Page 154 of Sword & Sacrifice

She reached the rail and looked down into the water. White waves splashed up from the boat’s passage. Beyond that, it was a deep, dark, impenetrable blue. Swimming would be a challenge, even if she had proper experience. Paddling around in a lake or river didn’t compare to swimming in the sea.

“Just going to ignore me then?” Rafe sounded amused rather than discouraged by her cold shoulder.

“Why should I tell you anything?” she finally snapped. “You’ve done nothing to earn my kindness, respect, or trust.”

He leaned his elbow on the rail and rested his chin in his hand. “You claimed I had the wrong person, so I’m simply doing my due diligence.”

“I already told you who I am, that should be enough.” Emmaline leaned further over the edge and spotted a rowboat tied to the side. How do I untie it and get it into the water?

“What if I shared something about myself first?” he suggested. “My name is Raphael Hackett. I’m an only child who grew up to vastly disappoint my mother by following in my father’s footsteps.”

If I had a knife, cutting the ropes would be quicker than untying them. She turned her assessing gaze to Rafe as he rattled on about himself. He probably has one. How do I get it from him? Archer or Griselda would fight him for it. Silas would persuade him with logic and authority—kings outranked captains, after all. Penn would coax him with a charming smile and whispered promises.

Rafe wanted to connect with her, so why not let him think he’d won her over? “I’m an only child too,” she said, softening her voice and her expression. “It was just me and my mother growing up.”

“Us too! Did your mother shelter you because ‘the world is dangerous’?” he asked, rolling his good eye.

She barely registered his words as she tried to remember how to flirt. What does Penn do when he’s interested in someone? An image came to mind of Penn and Valerian casually touching. It wasn’t anything inappropriate, but it exuded intimacy. She raised her hand to Rafe’s chest, right over his heartbeat, and looked up at him through her lashes. “Tell me more.”

He covered her hand with his own, grabbing her second hand reaching for his waist. “A valiant effort, Em, but next time you want to use your feminine wiles to trick someone, try not to be so obvious.”

Scowling, she tried to take her hand back, but he clutched it tighter. “I understand, so let me go!”

“Nah, I’m too afraid of what you’ll try next,” he replied, maneuvering her backwards away from the rail. “Besides, we’re almost there.”

“What?” Since he hadn’t released her yet, she had to look over her shoulder. She’d been so focused on the shoreline that she hadn’t seen their approach to a second, larger ship.

The crew of the other ship greeted them with boisterous hollering and enthusiastic waving. Someone threw a rope contraption over the side, and two of the men on the smaller ship grabbed it and tied it down.

Rafe dragged Emmaline over to the rope.

Her eyes widened as she realized it was meant to be a bridge between the ships. “You can’t expect me to climb over that! I’ll fall off!”

“Don’t worry, if that happens, we’ll fish you out of the water.” Seeing that his statement didn’t appease her, he called out, “Braz, show her how it’s done!”

The large, dark-skinned man stepped forward. He glowered at Emmaline as he passed her and grabbed the rope. He climbed it faster than a squirrel up a tree, reaching the other deck in under ten seconds.

“Your turn,” Rafe said, dropping her arm and gesturing to the makeshift bridge.

Emmaline crossed her arms and refused to budge. “Absolutely not.” The one benefit of the ropes was that they would have a hard time forcing her to cross. Both hands were needed to hold onto the rope, which meant no one could carry her over. The only way for her to cross was of her own free will.

“You’re the one who wanted to speak to the captain,” Rafe reminded her. “And he’s on the other ship.”

She pursed her lips and tried one more argument. “Braz moved too quickly to understand how he did it. I’ll need another demonstration.”

Rafe eyed her for a moment, then said, “You know what? It’ll be easier to fish you out.” Before she could process his statement, he scooped her into his arms and carried her to the edge.

“Stop!” she cried, pushing against his shoulders. Hitting the water at this angle would put her at a disadvantage. She also hadn’t managed to untie the lifeboat, so she wouldn’t have any way to escape. She would have to rely on them to pull her out of the water. “Stop, I’ll climb it myself!”

Rafe grinned and lowered her back to the deck. “If you insist.”

She smoothed out her skirts and scowled at him, then turned back to the rope bridge. It seemed even less stable on closer inspection. Taking a bracing breath, she grabbed the rope with both hands and slowly crawled forward, one knot at a time.

The other ship was quite a bit taller than the one she’d woken up on, so the rope bridge rose at a sharp angle, meaning she had to climb up and across at the same time. Halfway through, her muscles ached and quivered. The rough fibers of the rope scraped against her palms, rubbing them raw with every movement. The weight of both bags pulled on her shoulders, adding to the strain.

Two people from the other ship reached out and grabbed her, hauling her over the rail and dumping her onto the deck. She rested there on her hands and knees, trying to catch her breath. I should have just jumped.

A soft thump sounded behind her as Rafe landed on the ship. “Good job,” he said as he approached, offering a hand to help her up.