Dominic smiled and patted her hand. "What, are you now a seer or a prophet?"
Her responding smile was mature, thoughtful. "You could say that," Anya said with a smile, "I am a wife and mother, with a family and friends to defend. And I am the best shot on all of La lengua demonios. Any mercenary who comes after me and mine will pay the ultimate price-"
"The ship she is moving!"
As they were talking, the skies had grown dark, until the stars shone brightly on a pitch black, moonless night. A few smudges of smoke marked the remains of Port Lira in the darkness, but all else was a guess. A throb came to their ears, emanating from the ship"s engines. Eventually the ship's throbbing cut out, and they could see the dim shapes of launches being lowered over the sides.
"Here they come, let us get ready."
It was now dark and Alannah was cautioned to silence, her feet were untied, yet her wrists remained. She was told to conceal her hands in the front pocket of her dress, and then she was helped out of the wagon. They were close behind where the defenders were watchin the port below, and could see everything from their vantage.
"Be ready," Eraldo whispered to Rosemary and the others. "We will watch the fighting and wait it out, and then we shall see how it goes before acting. If there"s enough confusion, we should be able to make our way to one of the boats without mishap and make our escape."
A throbbing high pitched noise broke the silence, Alannah tried to cover her ears but because she was still tied up it was hopeless.
"Ship"s moving in closer," Eraldo said outloud. "There! They"re getting ready to lower the launches. Hear that? The engines have stopped. That means . . . there they go! They"re lowering the launches into the water. It has begun."
Alannah felt as though her worst dreams were become reality, that the nightmare world of her father's evil aspirations and imaginings had finally taken over.
"We are in Hell," she breathed, feeling as though she were on the verge of losing her mind. "We are in Hell."
Her brother seemed to consider this seriously for a moment, and then turned to her slightly and said, "You know, you might very well be right about that."
**
The sudden flash and bright light from the tower guns, although it had been expected by some, still came as a shock to those that looked on. When the boom sounded you could see the yacht instantly shudder, and the sound of the guns report came a spit second later as a deafening blast that made those nearby stop what they were doing and look towards the water. Another flash, and again the ship shuddered; but this time she seemed to come ominously alive, her guns, which had been trained ahead, swivelled in the direction of the fortress and the guns that had enraged the juggernaut.