24
Kai
Horns blared, jerking Kai from sleep. The thick wood of the ship dulled the noise enough the sound didn’t seem urgent. But there was something in the tone that kept Kai from covering his head and rolling over in his bunk.
“What could the slitches at the cathedral be wanting at this hour?” The low groan carried through the dark.
“Keep quiet for a moment,” Drew said as he lit the lamp in the middle of the bunkroom.
All the men froze in their beds.
Four long, mournful horns echoed slowly through the night.
“The Queen,” Kai said. The horrible feeling that he should be doing something, but didn’t know what that something might be, sank in his stomach. He pulled on his boots to give himself an excuse to move.
“Is she dead?” Shafer asked from his bed high up in the corner.
“They w
