She felt ready to drown, and it was only his cajoling that encouraged her to drag her dead limbs from the water and pull herself forward. Always forward. Always still reaching and not quite achieving.
Even as the sun rose overhead and warmed the day, the chill temperature of the water kept Nerini's body struggling against the cold as much as her exhaustion and injuries. She could barely lift her head high enough to breathe in water, fighting the growing realization that she was about to drown. Nerini wanted to give up, wanted to just stop moving and sink beneath the waves, making the world's noise and expectations fade from her notice.
But she didn't.
Nerini held on to that stubborn kernel of hope that whispered quietly for her to continue going. To reach one more time and push her aching limbs to keep her afloat and moving forward. Tears were streaming down her face, only differentiated from the water soaking her skin in that they were warm for a brief moment.
Aupan grinned down to her, his expression gentle and relieved. "You're here."
Nerini's next stroke hit wood, and she looked up to see a couple stories of ship towering above her. "That's good."
But the next challenge was already there. The Sellexun ship was gigantic, and the rest of it disappeared into the fog. If lookouts had not seen her yet, they would not notice her down near the hull. "Only to drown with no way up. They can't see me."
Aupan just grinned and pointed to the anchor chain beside him. "Nah, you just gotta climb."
Nerini wanted to scream at him, to tell him that she didn't have the energy to climb, that she had spent everything she had getting to this dead end. Instead, she cursed and grabbed onto the chain, clinging to it as she struggled to catch her breath before responding. "Yeah, climb. That's not so hard, with a body that's been thrown around, buried alive, and slashed up. Easy as pie after swimming several hours through the ocean in the middle of winter. Can't you just lift me up there?"
Aupan paused for a moment, narrowing his eyes as he focused on her for a long while. Finally, he shook his head with a sigh. "No, it appears I lost my gift when I died."
"Of course, you did, nothing is ever easy." Nerini closed her eyes for a moment, contenting herself to hang off the chain and breathe.
Then Nerini nodded to herself and grabbed the first link, groaning with the effort to pull her body upwards. Her arms screamed at her, her hands slipping on the metal as she struggled to make them respond to her command. Then she reached up to the next link and hoisted, hooking her foot into one and pushing upwards. She gasped as she lifted completely into the open air, which was nowhere near warm enough to help return some heat to her.
Despite the shock, she continued upward link by link. There were moments when she would have to stop for several breaths, feeling as if she could not continue. But, unsure how safe it would be to hang on an anchor chain, or how long she could maintain her grip, she forced herself onward.
After what seemed like days of endless climbing, she mumbled to Aupan, her teeth chattering from the cold, words slurring. "They haven't seen me yet?"
Aupan, her constant companion, disappeared for a moment, before returning to her side. "No. They're all looking out to land, I guess you didn't tell them you'd be climbing up the anchor chain?"
"No, I guess I forgot." She grumbled, though she felt a grin forming on her lips from the rare hint of humour from the man.
The chain swayed as the ship moved in the waves of the water, sometimes causing her to cling tenuously to the metal with hands that were chewed raw from the sharp barnacles. Other times she forced herself to continue up, ignoring the ever sharpening pain from every injury she had. Without the cold numbing of the water, she felt the sting of salt water in her wounds and the ache of joints and muscles that were far beyond their capacity.
All she could tell herself was that the pain was survivable, she could move through it and eventually it would stop. It would not kill her. Only giving up would kill her.
Finally, her hand reached wood and she gripped the railing, gasping for breath. Slipping and scrambling on the wet wood, she squirmed her way up over the railing of the ship and half rolled, half fell down onto the deck.
Nerini forced herself to sit up and grinned when the backs of her friends across the deck. They were all looking out at the shoreline, as Aupan had told her. And without the energy to move another inch, Nerini leaned back against the railing, closing her eyes for a moment.
"What are you waiting for?" Aupan asked, following her gaze as he sat down beside her.
"Just wait, this is the most peaceful you'll ever see them." Nerini smirked and glanced over at him.
***
Wyn felt a shift, a change in the air and stiffened, trying to reach out with her senses to figure out what had changed. The shore was the same, the water the same blanket of fog. She had been scanning the extent of the shoreline desperately, needing to see her friend materialize out of the woods. Or a bird to fly out from any direction, with word that Nerini had made it somewhere else safe.
She shivered and glanced to Caelur, who stood beside her, seeing his own painful look of regret. He had been holding the line of logic this whole time, but she knew he was at loathe to abandon Nerini, as much as anyone else.
Then she turned and glanced over her shoulder, more to give her eyes a break than anything else. And there, sitting against the far railing, dripping with blood and water, was her friend. Wyn let out a cry of surprise and sprinted across the distance to Nerini, who was grinning with blue lips at the empty air beside her. "Rini!"
Wyn slid to her knees as she reached her friend, pulling the woman's half frozen body into her arms and hugging her in close. "Where did you come from?"
Before any response came, Keana was beside her, and took Nerini's cold face in his hands, before starting to check Nerini over for injuries. "She's hypothermic, we've got to get her inside and get her warm."
Wyn lifted her friend, standing with the help of Keana and Shiar, though stubbornly holding on to the other woman. Following Lyana, Wyn made it down the deck and into her own suite of rooms, only half cognizant when Lyana directed her to lay Nerini on the couch so that she didn't get the bed wet.
Behind her, she heard Lyana speak. "We've got it from here."
Then the sound of the door closing on whoever had followed them that far. Wyn didn't care, she was focused on stripping her friend of her soaked clothes, exposing bruises, cuts and wounds that made tears prick in her eyes. "Heal her first, or warm her up?"
"I'll heal her. She needs to warm up gradually anyway, and warmth will increase the blood flow." Lyana stepped up beside Wyn and began to do just that, murmuring. "Can you draw a lukewarm bath?"
Wyn nodded. "Yes. Too hot and her body will go into shock. I remember a little from growing up in Lansend. She's still shivering, that's good, right?"
Lyana smiled to her and nodded. "She's here and breathing. That's enough for me. Nerini.. I don't know if you can hear me, but we've got you. You're safe, but don't let go right yet. You don't have to do much. Just stay with Wyn and I."
Wyn kissed Nerini's forehead, wrapping the woman in a blanket as Lyana healed her, and turned to fill the tub.
***
Keana blinked as they slammed the door in his face, scowling even as he reached for the doorknob. All he could think about was Nerini's pale skin, smeared with blood, feeling like porcelain in his hands. He didn't care who the two women were, he was just as much a friend of Nerini as either of them.
He found his shoulder caught by Lord Shiar and was surprised to find the man standing beside him. "I don't think we're welcome in there. They have to strip her down, get her out of the wet clothes."
"I know that." Keana growled in response, glaring at the door. "It's beyond modesty, she needs to be healed, I need to help."
"Lyana is a healer. There's nothing you can do that she can't." Shiar sounded as frustrated as he did, though he shifted to lean against the wall beside the door, shrugging. "They won't hesitate to ask for help if they need it, believe me. Even if Lyana was that worried about it, Wyn would choose Nerini's well-being over any modesty. But if we're not needed, why push it?"
Keana clenched his jaw with the effort of not arguing, though he inclined his head. For all his high-handed words, he was automatically falling into the trap of thinking that he could somehow do more than two very qualified and strong women. "You're right."
"Call your men back, Sir Keana, as soon as they're aboard the warships, we'll be heading south." King Caelur said as he approached, though there was more than the firm command of a regent. He saw a surprising amount of relief. "We have all our cargo, it's time to head to Alliance."
Keana nodded slowly as he reassessed the two men. Despite their arguments to leave Nerini behind, even the King had been allowing him to delay their progress.
Despite their claims of logic and calculation, none of them had wanted to make the decision to pull anchor without the woman he loved. They were all glad that Nerini was with them, and that allowed him to trust the oddly matched group a little bit more, even if he still wanted to strangle most of them.
***
Rael stood on her ship, watching it pull away from port, and let out a slow breath as she watched Aupana slip further and further away from her. Those of the Privy Council would follow her ship, but for the moment, she and her private ship did not have to worry about the egos of nobles. She would be able to enjoy some quiet couple days before she had to bolster herself for more arguments and long days without her friends.
Rael had wanted to leave for Alliance for weeks, but found that she was feeling less and less inclined about it the closer they got to the date of departure. She was dreading the moment she came to shore and realized that her friends may not be joining her there.
"Eagle!" The captain yelled as a large bird landed suddenly beside her on the railing, causing her to take a step back in surprise, frowning at it as it chirped softly to her.
"It's ok." Rael whispered to her Foxes as they approached, seeing the message on its foot.
The message she had been waiting for.
She looked at the seal of Caelur for a long moment, then finally forced her hands to go through the motions of retrieving the scroll and opening it. She read the sparse and formal words, then glanced to the words.
Then she read the message again.
Rael's strength left her, sending her falling to her knees on the deck to sob, pressing her face into her hands and against the letter they contained.
"Regency!" Two of the Foxes dropped to their knees beside her in concern, prompting her to let out a soft laugh and grin at them through tears of joy.
"They found him. He's safe." Rael wiped her eyes and stood beside them, clearing her throat before saying. "Today's a great day, we've succeeded."
The Eagle let out a cry, opening its wings and shuffling a bit, drawing another laugh from her. "See that he gets rest and a feed, he's flown a long way for us."
"Yes, Regency."
Rael smiled and looked out over the water, letting out a slow breath. She knew that they were not done, that there would be more reports to come and that if Caelur believed the threat was gone, he would have said so. There would be countless days ahead that would demand every ounce of strength from each and every one of them. Rael knew that. She could handle whatever else lay ahead.
They all could.