“These can be used for communication?”
“Yes.” Amree frowned. “I don’t understand all the spell-weaving that’s been done to it, that’s beyond my limited means, but I’ve been able to ferret out some of its secrets.”
“That’s more than we’ve been able to do.” Shang-Li closed his hand over the stone. “So the other stone can’t track us?”
“Not until it’s in the water.”
“Thank you.” Shang-Li dropped the stone and ground it to dust beneath the heel of his boot. “That was foolish.” He looked at her. “Why?”
“That stone was worth a small fortune to a mage interested in that kind of spellcraft.”
“I’m not interested in fortunes, or in the possibility of the Blue Lady somehow tracking us.” Shang-Li scuffed away the blue powder left of the stone.
“Thava says you’re a monk.”
“I was raised at a Shou temple by my father. My mother was an elf. I was also trained in the ways of the forest as a ranger.”
“Yet you’re determined to try to die at sea. That seems awfully strange.”
Shang-Li didn’t know what to say about that. “Well, Master Shang-Li”
“I’m no master,” Shang-Li quickly interrupted. The last thing he needed was for his father to hear that mistake uttered. “I am just Shang-Li.”
Amree nodded. “You are certainly an interesting individual.”
“Thank you.”
“I have to admit, when you told me what you wanted to do, I thought you were an idiot. But Thava vouched for you. For whatever reason, she considers you one of her best friends.”
“Yes. As is Iados.”
“So, I’ll accept you’re not an idiot. But are you prepared? Have you ever heard of why the Blue Lady is there at the bottom of the Sea of Fallen Stars?”
“No. I’d never heard of her until a few days ago. The stories aren’t written down anywhere I’ve seen.”
Amree smiled, and Shang-Li liked the expression. During the last three days she’d been alternately stern and pensive. She had been robbed of her assets and her reputation by the Nine Golden Swords. Recovering from that was going to be hard, forgetting about it was surely impossible.
“They tell them often around here. My favorite story is that she was a jilted lover who threw herself from a cliff,” the ship’s mage said. “When she died, she became an undead thing that was drawn to the hearts of ships’ captains that cheated on their lovers.” She smiled again. “There’s nothing like mixing a little romance in with tales of death to make them more palatable.”
Shang-Li grimaced. “I fail to see the enjoyment in a tale like that.”
Her smile vanished. “You would. You’re a man.”
“The Blue Lady has destroyed several ships over the years,” Shang-Li pointed out. “Not all of her victims could have been guilty of cheating on their lovers.”
Amree frowned. “You don’t know much about sailors, do you?”
Shang-Li was still trying to find a way to answer that when she walked away.
“You’re distracted.”
Walking through the shadows of the alley, Shang-Li glanced at his companion. Iados wore a dark cloak that only blunted recognition of his heritage.
“Why do you say that?” Shang-Li asked.
“You haven’t said anything about us being tailed?”
“By the two Nine Golden Swords behind us?” Shang-Li frowned and shook his head. “I figured even you had noticed them.”
“Even me?” Iados heaved a sigh. “Never mind. Thava asked me to talk to you about another matter.”
“What?”
“The ship’s mage.” “What about her?”
“Thava has noticed that Amree is very pretty.” Shang-Li had too. “So?”
“So Thava was wondering if you had noticed.”
Sighing, Shang-Li shook his head. “Please don’t tell me she’s matchmaking again.”
“Perhaps a little.” Iados held his thumb and forefinger an inch apart. “It is a predilection with her.”
“It’s irritating, is what it is.”
“One of her little joys.”
Shang-Li looked at him. “Do you remember the last time Thava tried matchmaking?”
Iados scratched his chin, then frowned. “Ah, the were-thing.”
Thing was as close as they’d come to identifying the horrible creature. They’d gone on an excavation in Chessenta looking for a cursed tomb. “You got us hunting that tomb,” Shang-Li said. “And Thava invited the were- thing along.”
“You have to admit, the were-thing made a very beautiful woman.”
“And a murderous… thing'
Iados nodded and touched a scar along his neck. “True.”
“I don’t know which of you came closer to getting me killed on that little venture.”
Iados clapped him good-naturedly on the back and grinned. “Well, now you have your chance to pay us both back. Aren’t you happy?”
Shang-Li growled in displeasure.
Thankfully the shop they were looking for was only a short distance ahead and Shang-Li didn’t have to continue the argument. That didn’t, however, prevent him from continuing to think about Amree. He was disappointed in himself, but he couldn’t help thinking Thava would have been quietly pleased.
“These potions will get you to the bottom of the Sea of Fallen Stars,” Vahgren said. “And they will allow you to move freely while you’re at that depth.”
Shang-Li surveyed the slotted crate that held the magical elixirs. The fluid inside the slender glass vials burned bright sapphire and felt cool to the touch even through the glass.
Vahgren was a gnarled old man with fingers so thin they looked like talons. His skin was permanently stained by different magical ingredients and scarred by acids and other toxic materials. His gray hair stuck out in wild disarray around his prominent nose and gave him the look of a crazed person. But Shang-Li knew of no one better when it came to making magical potions.
Despite the piles, boxes, and sacks of ingredients that filled the shelves, no burglar had ever managed to successfully penetrate the shop and steal anything. Vahgren’s magical wards kept the security tight and were equipped with foul means of death that were legendary.
Tm glad to hear that,” Shang-Li said.
“Bah,” Vahgren said. “I’m ashamed that I even had to tell you that. But you were looking doubtful.”
“I wasn’t looking doubtful.”
“He’s distracted,” Iados explained.
Vahgren’s bushy eyebrows shot up as he regarded the tiefling. “Really?”
“A young woman.”
Vahgren looked back at Shang-Li, who felt his face grow hot. He should have known Iados would make sport of Thava’s machinations.
“A young woman?” the alchemist asked.
“How much for the potions?” Shang-Li asked, ignoring the conversation.
“Oh, they’re very expensive. You should know that.”
Shang-Li did.
“So,” Vahgren said to Iados, “is this infatuation new? Or is it something that’s been brewing?” “New. They only just met.”
Vahgren nodded. “Ah. New love. The kind that makes men stupid and women forget about caution. A very dangerous state of mind. You know, that kind of attraction is impossible to brew. I know, because I’ve tried for any
