BooksBarbecue
Back A Burning Sea
Chapters (54)
  1. CAST OF CHARACTERS
  2. PART ONE
  3. CHAPTER ONE
  4. CHAPTER TWO
  5. CHAPTER THREE
  6. CHAPTER FOUR
  7. CHAPTER FIVE
  8. CHAPTER SIX
  9. CHAPTER SEVEN
  10. CHAPTER EIGHT
  11. CHAPTER NINE
  12. CHAPTER TEN
  13. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  14. CHAPTER TWELVE
  15. PART TWO
  16. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  17. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  18. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  19. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  20. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  21. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  22. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  23. CHAPTER TWENTY
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  30. PART THREE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  42. PART FOUR
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  45. CHAPTER FORTY
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  53. HISTORICAL NOTE
  54. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

She heard Erlan’s voice yelling for her to jump. But she couldn’t, not without Anna. She bent down and seized the girl. Behind her, Katāros was scrambling over the thwarts. Anna had just strength in her legs to take her own weight for a second – long enough for Lilla to shove her overboard. The girl flipped over the gunwale like a piece of timber. There was a splash, Lilla felt fingers in her hair, yanking her off her feet, then a thud as her head connected with a thwart. For a second she was stunned, a knife was at her throat. But she refused to be beaten. She drove with her legs, slamming her head upwards before Katāros had a chance to secure her. She felt her skull crunch into his nose and his head whip back. He fell backwards, tripping over another thwart but somehow catching a fold of her dress as he fell, pulling her on top of him. His hair came loose, a black mane everywhere, his hand was still on the blade, his nose streaming blood. She punched him double-fisted in the face, felt the blade slash her forearm then her shoulder but his cuts were wild. Her double grip got a hold on the hand with the knife. His other was pulling back her hair, exposing her throat. Pain shrieked through her skull, the blade pressed closer and closer his breath blowing like bellows past her ear. With a final surge of defiance, she jerked her head forward, feeling a clump of hair tear from her skull. She twisted, the knife stabbed and with the sudden shift in weight the point went past her and drove into the eunuch’s side. His scream was a blast of savage, shrill air into her eyes. Seizing her chance, she raked his face until his grip broke and he fell backwards. She had a hand on the gunwale, she pulled, lurched forward, slipped, glimpsed a whirl of dark sky above her for an instant, then her head clunked against wood, then cold water enveloped her. . .

The Arab struggled out of the water and before Erlan could get to him he’d cut the rope. The boat started drifting away while Erlan tried to bring his sword to bear, but the depth of the water made it impossible.