Salt spray lashes the hidden creek. Arus stands at the skiff with the ledger burning like a brand in his coat, and Elizabeth waits in the rain, seeing the same road ahead.
Elizabeth Billings
If that book proves what we think, then the Viscount is our only path now. Put us in the water, Arus.
Arus gives the skiff a shove. It scrapes free of the shingle and rocks, turning its bow toward the black open water beyond Bessy’s Cove.
Arus Gandon
The ledger stays dry enough to matter. The distance to Falmouth is the real danger.
John Carter
You take the southerly tide. Keep the sail low, and if you meet a patrol, burn the decoy before they ever touch the true papers.
Elizabeth’s gaze hardens at Carter’s voice from the rocks. The betrayal is no longer rumor, only a knife already in the dark.
Elizabeth Billings
He sold us to my father. Then let him watch us go where his bargains cannot follow.
Arus and Elizabeth climb in together, the skiff rocking under their weight. Ahead lies the Viscount’s castle, and behind them, Carter’s lies.