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The irip from the rail, the pitch of the deck too steep to allow any purchase as she and Arentes were carried towards the starboard side She saw the guard co crunch, and leaving a gap through which she descended into the roiling sea

The storm’s fury disappeared in an instant, replaced by the silence of the world beneath the waves She could see only varying swirls of grey as she descended, borne down by the weight ofthis time Master Arren’s wonder would be lost forever, then unclasped her sword belt, letting the blade fall away She tore at the straps to herfrom her hts as the straps resisted every desperate tug Panic will kill you

She forht a pose as possible, facing towards the surface to slow her descent, then drew her dagger and cut each of the straps in turn The mail shirt came loose in an instant and she felt herself rise, but too slowly judging by the now-agonised burn in her chest She kicked for the surface, forcing every ounce of strength into her lungs and sternly refusing the compulsion to draw breath

She broke into the air with a shout, dragging in rain-clogged air and coughing, carried high and low by tall waves There was no sign of Arentes, or anyone else Then a sudden cacophony, loud enough to reach her through the stor sound, like a thousand trees splintered at one blow The swirl of the stor the darkness to afford a view of the Marshal S so and what see from her sides, droplets Reva soon realised were people, her people, casting themselves into the sea as the ship was torn apart beneath the the spectacle with it, but Reva continued to stare, as the cold rose to nu soon and she had no desire to fight it

I killed theht as the waves covered her head With a lie

CHAPTER THREE

Frentis

The villa was the largest they had yet encountered, ardens extending for several acres all around It had clearly been hoh in fact to th of the villa’s defences, however, theit at the first sign of their approach His Varitai were easily counted, lying in four neat rows in the inner courtyard, each bearing an identical ear-to-ear cut across the throat

“All valuables gone,” Draker reported, “along with the horses Found most of the slaves inside Unlike this lot, looks like soh”

“Two hundred of their ownher head in bafflement “I can make no sense of it”

“They knoe’re about now” Frentis nodded at a silent cluster of their own freed Varitai nearby “Didn’t want us to have theht Master Rensial’s eye “From the state of the bodies they can’t be more than a day’s ride north See to it, please Master”

Rensial nodded and alloped through the villa’s gate Frentis briefly pondered going with theiven the master’s erratic nature, but resisted the iaze not quite so blank, even occasionally given to unbidden speech requiring less deciphering than usual Only in war does the madman become sane

Not all the villa’s slaves had been slain before theirbeen at work in the fields when the slaughter began Many were seen fleeing in all directions, though a sizeable minority made their way to the villa, cautious and berief at the sight of theirover fallen woe was forbidden between slaves but everywhere they went there was evidence that people were capable of forging their own bonds regardless of whatever barriers or threats constrained their lives It was to these bereaved souls that Frentis gave the villa’s ohen Rensial returned the following day, dragging the unfortunate black-clad along behind his horse, hands bound and ed