The Last Orellen

Chapter 29: Lerit's Tare

Lerits Tare

Kingdom of Derif

The Ossumun Empire

One Year Ago

Nowhere was better than Lerits Tare.

All the men on board the Ayagull said so, but Lander hadnt believed them. His fathers crew liked to tell tales and exaggerate. And during the long trip across the sea, Lander had been subjected to so many pranks and acts of mischief that the wide-eyed trust hed set out with had turned into extreme skepticism.

Slapping ones chest three times with both fists wasnt the proper mode of greeting on Crone Island. Wartfish didnt have pearls hidden in the lining of their intestines. And pissing into the sea during a storm wouldnt help you grow a thicker mustache.

By the time they made port in Lerits Tare, the city had been so overpraised by every sailor on board that Lander expected to discover it was a collection of ruins and hovels, not the trading capital of the Ossumun Empire at all.

But it seemed it was everything that had been promised and more besides.

On the day after their arrival, he followed his father around, trying to learn the ins and outs of their business while his head was swimming in wondrous new sights and sounds.

Da, is that a monkey? Like in the story about the drunken captain and the ape?

It was his thousandth question, but his father turned to look in the direction Lander was staring and answered patiently. Aye, thats a monkey of some kind. Though Im surprised you noticed it considering the rest of the view.

The monkeys owner was a musician who played the violin while the little animal danced on the slabstone at her feet. She wore shimmering pants and a shirt made of silvery netting studded with colorful glass baubles and beads. The pants were so close-fitting that they would have been a scandal on Hemarland, and the top was so little like actual clothing that Lander would have thought it was some kind of table decoration if hed seen it without its wearer.

Stop gawping at her, small man, his father said. Its rude to stare without tossing a coin in the ladys bowl, and your mother would stitch me to my own sails if she found out youd given your money to such a cause.

Lander blushed and nodded, but as they passed by the musician, he dug one of Kalens enchanted buttons out of the pouch hed hidden under his shirt and tossed it into her bowl.

He felt very clever about the fact that hed managed it without garnering his fathers attention.

The musician winked at him, the monkey bowed, and Lander grinned. Kalens face would be so funny when he told him one of the buttons now belonged to a woman who wore nothing but a fishnet for her clothes!

Holv led the way, and as they traveled farther and farther from the docks, Lander discovered the world was wider than hed ever imagined.

Some men strolled the streets covered in finery, and others lay in the gutters wearing nothing but what the gods gave them at their birth. Carriages bearing city officials rolled past illegal gambling halls. There were rivulets of sewage running through open drainage ditches down the sides of some of the streets, and there were carved wooden footbridges to go over those ditches in front of the nicer shops so that people didnt soil their shoes.

It was all so different from life in the village. Lander was pretty sure he didnt like the chaos of it. But he did love the things the city was full of. There were toy shops and pastry shops and a shop that sold nothing but exotic birds. There were chandleries and tobacco sellers and tattooists. In front of one tattoo shop, the man who called out advertisements to passersby promised Protective designs illuminated by a mage!

It sounded like the tattoos would be magical. Lander hadnt even known something like that existed. His father rolled his eyes and pulled him away before he could ask about getting oneone so small his own mother would never notice, of course.

Fortunately, they turned into a square lined with restaurants and food stalls, and Landers disappointment evaporated. Grilling meat sent plumes of smoke into the clear sky. Pots of shellfish bubbled and steamed. There were mountains of produce and forests of sweets, and at one stall, a man was carving melons into flowers.

Lander didnt even know the name of most of the food he saw, but he wanted to eat it all.

He moaned over a dripping skewer of honey glazed chicken and apricots while his father talked to a spice seller whose tented stall was larger than most of the shops around the square.

There was a pair of rough-looking swordsmen guarding the tent. And the spice sellers elderly mother, who sat on a cushion lacing herbs into strands for drying, had such sharp eyes that Lander thought they might cut down a thief before the guards ever got the chance.

He was careful to keep a polite distance from the wares while his father argued with the merchant.

Some of the spices were so valuable that they were kept in tiny lacquered jewel boxes. Others were sold in huge flour sacks. A dozen of those sacks should have been waiting in a warehouse at the docks for the Ayagull, but they hadnt been. Holv and the spice seller were having an unfriendly discussion about it.

They were bought and paid for last season by Captain Shunda, and promised to him by you, and here I have the chits for each of them on my person. So why arent they onboard my ship?

I told you. Its because the price has risen since last season. Selling sap peppercorns at that rate would be the same as robbing myself.

I am from somewhere where a man does not make a promise beyond his means.

The merchants thick eyebrows drew low over his nose. If you were from somewhere that wasnt nowhere youd know these are bad times for everyone. The emperor is a coward, one of our practitioner families has declared war on the other, and the last black market portal office closed three months ago when those Leflayn bastards started arriving in droves.

From her cushion, the mans mother hissed through her teeth.

The spice seller looked at her. Well, they are bastards and he is a coward. One without a care for the economy! Ill not be damned for speaking the truth.

Lander watched the disagreement from the corner of his eye, straining a little to understand the mans accent. Like most continental accents, it was harsh to his ears. The words were all broken and chopped off as if the speaker were perpetually angry, and it was made worse by the fact that the spice seller actually seemed to be angry in this case.

Lander ate his final piece of apricot just as his father banged his fist against the side of a crate and shouted, Lander, come!

Holv stomped from the tent, Lander on his heels, and they didnt stop until they were on the opposite side of the square. There, Holv stood staring around at the busy marketplace with narrowed eyes, arms crossed over the barrel of his chest.

Is it bad, Da? The man said he would refund Captain Shundas money. With interest.

Lander had only learned about interest during this voyage, and he was intrigued with the concept. You gave someone money, and they held it for a while, then returned more back to you. Surely even the crotchety old captain wouldnt be angry to have his money returned to him with extra added?

But his father grunted and shook his head. I have promised Shunda that I will bring him a certain cargo. He has plans made for that specific cargo and not for the return of his own coin. If he were a merchant from another land, Id let it be, since we have been hired for shipping and not for trade. But Shunda is our neighbor and sometimes our business partner. We owe him more of our trouble than we would give to a stranger.

That makes sense, Lander thought. Perhaps Captain Shunda had made arrangements to sell his peppercorns elsewhere at a profit, and he would have his reputation and his own finances harmed if the spice didnt arrive.

Then what do we do?

His father grunted again. He was still staring at the market, apparently deep in thought. Finally, he said, One of the troubles a captain from Hemarland must navigate is lack of information. It does seem to me that the market is emptier than it has been in years past. If the spice merchant has been honest, then there is little we can do to remedy the situation. But if he has been dishonest, then there is more. I dont know which is the case, so I have to find out. Or you do.

Me? said Lander. How am I supposed to know if hes telling the truth?

You know your way around well enough to make it back to the docks on your own now. Tomorrow youll come into town to buy your cousins books, and youll go to every shop and stall you can find that sells spices. Ask them what the bulk price for the sap pepper is.

I see, Lander said, trying not to let his pride leak into his voice. Finally, he was being trusted with important work! Hed begun to fear that his main jobs this voyage would be to endure the teasing of the crew and build the strength in his back by shifting crates in the hold. I can do that well, sir.

Ill give you a few more things to ask about by morning. If the rates are as different as he says, then mayhap we have to reconsider the rest of our cargo. It would not do to allow an entire ship full of goods to sell far below their value and then return home to tell the folk whod hired us that wed turned a blind eye while their buyers cheated them.

Even if theyre not our neighbors?

There is an amount of respect owed to every person. I do not mind a healthy profit or those who make it, but the Ayagull wont set sail in aid of swindlers as long as Im her captain.

#

The dock master, who had been a paragon of inefficiency since their arrival, became suspiciously eager to unload the ship when Holv started asking questions about the state of the economy in Lerits Tare.

Landers father told his disappointed crew that they were to stay aboard to guard the cargo until he knew more. The next morning, he set out on the tender with two of the sailors and a cask full of beer to talk to the captain of a familiar vessel that had just anchored in the bay.

Lander was the only person who was allowed ashore that day, and he was a bit too nervous to enjoy the privilege. He was supposed to find out the prices for all their cargo, and while he would never forget the contents of the ships hold, he was worried he might forget the numbers given to him by the citys merchants.

But it turned out that the numbers were all so impressively large that remembering them wasnt a problem. Some of the things they were carrying were worth three or four times what hed been told to expect, and much of what theyd been sent to pick up or purchase for their clients was as well.

And people were willing to talk about it. Oh, were they ever! Everywhere Lander went he heard complaints.

Some practitioner family called Orellen was a nest of cowardly snakes who had abandoned their fiscal responsibilities.

The emperor of the Ossumun Empire was an even more cowardly snake who didnt know what fiscal responsibility was in the first place.

And a Magus called Terriban Leflayn was a barbarian, hellbent on destroying the livelihood of every hardworking man and woman in the city.

The drama and scale of it all was enough to make Landers head spin.

By mid-afternoon, his pocket was emptied of Kalens enchanted buttons, and his mind was full of all the local gossip. Even the errand runner he paid to carry his cousins new books to the docks had something to say on the matter.

These are magic books, aint they? Not the illegal kind, are they?

Are there illegal ones? Lander asked.

The other boy, a couple of years his junior, scratched at the back of his neck. Well, I dont properly know, do I? But some kinds are trouble now, I hear. If I run into one of them new practitioners in town I dont want them to say Im carrying something they dont like. Maybe youd better pay me extra.

I dont have extra to pay you. If you dont want the job, Ill just do it myself.

The boy glared at him.

Well, I dont think theyre illegal, Lander said defensively. I cant even read them. But they were cheap compared to everything else in the shop, and illegal things are usually more expensive, arent they?

The boy glared some more. You foreigners dont know how hard its been for us in Lerits Tare. Youve got black hearts, you do. Bet you dont care what they do to people who get on their bad side, those new practitioners.

Lander frowned. Its not like Im forcing you to carry the books. Youre the one who came up to me and said you ran packages!

The boy took the books in the end, but as he stalked off, he shouted, When the kingdom gains its independence, folk like you wont treat me so poor! Her majesty will see to it!

Lander blinked. That was a new one.

Despite all the complaining hed heard that day, almost nobody had mentioned the kingdom or its current queen at all. From what Lander understood, the Kingdom of Derif, where he now stood, was more of a concept than a functional country.

They were on the far edge of the Ossumun Empire, and the only cities large enough to be called such were Lerits Tare and the Enclave of the cowardly Orellen snakes. It was to the east. Or it wouldhave been, if it hadnt been destroyed recently.

The region had been run by these Orellen wizarns, with lots of merchant guilds beneath them. Now that the Orellens were in trouble with the emperor and the barbarian Magus from the empires other magical family, it was the merchant guilds that were in charge.

Anywaythe queens and kings of Derif were just figureheads. Lander, who had no prior experience with royalty, was under the impression that the current queen was someone who dressed up in fancy costume to go to ceremonies and religious festivals. Like a street performer everyone had agreed should be present for special occasions.

The continent is a confused place full of confused people. If not for the food, I dont think thered be any point to it.

His stomach growled in agreement.

Hed eaten nothing since early morning, so he headed for the stand that sold the apricot and chicken skewers hed enjoyed the day before. Along the way, he pondered lumber prices, which were five times what they should have been. Would his father really try to renegotiate for all of the Ayagulls cargo?

If I were the captain, would I?

Lander liked to think that he would. Even though they were paid mostly for transporting goods, it would feel bad to return to any of the small islands theyd stopped at along their route and tell the people whod hired them to haul their livelihoods and return with their necessities that theyd failed to be good stewards.

But it wasnt easy.

What about the folk on Regorma, for example? Theyd sent their entire annual Corixe Shell harvest with the Ayagull, just as theyd done in past years. It was already contracted with a distributor in Lerits Tare who usually resold the shells to jewelers and pigment makers all over the continent.

The money they received was to be used to pay for the supply of grain and medicine theyd ordered to see them through the next six months. But Corixe Shells had decreased in value, while grain and medicine had increased. Even if the distributor could afford to pay the expected rate for the shells, and even if those necessities had been set aside as promised for the Regormans, the price on them would now be much too high.

We cant just take them half the food theyre expecting and none of the medicine.

Lander paid for his chicken skewer with the last of his money and wondered what it would have cost him if hed been here last year. Or even three months ago, when things had apparently taken a sharp turn for the worse.

He ate as he wandered the market, seeing everything with fresh insight but not enough of it to feel confident in his own understanding. Then, something simpler and far more pleasant to ponder stepped in front of him.

She wore a pale pink dress, soft and velvety as a flower petal. The waist and bodice were embroidered with white thread, and she had white gloves with pearl buttons at the cuffs. Her black hair hung straight down her back, glistening like a river.

Youre beautiful! Lander blurted out. Then he turned bright red as a pair of women selling vegetables in the stall next to him laughed.

Listen to the little island lad! Hes a real sweet talker, isnt he?

Boy, that one is half a decade older than you if shes a day! Youre an ambitious one.

Mortified, Lander scurried over to another stand, wishing he could disappear. Thankfully, the object of his compliment seemed not to have heard him. Or else she was so used to people randomly shouting about her looks that she didnt even bother to turn around.

She was heading toward the spice merchants tent, her stride purposeful. The hem of her gown brushed the ground, but not so much as a speck of dirt clung to it.

Lander spied on her from a distance, wondering how such a perfectly lovely person could exist. Even her ears were charming. Who had charming ears?

She entered the massive tent, disappearing behind a wooden screen.

Lander felt oddly dizzied by her sudden absence. Maybe he needed to go back to the spice seller. To see if todays prices were the same as theyd been yesterday. Yes, that would be the responsible thing for me to do.

He drifted toward the tent, the half eaten skewer in his hand leaving drops of honey and apricot juice in his wake.

I wish you hadnt come back, girl. You should have known better than to try the same trick twice.

It was the spice sellers voice.

Why was he so upset with the lovely girl? He shouldnt talk to her in such a harsh manner.

As the roof of the tent shaded Lander from the sun, a wrinkled hand reached up and clasped his own. The merchants mother dragged him down toward her cushion.

What? said Lander, startled. He was bent in half over the old woman. Her sharp eyes darted from him, to the girl in the dress, to the back of one of the tents guards. The man had his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Shhhh With her free hand, the merchants mother pulled one of the tiny lacquered jewel boxes that held the most expensive spices from the front pocket of her apron. She flipped the lid open with her thumbnail, and Lander saw that it was full of a pressed, amber-colored powder.

The woman blew on the top of it, and Lander smelled a bright, clean scent. His heartbeat began to pound in his own ears as if hed done heavy work, and a moment later, his mind cleared. What am I doing? Why am I following that lady around like a lost sheep?

Yes, she was breathtakingly pretty, but she was a stranger. And Lander wasnt an idiot. He was doing important work for his father and their business today. He didnt have time to chase after continental beauties.

He opened his mouth to ask what was going, but the old woman shushed him again and dragged him down onto the ground beside her.

But you sold me some at the old rate last week, the girl in the pink dress was saying, leaning toward the spice seller. I only need a little more.

She placed a delicate hand on his forearm, and the man jerked back as if hed been burned.

Why do practitioners always think theyre so much smarter than the rest of us? he growled, his dark eyes narrowing at her.

She opened her mouth, but he interrupted before she could respond

Youve been taking advantage of others in the market, too. Did you think old ties would make us turn a blind eye to you? He shook his head. Noyou must have thought no one would recognize you for what you are.

You take others for fools, then you die for your foolishness, the old woman beside Lander added. You should have run away with the rest of them, Orellen.

The girl spun around to stare at them, her dark brown eyes widening. Her lips trembled. Her hands were clenched in the skirt of her pink dress.

Shes afraid, Lander realized.

At that moment, a tall man in glasses burst into the tent. He wore a wafer-thin silver medallion the size of a dinner plate around his neck. It was carved with wizarn runes, and it covered most of his silk vest.

Is this her?! he shouted, even as he grabbed the girl in a tight bear hug from behind.

She shrieked.

Lander fell backward in shock.

Thats her, said the spice merchant, his voice sour.

Beatrice! cried the man. Beatrice, hurry damnit! This bitch is biting me.

A fat blond woman, puffing like a bellows, raced into the tent as well. Her own silver medallion bounced against her chest as she swept a tiny dagger from its sheath at her waist. Hold her still, Roan! I dont want to cut off her fingers if shes some random girl.

Roan grunted and gripped the girl tighter, lifting her feet clear of the ground.

Im not one of them. Im not! she screamed. Let go of me!

Beatrice dove forward and nicked her on the arm with the tip of the dagger. The girl in the pink dress howled like shed been stabbed through the chest instead. She ripped one of her arms free of Roans grip, and his glasses went flying.

Cursing, he grabbed her again while Beatrice wiped the drop of blood from her dagger onto the medallion around her neck.

Hurry! shouted Roan. Shit, I cant see a thing without my spectacles.

Beatrice ran her fingers around the strange metal plate. Her blue eyes were focused. Some of the runes lit.

Oh, dear, she said, wrinkling her freckled nose. Weve got one.

We do? Roan sounded aghast.

The girl was still struggling wildly against his grip. Blood was running down his forearm from where shed bit him.

We do.

I told you, said the spice merchant, pointing at the girl. Shes been swanning around wearing enough endearment philters to charm a tree stump, and shes conned people out of all sorts of magical reagents around the market.

Well take care of it right away, said Beatrice, her tone pleasant and professional. Thank you for letting us know so we could watch out for her arrival.

The merchant looked away. Dontdont do it here, please. Those are jugs of bathing oil beside you. They wont take the heat well.

Beatrice gave everyone assembled an awkward smile. I know what stories youve all likely heard, but Roan and I are members of the first circle. It seems some of our lower family members have been making a mess of things. Weve been sent here to reign them in. This will all be done quickly, cleanly, and legally. I promise you.

Im just a m-magician, sobbed the Orellen, suddenly falling limp in her captors arms. Only a m-magician, I s-swear. Not a Magus. Im n-not even with the family anymore.

Beatrice leaned toward her and placed a hand comfortingly on top of her silken hair.

Lander was still sprawled on the ground beside the old woman, his heart racing painfully in his chest. He didnt understand what was happening. It had only been a minute. New information was coming at him too quickly. The girl was one of the cowardly snake wizarns? She had charmed people somehow?

Was that why hed taken leave of his own senses and chased her in here?

Beatrice stroked the weeping girls head and cleared her throat.

By order of the empire and in the name of the illustrious Magus Terriban Leflayn, all members of the Orellen family shall travel to the Leflayn Enclave to receive impartial judgment for their involvement in crimes against the natural law of the gods. She spoke quickly and clearly. Those who fail to arrive by the first day of Holy Raes month in the eight hundred and thirty-second year of the empire are declared guilty by their absence.

She paused. Her hand stopped its stroking, and her fingers dug into the girls hair, gripping it tightly. Holy Raes month is long past.

Her other hand came up. The small dagger in it was glowing red-hot. She yanked the girls head back, and drove the knife swiftly into her left eye. The girl screamed, but after a second, the scream turned into a horrible, moaning huh-uh-uh sound.

Roan leaped back, dropping her onto the ground, accidentally crushing his glasses beneath his boots in his haste.

Beatrice toppled over with her victim, but she kept her blade in place for another breath. Her face was tight, her eyes distant.

Then, the girl was quiet.

I think that should have done it, the mage said. She sat back and pulled the dagger away from the girls face. Only, it wasnt a dagger anymore. It was just the hilt. Most of the blade seemed to have melted into the Orellens skull.

Youyou stabbed her? the spice merchants voice was unnaturally high.

Yes. Theres no need to set someone on fire just because its the familys signature talent. This seemed like the most humane way to go about the necessary business without allowing her the chance to escape. Fortunately, the Orellens are almost never good at magical combat or I would have had to make a mess of your tent.

Landers ears were ringing. With every rapid, shallow breath, he inhaled a hot and terrible smell. He was squeezing the old womans hand so tightly in his own that he had to be hurting her, but when he told himself to let go, his body wouldnt listen to him.

Beatrice stood. She was staring at the melted dagger in her hand as if she didnt quite know what to do with it. Then she passed it to Roan, who took it with a queasy look on his face.

Well clean this up. Do you have a tarp we could use? It doesnt seem polite to drag a body through the streets uncovered.

The spice merchant nodded woodenly and gestured to his swordsman.

Landers thoughts kept repeating themselves, as if his mind was trying to process an impossible fact. Shes dead. That girl is dead now. The wizarn stuck a burning knife into her eye, and she held it there, and the Orellen died.

He had to stay still and quiet. He wouldnt move. If he didnt move, maybe the wizarns would leave without noticing him.

Beatrice was rummaging through the dead girls dress. She pulled up the beautiful pink fabric of the skirt to reveal the girls petticoat. One of her shoes had come off in the struggle, and Lander stared at her white-stockinged foot.

It was being jostled back and forth in a cruel imitation of life as Beatrice struggled with a hip satchel the girl had worn beneath her gown.

There we are, she said, finally unclasping her prize. She opened the satchel and nodded to herself. Its as the reports say. Shes carrying nothing that might lead us to another family member, but she has a lot here otherwise. I guess she was doing well for herself with her schemes. Strange that she didnt just leave the city, but I suppose she couldnt bring herself to let her old life go completely. Some cant.

Lander sat still. He stayed quiet. He thought the wizarn had not noticed him.

But as she counted out the contents of the Orellens purse on top of a table nearby, she suddenly turned to the spice merchant and asked, Whos the boy?

What?

The merchant turned to stare at Lander. He looked startled to find him there.

He wasnt here when you called us last week, Beatrice said. Was he, Roan?

Roan, who was working with the swordsman to wrap the girls body in the tarp, glanced over at Lander. I dont think so.

Hes an island boy, said the old woman, patting Landers arm with a hand that shook. Came the other day with his father to ask about sap pepper prices. He followed the girl in here just before you arrived. The poor childs pupils were blown wide as an owls.

Oh, dear. Beatrice gave Lander a knowing look. I guess you must have caught wind of her perfume. She is wearing an awful lot of it, and youre at exactly the wrong age to shake it off. Philtres and scents of enchantment are a lot of fun, but only if you know what youre getting yourself into.

Beatrice came toward them.

Shes going to kill me now. I should run.

But he didnt. And she didnt.

Instead, she held her plump hand out toward him. There were three small clear stones in her palm and a large gold piece. Your share, she said.

What?

Lander didnt say it out loud, but his confusion must have been obvious.

We distribute a guilty Orellens belongings to the ones who helped us locate them. It seems right to include you since you suffered harm at her hands.

Did I?

Lander felt like hed been harmed in some way. But not by the Orellen girl.

Theyre uncut diamonds. Quite a nice bit of wealth for a boy from the islands. Make sure you tuck them away where nobody can see them, and head straight back to your father. You dont want to be robbed.

The old woman pinched Landers elbow, and he finally realized that not moving was no longer an option. He lifted his hand and took the diamonds and the coin from the wizarn.

Thankthank you.

Its just the right thing to do, Beatrice said. One of her freckled cheeks dimpled when she smiled.

She distributed more stones and money to the swordsmen, the merchant, and the old woman. Strangely, not a single one of them objected to Lander being cut in on their prize.

Beatrice and Roan didnt keep any of the money for themselves, and as they tied the last laces over the tarp that hid the dead Orellen from view, Roan paused to say a prayer.

You go back to your ship, the old woman said, after the body was finally borne away and the Leflayn mages said their farewells.

What happened? Lander asked her. I dont understand.

You go back to your ship, she said again. Travel safe.

#

Lander stumbled through the market, more disoriented than he ever had been in his life. Everything was so bright. It was so loud. The people were all so alive and busy.

Why was it like this when inside the spice merchants tent it had been dark and so quiet that Lander could hear the rustle of fabric as the wizarn searched the dead girls clothes?

There was music here. And laughter.

These two worlds shouldnt both exist side by side. He had to leave this place. Something evil was happening in Lerits Tare.

He stumbled faster. Toward the docks. Toward the Ayagull. Hemarland is to the west. I have to go west.

He began to run.

And as soon as he began to run, it was like his body had found the answer it had been looking for all along. He ran and ran, flying through the city. Trying to get away from it and from everything hed seen there and all the horrors he could not understand.

He felt like the wizarns were chasing him, even though he knew that didnt make sense.

He ran all the way to the docks. He might have kept on running if a familiar voice hadnt called his name, and then, after hed ignored it, bellowed it loud enough to scare the seabirds away.

Lander!

Holv had just stepped out of the dockside bar that was so popular among the sailors. A dark-skinned man Lander didnt know was with him, but Lander barely registered the stranger.

Da! he cried. We have to leave! We have to go! Something isnt right here. This place is wrong.

In a breath, he was in his fathers arms. He was shaking, and even as Holv tried to calm him down, he could only say, Its wrong, its wrong, its wrong, in explanation. As if there were no other words that could convey why they had to leave Lerits Tare immediately.

Here, friend Holv. Try this, said a voice.

A bottle was pressed to Landers lips, and a second later, he was choking and sputtering on a burning mouthful of liquor. He stared at his father in shock. You said I wasnt old enough to drink more than beer yet!

You arent, said Holv. But you just blew half of that swig out of your own nose, so I dont think it counts.

Lander coughed again, and Holv pounded on his back.

What happened? he said, holding onto his sons shoulders and staring into his eyes.

I saw a wizarn kill a girl. At the spice merchants. The wizarn stuck a burning knife through her eye andand she held it there until she died.

Holvs face went still in a way Lander had never seen before. Beside him, the stranger made an unfamiliar gesture with his hands. It might have been a ward against evil.

Lets talk on the ship, Holv said.

Da, did you hear what I said?

Yes. Tell me the rest of it on the ship.

#

When it was just the two of them alone in the captains small private room, Lander told his father everything. He found that the story made less sense the more he explained it.

An entire family, an important one, had been made illegal in the Ossumun Empire. People hunted them in the streets openly. The hunters gave Lander diamonds to apologize for inconveniencing him.

Did Kalens books make it back to the ship? Lander asked suddenly.

Thats not important right now, sm

No! Lander leaped up from where hed been sitting on the edge of the bunk. The boy who carried them for me said some books are illegal. What if I sent him with illegal books? What if the wizarns found him? What ifwhat if they?

What if that boy was dead with a melted dagger in his skull?

All right. Ill go check. You stay right here. Holv pushed Lander back onto the bed.

But what if?

You stay here, his father said firmly.

He returned so quickly that Lander would later wonder if he really had checked or if hed only stepped out of the room and then stepped right back in again and lied about it.

Kalens books are here. The person who carried them for you is safe.

Lander nodded.

Youre safe, too, said Holv. Youll stay on the ship, in this room, until we set sail again.

Lander didnt argue.

He would have this morning. Sleeping in the crew quarters and doing his share of the work was important. Being the captains son meant he needed to be even more careful than a normal new crewman not to act like he thought he was above the other sailors.

Will we leave soon?

His father sighed. Sooner than wed planned to, surely. I will have to think quickly and make new arrangements. Ive been talking with other captains all day, and Ive learned much. We may sail to a more southern port with Captain Kite, who I was with when you showed up. He has two ships loaded with cargo he can no longer sell here, and he has more of a merchants sense of things than I do.

Another port. That was good.

Anywhere was better than Lerits Tare.