That was what he'd gone back for, when he'd realized that the Library would destroy everything. History. The history of a city now in ashes.
They were all silent for a moment, and then Anit bowed to him. Deeply. "I accept this as payment in full for your passage," she said. "My father will treat this gift with the respect that it deserves. Thank you."
Anit boarded the ship, but she paused at the rail to say, "The lions must be kept below. And turned off. You understand."
"Of course," Thomas said.
"And I might like to keep one, perhaps."
"Our gift to you," Wolfe said. "With thanks."
Anit practically grinned this time. She was, Jess thought, coming out of this far better than she'd ever expected.
They all boarded quickly, and Jess helped Thomas get the lions stowed and turned off in the cramped hold. Morgan had already been shown to a cabin, and so had Wolfe and Santi. Dario stood at the railing, watching as the ship pushed away from the dock.
Next to him, Khalila didn't seem to be watching anything, but there was something in her face that made Jess pause beside her and ask, quietly, "Are you all right?"
"I'm thinking of my cousin," she said. "All wars have casualties. Rafa was dead the moment the Archivist handed him the letter. I pray we can get everyone else's family safe."
"We will. My family's been hiding from the Library for five generations of criminal success. We'll make sure they're put where the High Garda won't find them."
"If he dispatches them to Wales, Glain's family will send them packing," Dario said. "Wales has already nearly broken away from the Library's control. My family is too royal for the Archivist to threaten. So that just leaves Thomas's to worry about, in Germany."
"I'll see to it," Brendan said. "Least I can do, since I didn't pay a copper penny for our passage." He strolled off to speak with Anit. Dario followed him.
Khalila swallowed hard, and for a moment there was a shine of tears in her eyes, but then it was gone, as if it had evaporated under the intense heat of the anger she was banking inside. She hesitated for a moment, then said, very quietly, "Jess? It's past sunset. I have prayers. I can't think of a time I've needed them so much."
"Do you mind if I wait with you?" he asked. She gave him a smile that nearly broke his heart. Brave and painful.
"Your God and mine are listening," she said. "Perhaps you might talk to yours, as well."
"I might try. How do you say amen?"
"Amen," she said, though it sounded slightly different from the English version, and laughed.
He repeated that, and she said the word with his pronunciation, and for a moment, it felt like . . . peace.
///
As Khalila prayed, facing toward Mecca, he stood and did his own kind of prayer. More of a bargain. Let me find the strength to do this, he said. And let me be strong enough to protect them from what's coming.
The ship's engines set up a low, steady thrum and raced them into the teeth of a howling, cold wind.
Toward England.
EPHEMERA
Alert sent out to all coastal ports in which the Library has presence
ATTENTION
The Archivist Magister commands that you mark, record, and investigate every vessel that arrives or leaves your seaports. We are seeking a dangerous group of rebels who may be attempting to move through your area.
Our best information is that they are aboard a vessel recently departed from America, but we have been unable to locate this ship, which may be traveling under different names and flags. You are directed to make all possible efforts, even to the disruption of normal trade and the inconvenience of passengers, to locate these individuals. Likenesses and descriptions are attached. These renegades may be traveling under the guises of High Garda uniforms and Scholar robes.
They are the enemy of the Archivist and the Library. They must be stopped at all costs.
A handwritten note appended to the order by the vice chancellor for the king of Wales and sent to all ports in Wales and England controlled by his forces
In the name of our king, you are to ignore this and any other demands from the Great Library. Let them come do their own dirty work, and they can pay for docking privilege just like anyone else. We don't do their job for them in finding their runaways. Let them come search and see how far they get.
EPHEMERA
A handwritten declaration sent under diplomatic seal to the Archivist Magister of the Great Library, signed by the reigning rulers of Wales, England, Portugal, Turkey, Russia, and Japan, as well as the queen in exile of the Library Territory of France, and the United Colonies of America