The man wore a dove-gray coat with long tails and upturned cuffs. His voice carried, like Singe's, the accent of Aundair. His hair was long and drawn back, exposing the graceful tapering points of his ears and a bright, swirling pattern that spread up the back of his neck. The man was a half-elf-and carried a dragonmark. Geth took a second look at his coat. The man's smile grew a little wider. 'Looking for these, my shifter friend?' He held up his cuff so that bright silver buttons flashed in the sunlight. Barely visible on each one was the kraken crest of House Lyrandar.
Singe slipped down from his horse and stepped up to offer the half-elf his hand. 'A common sailor doesn't check manifests, the average clerk in my experience doesn't dress so well, and neither generally carries a dragonmark. I'll make a guess that you're the captain of this fine ship.'
The half-elf took Singe's hand in hearty grip. 'Captain Vennet d'Lyrandar, friend.' Bright eyes flashed at each of them. 'And in my experience, the average traveler doesn't stand on piers gawking at ships for the fun of it.' He glanced back to Singe. 'Looking for passage?'
'Yes,' said Geth. He climbed down and joined Singe. The Aundairian shot him a dark look, but Geth ignored him. Crossing his arms over his chest, he told Vennet, 'We need passage to Zarash'ak.'
'My own destination! Five days to the City of Stilts.' Vennet swept his hand grandly across the length of his ship. 'As I say, fastest ship west of Sharn. And loaded to the rails-but you're lucky. My passenger cabins are full, but if you don't mind staking out a corner of the forward hold, there's room for the three of you.' His eyes traveled over their horses. 'No room for the beasts, unfortunately, but I can recommend an honest stable master who would be happy to buy them from you.'
Geth grunted. He gave the smiling captain his hardest bartering look. 'He'd better be honest. Those animals are the price of our passage.'
Singe let out a quiet groan. Vennet's smile didn't even waver. 'They must be very special horses, then,' he said. 'Passage to Zarash'ak is one thousand gold.'
Blood rushed to Geth's face. 'One thousand-!'
'It's a long way to Zarash'ak.'
Geth took a step forward, but Singe grabbed him sharply, spinning him around and pulling him away from Vennet. 'Close your mouth before you make this worse!' he hissed.
Dandra was off her horse as well now and at their side. 'That's more than these horses are worth, isn't it?' she whispered. Geth gave an angry nod. 'Light of il-Yannah.' She looked down the length of the pier at the other ships they had passed. 'None of these look like they'll be leaving soon. And the longer we wait, the better the chance the Bonetree hunters will catch up to us!'
Singe's lips twitched. 'Leave this to me.' He turned back to Vennet. 'Captain, we're happy to pay appropriately for the speed and convenience of an elemental galleon,' he said pleasantly, 'but you are asking us to travel as freight. Perhaps a reduced rate?'
'Freight doesn't get up and move around the ship. It doesn't eat.'
'Empty space is even less trouble than freight,' Singe commented with a smile. 'But it's a shame to see a ship sail without a full hold.'
Vennet shrugged. 'Room to pick something up along the way.'
'Where?' asked Singe. 'There isn't another port bigger than a fishing village between here and Zarash'ak.' He ran a hand along the top of one of the piled barrels and said, 'Five hundred.' Vennet's eyebrows rose.
'You'd pay five hundred for deck space on any one of these tubs!' he snapped, jerking his head along the pier. 'And you'd take two weeks to make the trip, eating salt pork the whole way.'
'House Lyrandar eats better?'
'Take passage on Lightning and you'll eat at my table!' spat Vennet
'Six hundred.'
'Eight hundred.'
'Done.' Singe stuck out his hand. Vennet clasped it heartily. Geth flinched. 'Singe, we can't pay that!'
'No, we couldn't pay a thousand. For passage from Yrlag to Zarash'ak on a Lyrandar elemental galleon, eight hundred is a bargain.' He nodded to Vennet. 'Especially with dinner at the captain's table thrown in.'
The half-elf's eyes narrowed. 'You're shrewd, friend.'
'I did a turn as quartermaster for a Blademarks company.' As Vennet's eyes widened again in surprise, Singe opened his vest and slid his fingers into an almost invisible pocket. They emerged with a flat case no larger than his hand. He flipped it open and extracted a folded paper. 'We'll pay you the price that our horses fetch up front and any remainder from that when we reach Zarash'ak.'
Vennet stared at the paper. Geth craned his neck to see what it was. He caught a glimpse of the crest of the Blademarks-over-lapped with the crest of the dwarven bankers of House Kundarak. A complex mark of authentication shimmered in magical colors at the bottom of the paper. Geth's eyes went almost as wide as Vennet's. The paper was a Deneith letter of credit, allowing the bearer to draw on the resources of the great house. Generally such things were given to Blademarks recruiters to allow them to draw pay for new recruits. By using it to buy even a portion of the cost of transport on a Lyrandar galleon, Singe would be risking the ire of the lords of Deneith.
Then again, he realized, the wizard probably had enough to explain to the lords of Deneith already.
Singe gave Vennet a level look over top of the letter. 'I presume there's a Kundarak bank in Zarash'ak.'
The captain nodded, barely glancing up from the document. 'Storm at dawn, a small one, but big enough for this. You should have said you were in the employ of another House!'
'You would have charged me more.'
'True enough.' Vennet looked up again. 'Do you have identification proving you're authorized to use this?'
Singe flipped the flat case around and passed it to Vennet. There were stiff papers clipped to the inside of it. Geth watch the captain study the writing on them-and saw his eyes widen slightly once again. He handed the letter and the case back to Singe. 'That's in order, then.' He gave the wizard a glance of curiosity. 'Etan Bayard. There's a family named Bayard with large vineyard estates near Fairhaven-'
'No relation,' said Singe briskly as he returned letter to case and tucked both away securely. 'Call me Singe.'
He gestured to Geth and Dandra, introducing them as well. If Vennet was surprised by either the shifter or the exotic kalashtar, he gave no indication of it. 'You'd best see to selling those horses,' he told them. 'We're almost loaded. The Grithic is a tidal river-we'll sail for the ocean as soon as the tide is full. There's a woman named Kirla who runs a stable on Madder Street. Mention my name and she won't cheat you too badly.'
Singe kept aside a portion of coin from the sale of the horses and they made hasty visits to several shops for supplies, gear, and clean clothes to supplement what little they had ridden away with from Bull Hollow. They made it back to Lightning on Water with only a little time to spare. Vennet was pacing the deck and looking annoyed.
'Took your time, didn't you?' he said, looking at the small packs that each of them now carried.
Geth growled and tossed a heavy pouch filled with trade strips at him. Vennet's smile returned quickly enough as he weighed it in his hand, then gestured to a hatch near the bow of the ship. 'Stow your gear. You can join the other passengers on deck or stay below when we take speed-it's your choice.' His smile rose a little. 'Welcome aboard.'
He turned away, calling orders out to the ship's crew. The gangplank that Geth, Singe, and Dandra had just climbed was pulled up; massive ropes were loosened from the pier and drawn aboard. The ship lurched, caught by the river's current, as the three made their way forward. Geth stumbled and growled.
Singe raised an eyebrow. 'Something wrong?'
'No,' Geth spat, steadying himself.
'It's occurred to me,' commented the wizard, 'that I don't think I've ever seen a shifter on a ship before.'
'I only need to get used to it.' Geth staggered slightly, arms out and legs flexing to maintain his balance. Over the rail, Yrlag began to slip away as Lightning moved out into the river, escorted by smaller boats. 'What did Vennet mean by 'taking speed?''
'You've never been on an elemental galleon before?' asked Singe.
'I hadn't even seen one before today!'
