A Hero of Realms(53)

Is Aisha tiring already? This was what I’d feared. That she might be weaker than the other jinni and unable to last as long. I shut my eyes tight, summoning every ounce of willpower I possessed, as though willing alone would force Aisha to remain within me.

She can’t leave me now. Not yet.

My fists clenched around the iron railing. I found myself squeezing so tightly that the metal bent out of shape. I held my breath, bracing myself for the pain to worsen. But to my surprise, after perhaps five minutes, it died down. I breathed out a slow sigh of relief.

Perhaps it’s not a sign of her weakening after all. Maybe that was just a temporary glitch. Aisha not paying attention, or something… I prayed that it was true. Everything rested on this jinni. This girl who had so aggravated me on first meeting now held my life in her hands. Her stamina and will to help me was the only thing keeping my head above water.

Swallowing hard, I left my spot and moved back toward the bench where Julie sat.

“I have good news,” she said, sensing me approach.

Good news. The notion was foreign to me.

“What?” I asked, resuming my seat next to her.

She nodded straight ahead. I looked out toward the ocean and spotted the outline of an island.

“That’s The Tavern,” she said. “Uma’s island wasn’t so far at all.”

I hadn’t expected the journey to go so smoothly. We hadn’t even stopped to let the dolphins feed yet. I felt almost suspicious of this stroke of good luck.

“And now… your father’s ship?” I said. “Where do you think that is?”

“We need to sail around a bit more and try to find it,” she replied, speeding the dolphins forward.

We traveled closer to the island, and then we began to move around it. By the time we’d reached three quarters of the way around its circumference, I’d spotted a ship in the distance. Of course, The Tavern was a hub for supernatural creatures, and large ships in these waters ought to have been an everyday occurrence. And yet…

I pointed toward it.

“Oh, my,” Julie said in a hushed tone. She stood up and peered out over the dark waters toward the looming vessel. “That’s it. That’s my father’s ship. I was right that he would still be in this area.” Nervousness filled Julie’s face as she tightened her grip on the reins. She gulped, her breathing growing more uneven.

I felt bad for her being forced to return to what she’d described as a miserable and downtrodden existence, but there wasn’t anything else I could suggest. She’d made this decision herself and the only thing that I could think to do was thank her, which I’d already done a number of times.

The ship was anchored and dark. Not a single light shone through the windows. Julie’s nerves were almost palpable as we arrived right at the base of the ship. She pulled the dolphins to a stop, and then wrapped the reins securely around the metal post in front of her seat.

She glanced up at me, and gave me a small nod.

“Okay,” she said in a quiet voice. “I-I’m going to board the ship… I will first attempt to get to the box without waking anyone or my father knowing, but I’m sure that will be impossible for the reasons I already described.”

I had no idea how she was planning to convince her father to part with such a supposedly rare and valuable item, especially after she had betrayed him and run away. But she seemed confident that she could find a way to pull it off, so all I could do was trust her.

Her gaze remained on me for a few moments before she backed away. Moving to the bow of our boat, she took a giant leap and latched onto the railing lining the deck of the tall ship. She swung her legs over and disappeared from sight.

That left me waiting in excruciating silence. I took up the reins, worried that the dolphins might go lunging forward for some reason. My eyes traveled toward the front of Mr. Duan’s ship. Dozens of ropes hung down the front of it—reins—and submerged in the water. I wondered what sea creatures drove this huge ship forward. Hopefully not something that could aggravate the two dolphins. Thankfully, they remained quite still.

I doubled over as an intense pain fired through my chest. The same disconcerting pain that I’d prayed was a one-off. Now I couldn’t push away the doubt that this was more than just a temporary lack of Aisha’s concentration or a slip-up. She was becoming tired, I could sense it.

Aisha, you’ve got to hold on. I willed that she could hear me.

“Benjamin.”

Julie’s hushed voice called down from the deck of the ship. I looked up with both relief and surprise. I hadn’t expected her back nearly so soon. Perhaps she’d managed to get the box without her father waking up after all, or perhaps the ship was empty.