“We need to shift from training to preparations for our travel,” Serina said, loud enough so all could hear her. “No more hunting, target practice, or search parties. I want you to bring all your belongings, food stores, everything you can down to the infirmary. It’ll make it easier to access. When that boat comes, we’re going. We can’t give Nero and Diego a chance to stop us.”

A flurry of activity answered her announcement. She sent a team to take Lion and the others to the volcano. Then she pulled Anika aside. “Get all the markswomen together. I want to head to the pier and practice our approach.”

Anika nodded and hurried away. When she returned, Serina was surprised to see Maris among the markswomen.

“Are you sure?” Serina asked her.

Maris raised her chin, and as her hair fell away from her face, so did the shadows; her eyes no longer looked so haunted. “I’m ready to do my part.”

Serina smiled. “I’m glad to hear it.”

She tracked down Val in the infirmary. He gave her a small, sad smile when he saw her, but neither of them acknowledged their conversation from the night before.

“Can you pull a couple of groups together to collect water?” she asked. “We need to fill every flagon we have. Water will be our most precious cargo on that ship.”

He nodded. “There are some empty barrels in the compound we can use as well.”

“Good,” she said. “We need everything ready. We can resupply as needed if the boat is late.”

He turned to go, but she called out to him. He paused.

“Don’t go out on your own,” she said. “To Diego and Nero, you’ll be a desirable target.”

He gave her hand a quick squeeze. “I’ll be careful.”

She watched him for a moment as he walked away, then she returned to the markswomen. “When we get the signal from our lookouts, we’ll have a very small window to take position without being spotted by the men on the boat. So we’re going to practice getting into location right now, for as long as it takes.”

A few of the girls nodded.

Serina and Ember led them down toward the pier.

“Feels like the boat is taking a long time,” Ember said. “Maybe a magic has trapped all of us here, and we’ll walk these same paths and worry about these same guards forever.”

Serina glanced sidelong at the older woman. Ember never talked much except to bark out commands during her training sessions. She wasn’t prone to flights of fancy.

“It does feel like it’s been a long time. Almost two weeks, I think,” Serina replied.

“They seemed to come one on top of another before,” Ember said. “When we knew they meant food and death.”