Venture to Uncertainty (#1)

19 | The Allegiance of Uncertainty

The night was light and warm, but it didn't really feel that way to Archer. He felt cold all over, just like that time freezing rain had hit Orphano. He could almost feel the sharp points of the ice on his skin. He was outsmarted, tricked, a fool that had been fooled.

In hindsight, it seemed obvious. Of course Kip wasn't just a hopeless sailor. He was too useless to be anything other than a pampered royal. That, and he'd always been too confident and unapologetic to truly be out of place. No, Kerian Kain—legitimate son of King Kain and his late wife—was right where he wanted to be.

"Silta," came Bardarian's warning. The Captain hadn't caught on to who Tanner really was, and neither had the crew.

"He told me you were astute," Kip said to Silta, indifferent to the pistol at his throat. "That was the word he used, and I thought it was dramatic, but by the angels, you are indeed astute, aren't you?"

He sounded different to Archer—more practiced, more comfortable. His voice was stiff and sure, his word choice so...royal. Had he always been that way?

"Silta," Bardarian snapped, pushing his way to the middle of the deck.

"You've got a king's scout on your ship, lover," Silta snapped back, spite and venom thick as ever.

"A king's scout?" Rusher repeated. "That's...unlikely, Ri." He spoke slowly, like she was an explosive he was terrified to detonate while he was still in the vicinity.

Bardarian realized she wasn't just being difficult, so he reverted back to his calm self. "How do you figure all this?" he asked, glancing at Tanner.

"Tanner was on a navy ship," Britter said, putting things together. "He was the only one to step up when we attacked because he knew that would get our attention. He denounced his King."

"His father," Silta corrected.

"Your father," Kip threw out pointedly. Silta pushed him back a step by taking one forward herself.

"I don't understand," Starle said slowly.

"That navy ship was out of place," Rusher said, shaking his head as he recalled the day the Avourienne had gained Tanner. "They wanted us to find them. The King sent that ship straight to us, with the plan of sending his son on board as a spy."

Archer remembered his first real conversation with his roommate. Tanner had said he'd grown up on a pirate ship, but apparently the Avourienne had found him on a navy one. He had good reason to make such a risky lie: He knew Silta and Archer were getting close—because Archer had foolishly admitted it to him—and he didn't want Silta's mind and a new fresh perspective to figure him out. And yet now, he didn't seem to mind that he was figured out at all.

"Not a spy," Archer said, and the crew turned to look at him. He cleared his throat. "An assassin." He nodded his head to Silta. If all the King wanted was a spy, he would've sent someone else.

Kip was grinning as if he still maintained control over the situation. Archer couldn't help but feel uneasy by his expression.

"Speak, would you, Tanner?" Bardarian said, but he was still looking at Archer, something unreadable in his eyes.

"It's Kain," Tanner corrected. "As in Kerian Kain, heir to the throne, Captain." Despite the fact that all of them despised the King, there was still power to the words. "And yes," he said, "I'm here to get rid of her."

Britter let out a stale laugh. "Couldn't even drop the K? You're the most useless of us. How the hell would you murder a champion?"

Bardarian took another step forward, shaking his head. "This is absurd," he started, his voice a ribbon of calm fury. "The son of the King is on my ship?"