by T. A. White
Tate blinked. The weathered sign of the Crow’s Nest was not what she had expected to see. She would have walked past it if he hadn’t grabbed her. She wouldn’t tell him that, though. No need to let him know he’d done her a favor.
“You can’t,” she blurted when she realized what he’d said.
“And why not?”
“You don’t usually stay with us when we reach shore.”
Although Ryu was a member of Jost’s crew, he wore his breeding as another wears a coat. He’d shown up two months ago but according to the crew had been a member longer than most of them. He would disappear for a while and then reappear at will, and Jost never said a word about it. He was one of the few who seemed to come and go at will. Tate really would have liked to find out exactly how he was able to do that, but it would have meant spending much more time with Ryu and asking dangerous questions. No, thank you. She’d keep her own council.
Since rejoining Jost, it felt like Ryu was always watching Tate. At first she’d thought she was being paranoid, but every time she turned around, there he was. It felt as if he was weighing her, trying to find all of her secrets. As a result she was twice as guarded and twice as combative whenever she spoke to him.
“The Crow’s Nest is one of the finest inn’s in the city. There’s good food and–“
“Mattresses without flees,” Tate finished, rolling her eyes. “I know. Danny gave me the run down earlier.”
“Then there’s no reason why I shouldn’t stay here. Unless you have a problem with it?”
Tate bit her tongue on her response and stomped into the Crow’s Nest. He caught up within two of her strides and rested his hand on the small of her back. A sharp zing shot through her and her entire focus spun down to the weight of his hand resting against her.
“No touching,” she said, shoving his arm away. A part of her protested, but she shoved that down as firmly as she’d shoved his arm away. One of the first rules she’d formed was nobody was to touch her. Not crew, not city folks, and most definitely not Ryu. If one person got to touch her, then others felt they had a right. She had enough trouble as it was.
She didn’t know what his game was or what he hoped to find out. Her secrets were hidden, even from her. There was nothing that made her think he was attracted to her. She wasn’t exactly beautiful, but neither was she ugly. Her hair was nice enough. When the sun hit it just right, it looked like melted gold with flecks of a darker copper spun in along with blonde highlights. Her skin was pale and her eyes a bright green. At 5’6 she was neither short nor tall, just average for a female.
“Ryu,” Trent yelled from a table in the corner. “Over here.”
With a lingering look at Tate, Ryu headed over to the three at the table. Gritting her teeth, Tate followed. As much as she disliked him, she wouldn’t let him chase her off from spending time with her friends before they headed back out to sea.
Riply was quick to pull up two extra chairs for the newcomers while Danny flagged down a waitress for more beer. With only one chair left unoccupied, Tate was left with no choice but to take a seat next to Ryu.
Stop being a ninny, she told herself sternly. He’d be leaving with the rest of the crew once the week was out, and she wouldn’t have to see him again. She could be civil to him for that length of time. It wasn’t as if he’d really done anything. He just made her uneasy.
“Isn’t that too bad, Tate?” Trent’s innocent question cut off Tate’s inner lecture.
“What is?” she asked blankly. She’d lost track of the conversation while she’d been talking to herself.
“Ryu is leaving the crew here.”
Tate coughed as the beer she’d just taken a sip of went down the wrong pipe. “What?” she croaked.
Ryu thumped her on the back. She shoved his arm away once she’d started breathing normally again.
“Are you going to miss me?”
“I thought you were remaining with the crew until Brilady,” she blurted, ignoring his comment.
“Now what would give you that idea,” he asked, propping his head on his hand.
To give herself time to think, she took a long sip of beer. She’d overheard him and the captain talking about it. She hadn’t set out to eavesdrop; it just kind of happened. She wasn’t sorry for it either.
She took a deep breath and found herself on the verge of panicking. This wasn’t good. Aurelia was where she was supposed to cut ties. It’d be much more difficult if there was another person here who could exercise Jost’s will once he was gone.
No. Maybe this wasn’t that bad. The city was huge after all. Chances were she’d never see him once she made the break. She’d just have to make sure she got away from Aurelia and further inland quicker than she’d originally planned.
She avoided his eyes and looked down into her beer. What had spurred his change of heart?
“Just thought that was what you said,” she said nonchalantly.
“Hmm.” His regard pinned her in place a moment before he picked up his beer. It felt like she could breathe again. “As it turns out, I have business in the city. Don’t worry, I’ll be seeing you guys sooner than you think.”
Tate stared down into her beer. She doubted that. As soon as she left she had no plans to meet any of the Marauder’s crew ever again. Doubly so for Ryu.
“What does everyone want to do while we’re here?” Trent asked in the ensuing silence.
Tate shrugged more than willing to move away from talk of Ryu. “I’ve never been here before. I wouldn’t know where to even begin.”
“We should probably start with walking around the city a little. There’s a lot of things to see during the day,” Danny said. At night, everybody knew they’d find themselves in drinking in some bar and having fun. It was such a given that Tate didn’t even try to beg off anymore. Those nights had led to more than one man finding himself detained until he sobered up. “I can show you some of my favorite spots in the city. I’d stick to the lower city for today. We won’t really have time to walk all the way to the Upper and look around before night fall.”
“Upper?” Tate asked.
Danny was the quietest of the group. Mostly he let Riply and Trent do the talking for him, but when he spoke, others listened. Tate had come to like the big guy over the last few months. He’d grown up in the city before putting out to sea and still remembered how to find his way in it.
“The city’s divided into two parts.” He smiled shyly at her. “The Upper is considered anything above the cliff line and the Lower everything below it. We can try for the Upper later in the week, but it’s considerably more expensive.”
“I can’t wait to see everything,” Trent said with wide eyes. His thin face was alight with curiosity. Like Tate, he’d never been to Aurelia, but he had heard stories of its splendor and opulence.
Tate frowned thoughtfully but didn’t comment, instead stealing a piece of bread from Trent’s plate.
“Hey, I’m a growing boy. Get you own food.”
“Why? Yours is so tasty,” she said stealing a vegetable.
He scooted the plate closer to him and guarded it with one arm while he shoveled food in his mouth.
“Stop teasing the pipsqueak,” Ryu said, flagging down one of the waitresses milling around the room. It had grown crowded in the short time since Tate and Ryu had joined them. “If you’re hungry, I’ll get you some food.”
“I can order my own food.”
Before she could say more the waitress arrived. Her voice was chipper as she gave Ryu her undivided attention, ignoring Tate. “You boys in for the festival?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “What can I get you? The Nest has some of the best food in the Lower.” She smiled flirtatiously and bent so her prominent breasts were displayed to their full advantage.
“I’d like a plate of whatever they had,” Tate said loudly, jerking her head towards the others at the table.
It was a moment before the woman transferred her attention to Tate. It was app
arent she didn’t think much of Tate when her mouth quirked in satisfaction. “And how ‘bout you love?” she said dismissing Tate entirely. She rested one hand against Ryu’s shoulder and stood close enough that her skirt brushed his leg.
Tate blinked. It wasn’t that she expected to attract attention or even wanted it but to be totally dismissed? That was just insulting.
Perhaps it was her clothing.
Her worn brown pants and the top hanging loose on her slim frame, as it had originally been a man’s shirt, usually deflected unwanted attention. She was fine with that. It meant she had to do a lot less fighting. She’d had to roll the cuffs up twice on her tunic just so her hands could peek out from the long sleeves. Her hair, damp from her bath, was pulled back in a sloppy ponytail. When dry, it tended to frizz in the humidity.
The dragon hissed at the woman Mine. Don’t touch.
Tate found the table in front of her suddenly fascinating as she wrestled with a strong urge to strangle the waitress. Mine? Oh no, definitely not. Uh-uh. Tate wouldn’t know what to do with a male nor did she want to figure it out.
As to the woman’s clear disdain of Tate, it wasn’t the first time she’d been dismissed. The woman had a point and Tate was happy that she didn’t stand out. It made slipping about unnoticed a lot easier. Tate contented herself with stealing another vegetable from Trent’s plate as he gawked at the waitress’s cleavage.
Ryu shrugged the woman’s hand off and then shot a charming smile at her. “I’ll have the same as her.”
The woman pouted, disappointed to be dismissed, but took their orders and headed to the kitchen. Riply and Trent burst out laughing as soon as she was out of earshot.
“What is it about your ugly mug that makes you so appealing?” Riply asked, slapping him on the back.
“You must be crazy to turn down such a fine woman,” Trent stared longingly at the woman’s shapely rear as she sashayed her way around the room.
“Lad, you’ll find as you get older there are more qualities to a ‘fine woman’ than merely her breast size,” Ryu said.
“Don’t lie to the boy like that,” Riply said with a scandalized expression.
Tate took another sip of her beer and fought not to grin. The woman was pretty and it was surprising Ryu hadn’t been the least interested in her. In Tate’s limited experience while on ship, she had learned that women with nice figures were highly sought after.
Riply’s view was pretty normal for him. He made a point of bedding every willing woman in any port they stopped in.
Tate’s stomach growled at the scent of Trent’s stew. She hadn’t eaten breakfast that morning, and it was past time for lunch.
“Hungry?” Ryu asked.
Tate’s face turned red, but there wasn’t much she could say in response. This was why she didn’t like to talk much to Ryu. He had a habit of throwing her off balance and making her feel like a fool.
The food arrived before she could come up with anything witty to say. She dug in without another word. The first mouthful burned her tongue, and she had to suck in air around the piece of meat to cool it enough to swallow. She took a deep drink of the beer to sooth the sting.
“A pretty thing like you must get a lot of compliments from all the riff raff who float through here.”
Tate rolled her eyes as she listened to Riply’s opening line. Predictably, having struck out with Ryu, the woman was eager to have her ego soothed by Riply’s smooth tongue.
“I don’t know about riff raff, but the gents is mighty free with a kind word if it’ll get them their drinks quicker,” she cooed running her fingers through Riply’s hair.
“Ah, lovey, you’re a mighty fine woman deserving to have songs written to your beauty.”
The woman smiled and sidled closer to Riply. She ran a hand down his arm and lowered her eyelashes flirtatiously. “I’m supposin’ you’re the one to give me those pretty words are you.”
Tate dipped a piece of her bread in the stew’s sauce, eyeing the couple raptly. Maybe she could learn something. Riply was near legendary when it came to persuading members of the opposite sex.
She’d put the talent to a slightly different use, though.
“If you and I were to spend a bit more time together I could convince you of that,” he said with a roguish smile.
A commotion at the Inn’s front door interrupted the flirting between Riply and the waitress. Tate peered around Ryu to see what all the fuss was about.
A group of three, dressed in fine silks, watched the room behind inscrutable eyes. These were the kind of patrons that normally bypassed places like the Crow’s Nest and headed straight for the Upper City. They stood out rather starkly.
The woman, flanked by two men, had long black hair, partially pulled back from her face by a black hairpin with a pearl dangling from its tip. Her sapphire gown had little pink flowers embroidered on it and just barely brushed the floor. Her features were delicate and even from where she sat, Tate could see she’d be considered a beauty.
Her companions were dressed more simply in full black pants and wore black-scaled armor over vibrant blue shirts. Their hair, like the woman’s, was black but pulled entirely back from their faces in a long tail down their backs.
A low whistle came from Ripley. “It’s unusual to see the Kairi so far from their island’s.”
“The Kairi? Who are they?” Tate asked.
“You weren’t with us the last time we were in their territory,” Danny answered. “They’re a sea people, mostly keeping to the islands down south and their stretch of sea. People say they can breathe underwater and swim as well as any fish. I don’t know if that’s true or not. They’re a very reserved race and don’t interact a lot with outsiders. I’m surprised to see a female in the city because they’re guarded as if they were one of the finest treasures.”
“Can they really breath underwater?” the waitress asked Riply.
“Oh aye, I once saw a man slip under water and didn’t see him again for a good hour.”
“You jest.” The waitress slapped his arm lightly.
Riply reached over and pulled her down into his lap. “Now love, why would I sully your ears with such a poor jest.” She giggled and squirmed out of his arms.
Tate watched the innkeeper scurry up to the newcomers who had still not moved from the door. One of the guards intercepted the proprietress before she could greet the woman directly. The two conferred briefly before the innkeeper led them upstairs.
As they left the woman looked around the room, her attention coming to rest on Tate’s table. Tate stiffened. The woman’s eyes were all black. Before Tate could take in any other details about the newcomers they were gone, following the innkeeper to their rooms.
“I wonder what they’re here for,” Trent said softly.
“Oh, didn’t you know? All sorts of folk are coming to the city for the Donza Festival. Don’t know why they’re not staying in the Upper City, though. They have quarters up there where their people normally stay when in town. Wouldn’t want to mingle with us common folk,” the woman said climbing off Ripley’s lap. “I’ve heard that even the Silva are traveling from their forests for it. Though with the recent trouble, this year might not see as many people from other cities.”
“Recent trouble?” Ryu asked straightening in his chair and fixing the waitress with a sharp look.
Pleased at the sudden attention, the woman preened a bit before answering. “They’ve been discovering all sorts of strange creatures lately. Most of them have been dead, but last week this bird-like thing attacked one of the markets and tried to carry a woman off. Thank the Saviors one of the dragon-ridden was there to stop it. The creature killed three men.”
Dragon-ridden? That sounded interesting.
“What are the dragon-ridden?” Tate asked puzzled. Five sets of eyes swung towards her. Tate shifted uncomfortably. You’d think she’d just announced she’d grown a third eye instead of asking a simple question.
“Where h
ave you been living?” Trent asked, disbelief in his tone. “Under a rock? Everybody knows that.”
Tate flushed and dropped her eyes to her plate. Well, she didn’t. She didn’t know much about this world. Even all these months after waking up in that room, every time she turned around she was confronted with something she didn’t understand.
Her memories from before she woke up were hazy, and what she did remember didn’t mesh with the world around her. Sometimes it felt like she was still asleep and the world around her simply a dream.
“The dragon-ridden are a special part of the imperial government. They are bound to dragons and serve at the Emperor’s behest,” Ryu explained softly.
“I don’t understand. Why are they called dragon-ridden?” Tate asked confused. If they were bound to a dragon, wouldn’t it be dragon-rider.
“It’s not like that, Tate.” Trent forgot about his food for a moment and leaned forward animatedly. “The dragon and person form a bond, and afterwards the dragon lives inside the man. He can lend his form to the man, but otherwise he just lives as a tattoo, sharing his thoughts. Haven’t you ever dreamed of forming a bond with one? I have, even though no one has formed a bond with one in over a hundred years. People say the dragons have all died off, and the only ones left are the ones who’ve bonded to humans. I think they’re just hiding and-“
“Of course she didn’t dream of being a dragon-ridden,” Riply said scornfully. “No woman’s ever formed a bond with one.”
“I don’t know. When I was younger I always dreamt of being the first woman to bond with a dragon,” the waitress said dreamily.
Tate’s thoughts snagged on something Trent had said. “You said the last one had been bound 100 years ago? How could he have fought off a creature like that then?”
“The dragon-ridden retain the longevity of the dragons and can live for hundreds of years,” Danny said quietly. “They serve the Emperor directly and are considered part of the high nobility.”
Tate stared at him before nodding slowly, her mind digging through all the information that’d just been dumped on her.
