by Blooding, SM
Approach was difficult as well. According to Yvette, who had figured out how to join them in their underwater voyages, it was like breathing dirt.
The underwater breathing masks that the scientists used in the observatory didn’t work in a lot of mud. They clogged almost instantly. Yvette took a set and manipulated it, using her Mark. They were at least better, but if they spent too long down there, the gel still clogged. It was, however, easier to clear underwater. The swimmer just had to remove the mask, swish it through cleaner water and reapply it. It was a much better solution.
It was time for our attack and salvage run.
We were tracking one particular group. We called it the pack of nine because of the Nine of Cups logo on the tail fin of each submersible. So far, we’d found the pack of one, three, eight and nine. If the Hands were anything, they were predictable. We knew there would be a pack for each card in the deck of Cups.
By that time, we had reached the city of Egolda.
As there was nothing that Keeley, Haji or I could do in the attack on the submersibles, we decided to travel to the city and see what kind of information we could glean.
Knowing that there were rewards on our heads, we needed disguises. Well, not Haji, thankfully, but Keeley and I did.
Keeley didn’t spend too much time with hers. She just braided scarves into her hair, making it look more pink and blue than red, and changed into a dress of different colors. I didn’t know where she’d gotten the clothes from, but she did look different. Truth be told, she looked like an Nefertarian witch.
I realized after going to my apartment and ransacking my trunk that someone had been thinking for us. There were clothes in there from several different regions. Well, if Keeley was going to go with Nefertarian, I’d go with it too. My clothes were the colors of dirt. I kept my sword strapped to my belt. The Nefertarians used the same swords we did. Haji was able to loan me a ragged red scarf and a hat, and that seemed to make the disguise complete. All my Marks were hidden.
But I felt ridiculous. I could have been Haji’s brother or cousin, not his best friend.
I tried to remember that was a good thing.
Our lethara docked, lowering the cityscape, and we got out, feeling the rain of the sea waters as they poured off of him.
Kala was low in the sky, but Kel’mar loomed large and red over us. I paused, closing my eyes, and just let it wash over me. Dear Sky, the sun felt good.
Their dock was a lot different than the one in Ino City. For one, the only vessels were other letharan and airships. There were several ships I recognized, but they were flying different colors. With a long sigh, I filed that away for later. It looked like this city had fallen to the Hands and was no longer a part of the Family. I’d have to talk to Ryo about that later.
On the far side of the dock were two airboats.
That confirmed my suspicions. Egolda was under the watchful protection of the Hands.
This could be a good thing, but we had to be careful.
I murmured this to Haji and Keeley. They looked around and finally saw what I’d seen.
Haji cursed under his breath and led the way. “I’ve been here before. I know a place we can stay for a few days.”
“A few days?” I asked. I doubted we’d have the luxury of a few days.
Keeley nodded. “Our lethara needs to dock with an elder. He’s still growing. We’re stuck here and need to make the best of it.”
I turned and looked back at him. Sure enough, he had several tentacles in the air, connecting with several of the larger lethara’s. “Great. Well, let’s see if we can survive until then.”
After staying so long under the ocean, the power of Kala hurt my eyes. The light below the ocean’s surface was more at the strength of Sang.
But the air. Oh my Sky. The air tasted so much sweeter. Granted, we were still very close to the ocean. Egolda’s lethara was low due to the smaller letharan at his docks, but his was real air. And that?
I turned toward the wind as it whipped through what little hair I had peeking out from under my hat. That was wind. Father Sky, how I’d missed the touch of the wind.
Haji led us away from the noisy docks. There were many people unloading large crates and several more loading them onto their vessels. There was lots of yelling and shouting, but they were all speaking languages I knew and understood.
We had to walk up several rope bridges to get to the city of Egolda, which rose many stories into the sky. It was smaller than Ino City, about half its size.
Haji led us further and further up into the middle section of the city. The wind was easier here and the air sweeter. What I wouldn’t give to go to the highest reaches of the city to just…breathe.
We were on an entire platform of nothing but hostels. Haji walked around, poking his head into the commons room and then moving on to the next one. Keeley and I followed. I didn’t know what he was looking for.
But I knew what I was seeking.
Guards of Tarot…and they were everywhere; in the black and red of the House of Wands, the green and gold of the House of Coins, the blue and silver of the House of Swords, and the teal and gold of the House of Cups.
The people of Egolda seemed nervous. They hawked their wares and their ales, but they never looked one of the guards in the eye, never tried to catch their attention.
The guards themselves watched everyone, their hands on their swords. Their eagle eyes saw everything.
Haji left another hostel and led us to a thin alleyway, his eyes darting through the crowd. He pulled out a poster. “I’ve been looking for these. They’re everywhere.”
I picked it up and looked. There was a picture of me, and next to me were Keeley and Joshua. The only person missing was Yvette. Hmm. It appeared as though Queen Dyna still thought her spy was working for her. Was she?
I quelled that whisper of doubt, knowing that I would have to ask the question and assess the answer. I couldn’t just let it slip. I didn’t have that luxury. There it was again. Luxury. A year ago, I wouldn’t have thought that, but now? Oh yes.
I rolled the poster up and shoved it in my pocket. “Okay, well, we need to speak Nefertarian. Keeley, if you stumble, people will know. So you’re deaf. You don’t hear what people are saying, and we’ll have to sign for you.”
“That seems the safest thing to do,” Haji agreed, his eyes wide. “We really need to work on that.”
“I am,” she whispered. “I am.”
A group of three guards headed in our direction.
“You’re deaf,” I reminded her, and stepped out of the alleyway, acting as though I hadn’t seen them, and headed away. “We need a room and then we need to get information.”
Haji nodded. We’d nearly made a full circle of the hostel platform. He picked one and disappeared, Keeley and me right behind him.
But we never made it through the door. A hand landed on my shoulder, stopping me.
I put a hand on Keeley’s arm to keep her still and quiet as I turned toward the guard with an open expression. “How can we help you?” I asked in Nefertarian.
“Speak Handish,” the guard demanded.
“Help you how we can?” I asked, messing it up on purpose. Just because everyone knew how to speak Handish didn’t mean everyone was good at it.
The guard in green rolled his eyes and took a step back. “Papers.”
What? “Papers?” My heart raced. Uh oh. “Papers we no have.”
“Then it’s back to the docks with you.” He grabbed my arm—
But someone shoved his way in between us.
A man with a large round belly, wearing a mostly white apron and hat, held up his pudgy hands. “He doesn’t speaka gooda Handish, yes? He does not understanda the papers.” He turned and grabbed my vest, sending me a warning with his small green eyes, and turned back to the guard, an envelope in his hand. “Herea are his papers.”
The guard took in a deep breath. “Damn foreigners don’t know how to sky fearing speak.�
�� He opened the envelope, read the papers and then peered around our burly savior to me. “Rajak nor Sabor?” His eyebrows rose.
I grinned and nodded.
He turned to Keeley. “Nasa nor Sabor?”
She’d been looking somewhere else, and she pretended not to hear him.
I turned to her and signed while saying, “The guard is talking to you.” I had no idea what my hands were saying. Probably not a thing, but I tried to make it look good.
Her expression opened and she turned to him, waving.
“What’s wrong with her?” the guard demanded.
“Door nail as she is deaf, sir,” I said with a shrug. “But she must my sister monkey poo, so to do what can I dance.” It was so hard to keep a straight face through all that.
He snorted in disgust and shoved the papers at me. “Get out of here.”
The portly man waited until they were out of earshot before reaching over and cuffing Haji’s neck and dragging him into the hostel. He didn’t say anything until we were through the loud common area, lit only by the light streaming through the windows, and through the ratty curtain to a back room which was surprisingly quiet.
“Whata do you bringa into my pub?” he demanded, throwing the papers down on the table. “Whata trouble have Ia invited in?”
Haji pulled out of his grasp and picked up the envelope. “I thought you said you didn’t care.”
“I didn’t care whena you left, but maybea I care now. Nowa maybe I thinka that the people you smuggle in are the people the Handsa want. Yeah?”
Nothing flickered across Haji’s face as he went through the papers. “How did you know to provide papers for a woman?”
The man didn’t immediately answer.
Haji continued leafing through. “Or another man?” He looked up. “What aren’t you telling me, Ettore Gossa?”
Ettore raised his double chin, a serious expression on his face. “I knewa after you went away and beforea you came backa, there were posters for rewards on people’s heads. The onea I knew becausea you tolda me. But. The other two? I had a feeling, might. And I think I was righta, yes? So I’sa thinks I’sa should gets more moneys, maybe, than whata the Hands woulda offers, yes? Or’sa I could go getta the guards again, I thinks.”
I held up my hand. “How much do you need?” Mother did leave us some money, as did Isra, but we didn’t know how long we would need that.
“One hundred canto.”
My eyebrows shot up. I had enough, but just barely. I reached into my belt and pulled out my purse.
His pudgy hands eagerly went for it.
I pulled it back. “But in return we want a room for a week and as much information as you have.”
His pink tongue darted out and a greedy gleam filled his small eyes.
“I think you have a lot of information.”
He met my gaze. “I’sa thinks maybes more than what’s you have in that purse.”
“Maybe,” I said grimly, “but this is everything I have. Will you help or not?”
He shrugged and started moving about the room, moving piles of stuff off of what I now saw were chairs and stools and pulling out a smallish table. He hollered for someone to bring in ale. Someone yelled back. “I’sa thinks I will. The guardsa chase away my customers and I’sa not so happy with them.”
We sat down. A woman came in, scantily clad, and set down the drinks. She flashed a smile at me and ran her finger along my jaw before she sauntered back out.
Etorre took a mug and swigged it, setting it back down again. “Now I’sa bets you’sa is the Synn Primusa theys keeps talkings about.”
I raised my eyebrows, but said nothing.
He pulled on his ear. “They’sa says you burned down severalsa planes.”
I nodded.
“Andsa they says you damaged mucha place in Sky City.”
My lips pursed and I shook my head.
“Bad man, you are, Synn Primus.”
“I’m not Primus,” I said clearly.
“Oh, we’sa knows.” He put a finger to his nose. “We’sa keeps eyes to the sky for you. Keeps account of all the planes and airboats.”
I listened. This was exactly what we’d hoped for.
CHAPTER 30
OH CRAP! OH CRAP! OH CRAP!
The man sure knew how to ramble, but he seemed to know just about everything that went on in Egolda City and any information that came through it. After we’d had two pints of ale, we deemed that we’d gathered as much information from him as we could and headed for our room.
But as we entered the common room, a chill swept over me. I tightened the shields around my mind that Ino Kilak and Ino Tokata had instilled and beat into me as I scanned the crowd.
There.
Virak.
I acted nonchalant, even though my heart was trying to beat right out of my chest. He didn’t appear to notice I was there. He was looking around the room idly, paying scant attention to the men around him.
I paused at the base of the stairs leading up to the room and watched a game of Weeds. The betting was getting intense and after watching the hand of the guy in front of me, I could see why.
Varik slammed his fist on the table and growled. “I know he’s close.”
A high ranking officer next to him pulled back, taking in a sigh of patience. “You’ve known he’s close for weeks now, months. The boy is good at hiding.”
Varik’s expression twisted into rage, his eyes scanning, ever moving, but even as he looked right at me, he seemed to see nothing. He pushed away from the table, disrupting the patrons around him, his black leather trench coat knocking over several people’s drinks. “I’ll find a way to bring him out,” he growled and then stormed out.
We’d see about that.
I continued to watch the game of Weeds a bit longer. The man in front of me actually lost, amazingly enough. With that done, I headed up the stairs.
But I didn’t want to sleep yet. It had been weeks since I’d seen the sky, and I needed to soak it up, not through a window. The only thing I could see in the city was the dome of the lethara’s medusa. If the docks were the only place to see the sky, then that’s where I was going.
Keeley was already passed out on one of the two beds. The room was small, but wasn’t cramped. There seemed to be plenty of room for all of us.
Haji was staring out the window, his eyes following someone.
I joined him, searching the crowd, and found who he was watching. Varik.
“Well, at the very least we now know where the man is.”
I nodded. “That we do.” I thumped him on the arm. “I’m going down to the docks to see what kind of information I can scare up.”
“More than what we already have?”
I sent him a frown. “You think we should stick with just the one source?”
His eyebrows jumped as he watched Varik in contempt. “You really want to chance it with him here?”
“He looked right at me and didn’t see me.”
He waved me off. “Fine. Just be safe. I doubt I will be able to save you if you get yourself into trouble this time.”
I laughed dryly and left.
I went down to the docks, but instead of heading towards our lethara, I headed more towards Varik’s airboat. Those docks were the longest, probably due to the fact that airboats needed so much room. It was no longer moored at the dock, anyway. It was about five decametres out, and had gained some altitude.
But there were airships lined along the three longest docks. I chose one at random, walked all the way to the end, listening to the conversations, and found a place to perch out of the way where no one would notice me. Fishing lines sat unattended along with bits of rope that probably needed to be discarded. There was no saving them, no matter the skill of the person repairing them.
I inhaled the sight of the sky, keeping my eyes on giant Kel’mar taking over nearly the entire horizon. There were no stars. The sky was much too bright, but I still stared, watching
as the occasional cloud flitted by.
The conversation was equally interesting. There were people all the way from Koko Nadie, a group of islands just south of the wilds of Kiwidinok and they talked about how the Hands had destroyed three villages, even though the people in question had sworn fealty to the Hands and were already paying a hefty tithe.
There was another crew from Mona that was complaining of the Hands taking their children.
Letharan cities, air cities, land cities, it didn’t matter. The Hands were everywhere and they were wreaking havoc wherever they went in the name of finding Synn Primus.
Really.
According to the crews on this dock, it wasn’t all Varik.
That didn’t bode well at all.
More than once, I heard someone mutter about wishing this “Primus” would just come out of hiding and die already so the rest of the world could get back to living in peace.
I let out a long sigh. If I couldn’t find another solution, I might have to. I had known things were getting tough out there for the Families. I hadn’t realized that the Hands were being this destructive.
Sang had slipped below the horizon hours ago, and Kala was following suit. I eagerly waited for the brief moment when there would be stars, a handful of minutes, but the nights would start to get longer now. I shook my head. I’d been in captivity of one form or another for nearly an entire season. So much time had gone by. It was incredible and unbelievable all at the same time.
As Kala sank and the stars came out, the men and women around the airships paused, their eyes to the skies. The people who had been below decks came out to watch, their lips curved in smiles.
The stars were a welcome sight to the sky travelers.
The milky trail of the asteroid belt loomed before us, pushing Kel’mar from the sky in reds, pinks, purples, greens and gold. Festos, which was a very large asteroid, I now knew thanks to my astronomy lessons in Sky City, was ragged and orange. There was the lovely, green Melbon, which was believed to be a habitable planet of the solar system circling Sang. I’d been in captivity when it had been closest to our planet, so close you could see patches of green land and individual storms. They had easily more land than they did water, which seemed strange and exotic to me. But they had a lot of sky still. Tonight, it was just a small green dot.
