The Deepest Ocean (Eden Series) Read Online Free Page B

indifferent to what he wore and partly because he couldn’t afford anything other than a shabby blue jacket and trousers patched at the knees. The only thing of value he wore was a silver locket on a thin chain.
    He took his place at the table, acknowledging his introduction with a minute nod. Lady Lisabe’s gracious smile did not change, but her eyes did, and Darok gestured at the steward to fill their cups. The sooner they finished and went their separate ways, the happier everyone would be—which was probably true of their mission as well as their meal.
    The first food of a voyage supposedly presaged the rest of it, so the cook had prepared his best that night. The steward poured wine and served a clear fish soup, a whole crab crouching at the bottom of each bowl. Alyster asked Lady Lisabe if she was accustomed to living on a ship, which Darok assumed she was, since she ate and drank with a hearty appetite.
    “Not yet, but I hope to be,” she said. “Great changes are coming to the Guardian Fleet, and I’d like to see those at close quarters.”
    “What changes are those?” Darok asked. One change had already come—the tragedy that had befallen the armada. Eighteen ships lost. Just thinking about it made a heavy, leaden sickness settle in his gut, and although he trusted the Unity, he didn’t see what could overcome such a setback.
    Lady Lisabe cracked a claw and sucked it clean before she replied. “Better weaponry, for one. We’ve heard of powerful siege engines being developed in Dagre—cannons, they’re called—and just one or two of those could smash a galley to kindling.”
    “Really,” Darok said, though his brother’s eyes had lit up. Evidently he thought the time was near for him to command his own ship, outfitted with foreign artillery.Darok had no interest at all in such a thing, because a Denalait ship did best with Denalait weaponry.
    “Oh yes,” Lady Lisabe said, as a cabin boy cleared away the bowls and the steward served shrimp in a sauce of lime and ginger. “There will be improvements to the design of ships as well. Rather than requiring sails for propulsion, they’ll use steam.”
    “Steam?” Darok couldn’t imagine how a little steam was supposed to push a ship the size of Daystrider . He glanced at Julean Flaige, who knew a great deal more about science than he did, but got an equally blank look in return. Only Yerena didn’t react to the news, probably because she hadn’t yet been told that her shark would be replaced by some clockwork contraption.
    “I’m not sure what the exact design is,” Lady Lisabe said. Oh yes, you are , Darok thought, you’re just being careful not to discuss it . “But the Admiralty has shown great interest in the construction of steamships. Those will not be at the mercy of the currents, much less in danger of becalming.”
    “Where will this steam come from?” Darok said. Even in the height of summer, the ocean never grew so hot.
    “Oh, the ships will carry coal to boil water.”
    “I see. So they’ll sail—I mean, move—until their supplies of coal give out, is that it?” If that was the case, he’d pit Daystrider against one of those new constructions any day. He imagined his warship all but flying over the waves, streaking past a vessel that wallowed in her wake, its masts naked and sailless.
    Alyster gave him a look that was half exasperation and half pity. “I’m sure their fuel supplies will be enough to take them to their destinations.”
    “Hopefully more coal will be waiting for them there,” Darok shot back. “Coal imported from Dagre.” Those greedy bastards are getting the best of this bargain , selling us something that will make us dependent on them for years to come. Denalay had struggled to break away from the land which had originally colonized it, and he wondered if the Dagrans would try to do through economics what they could not have done through force.
    Lady Lisabe waved that away. “Have no fear, we’ll