by Elise Kova
“Good luck,” Taavin whispered. “I’ll keep you in sight. Stick to the plan.”
“I will, and good luck to you too,” she breathed back, before they promptly headed in opposite directions. Taavin wandered off to the side and Vi continued along the town square until it evolved into a market that extended right down to the docks.
Here, Vi could appreciate the majesty of Norin.
There were only two main docks and neither could tie up anything larger than a medium-sized vessel. The larger ones were anchored in the sheltered bay formed by the cliff sides, or further still, out at sea. Only dinghies were tied up at the docks.
It seemed incredibly… small. She didn’t know what she’d been expecting, but after the greatest port in the world, followed by a magical city of twilight, Toris seemed lackluster. Though Vi supposed there were average or below-average towns everywhere, no matter how fantastical certain elements of the world were.
“Don’t just stop in the road, girl.” A man pushing a wheelbarrow laden with feed veered around her. “Daydreamin’ kids.”
Vi quickly stepped to the side and mumbled an apology. She positioned herself by the side of a building where she could see the whole market. She scanned the seabirds on the docks and the silhouettes against the late afternoon sky, looking for Arwin or Fallor, but Vi saw neither. Not that Vi could tell Arwin apart from a normal bird. The oil-slick plumage of the nightwisp was common in this region of Meru.
She settled into Step One of the plan: observe and be noticed.
After an hour of normalcy, Vi debated if she should move elsewhere in the town. She’d taken two laps around the market trying to make herself visible, and was just about to wander the docks when the sound of shouting filled the air.
Vi glanced over her shoulder and into the small store she’d been passing. Two men argued within, nearly coming to blows. The larger of the two scooped the smaller by the collar, pushing him out.
“Get out and stay out, you bloody cheat.” The store clerk? Building owner? Gambling pit master?
“Just because you lose doesn’t make someone a cheat.” The man stumbled, but recovered before he ended up face-first in the mud. The larger man was already heading back inside with a shake of his head. “The nerve of some people,” the shorter man muttered. His eyes drifted to Vi. A smile slowly spread across his lips. “All you want to do is play a game of cards and they cast you out, am I right?”
She hummed noncommittally, looking back to the market.
“Say, you wouldn’t be interested in a game of cards, would you?” The man walked over, despite her showing no interest in him. That was a positive sign.
“I’m not really one for cards.” She looked him up and down, trying to remember every detail Arwin had recited after her scouting. Could she be confident this was one of Fallor’s men?
“Come now, that can’t be true. I’ll buy you a drink and we can play a game of cards—low stakes, I promise. We all enjoy a good game of cards now and then.”
“Buy me a drink from there?” Vi pointed to the brewery.
“Only place in town.” He gave a hearty laugh. As he tilted his head back, the collar of his shirt shifted, revealing the edge of a tattoo—three lines disappearing under fabric. A trident, she was sure.
Vi made a show of debating the proposition. But her mind was already made up. She had accomplished Step Two of the plan: find one of Adela’s men.
“Perhaps you’re right.” She tried to make her agreement sound reluctant. “It’s been a while since I let loose.”
“Excellent, this way!” He linked his elbow with hers and pulled her off across the market.
Vi skipped a step to get in pace with him. She tried to take a quick glance around the market. There were shopkeepers talking with farmers about the harvest, rumors being swapped by two old men sitting at the docks… but no indication of Taavin or Arwin.
They’d better be playing their parts and in their positions.
Because Vi was about to initiate Step Three: offering herself up on a platter to Adela.
Vi would make herself an easy target and lure the pirates into a false sense of security. Then, when they were busy apprehending her, Taavin and Arwin would strike. With the pirates taken care of, they would steal their vessel.
Simple enough, and it was going off without a hitch so far.
Vi followed her escort into a dimly lit tavern. There were a few patrons scattered throughout, each scarier-looking than the last. Two burly men were seated at the far end of the bar. Another table was filled with a loud group well into their cups. Two others played darts at the back wall.
If Arwin and Taavin were to be believed about this town, most if not all were pirates—though not all Adela’s men. Toris was a quaint fishing town on the surface, hub for the trade and sale of pirated goods underneath.
“What’ll you have?” The man sat at one of the bar stools.
Vi did the same, feeling her legs slide into the divots made by countless patrons’ thighs. “Whatever you’re having is fine.”
She needed to keep her wits about her and didn’t plan on drinking much. Vi took one more scan of the bar while he ordered—Taavin and Arwin were nowhere to be seen.
“Two ciders, then.” He motioned to the bartender. “The name’s Charlie, by the way.” Charlie raised his hand to his forehead, right between his brow, and lowered it. “And you are?”
“Marnie,” Vi lied deftly, not knowing where the name had come from so easily.
“And where do you hail from, Marnie? You certainly have a strange accent.”
“Monlan.” Her days studying maps in the Twilight Kingdom had paid off. Monlan was a land-locked city, one she doubted pirates got to often. But for good measure, Vi added, “But my father was from Hokoh, so I grew up with a weird mix of accents.” She knew very little about these cities other than the fact they were on opposite ends of the continent and surely produced different accents.
Vi was saved from having to elaborate further by the bartender placing down two heavy clay flagons.
“Two silver.”
Charlie produced two silver coins from his pocket, laying them on the bar. On the front of the coin was a simple carving of three circles, a line intersecting them—a symbol Vi actually recognized. Her eyes widened slightly, trying to take it all in before the bartender collected it. She’d seen that symbol carved into the old trees of Soricium.
At least, she thought she had… Because the coin was gone with the bartender in a blink.
“To new friends.” Charlie lifted his mug, holding it between them.
“To new friends.” Vi lifted her mug as well, tapping it lightly against his. She brought it to her lips, taking a long sip. It drank somewhat like an ale, small bubbles tickling her tongue. But this was sweeter and had a bright, fruity quality—almost like an apple juice. Placing it back on the bar, Vi stared in wonder and said, with no acting required, “It’s… really good.”
Charlie gave a hearty chuckle. “Toris has a good brewmaster. He does creative things with palm fruits. Horse and Cask is one of my favorite bars to stop in when I’m sailing my route.”
“What’s your route?” Vi asked, hoping the query sounded casual.
“Oh, I go all over,” he answered coyly. “I’ve been from Risen to Toris and beyond.”
“So you’re a trader, then?”
“Of a sort.” Pirate. Definitely a pirate. “Do you have an interest in sailing?”
“I do, actually.” Vi smiled sweetly.
“You must… Growing up in a land-locked city, I imagine a girl like you would find the high seas thrilling.” He gave a nod to the scythe Vi had strapped to her back. “Though it looks like you may have been coming here to find work in a field. Too bad they’re all going barren.”
“I only told my father I was going to find work on a farm,” Vi said lightly and took a long sip of her drink. “I wouldn’t have traveled all the way from Monlan if I just wanted to farm.”
“Then what do you want?” He leaned in slightly.
“Adventure,” Vi said conspiratorially, leaning in as well. “You’re right, I do find the idea of traversing the ocean thrilling. But not half as thrilling as the men on those vessels.” She said it so effortlessly, so smoothly, that Vi even shocked herself. She was a far cry from the girl stumbling over her words at the Noru races.
His pupils dilated slightly—just as she’d seen Taavin’s do right before she was about to kiss him. Vi glanced down at his mouth, licking her lips for good measure. And then leaned away with a playful grin.
“I like the sound of that.” He gave her a smirk and was back to shuffling his deck. “So I know we discussed a game of cards, but let’s make it interesting, shall we?”
“What do you have in mind?”
“We could gamble for coin?” The way he said it told Vi he had no expectations of that actually happening. So she played right into those expectations.
“I’m afraid I don’t have much. It’d make for a boring game.” Vi made a show of thinking hard. “Say, if you’re a trader… your vessel must be nearby.”
“Anchored off the other side of the cliffs,” the fool announced proudly, further confirming all of Vi’s suspicions.
“Then how about this: if I win, you take me with you to wherever it is you’re going next?”
“And if I win?” The man asked with such obvious expectation. Vi hadn’t thought of that and she quickly rummaged her mind—but came up with nothing. Luckily, he had an idea for her. “How about you still come with me… but you’re not my guest. You’re my deck wench.”
“All right,” Vi agreed quickly. It didn’t matter what she bet. This was all going to end with him having a sword in his gut. “I’m feeling lucky.”
“Let’s hope you are, Marnie.”
Charlie shuffled and dealt. Vi’s eyes were focused on his motions, trying to catch the sleight-of-hand she knew was there. She was so intent on him that she didn’t even notice the man who had entered from around the back door behind the bar.
A hand covered the cards and Vi followed the forearm up to a shoulder, to the man who had a smirk smeared across his ruddy beard. Fallor leaned against the bar as though he owned the place; even the bartender gave him a wide berth.
“You don’t need to flip those,” he said. Vi narrowed her eyes slightly, not wanting to show for a moment that her hands were trembling. “I can already tell you, your luck has run out.” Then louder, to the other patrons, “The rest of you—out.”
As though issued a command from a lord, the rest of the bar came to its feet. There was some grumbling from particularly red-faced patrons in the back corner, but no one objected. Even the bartender calmly set down the glass he’d been polishing and left through the back door Fallor had entered from.
Fallor wasn’t supposed to be there. Vi’s heart was racing. He had been in his bird form almost exclusively according to Arwin, patrolling the edges of the Twilight Forest. They were supposed to have a chance to take out his lackeys before he even knew they were there. Or, at worst, catch him mid-fight.
They’d planned, and Fallor had been one step ahead.
“Now, last I saw you, you were traveling with the Voice himself. Where is he hiding?” A pulse of magic rushed over her, disorienting and powerful. Vi vaguely recognized it from the field that night—it was the same magic that had disrupted Taavin’s Lightspinning.
“I’ll never tell you.” If Taavin was still operating to plan, he was positioned somewhere in the square, hood up, as inconspicuous as possible, watching the entrance of the bar.
“No matter.” Fallor turned his eyes to her. “He’s not here now. Good. I wanted to speak with you alone.”
“And what makes you think I want to listen to you?” Fire crackled around her balled fists, singeing the bar. “I’m much stronger than when you last met me. I could—”
“Spare me.” Fallor waved a hand through the air, as though he could wave away her words like a bad smell. “If you so much as make one move against me, your father dies.”
“What?” Vi whispered. The spark stilled, iced over with horror.
“Adela is the pirate queen—do you think she rules by being everywhere at once?” Vi stayed silent, allowing him to continue in whatever way he wanted. “No, she delegates, as any good ruler would. As I’m sure you would understand.”
“Get to your point,” Vi ground out through clenched teeth.
“I know you’re not threatening me, are you?” Fallor looked to Charlie. Charlie leaned against the bar, fumbling with a large hoop earring in his ear. “Because, you see, Charlie here has an imprinted token of Adela’s.”
Vi’s hand went to her watch at the mention of an imprinted token. She knew what that was. It was what had started it all—it was the same as her watch. Though Vi had never seen one made, she knew they could be used to communicate over any distance.
“He’s not the only one.” Fallor’s grin grew wider, verging on the point of mad arrogance. “Each one of my crew has a token. If Charlie so much as thinks you’ll use one bit of magic, he’ll activate it. If he, or I, don’t return in due time, the rest of my crew will activate theirs.”
Each one of his words was like a hook to her flesh—digging in, pulling, peeling, exposing her. They had so quickly put together a plan… none of them had thought for one moment Fallor would have a better one to counter with.
“So, not one more word. Not one bit of fuss for my colleague here,” Fallor commanded as Charlie slowly collected his cards. “You’re going to come calmly onto my vessel, or your father dies. Do you understand?”
Vi bit the insides of her cheeks. She wanted to scream juth at him until her voice was hoarse. She wanted to burn the whole brewery down to ash, them inside. She wanted to sever head from spine with the blade of her scythe.
Maybe Fallor was lying. Maybe she could kill Charlie fast enough that he couldn’t get to Adela. But could she kill Fallor before he flew away? Could she, Taavin and Arwin take him down in the middle of Toris—a town where the majority of the population would stand for Fallor? And even if they could, how long until the pirates aboard Fallor’s ship would raise an alarm?
These were risks Vi couldn’t take—not with her father’s life on the line.
All she could do was nod.
“Good.” Fallor pushed away from the bar, starting for the back door. “Now, remember Vi, your father’s life depends on what you do next.”
More than you know. Because while Fallor had out-planned them, he had also overplayed his hand. Vi knew what she was dealing with. And most importantly, Fallor had just confirmed her father was alive. He was too valuable a bargaining chip for Adela to let him die without gaining something for it.
All Vi had to do now was get out of this.
Chapter Twenty
“Come on, pet.” Charlie grabbed her wrist and tugged. He was stronger than he looked, much stronger, and if Vi didn’t go along she risked having her shoulder popped from its socket.
The moment they were out of the bar he turned, starting for the port. Vi’s eyes scanned the crowd, searching for Taavin or Arwin, but she found neither. The sun was already setting, casting the world in a bloody glow.
“Let’s get to the boat before dark. They say pirates are in this town… we wouldn’t want anything happening to you, now would we?” Charlie gave a laugh at his own joke, carrying on for everyone to hear, knowing full well that even if someone knew what was happening, no one would dare stop one of Adela’s men. “The path is narrow. Don’t try anything funny or you may fall off.”
Charlie pushed her ahead along the narrow way that wound along the cliff-side just above the docks. Vi glanced back over her shoulder. Where were Taavin and Arwin? By now, they were supposed to be following her in some form or fashion, ready to strike against Fallor when the moment presented itself. But if they did so in a way his crew on the ship could see… her father would be dead. Unless Adela was playing games ab
out that, too.
Vi’s hands balled into fists, her nails leaving crescent moons in her palms. She hated this game of cat and mouse. She scanned the skies until she found a large bird soaring on the updrafts off the cliffs. She couldn’t make out its color, but Vi would bet it was ruddy. Fallor was flying high enough to stay in sight of the boat on the other side of the cliffs.
They had barely crested the top of the cliffs. Vi knew from Arwin’s reports that there was a switchback on the other side of the ridge, leading down to a narrow beach. There, a boat was anchored not too far off—a rowboat used to transport men to and from the beach. Vi scanned the plateau; she couldn’t see the vessel, which meant they couldn’t see her—she hoped.
Vi intentionally tripped herself.
She caught the toe of one boot on the heel of the other. Her hand raked against the rough wall for support, but she prevented her fingers from catching. Vi allowed herself to fall hard, knee splitting underneath her clothes.
“Get up.” The man took a wide step around her, hand on his earring. “Get up or—”
“I tripped.” Vi looked up at him, pushing herself onto her elbows. “I tripped, that’s all. I’m coming, I promise.” She leaned back onto her heels, rubbing her palms on her pants, trying to stall for every second she could. “Shite… I scraped my knee.” Vi made a show of inspecting the bloody spot on her clothes.
“I don’t give a rat’s arse about your knee. Get up or it’s your dear old father who’s getting his blood spilled.”
Vi put her palms on the ground, tucking her head and trying to sneak a look over her shoulder. Fallor was flying lower—no doubt coming to inspect the disruption. Vi took a slow breath.
“I said—”
Magic crackled through the air. Vi could almost hear on the wind the blessedly beautiful words of loft dorh leaving Taavin’s lips. There was a spark of light, and the eagle seized mid-air.
Vi turned back to Charlie. Fallor may have tried to throw a wrench in their plans, but those plans could still be salvaged. They just had to move very quickly and stay out of sight.
