Wind gusted down the river, ruffling his short hair. Enough of a moon peeped between the clouds to illuminate his face-and the cool stare he leveled at Amaranthe.
“ I heard your explosion,” he said, apparently assuming Amaranthe, rather than Evrial, had been responsible.
“ Good.” Again unfazed by the glare, Amaranthe gripped his arm. “We’re fortunate you decided to loiter up here.”
“ Stand purposefully,” he said.
“ Yes, that too.”
Shouts erupted from below-security breaching the cabin.
“Time to go,” Evrial said at the same moment as Amaranthe. Only as they crept across the roof toward a ladder, did she realize she’d adopted Amaranthe’s phrase. She wondered if she should be worried about that.
CHAPTER 3
Amaranthe perched on a stool in her cabin, perusing the stolen ledger and waiting for Yara to change and join the rest of the team. Basilard sat on the other stool, his burly arms folded across his chest as he leaned against the wall and watched her flip the pages from across the table-a hint of interest lighted his pale blue eyes, as if he hoped something more interesting than being incarcerated in his cabin might come up.
Akstyr and Books sat cross-legged on the bottom bunk, each engrossed in work of his own. Books had a stack of his own notes in his lap. A thick tome penned in a foreign language sprawled across Akstyr’s legs, and his freshly spiked hair-dyed orange this week-scraped against the frame of the upper bunk as he mouthed words and nodded to himself. Maldynado lounged above them, drumming his fingers on the thin mattress and watching the door. Either he’d suddenly found Sicarius interesting-he was standing guard just inside the entrance-or he was looking forward to seeing Yara again. Sespian was the only one who didn’t seem interested in anything. He leaned against the one free wall, his hands in his pockets, his chin drooped to his chest. Now and then, he glanced at Amaranthe through pale brown bangs in need of a trim. She’d been leaving him alone since their chat in the boathouse the week before, but perhaps that had been a mistake. He looked… lonely. And lost.
Sicarius opened the door, checked outside, and closed it without comment. That was the third time he’d done so.
“ More security about?” Amaranthe guessed.
“ Yes.”
“ Searching rooms?”
“ Not yet.”
“ Why would they be searching rooms?” Maldynado asked.
“ There might have been a small explosion in a cabin on the upper deck.” Amaranthe had been waiting for everyone to arrive before explaining everything, but Yara already knew of the events, so she decided to go ahead with the story.
“ We should eliminate the Forge people rather than letting them return to the city,” Sicarius said.
Amaranthe and Sespian scowled at him at the same time.
“ Eliminate as in kill?” Sespian asked.
“ Or otherwise incapacitate them so they cannot return to the city to assist their brethren,” Sicarius said.
“ Or,” Maldynado said, “we could stay in our cabins, enjoy the rest of our trip, and wait until we get to Stumps to deal with Forge. Why pick fights before it’s necessary?”
Amaranthe feared that option might already be unavailable. The idea of hiding out didn’t appeal anyway, not if there was a chance to whittle down the enemy forces before they could all band together in the capital. Of course, she had no interest in Sicarius’s method of eliminating people. And she wanted to know what Someone knocked on the door, interrupting her thoughts.
After checking outside again, Sicarius let Yara in. She’d changed out of the maid uniform and back into unassuming brown trousers and a gray sweater.
“ There’s my lady.” Maldynado shifted his position to open up a spot for her and patted the bunk. His new position involved dangling his legs over the edge and into the face of the person sitting below him-Books. “I saved you a seat. You decided to eschew the maid’s uniform, eh? Probably just as well. Those uniforms are dreadfully monochromatic and the cut is all wrong for accenting… things that should be accented.”
“ What she’s wearing now doesn’t accent much either,” Akstyr muttered without lifting his gaze from his book.
Amaranthe thought about chastising him, but Yara climbed onto the top bunk, not-so-accidentally kicking him in the shoulder on her way up, and that seemed a more appropriate response. Yara had, Amaranthe recalled, been raised with a bunch of brothers.
Though Maldynado couldn’t have seen her foot strike, he must have heard Akstyr’s protesting grunt, for he smiled and winked. Yara glanced at Amaranthe, then offered a return wink. Huh. Maybe Amaranthe’s earlier words had made an impression.
Maldynado seemed to appreciate the small gesture for his smile widened, and he leaned against the wall, hands locking behind his head.
“ Did I miss anything?” Yara asked.
“ Oh, the usual,” Maldynado said. “The boss is trying to figure out the next step, Sicarius wants to go kill all the Forge people so we don’t have to worry about them anymore, and nobody’s listening to my suggestion that we simply stay in our rooms and out of trouble until we arrive in Stumps.”
“ Surprisingly prudent advice,” Books murmured. “Given the source.”
Maldynado let his legs swing back and forth a few times.
“ Ouch, watch what you’re doing, you odious troglodyte.”
Maldynado gave Yara another wink. “Books was obviously an only child. If he’d had any brothers, he would have learned that it’s never wise for the person on the bottom bunk to be lippy to the person on the top bunk.”
“ Let’s get back to our discussion, shall we?” Amaranthe asked.
Basilard waved his fingers for attention, then signed, Perhaps instead of killing the Forge women, we should throw them overboard. That would delay their return to the capital and give us time to arrive first.
“ That’s a possibility, but I’m wondering if there’s something more going on here than four Forge refugees finding passage home.” Amaranthe tapped the pages of the open book. “The Traveling Ice Show and Circus made a pricy purchase, one simply labeled as equipment and supplies, at Arstor Island in the Gulf before boarding the River Dancer.”
Akstyr straightened, clunking his head on the bunk above him. “Arstor Island? That’s known to be, uhm, in certain circles, the closest place to the empire where one can acquire artifacts, constructs, and various components that are of interest to… certain persons.”
Yara leaned closer to Maldynado. “He just said they sell magic stuff, right?”
“ Yup. One can’t be too careful with one’s phrasing of such things when one’s in the empire, you know. I’m surprised you’re open to the idea that magic exists.”
“ It’s called the Science,” Akstyr groused from below.
“ I’ve seen too many strange things in the last couple of weeks to doubt its existence,” Yara said.
“ The Traveling Ice Show and Circus does entertain in Kendor and on some of the Gulf islands at the southern end of their circuit,” Amaranthe said, “but they’re originally from the empire and wouldn’t incorporate magic-” she glanced at Akstyr, “-the Science into their acts, not when they spend eight months a year in Turgonia. At least I wouldn’t think so.”
“ You’re quite correct,” Books said. “In fact, there was a thorough investigation done of the outfit several years ago. I remember reading the newspaper accounting-and scoffing at the notion that magic existed. It was proved, at least in the minds of the investigating enforcers and journalists, that all of the troupe’s acrobatic feats were acts of mundane skill and that they used nothing more than black-powder fireworks to enhance their shows. It’s possible they simply stopped on Arstor Island for a performance.”
