by Mel Odom
“I intended no disrespect.” Feeling suddenly foolish, Shang-Li sheathed his sword. “Then we have a deal?”
“No, we don’t have a deal,” the woman replied. “If you came here thinking I was cursed, and you were determined to attempt to hire me anyway, I have to wonder what you’re planning to do. Do you think I’m foolish enough to just go with someone that desperate?”
Iados chuckled and drew the ire of them both. “Oh,” the tiefling said politely, “excuse me. Something in my throat. Do carry on. I find this whole discussion fascinating. But you may have to cut it a little short.”
“Why?” the woman demanded.
“It appears our victory here hasn’t gone unnoticed.” Iados pointed out into the street where more Shou wearing the tattoos of the Nine Golden Swords had started to gather. “Maybe we should consider escaping, then working out the details.”
Sword in hand, Shang-Li led the way down the stairs. As they reached the first floor, the Nine Golden Swords warriors arrived in force. He leaped from the stairs and hurled himself into their midst, taking several of them to the ground with him. As he rose, he reached out and tripped others into each other, adding to the confusion.
The old woman at the desk fled.
Thava shouted her battle cry and heaved herself over the railing as well. She surged past Shang-Li with her arms outspread, knocking several of the Nine Golden Swords warriors from him and tearing through the front window of the inn in a shower of glass and wooden lattice work.
The ship’s mage joined Shang-Li and looked up at him with golden eyes that complemented her copper colored tresses. “Well, I have to say you and your friends know how to fight. We’ll have to talk more about this ship of yours.”
Shang-Li admired how she kept her calm in the face of so much danger. It made her even more attractive than her looks did. Together, they walked out of the inn, trailed by Iados and Kwan Yung. Then she turned and faced another group of Nine Golden Swords coming down the street. She gestured and spoke, then the patch of ground beneath the running warriors’ feet turned to ice. They slipped and fell, tangling themselves.
“Westgate is filled with these idiots these days,” the mage said.
“I know.” Shang-Li knocked aside a thrown spear, then blocked a sword before skewering the warrior wielding it. “And they tend to run long on memory for enemies.”
She drew back her hand and threw a small pellet at another group. As soon as it struck, the pellet transformed into a cloud of gray mist that coated the Nine Golden Swords warriors with frost.
A pair of Nine Golden Swords archers unleashed arrows at them from nearby rooftops. Shang-Li knew he could deflect at least one of them, but the other might strike the mage. He stepped in front of her, hoping to offer her the safety of his leather armor. Instead, she shoved him away and held up a hand.
Instantly, a glowing patch formed in the air in front of them. The arrows thumped into the patch and shattered. Then the mage pointed at the archers and semi-visible arrows shot from her hand to strike both of the Nine Golden Archers warriors, knocking them backward.
“When did you say your ship is leaving?” the mage asked as they continued hurrying down the street.
“As soon as I’ve secured a ship’s mage and squared away the ship.”
“Sounds good.” She offered her hand. “I’m Amree. Contrary to the popular opinion of Westgate these days, I’m an excellent ship’s mage.”
Looking at the carnage that lay behind them, Shang-Li nodded and gave her his name. “If you’re as good on a ship as you are in a fight, I’d say you were a fine ship’s mage.”
Amree smiled at him. “And I’m an even better ship’s mage than I am at fighting.”
“Where we’re going, you’ll probably have to be both.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
I thought the Blue Lady was a myth.”
Shang-Li paced at Amree’s side. Clad in close-fitting pants that allowed her to climb unimpeded, she had inspected all the ship’s rigging while she’d worked her spells to strengthen wood, canvas, and rope.
She wore roll-top boots of expensive leather—Shang-Li knew that because the boots were one of her initial demands—a bright green sleeveless shirt, and carried a dagger sheathed at her side. Copper bands with warding sigils wrapped her upper arms. A pouch with her tools and supplies hung across her shoulders.
“She isn’t,” Shang-Li said. “I’ve seen her and talked to her.”
“And she has the ship you’re looking for?”
“It’s down there where she is. I wouldn’t say she’s laid claim to it. There are a great number of ships.” And many other things, he almost added before he stopped himself.
Amree trailed a hand along the ship’s railing. Shang-Li knew she paid attention to him, but most of her senses were involved in divining any weakness Swallow might yet have. She had kept the ship’s crew busy for the last three days going over things they thought they’d already done.
Still, none of the crew griped too much about the extra work because all of them knew their lives depended on the ship. She was more demanding than Gorrick, the old ship’s mage, had been. But she didn’t hesitate to help do the manual labor, often joining in with some of the worst of it.
Amree glanced at him and drew the blue stone and necklace Shang-Li had taken from the kuo-toa monitor from a bag at her waist. “I’ve also managed to work out what this is.” She laid it in his palm. “It’s a speaking stone. Powerful spellcraft. It allows the wearer to speak to whomever has a like stone. But this one only works when it’s in the same body of water as the other stone or stones.”
“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 hersel
f 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.
“I’m 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 number of years. Always failed. But if I ever get it right, I could be a rich man and retire.”
“You’re already rich,” Iados said. “And you’ll never retire because you like pedaling your little potions.”
“Not so little.” Vahgren pointed to the sapphire liquid in the glass vials. “Without me, you couldn’t venture to the bottom of the Sea of Fallen Stars.”
“It wouldn’t be as easy.”
“Bah. You couldn’t get there any other way.” Vahgren waved the thought away as he might a bothersome fly. “I’m more interested in this new love. That can be the most dangerous of magic.”
“Could I please just have the potions?” Shang-Li asked.
“Of course.” Vahgren bent to tally the figures.
Shang-Li turned to vent his ire on Iados over the whole conversation about Amree, but the tiefling had turned and wandered off.
Despite Amree’s displeasure, Swallow set sail from Westgate while storm clouds darkened the sky and hid the moon. The canvas sails stood full-bellied in the wind and hardly stood out against the black sky because they were so stained.
Shang-Li stood in the prow and felt Swallow rise from the ocean slightly as she gathered speed and crashed through the outgoing tide. A little farther forward, Amree hung onto one of the ratlines and eyed the sails. The glow of the lanterns hung as running lights poured molten gold over her face.
“She is quite beautiful, isn’t she?” Thava asked.
Glaring up at the dragonborn paladin, Shang-Li said, “You have managed to incite Iados.”
“About what?” Thava’s voice was all innocence. Shang-Li crossed his arms and refused to answer.
“Oh,” Thava said, “that.” She smiled, and anyone that didn’t know her would have been terrified by the expression. “It’s not my fault you’re attracted to her.”
As Shang-Li watched, Amree moved lithely along the ratlines and called out orders to the crew. At her commands, they adjusted the sails. Within a short time, Swallow ran more smoothly as she headed out into the open sea. Her gait steadied and she gained more speed.
“Shang-Li,” Iados bellowed from the stern. The tiefling waved for attention.
Quickly, thankful to escape Thava’s well-intentioned attention, Shang-Li abandoned the prow, crossed the midships, and climbed the sterncastle.
Iados pointed to their wake, which gleamed whitely in the darkness and stood in rows like a freshly-turned field. Shang-Li stared into the darkness. In the far distance, the lights of Westgate and Tidetown gleamed whenever Swallow rode the crest of a wave. At first Shang-Li saw nothing that could have raised Iados’s interest.
Then he spotted the small flurry of weak flames glimmering against the dark water. They were roped or contained at equal distances.
“A ship?” Shang-Li asked.
Iados nodded. “I believe so.”
Shang-Li took
a deep breath of the salt air and turned the possibilities over in his mind. None of them were pleasant.
“You think it’s following us?” Shang-Li asked.
Iados shrugged. “It’s possible that there was another ship that wanted to get an early jump on the tide. But this is much too soon for fishermen, and cargo captains like to make the night last as long as they can.”
“For the moment, let’s keep this among ourselves.”
“The captain and the ship’s mage need to know.”
“I’ll tell them.” He studied the ship. “Who would follow us out of Westgate?”
“There’s only one group I know that could do that on such short notice,” Iados said. “The Nine Golden Swords might want revenge on you or the ship’s mage, or perhaps both. Or for plunder. Lots of reasons to get out of Westgate so quickly.”
“They might not know what we’re after.”
“No, but you’ve got a ship as well as a cargo of supplies. And they know you often seek out lost treasures. Either might be enough.” Iados smiled cruelly. “All of that together makes us an attractive target.”
Shang-Li silently agreed.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Four days out of Westgate, the mysterious ship showed up again. The wind had favored them and Swallow had taken advantage of it. Despite the provisions, she’d been lightly loaded and skimmed across the ocean surface. After the second day, Shang-Li had grown confident they’d outdistanced the other ship.
Now, it was back.
“Are you sure it’s the same ship?” his father asked.
“Yes.” Shang-Li peered through a telescoping spyglass. “She’s the same design, a cog.”
“There are many such ships. Telling one from another must be very hard.”
“Not if you have a trained eye, Master Kwan,” Amree called down from above. She sat on a yard beside Moonwhisper and fed the owl bits of meat from her hand.