by Megan Derr
Taka jerked away and whipped around, immediately reaching up to unfasten the necklace—and scowling when he couldn't get the catch to work. "What did you do to it?"
"Nothing," Raiden replied in bland tones. "Perhaps it's stuck."
"Dragons eat you!" Taka snarled. "I am a secretary. I do not wear such ornate jewels, not unless you want everyone to believe my duties are as colorful and varied as your robes."
Raiden rolled his eyes. "I do wish people would stop maligning my clothes. What did these poor fabrics ever do to you?"
"Burn my eyes as if someone threw sand in them?"
"That was uncalled for. Anyway, you are my secretary, and if I order you to wear the necklace, there is little you can do about it."
Taka gave him a scathing look. "The very moment I can figure out how to remove it, I will—your secretary or not, I am not a harlot to be dressed as you see fit."
"Treasure, if I had my way, jewels would be the only thing you would ever wear again," Raiden replied.
"I have had better offers from nobles, Master Raiden, and have been offered greater temptation than even you can afford. If I can resist all of them without effort, you are as nothing."
Raiden leaned against the desk and folded his arms across his chest. "I have no interest in a crass dalliance, and do not issue a challenge if you are not prepared to lose, Takara."
Takara glared at him. "I am not a thing to be traded away, or a bauble to be played with, Master Raiden. I am your secretary, that is all. If you have no further need of my professional services, I request to be excused."
"You are excused," Raiden said and watched as Taka stormed off, silently annoyed with himself for making such a mess of everything. Truly he had been out of courting for too long. On the other hand, Taka was never going to be boring.
More importantly, he was the forgiving type, and in the end, that would matter the most.
Chapter Nine: Adrift
Taka was going to throttle Kyo. It was the only solution to avoid driving himself mad as Kyo apparently had no desire to speak with anyone accept Krasny. He scowled at them from the poop deck, where he'd gone for some fresh air. Krasny and Kyo stood near the bow of the ship, speaking quietly as they looked out over the sea.
It sat sour and heavy in his stomach that he'd been so quickly and easily replaced as Kyo's confidant—that Kyo had obviously told Krasny the purpose of their journey that he had refused to tell Taka. Was he really so easily discarded? Sold off to a merchant for passage, then passed over for a Duke? But, it was not as though they were peers, he and Kyo. However close Taka had always believed them to be, he was only a servant, if a higher ranking one.
They made a beautiful pair, he thought. If Krasny were not of high enough rank he had to marry for children ... except they had never seemed so close back in Kundou. Acquaintances with a possibility of becoming friends, but that was all.
Dragons eat them both! What were they discussing that was so damnably important Kyo wouldn't tell him? He had to know Taka could be trusted. So it was something he thought would anger him. Taka just could not imagine what they could be doing in the middle of the ocean that would upset him. Sacrificing the crew? Taka rolled his eyes at himself and tried to focus on the view.
The moment he stopped thinking about Kyo, however, he started thinking about Raiden instead. He hated that even more because the focus of his thoughts was that, despite his best efforts, hating Raiden was extremely difficult.
He might have been hopeless with paperwork, but he knew his business. Taka thought Kundou was not properly appreciative of the fact that Raiden was only merchant class. He hated to think of the waters Raiden could stir if he were a noble.
Business acumen aside, Raiden seemed a good person when he wasn't buying secretary contracts. The crew was always friendly, but respectful and loved to tell tales of him. Taka refused to believe even half of what they said; it all seemed too absurd.
The sound of Raiden's laughter drew his attention, and Taka eyed his attire with a shake of the head. Perhaps the absurdity was the very reason he should believe the tales. Only Raiden would wear that ensemble: yellow and green robes with a blue sash embroidered with yellow and green starfish. He should have been an eyesore, but Taka couldn't make himself look away.
He reached up to touch the choker around his throat, remembering the way Raiden had acted when he'd put it there. The way Kyo had laughed when he had seen it. The amused looks of everyone else. His cheeks flushed all over again, humiliation churning. It didn't matter how Raiden treated everyone else, not when he treated Taka as if he were a piece of jewelry.
Taka gave up on trying to enjoy the fresh air; it had been fouled by the presence of Kyo and Raiden. He wanted sorely to toss them both over the side, but it probably was not worth the haranguing he would receive when they were invariably pulled back aboard. Not worth it, yet, anyway. They were only two weeks into the trip. There was plenty of time for him to change his mind.
Leaving the poop deck, ignoring it when Raiden glanced his way, Taka retreated to the Captain's quarters and headed for the desk that had more or less become his since no one else on the ship seemed capable of, or inclined toward, using it. He sat down and opened the portfolio that held the cargo manifest and various permits and licenses that would be needed when they reached Pozhar. The paperwork was mostly filled out in Kin's brisk hand, and Taka could imagine just how impatient he was at being made to do something as seemingly frivolous as paperwork. Raiden's signature appeared here and there, and the paperwork was all sound, but Taka was fairly certain there was an easier way to do it all.
He also wondered why in the name of the Dragons' there was no supercargo aboard ship to handle the cargo. Kin should not have been stuck doing it, which was clearly the case. Did Raiden have no concept of how time consuming and difficult it was to sell and purchase cargo in addition to captaining a ship? He would have to speak to Raiden about that and see if it was a common problem across all his ships. If so, Raiden needed to stop drinking seawater.
Setting the cargo papers aside, Taka rifled through the financial reports Raiden had brought along—he'd brought along a remarkable amount of paperwork, and Taka could not fathom why, given that there was a high risk of their being attacked and the papers lost. It was far more work than he needed to carry with him.
After a moment, he set the financial papers aside as well, finding the numbers all as they should be, equal parts impressed and horrified at what Raiden earned on certain goods. No matter how many times he looked over what Raiden bought and sold, it never failed to amaze him. Taka had nothing to do with trade, but even he knew how difficult it was to obtain some of the items that Raiden regularly acquired: Verde silver, Pozhar rubi, the famous black wine of Piedre—the list went on and on.
How did one man manage so much? Taka once again caught himself being impressed, and he scowled. He should have been grateful they had met as they did, and Raiden's true nature had displayed itself so blatantly. Otherwise, he feared he would have been snared as easily as everyone else.
Putting the papers away, he drew out blank paper, ink, and a pen and began to jot out the ideal qualities in a supercargo. He would have to consult with Kin to ensure he thought of everything and discard those items that were not as relevant as he thought. Hopefully, when they returned to Kundou, he would be able to call for interviews—
And he was a sopping idiot. Taka snarled inwardly at himself, realizing that no matter what he told himself, he kept falling into the patterns of being Raiden's secretary full time. Though being trapped on a ship with a limited amount of work was no real test of his new duties, Taka found himself liking them more than he wanted to admit. It was nothing like the paperwork he shuffled all day for Kyo, where every little thing had to be triple-checked to avoid starting a war of one type or another.
By comparison, being a merchant—well, a merchant's secretary—was easy and almost fun.
Disgusted with himself, Taka threw his pen down a
nd slumped in his seat. What was he doing? He could not immerse himself in working for a merchant. Even if Kyo had clearly set him aside to cozy up to Krasny, Taka would not abandon him. Not when it was clear something had been upsetting Kyo for a long time, and it would all come pouring out at the end of the storming journey.
But would it? Taka worried his bottom lip and sighed, then sat up straight again and resumed his work. He should not get attached to merchant work, but he had absolutely no other way of occupying his time until they returned to Kundou.
Well, Pozhar would be interesting. Taka wished they would have time to linger. Likely he would never have the opportunity to travel again, so it was a pity they would probably not even leave the harbor once they reached port.
What would it be like to be free to travel? To command dozens of ships that would do whatever he said, would take him wherever he wanted? He had never longed to be royalty or nobility, though he had spent his entire life around those two groups of people. But a merchant … Just watching Raiden and Kin over the past two weeks was enough to tantalize him with a life he would never have. There was a freedom to it that was not present in the palace. The nobility might have the freedom of wealth and class, but those were chains of a sort.
It was hard to feel the chains of the merchant class when there was still enough give in them to permit world travel. He had heard tales any number of times of the different countries from those who could afford to travel and when he helped Kyo to entertain various foreign guests. He especially loved listening to Culebra talk about all the aspects of Piedre that no one mentioned, because it was more fun to talk about the blood feuds.
How fine a thing it would be, he thought wistfully, to have tales of his own. He certainly had none worth telling at present. Hardly exciting to say that he had been sold off to a merchant, put in pearls, and left to do paperwork while everyone else did … what, exactly? Talked and laughed and ignored him. Taka frowned at his list, picking his pen up again. He was a secretary. What else was he supposed to do?
He stabbed irritably at the paper, making a face when that obviously resulted in an inkblot. It was an excellent list, minus whatever corrections Kin suggested, and Taka doubted there would be many. Finishing the list, he set it aside to dry while he tidied up the desk—not that there was much to tidy. He pulled out the small looking glass he kept in one drawer to ensure he had not gotten ink on his face, something that happened more often than he liked.
When the list was dry, he put the glass away, rolled the list up, and went in search of Kin. It didn't take long—Taka had noticed that wherever Kyo lingered, Kin was not too far away and usually had a scowl on his face that darkened whenever Krasny was in close proximity.
"Captain," he greeted. "Might I have a brief word with you?"
Kin looked at him, clearly somewhat surprised. He flicked his gaze back to Kyo then focused on Taka. "Certainly. How can I help you?"
"I noticed that your ship lacks a supercargo—"
Kin cut him off with a frustrated noise, rolling his eyes. "Shima won't hire them. It's like you—like secretaries, I mean. They're the ones he most often catches stealing, and he doesn't care about the money, not really. He does care about reputation though, and he finally fired every single supercargo he'd ever hired and put their duties on the captains. It was not one of his better received orders."
"I would imagine not," Taka said dryly. "But from what little I have been able to look over, the decision is doing more harm than good. No offense, Captain, but you're not qualified to handle the cargo."
To his surprise, Kin laughed. "I'd be the first to agree, Master Taka. But if you hope to convince Raiden to hire them again, you will find yourself sailing into a squall."
Snorting at the 'Master' bit, Taka presented the list he had composed. "I am attempting to put together a list of basic requirements to arrange interviews upon our return to Kundou since I doubt there will be time to take one on in Pozhar, and at that point we will have little enough need, anyway."
Kin took the list and unrolled it, mouth quirking in amusement. "If you thought of all of this, you would probably make an excellent supercargo yourself. They're little more than glorified secretaries anyway, you ask me, but they keep me from having to do the storming job."
Taka laughed. "So the list is adequate."
"You might add something about experience at sea," Kin added. "No captain wants to deal with a sailor who doesn't already know what he's in for, but I guess if they have experience with other cultures they might already have that."
"Never hurts to be a tad redundant when looking for someone to hire," Taka said. "I'll make note. Thank you for the assistance."
"Good luck changing Shima's mind."
Taka hesitated then said, "Why do you call him that? I realize it's his name, but everyone else calls him Raiden."
Kin shrugged. "He took me in when I was a dumb kid. He never held it against me that I'm half-mermaid. I put up with his nonsense."
"I see," Taka said. "I apologize, it wasn't my place to ask."
Shrugging again, Kin said, "It's not a secret. Everyone gossips about it, figuring Raiden is a soft touch for me just because he was an orphan once, too. It's probably true to a point—but only to a point. Raiden discarded every supercargo in his employ because he couldn't trust them. Half of Kundou hates him for one reason or another, but all return to the fact that he is good at his job and hold those in his employ to the same standards. He puts up with me because I'm good at what I do and have since I was a guppy. So I call him Shima."
Taka nodded and murmured more platitudes before returning to the captain's quarters. He stole a glance around the ship, but Kyo and Krasny had vanished, probably to spend time with Culebra, and Raiden was nowhere to be seen. Which meant …
As he had feared, Raiden had returned to the captain's quarters as well. Taka tried to ignore him as he returned to his desk and sat down, but he may as well ignore the ocean. Sitting down, he wrote in Kin's addition then set the list aside to look over again later and see if any revisions would be necessary. After the list was approved, he would begin drafting formal calls, though they would not be needed for months yet.
"You seem busy today, Taka," Raiden said congenially and handed him a cup of wine that Taka had not even seen him pour.
He accepted it reflexively and only belatedly realized it was Piedre black wine. "This seems … a bit much for early afternoon?"
Raiden laughed. "According to you, I am a bit much for any hour. Why should my wine be any different? Try it."
Taka bit back a retort to that and obediently tried the wine. It was as simultaneously bitter and sweet as he had been told, with a hint of rose and something stone-like that he could not name. Mineral, maybe, was the better word. "However do they make it?" he asked, frowning thoughtfully at the wine. He had seen it before, of course, but such costly wine was not given to secretaries, and Kyo did not favor it, so never drank it privately.
"No one really knows," Raiden said, twirling his own glass in the sunlight, drawing out hints of rich color in the night-dark wine. "But I have heard legends and murmurs before that the monks who make it use a special berry, as well as flowers and spices unique to Piedre. The wine of the dead, they once called it."
"I've never heard that," Taka said, shivering and no longer interested in drinking it.
Raiden looked at him in surprise as he set his glass down. "It's not meant to be a bad thing."
"How can it be a good?" Taka said. "Why would you want to drink the dead?"
"It's more about honoring the dead," Raiden said. "Piedre and Pozhar take the matter very seriously, if for slightly different reasons. Those who are dead are gone, and though they will be reborn, the person that they were is not the person they will be. A rare wine that was once only drunk on the Day of the Dead seems a suitable honor for the end of a life."
It was Taka's turn to stare, surprised by the devotion he could hear in Raiden's voice, could see in his face. "Yo
u're surprisingly religious for a merchant. I've met all manner of people working in the palace, and religion these days is … largely a power of the nobility and a strength of the poor, but faded in the middle, I suppose is the best way to describe it."
Raiden smiled at him in a soft, fond way that made Taka's heart kick up, made him want to smile back. "I was rescued when I was lost at sea, and no hope of rescue should have existed. I have every reason to be grateful to those who were lost and may yet be found again."
Taka scoffed. "They do like to say the gods will be found, but I find it hard to believe. No one even knows for certain they were lost to begin with. Lost implies they would rather be here, and even the most expert on the matter say that question begs asking."
"As the tide comes in, so shall the gods return," Raiden said. "Their children lost them, and so their children must find them again. Those might be the words of the 'sun-baked fools on the street corners' but I always thought they held a certain amount of truth."
"If you say so," Taka said, but took another sip of his wine. "It's a very intriguing flavor; I can't quite capture all of it. A pity, but for the best, I suppose, that it is such a carefully guarded secret."
Raiden smirked. "If you want the secret badly enough, I could probably get it."
"I don't want to know what that would cost me," Taka said dryly, trying not to flush as he recalled Raiden's words when he'd put the necklace around his throat, that he would someday have Taka wearing nothing but jewels. The very idea was ridiculous—immodest at the very least and wholly impractical. He turned away, settling behind the desk again, annoyed that he was running out of work already.
Soft chuckles made him look up, and he glared at Raiden who simply stared back with what looked like fond amusement. "Do you ever relax, Taka?"
