Cold fingers brushed her spine as she remembered the woman who had given her the knife. Execute? He had said the word so casually – as though killing his fellow islanders was a perfectly acceptable course of action.

Talon hadn’t noticed her shock. “We have commissioned a brace of cargo hulks – sturdy, capacious ships. We intend to keep the traitors on these ships.”

“For how long?”

“Until they die, of course. It is exile, but safer, you see.”

Safer for the Fifteen Families, he meant. There must be so many rebels that he feared those who survived exile to sea might find each other and form a second resistance – one that might gain sufficient numbers and strength and return to their island to fight. Might even collaborate with…

“The Drowned Ones!” she hissed under her breath. Was someone in the rebel group collaborating with the pirates? But that was unthinkable…

“What did you say?”

“Nothing! Only … I still don’t see why you need me.”

“Merely to keep the prison ships safe and … isolated. If the need arose, which is very unlikely, of course.”

Isolated from the Drowned Ones. Storm saw Mer looking at her, jaw clenched with anxiety, and felt suddenly sick. The Pact were tyrants, each and every one of them, and they wanted her to help them stay in power. Crushing the rebellion would avert a civil war, but there must be another way – the Tortoise, the old man, they could not have meant this!

And there was a more pressing problem. What would Talon and his Fifteen Families do when she declined their offer? Looking at the greed in the faces of the men and women surrounding her, Storm thought their reaction might not be entirely hospitable, and for the first time that night, she was afraid.

Water could not aid her here, and she had faint hope of raising much of a wind inside this room. She was trapped, and totally on her own.

17

“We await your answer.” Talon’s eyes burned with barely controlled frustration. Outside the closed door, if she guessed correctly, waited dozens of armed guards, including archers. If she said no to the Pact’s proposal, Talon might well try other means of persuasion, like keeping her prisoner until she agreed to his plans. And what if he realised her sympathy was with the rebels?

It occurred to her that Talon had gambled hugely in disclosing his plans to her. After all, an overthrow of the Pact might suit all the other islands, including Yanlin, who might broker better deals with the rebels.

Storm’s nose itched with frustration; she clenched her fists to keep from rubbing it. The Albatross and Dolphin were powerless to help her here. What about the Tortoise? The Earth spirit? Elementals did not come when called, only when they chose. Besides, it would be best to outwit Talon. If she could…