Masque

Chapter 6/Part 3

Fasili shuddered and gaped breathlessly as his lungs shrivelled. His limbs were like concrete, but he fought against his locked joints and caught the lad before he sank. Always with the wild flailing. An approach from the side almost got Fasili a hit across the cheek, so he dove under and came up from below.

Once the lad was safely hooked over his back, Fasili paddled furiously for a ladder on the Merosan's stern but just as he reached it, a rude jelly latched onto his leg. Searing pain rendered Fasili's already stiff body completely immobile.

The boy used the moment to break away. He clambered over Fasili's head and started up the bulging hull of the ship. Without post-swim cramps or nature's spite, he went up full-speed.

Fasili pushed through the agony, making up ground with his longer reach.

But there was another splash behind him. Nuru had leapt off the boat.

Idiotic children.

She was supposed to wait until after he had the Ambassador's undergarments.

If Fasili let the little brat keep going up the ladder he'd squeal to the Merosans. But the girl would never make the distance alone. And he couldn't shout at her without drawing too much attention.

He peeled the bastard blob from his leg and gave it his best throw. It caught the lad on the back of the neck with enough zing to drop him into the sea. He let the boy soak and think about his error for a minute.

Mustafa went in after Nuru, floating like a barrel in the water. He caught her, and despite Fasili's wild gestures to get her back to the fishing boat, they both joined the raiding party. Mustafa hauled the boy out after him. But rather than showing gratitude, the lad whined like a dying animal.

Fasili set the pace of the climb and didn't let either of the plucky chits get past him. "This is no time to be impressing the captain, Mustafa," he hissed. "I could've slipped myself and the lad past them all, but now I've got the two of you to worry about as well."

"I wasn't sure you would worry about anyone but yourself, Pasha."

"I would have been fine. I swim all the time," Nuru spat.

"I told you to wait."

"He was getting away. Now I've got his ankle so he can't."

Shaking his head, Fasili climbed higher. Fortunately, the Merosan approach to decoration left their back end well suited for infiltration. The golden woodwork around the gallery balcony offered an abundance of places to grip onto. But he had others to consider. In particular, the lad and all the windows he could tap on.

Fasili stopped short of the balcony and swung himself from the ladder to a length of rail between gilded leaves. "You'll have to toss the boy, Mustafa."

"If he doesn't make it, he will die, Pasha."

Fasili looked down to the water. If he was smart, he would survive, but the boy had shown that was unlikely the case.

"That's good motivation for him. Can you make it, Nuru?"

"She and I will take the balcony, Pasha."

"I could jump," she protested.

"And if you don't make it, who will keep the Prince in Subajan?" Fasili snapped. He had to agree, Mustafa's approach had merit.

"Watch the windows. Their captain might be inside."

Fasili glanced down again. With the lad he would have to navigate the side of the ship one-armed and his stung leg would not cooperate as it should. The drop looked farther than it ever seemed in his youth. Galleons might have gotten a tad bigger in the two decades since he had last crawled a quarter deck.