“Can I help you, disciples?” She smiled up at us before she noticed Kegohr and frowned. “Is he a Wild?” she asked me.
“He’s my friend,” I said to avoid the question. I thrust the letter from Xilarion into her hand. “We are outer disciples of the Radiant Dragon Guild. We have a letter from our Guildmaster to Guildmaster Horix, to be delivered to Resplendent Tears personally.”
The soldier took the scroll and was only satisfied after she studied the official seal. I didn’t know if she had any way of verifying it was real, but it was the closest I had to a badge of authority.
“Hop aboard.” She gestured to the nearest boat. “I’ll take you to the island.”
The boat shifted as we climbed into it. Kegohr’s weight almost threatened to capsize the craft, but it evened itself out when the guard followed us into it. There were no sails or oars, and no one was coming to push us out into the water.
The soldier laid her hand on a well-worn carving of a seahorse at the back of the boat. . Sapphire-colored lines of magic shot like electricity down the edges of the boat. There was a crunch as the craft slid down the shingle and into the sea.
“Well, ain’t that something,” Kegohr breathed.
“Isn’t it?” the soldier agreed without looking at him.
We slid through the waves, driven by the same magic that had carried us down the beach. The waves parted before our prow and sent up a fine spray of salt water that cooled my skin. The speed of the craft blew loose strands of hair around my face.
We crossed the strait separating the guild island from the shore with remarkable swiftness. The rocky outcrop of the island towered over us while points of light reflected from the towers and danced like bright insects across our skin. Our sightseeing tour came to an end as we slid up to a quay at the base of the guild house. The soldier took her hand off the carving. The lines of blue energy faded from the timber of the boat, and we slowed to a stop. I exited the craft alongside Kegohr and Vesma.
“The main gates are at the far side of the docks,” she said. “Welcome to the Resplendent Tears, disciples.”
The boat turned at the guard’s direction without a further word and slid back through the waves toward the shore guardhouse.
Kegohr heaved a sigh from his massive chest. “I’m glad she’s gone.”
“They can’t all be that bad, Kegohr,” Vesma said. “Don’t worry.”
We strolled along the quay that had been built out of neatly carved blocks of the same stone that made up the crag above. The walls of the guild house towered hundreds of feet into the air above us. This close, I could see that the base was made of marble, but the upper tiers seemed to be made of ice. Despite the fact that such a building should have melted long ago. I recalled the pillar of undying flame in the Radiant Dragon Guild House and reminded myself that this world brimmed with magic. A tower of ice and marble on a sunny beach didn’t seem so strange after that.
An argument was taking place outside the massive gates of brass. On one side of the disagreement was a guy in his 20s with dark skin and some of the same fish-like features as the Wild bandits we’d met earlier, but the less-pronounced fish features, a blue tunic, and knee-length trousers of fine material marked him as a different breed than the princess’ attackers. A barbed spear hung from his back and caught the light of the sun as he moved.
The other figure was a woman with coffee-colored skin and long black hair tied back in seashell-decorated braids. It took me a second to recognize her as the clan princess we’d rescued earlier. The bikini-like top and long skirt of light fabric that split all the way up to her hips had thrown me off. I’d only ever seen her naked. A Wild mark on her back, framed by two butterfly daggers, made it that much easier to identify her.
I interrupted their mutual glare with a question. “Can I offer my help once again?”
Her eyes widened in surprise and recognition as she turned to face me.
“Much gratitude,” she said with a laugh, “But no. I regret that you didn’t wait a moment longer before springing to my rescue. I might’ve shown you mettle equal to your own. But I’m being impolite. I am Princess Kumi, daughter of King Beqai. This is my brother, Prince Labu.”
“A pleasure, your highness,” I said with a bow.
“You would do well,” Nydarth murmured in my mind, “to stop picturing the young fish naked.”
I fought off the desire and rapped my knuckles against the hilt of the Sundered Heart to silence the dragon spirit.
“No need for the ‘highness,’ part” the princess said. “Friends and rescuers call me Kumi.”
“And I’m Ethan,” I said. “This is Vesma and Kegohr.”
“Pleased to meet you two,” Kumi said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me…”
She raised a fist and hammered on one of the guild’s gates. The sound boomed around us, enhanced by the echo chamber of the gateway.
Kumi whirled on her brother. “You said you’d get me an audience, Labu!”
Labu folded his arms across his chest. “I told you, you’re wasting everyone’s time.”
A smaller gate opened from the base of the larger one, and a young man appeared. Carefully parted hair swept across his forehead as he leaned against the frame of the smaller gate. Brushed blue robes tumbled over thigh-high boots and a sheathed katana. One look at the guy’s boyish looks and flawless dress, and I knew that whoever he was, we weren’t destined for friendship. He was too clean, too neat, and everything in his posture screamed arrogance.
“What do you want?” the fancily dressed guild member demanded.
“It’s good to see you too, Cadrin,” Kumi said. “Your
