Free War of the Princes 02: Dragoon by A. R. Ivanovich Page B

Carmine said to me. “A storm is coming, and I'd like to clear the harbor before it reaches us.”
    I looked around, confused. The five of us were the only people on board. “Don't you have a crew?”
    “ Don't need one. The whole ship is mechanized,” she said happily. “She's called the Flying Fish, and we're the only two that reap the rewards of ferrying.”
    “ Ah," I said, absently. As she spoke, I drifted into my thoughts, barely comprehending her words. I may as well have been in a bubble, deaf to the world around me. A wave of dizziness rushed to my head and cleared. I’d been swept away by the demands of the past two days, and I hadn’t stopped to absorb the gravity of my situation. It was like breaking free of a fever and realizing you were outside in the cold instead of safe in your bed.
    For a moment I swayed, wondering how I’d gotten to this point, and how it could possibly be reality.
    We were on a boat, ready to cross the largest body of water I had ever seen. Our destination was unknown. Somehow, I was leading Expedition: Fix Kat's Messed Up Life. I hadn't wanted other people with me, but here they were.
    My eyes focused, my hearing returned with sharp clarity.
    “This is it,” I said to the guys. “This is your last chance to go home.” The reminder was meant as much for me as it was for them.
    Dylan was looking out at the angular swells of the blue-green water. “Some of us don't have a choice,” he grumbled over his shoulder.
    “ Not a chance, Kat,” Kyle said, ignoring him. “I should be here.”
    “ Sterling?” I asked.
    “ None of us should be here,” he answered, frowning at Kyle. “I don't know how you found this place, or what you're doing here, but they took Ruby. Either I help you get her back, or I go home to wait and wonder if something had gone wrong. I've never been good at sitting on the sidelines.”
    I felt horrible.
    Congratulations, Ruby, you're Kat's best friend! As a prize, you get to be locked up in a foreign keep!
    Remembering Carmine, I quieted my tone. “Guys, this could be very, very dangerous. Are you sure?”
    “ Yes,” Sterling said definitively, with Kyle nodding beside him.
    Outside, an arm of Breakwater's bay was outstretched to the left. The approaching storm was darkening the sky and the sea below it. White caps were forming in the distance. It was time to leave the security of land, and for that, I was exceptionally nervous.
    “ Alright,” I said to Carmine, my even tone belying my fear. “Let's go.”
    “ Hurrah,” said Dylan, deadpan.
    “ Good!” said Carmine, sweeping to action at the controls of the ship. Her hands glided over the panels, twisting knobs, clicking switches, and pushing levers into position. The Flying Fish responded by vibrating and humming more dramatically as she went. “You know what they say about time and tide!”
    “ Actually,” Kyle said, watching her with interest. “We don't.”
    “ Time and tide kill indiscriminately,” she recited more cheerfully than the phrase deserved. Resting her left hand on the wheel, she used her right to push up a lever with a brown leather handle.
    The Flying Fish's humming rose to a grumble, and finally, a roar. The entire vessel rattled with such ferocity, I was nearly knocked from my feet. Sterling stumbled, crashing into the wall behind him. Kyle's hands shot out at his sides for balance. Instead of mirroring the fear on our faces, he was grinning like a kid at a carnival. Carmine didn't act as though the jostling of the ship was anything abnormal, and continued at her work.
    Dylan, who was staring out the window, turned to look at us like we were a bunch of maladjusted imbeciles. “It's only lift off.”
    “ Lift off?” I repeated, hoping my hands weren't shaking too obviously. “Do you mean we're flying?”
    “ If we weren't, she'd just be called the Fish,” Carmine said with a smirk. “Another reason I saved you from those other ships. Slow, archaic