him.
The captain’s guilt lessened as he understood what Kiel had planned. He nodded vigorously. “We can do that.”
“Good,” Kiel said, shaking his hand. “We’re counting on you. Remember, five minutes, then call it in.”
“Five minutes.” The captain set his face.
Kiel turned to me. “How’s your arm?”
“I’ll be fine,” I said tightly. I didn’t want him to take a closer look. That would lead to too many questions we didn’t have time for. “Let’s go. They’re getting closer.”
We couldn’t see any guards. There were too many boats, and their myriad sails, running boards, and all manner of haphazardly piled nets, crates, and miscellaneous boxes of fishing “stuff” were all in the way. We had ears, however, and could hear shouts from farther out in the maze of docks and piers slowly getting closer. There was a mix of barked orders from Wulfhere soldiers as they ordered captains and crews to stand aside while their ships were searched to angry snarls and threats from the crewmembers, who were all none too happy to be treated so ill.
“They’re waking,” Kiel said, noting my focus on the reactions of the sailors on other ships. “They aren’t used to being treated like this. They won’t like it. Bit by bit, more eyes will open to the truth.”
“It’s one thing for them to be mad at soldiers,” I said as we went over the edge and descended. My arm almost immediately throbbed with pain as I gripped the ladder rungs. “It’s quite another to start thinking that the Alphas are all immortal dictators who are pure evil.”
“Every tree starts as a seed,” Kiel said sagely.
“I know you’re older than you look,” I muttered, “but I really didn’t take you for the wise old man type.”
Kiel chuckled. “You have no idea.”
With that, we slipped into the water and began swimming for shore.
Our five minutes were running out fast.
Chapter Two
The cool embrace of Lake Arcadia plastered the clothing to our skin, creating drag that made it harder to move quietly. Inching our way around the ship's bow, keeping the hull between us and the shore, we paddled to the pier. Something soft and slimy brushed against my leg, the murky water obscuring whatever it was from sight.
I must have made some noise despite my best attempt not to because Kiel shot me a look.
“I’m fine,” I said, clamping down on the shiver crawling down my spine.
We reached the pier and moved under it, heading for the shore. Each wooden piling sprouting from the lakebed was covered in hard-shelled mollusks, forcing us to be wary of where we placed our hands. Carefully, we picked our way to the shore. Weeds tangled around my legs the shallower it got, and I grimaced against their slimy touch.
When sand finally sunk underfoot and the water grew too shallow to support any growth, I breathed a sigh of relief and resisted the temptation to rub my legs down. Despiteknowingnothing was stuck to me, I couldn’t shake the lingering sensation.
Water dripped from our clothing as we crouched, moving from one fishing pier to the next, putting distance between us and the boat we’d left. When the captain alerted the guards, we didn’t want to be anywhere nearby. The farther they had to chase us, the better.
“Here,” Kiel said, indicating a particular pier. He cupped his hands in front of his stomach and crouched deeper.
I took the hint and stepped into his grip, letting him boost me up to where I could reach the pier's planks and pull myself up and over. Lying flat once I was up, I gave Kiel my good arm and hauled him up until he could grip the pier himself.
“Thanks,” he muttered, crouching beside me. The sounds of an active city were louder the closer we got to the market that served the waterfront.
