Hannibal's Elephant Girl

13. The Sea of Tranquility 2.0 Book Two: Invasion

14. The Sea of Tranquility 2.0 Book Three

15. The Sea of Tranquility 2.0 Book Four: The Republic

16. Sea of Sorrows

17. The Last Mission of the Seventh Cavalry

18. Do Not Resuscitate

19. Rod of God

20. Henry IX

21. Casper’s Game

22. Qubit’s Incubator

Coming Soon

23. Dragonfly vs Monarch: Book Three

24. The Journey to Valdacia

25. Still Waters Run Deep

26. Ms Machiavelli

27. Ariion XXIX

28. The Last Mission of the Seventh Cavalry Book 2

29. Hannibal’s Elephant Girl, Book Three

See the end of this book for details about the other books

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two (#ulink_b4ae33da-f85e-5f6e-9b06-988af30bdf5a)

Chapter Three (#ulink_bdff20b6-0306-5240-ada7-cb832ddbde27)

Chapter Four (#ulink_61460d7a-54c8-5c3f-a3da-e485820984b4)

Chapter Five (#ulink_42453647-0b48-5db6-a98b-153c6056b82a)

Chapter Six (#ulink_dcf9dc74-1bff-5d1f-b263-586b9313340e)

Chapter Seven (#ulink_df0af428-543b-530c-9536-e7fcada73360)

Chapter Eight (#ulink_eccdf3fa-cf6a-513f-98a8-0aad6be4ac89)

Chapter Nine (#ulink_a06729b2-2966-5c6d-a619-46ed19054f3b)

Chapter One

Tin Tin Ban Sunia and I slipped through the darkness, keeping low. I glanced up at the mainsail; it was slack, lifeless, its broad red stripe running down like fresh blood on sand. I turned to look back at Obolus. He stood in the center of the deck, his head down, with the last curl of his trunk resting on the layer of dirt covering the rough pine boards. He would sleep until hunger woke him. Pale moonlight spilled over his body like liquid silver flowing over a towering gray mountain.

Tin Tin stopped me with a hand on my wrist. “You hear that one?” she whispered.

I nodded. A low murmur came from the ship’s bow. She motioned, and I followed, both of us crouching below the row of shields lining the rail of the ship. The moon gave us a little light as we made our way forward.

So late at night…who could it be?

As we neared the bow, a few words floated back to us. “…with one voice…the priest…taking the ransom…”

I tripped over a coiled rope and fell. My knee hit the deck, hard. Tin Tin’s hand was over my mouth in an instant, keeping me from crying out. I rubbed my knee as we stared wide-eyed toward the front of the ship. The voice stopped. My heart galloped as if Turanyu himself had gone wild inside my chest. I pulled Tin Tin’s hand away and gulped air, fearing all the while they would hear my pounding heart.

Who are they, and what are they talking about?

Our ship lay perfectly still in the dead black waters of the Middle Sea; nothing moved anywhere. We were so far from shore, we couldn’t see land in any direction.

Other than my ragged breathing, not a sound could be heard. Even the rigging that seemed always to creak and moan lay silent.

“…but not so Agamemnon, who spoke fiercely to him and sent him roughly away.”

Tin Tin looked at me, grinning—the words had begun again. It was a man’s husky voice, talking to someone but apparently taking no notice of us. I whispered a silent thanks to our Great Queen Elissa, long ago passed away but still watching over us.

I heard soft footfalls on the opposite side of the ship, coming forward. I gripped Tin Tin’s hand and nodded that way. She pulled me to the mast, and we ducked behind it, pressing ourselves flat against the polished wood. The mast was thicker than my body and made from the trunk of a single fir tree.

The voice at the bow stopped, then we heard the newcomer. “Lord Hannibal.”

“Yes, Captain Xipan.”

Tin Tin whispered to me, “Is Hannibal.”

“And the captain, too,” I said.

“Shall we set the slaves to work with the oars, sir?” the captain asked.

I eased up on my tiptoes to see Hannibal look out over the flat sea.

After a moment, he glanced up at the crescent moon. “It is well past midnight and near to dawn,” Hannibal said, turning back to the captain. “Let the slaves rest. If there is no wind with the sunrise, then we shall set them to work.”

The captain did not answer; only slapped a hand to his chest in confirmation of Hannibal’s order. Captain Xipan hurried back toward the companionway leading below decks.