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Chapter 13: First Blood

"Here." Reynar handed a rifle to Riya.

She had suggested using her own but this one they said had mufflers--an extension on the muzzle to suppress the sound of shooting. It was a new invention in Acante, and the military had not yet gotten their hands on it.

She examined it now. It was lighter than her own but longer than she was used to. The barrel extended with a thick tube. Unlike the military-issued ones, the body had a smooth design. The grip arched in an elegant manner, but the hold and trigger under her finger felt familiar.

Ria's heart hammered in her chest as she looked at the gun in her hand. 

"You really know how to shoot, right?" Reynar asked as he slung his rifle over his shoulder. 

Ria swallowed and nodded. She knew she could shoot but with the way her hands shook now, she worried her body had forgotten. 

Reynar looked at her and emanated doubt but he only clenched his jaw and said nothing more to encourage her nerves.

Ria slung her rifle over her shoulder and patted the wooden chest at her side, making sure it was secure.

"Reynar." She heard Gin's voice and she looked up.

He strode and stopped in front of her, fully geared. Daggers filled his belt and a pistol was holstered on his side. 

"When we're past the second islet, I'm going to swim to Mavita and take out the guards on the ground," Gin said, looking at Reynar. 

"I got your back, Gin," Reynar answered, glancing at Ria and emanating more doubt before he climbed onto the rigging of the main mast to get up to the crow's nest.

"You won't be able to see past the treeline but I'll try to stay in clearings," Gin continued, his voice turning soft when he spoke to her. 

Ria paid attention to his emotion with her psychestringere. He was worried but at the same time, he trusted her. It came as a surprise to her that he did since he had been crass with her for being richly spoiled and landborn. But she wasn't landborn. She was a sea gypsy just like him.

"If I get caught, I'm dead." There was a warning in his tone, urging her to do her job right.

She nodded and tried to reassure him. "I've got your back."

His lips twitched into a half smile at her response and for a moment they only stared at each other. He studied her in the darkness where most of the ship's lamps were blown out, making her part her lips at his change of emotions. 

He dug into his pocket and pulled out a small carton. "I wanted to give you this."

Ria took the small box and when she realized what it was, her cheeks flushed.

"It's tsokolate. The best from Basiago," Gin said. His chest rose with a breath as if he was waiting for her reaction.

The kitchen in the royal palace in Sivona was always stocked with tsokolate imported from Basiago--a city known for trade and without its own product except for this. 

Was this what Gin wanted to give her that night outside the tavern? Her cheeks burned at the thought. In Sivona, it was tradition for a man to give tsokolate to a woman when they were courting. She wondered if Gin knew that. Was it different in Basiago? It could mean nothing to him, but when she looked up, he exuded a yearning that made her whole body heat.

"Ria," Migal called from the other side of the deck where he was gearing up, checking his holsters.

Ria schooled her emotions. Right now was not the time to feel like a silly infatuated girl. They were about to enter dangerous territory and she needed to focus. 

"Eyes on me," Gin said, but Ria never looked away from him. Though she knew what he meant. Once he stepped on Mavita, his life would be in her hands. 

Ria nodded and Gin walked away, moving to the front of the ship to get ready to swim to the island. She tucked the box of tsokolate inside the small wooden chest on her side.

"Are you ready?" Migal had come to stand beside her.

Her talk with Gin had driven away the shake in her hands and she smiled. "I think so." She looked up at Migal who towered over her, his usual bright gray eyes were now clouded with the darkness of the night.

Migal pressed his lips together as if he was about to say something but he only nodded, and gestured for Ria to climb.

She grabbed onto the rigging and made her way to the crow's nest at the top of the mast where Reynar waited already in position.

"You're not such a bad climber," Reynar said, gesturing for her to position on his right.

"I liked to climb trees when I was young," She said as she came to crouch low beside him. 

This close, his blue eyes seemed to glow in the darkness and there was a tiny scar on his right cheek--a burn that might have come from his work on explosives.

She unslung her rifle and set it up in both of her hands, pointing forward, following the head of the Opal.

"Breathe," Reynar said without looking at her.

"How do you stay so calm?" she asked, sensing the steady beat of his emotion.

"Done this many times before," Reynar answered and she realized that he had hurt or killed other people. Everyone on this ship had except for her.

"And I'm not getting off the ship, so I'm not that worried. If anything happens, I'll be first to get away," Reynar added.

It was true. Reynar and Sam would be staying on the ship while the rest go off board. The Opal would not wait for anyone left behind. It was every man for himself and it had always been that way since they left Sivona. Everyone in this crew was only looking out for themselves. 

Ria had grown to like them all, like Sam and the captain, and even Enzo, but especially Gin. But though they'd treated her like a friend, they were first protecting their interests. And she wouldn't be surprised if they were all praying to the sea mother for her to fail. All they cared about was the money--twenty five thousand pridas.

Ria had the most at stake here. She was the only one who cared about the document on that island--the adoption papers that would finally tell her of her past, her origin.

She wondered what her real parents' names had sounded like and wondered how they had looked. Had her mother's eyes been blue? Had her father's hair been brown? She would never know anything about them unless she got that document. 

All the lamps on the ship were now dead. The darkness of the moonless night covered them. The sails had been dropped and the Opal moved in a slow steady pace with the soft thrum of its engine.

"Get ready," Reynar whispered, and the silhouette of the islet became visible in the horizon.

Ria's heart raced and her hands trembled again. She took a deep breath to relax but it didn't help.

"Steady," Reynar said it like a command and she willed herself to obey.

She peeped through the iron sight and saw the line of the beach. Angling her rifle higher, she found the watchtower--the only tall structure on the islet without trees for competition. It was too dark to see if anyone was in it, they needed to get closer.

"You shoot first. I'll follow," Reynar whispered.

As the island grew in the horizon, two shadows moved at the top of the watchtower.

Ria's heart thudded, and the rifle suddenly felt heavy in her damp palms. Her breathing hitched and her whole body felt hot. 

She should shoot now but the trigger felt stuck--too hard to pull. Her vision through the iron sight quaked.

"Anytime now, lady." Reynar's voice came, cautioning her of the near end of their short window of opportunity.  

The Opal kept to its pace and they came closer to the island. They could be seen or their engine could be heard soon if she didn't shoot.

"She's not going to do it," someone said from below.

"Lady," Reynar said, his voice turning gravely high with urgency.

Ria took a deep breath and released the tension on her shoulders. "Just do it," she whispered to herself, commanding her body. And at the end of the exhale, she squeezed the trigger.

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