“That’s why we’re running out of time. As soon as the rains stop, Mart will give the war order… The soldier boats might already be on their way to Atlan,” Tirad replies. Dalia points at the large Avij Ship that Asin’s boat is lying in its shadow like a baby in her mother’s arm.

“The Ship lights are being turned off! We should get going…” Dalia says. Tirad looks outside. He gets out and gets the paddles and waits for the deck lights to be turned off, although they usually keep some dim lights on, throughout the deck, cabin entrances and above the ladders. The Avij guards usually stand at such lighted points. It’s a mistake that they are not aware of since they have never had a serious runaway or an intruder before. They don’t know standing in the spotlights makes them visible from the sea and by people like Tirad who want to get away, and at the same time, puts the sea in complete darkness! But Tirad is not planning to pass in front of the deck. He will sail from behind the ship where the cabins are and a narrow path from the deck continues behind the cabin building, circling back to the deck again. There is only one guard on this narrow corridor. Dalia goes to the platform and pretends filling her bucket with seawater. She unties the boat rope. A night guard looks down from the deck. Dalia waves at him saying goodnight and the guard waves back. She is sure he hasn’t noticed her untying the boat. The guard walks to the eastern side of the deck. Dalia tells Tirad it’s time to go. Tirad starts rowing to the back of the ship.

Chapter 33

The Ship horn blows three times. Lealy leaves her patient on the bed; she hasn’t finished dressing all her wounds yet. She is her thirty-first patient in the five months that she has spent on Parsana. She has been training and practicing her healing profession under Ashid’s supervision and has learnt a lot from her. She never allows herself to ask a patient’s name or become acquainted with them. The Parsana patients usually don’t survive long and knowing their name and life stories would make their everyday passing very difficult for her. She will do whatever she can to tend to them without feeling sorry or compassionate towards them, let alone becoming attached. If she doesn’t need to, she won’t even care to know if the patient is male or female. Ashid has been kind to her, answering her questions with care and introducing her to new treatments and medicines. Lealy knows now how the Saviour Ship healer-maids were so dilettante. She had lost many patients due to her inexperience while she could treat them easily, but she didn’t know how. She is not to blame. The Saviour Ship should have given them better chances to read and learn and even get professional training from healers of Parsana. Lealy follows the sound she hears from the deck, walks out of the eastern Parsana corridor to see what’s going on. The corridor is crowded and people are pushing each other to get out and see what’s happening. Lealy already knows, she had heard the three honking horn before on the Saviour Ship when the Atlan soldiers had attacked…