'He's still out of the game, I take it?' I wasn't going to get anywhere near Gold-gorget if I could help it, unconscious or not.

'Totally off the board,' Aiten said cheerfully, grinning broadly at me. 'You know, I really didn't think we were going to get out of that one, flower.'

'Me neither.' I shook my head, which was still ringing with disbelief at our luck.

'We're not out of it yet,' Ryshad reminded us a little sharply, a frown of concentration on his face as he guided the vessel through some turbidly coiling seas.

'We're off those cursed islands and that's good enough for me,' Aiten said robustly and I found myself smiling too.

'You know, Rysh, the only convincing thing I ever heard a Rationalist say was “enjoy the moment when it happens”. This one feels pretty good to me.'

That won a reluctant smile from Ryshad and, when Shiv turned to catch what we were saying, I could see the strain was lessening in his face too.

Whatever he was about to say was lost in a sudden gurgle from Aiten's belly.

'Dast's teeth, I'm starving!'

Now he'd mentioned it, I could see us all thinking the same thing. Fear fills the belly while it lasts but we'd need more than fresh air to see us across however much ocean there was in front of us.

Shiv rubbed his hands together and the boat slowed.

'What's the matter?' I asked, more alarm in my tone than I cared to hear.

'I can't keep us moving, keep our friend unconscious and call for fish at the same time,' Shiv explained. 'I'm just not fit to do it all yet.'

Ryshad frowned. 'I'd say we need to keep moving as fast as you can send us. If we tie him up,' he prodded the prisoner with a toe, 'can you just keep his mouth shut so he can't spell us?'

Shiv nodded, his eyes brightening. 'I can put bands of air round his mouth. If I don't have to keep him down, we should be able to get on a lot quicker.'

I reached for the braided leather tether. 'Why didn't you say so?'

I doubled the rope, twisted a slip knot into the centre to go round his neck then used each end to tie Gold-throat's hands and feet. The more he struggled, the sooner he would strangle himself and that would end any threat he might be thinking of posing.

Aiten whistled with admiration. 'You know a thing or two about tying beasts, don't you?'

I tugged on an end to make sure it was fast. 'I'm a woman of many talents.'

My cool pose was spoiled when I jumped as a fat fish dropped past me into the floor of the boat.

'How are you at gutting?'

I turned to see Shiv tossing another dripping offering over his shoulder.

'Useless, since you ask, on fish at least.' I looked at the flapping thing with distaste. 'I suppose there's no way of cooking it?'

'Fish this fresh? No need!' Aiten drew his dagger, looked approving as he tested the edge and cleaned the fish with a few deft strokes. He laid it on the seat across the middle of the boat and sliced wafer-thin mouthfuls from the meat.

'Try it.' He offered me a piece. There was nothing for it, I folded it into my mouth and did my best to swallow without chewing. Actually, it wasn't too bad but I didn't relish the thought of raw fish and plain water all the way home.

Aiten turned to pass some to Ryshad, who ate it without comment or expression. He saw me looking at him and laughed for the first time since we'd escaped.

'I'd rather have some pepper sauce with it, or a decent wine, but I'm quite partial to fresh fish.'

'They have a lot of ways of preparing it in Zyoutessela, don't they?' Shiv reached for some, without any real enthusiasm, I was glad to see.

'Thin sliced with herb paste, soused in sour wine or citrus, rolled with pepper sauce and black salt.' Aiten looked dreamy-eyed for a moment. 'When we get back, I'll take you all to the finest fish-house on the east coast.'

I coughed on the aftertaste of the sea. 'Can you sweeten some water for us, Shiv?'

We all looked around in vain for something to use as a bucket.

'There's always our boots,' Aiten said dubiously.

'We can just use our hands,' Shiv said firmly and as we dipped handfuls from the sea he filled the water with blue light, leaving it free of salt and fit to drink. It was a slow process and the water tasted oddly dead and flat but I wasn't about to complain. As Ryshad leaned forward to take his turn, it occurred to me we should be sharing the steering.

'Can I give you a break?'

Ryshad shook his head. 'Don't get me wrong, but you've no experience with boats, have you? Ait and I'll manage between us.'

I wasn't about to argue or take offence. Cold water and raw fish weren't sitting any too easily in my stomach so I tucked myself down to shelter as best I could from the wind and spray and carefully unfolded Gens' notes. If I could do nothing else, I could find if there was anything we could use to defend ourselves or speed up our journey.

After what must have been most of the morning had passed, I thought I might have found something but as I looked up from the parchment, I saw Gold-throat staring intently at me as he lay uncomfortably in the belly of the boat, outrage shouting silently from his vivid green eyes. I stared back at him, throwing a challenge at him, but he did not drop his gaze.

I looked beyond him to Ryshad, who raised an eyebrow at the intensity of my expression. I nodded at Gold-throat.

'What do you reckon we should do with him then?' I asked casually.

Ryshad paused for a breath and winked at me before replying in the same easy tone. 'We could cut him up for fish bait if you like, or just eat him ourselves if you fancy warm meat.'

'What?'

I ignored Aiten's surprised exclamation; I'd seen fear flare in those grass-coloured eyes as Gold-throat stiffened uselessly against his bonds.

'I'd say our friend here speaks Tormalin.' I turned to Shiv. 'Can you stop up his ears as well?'

'I should have done that earlier, shouldn't I?' Shiv bit his lip with annoyance at the uncharacteristic lapse and wove a tight band of sparkling blue around the man's helpless head. As it faded, I saw real fear in his face that anger could not drive out and I bent closer to stare into those pale eyes with all the threat I could muster. This time, he turned his gaze aside and closed his eyes.

'He's all right. Anyway, Shiv, one of the rest of us should have thought of it as much as you.'

Satisfied, I returned to my notes. 'Listen. There's something here we should try. It's described as a concealment, a way of hiding your tracks.'

'What use is that on water?' Ryshad frowned.

'I don't think it means real tracks but whatever it is that the aetheric spell casters pick up on.' I scowled at the document. 'I'm pretty sure that's what it signifies.'

Aiten shrugged. 'Can't hurt to try it.'

I cleared my throat a little self-consciously and ran through the words silently to find their metre.

'Ar mel sidith, ranel marclenae.' I chanted the words but nothing seemed to happen.

'Has it worked?' Ryshad asked curiously.

I felt more than a little foolish. 'I've no idea.'

There was nothing anyone could say to that. We settled down for a tedious afternoon watching grey waves rolling up to meet a grey sky as the boat scooted over the billows. We were all starting to look and feel more than a little grey ourselves by the end of the day.

I hadn't realised I'd fallen asleep but it was morning when Shiv patted me on the shoulder and I blinked up at him, disconcerted.

'Look, my magic's working anyway!'

I turned to see some enormous fish leaping clean out of the water as they headed straight for us. I swallowed my instant of fear when I saw the smile on Shiv's face and wondered what on earth, or in this case, in the ocean, these could be.

'Dastennin's hounds!' Aiten greeted the creatures with a glad cry and I saw Ryshad was smiling broadly as well so I bit down hard on my own nervousness.