own. Besides, there was the matter of these artifacts Akstyr had sensed. Were they what the circus troupe had purchased? And had the Forge women been the ones to provide the funds and instruct them to do so? What if they were tools or weapons meant to aid Ravido?
“ Why are all these enforcers on board?” Books asked.
Amaranthe had thought he’d already have his face buried in his self-appointed work again, but he was listening, and he raised his brows when she met his gaze. “Good question,” she said. “The steamboat has its own security team.”
Basilard shrugged.
“ Because they’re always around to harass us,” Akstyr said. “We’re their special hobby.”
“ No, if they’d boarded because they suspected we were here,” Amaranthe said, “they would have searched the vessel the first day.”
“ We could be experiencing heightened security due to the potential for trouble in the capital,” Books said. “We saw that in Sunders City.”
“ Even allowing for that,” Amaranthe said, “wouldn’t the military have been tasked with accompanying a steamboat upriver? We’re passing in and out of several enforcer districts, and patrollers aren’t usually assigned work that involves encroaching on other districts’ territories.”
Basilard signed, Some sort of investigation?
Akstyr snapped his fingers. “Maybe they know about the artifacts.”
Amaranthe doubted enforcers would recognize magic if they saw it performed before their eyes, but perhaps someone had reported suspicious activity from the circus troupe, and a team had been assigned to trail them. “We better figure out exactly what these entertainers are hiding then. I’ll find Sicarius and Sespian, and we can split up and search. All of us.” If they could find what they sought that night, maybe they could steal the items, sneak ashore at the next port, and wait for Maldynado and Yara there. She didn’t like the idea of delaying the team’s return to Stumps-Forge and Ravido already had far too much of a lead in enacting their plans-but it couldn’t be helped. “Basilard, you were keeping an eye on those Forge women, right? Did you find any more of them?” As much as she preferred gentler means of dealing with people, maybe she should grab Sicarius and go to interview those ladies.
No, Basilard signed. And they’ve left their cabins.
“ Left? As in they’ve moved to other quarters or they snatched a lifeboat and floated away?”
Basilard shrugged. All I know is that the rooms were empty of people and belongings. I was checking around the ship, looking for familiar faces, when I ran into Maldynado’s fight.
“ All right,” Amaranthe said. “I might send you and Books to keep looking for them while Sicarius, Sespian, Akstyr, and I search for these artifacts.”
Books lifted a protesting hand. She scowled at him. He wasn’t going to object to helping with the search, was he? His new government-design avocation was fine when they had nothing else to do, but they needed everyone tonight.
“ What about Maldynado?” Books asked.
“ I guess you won’t have to worry about where he’s sleeping tonight.” The words came out snippier than Amaranthe intended, but she’d heard from Maldynado about how Books had accused him of colluding with his family and being untrustworthy. Even if Maldynado’s actions had been a tad suspicious at times-she’d been a little concerned herself for a while-he’d proven himself a dependable ally again and again and hadn’t deserved ongoing mistrust from the team. He’d even saved Books and Akstyr’s lives in some Forge trap.
“ They won’t have any money or supplies,” Books said, “and unless there are female trees in the forest, Maldynado won’t be able to charm those things out of the boughs.”
“ You’re actually worried about Maldynado?” Akstyr asked. “I thought you didn’t like him.”
Books blinked. “I don’t… dislike him. He’s just immature and grating.”
One wonders what colorful adjectives you have for people you do dislike, Basilard signed.
“ We’ll reconnect with them as soon as we can.” Amaranthe waved for Basilard and Akstyr to head outside. Before heading out herself, she told Books, “You should let Maldynado know about your… lack of dislike. You’ve been crusty with him of late, and I know it’s stung him.”
“ I’ve been crusty with everyone. I’m busy.” Books waved at the paper stacks.
Amaranthe raised her eyebrows, letting him know she didn’t accept the excuse.
Books’s arms drooped. “I need this, Amaranthe. I’m a washed up professor who can’t look at a bottle of wine without craving it. Even when I was working, I wasn’t… respected by my peers. Few of my papers passed review and made it into the archives. This…” He pointed at his documents again. “This is my chance to do something that matters. To contribute to the world. To…”
“ Earn a spot in the history books?” Amaranthe asked.
He hesitated, then nodded warily. As if he feared she’d think him foolish. How could she when she had similar delusions?
“ To shape humanity’s future,” Books said.
“ I understand, trust me, and it’s a noble pursuit. But I don’t believe you can improve humanity’s future by being so obsessed with your work that you ignore the human beings around you. You might want to make your peace with Maldynado before we enter Stumps. Given the odds we’ll be facing… I think it’s a good idea not to leave words left unsaid, things you might regret later.”
Books lifted a hand in defeat. “I heed your point. We will be going back for them, though, won’t we?”
“ We’ll see what tonight’s search reveals. The best we may be able to do is wait for them to catch up on their own.”
CHAPTER 6
On the middle deck, Amaranthe and Sicarius stood guard by an interior door while Akstyr crept through yet another cabin. Bunks stacked three high lined the two longest walls, and snoring figures occupied half of them. She doubted they’d find any signs of Science use in there, but she certainly couldn’t track magic on her own, so she had to follow Akstyr’s lead. After a few moments, he slipped back out into the narrow corridor, its lamps dimmed for the night, the tiny flames barely providing enough illumination for one to navigate the passageway. The evening’s dinner and show had long since completed, and only those people necessary to keep the boat traveling after dark remained awake.
“ It feels like we’re farther away on this deck,” Akstyr whispered.
“ The circus troupe is housed below,” Amaranthe said. “If they’re smuggling contraband into the empire, they’d probably keep it close so they can keep an eye on it.”
“ I already hunted all over that deck. I even pawed through people’s closets.”
Amaranthe tried to catch Sicarius’s gaze, but his thoughts seemed to be turned inward. Maybe he was worried about Sespian. He hadn’t been in his cabin when they’d gone to collect him for the search. After the news she’d given Sespian earlier in the day, Amaranthe also worried, but there weren’t many places he could go on a boat. He probably just needed private time to think.
She touched Sicarius’s arm. “Any ideas?” He knew more about the Science than anyone else on the team, save Akstyr. Actually, she wasn’t positive Akstyr truly knew more, despite all his studies.
“ Under the deck,” Sicarius said.
Amaranthe had long since grown accustomed to decrypting his terse statements and guessed, “You think there’s storage down there?”
“ Oh!” Akstyr blurted. “Maybe that’s why I couldn’t get to it.” He lowered his voice to mutter, “Knew my skill wasn’t the problem.”
“ The boat doesn’t have a deep draw,” Sicarius said. “It’d be a couple of feet at most.”
“ Enough room to house artifacts though, right?” Amaranthe asked. “If they’re not too big.”
“ There may be schematics in engineering,” Sicarius said.
“ Let’s go.” Akstyr bounced on his toes, then launched himself down the corridor. Not much enthused him, but artifacts surely did. He nearly crashed into a woman in ship’s whites entering the hatchway as he tried to
