by T. A. White
Their destination, the Crow’s Nest, was a little two story inn near the harbor that Jost and his crew liked to frequent when they were in town. Tate looked up at the inn’s sign, noting that the o and the t were still missing. She was glad to see some things hadn’t changed.
“We going in here?” Dewdrop asked.
He didn’t look too impressed with the place. Tate was surprised, given he’d probably stayed in much worse places during his years as a pickpocket. The place wasn’t that bad. She looked at it again. Well, as long as you ignored the stains on the wall and the sound of glass breaking inside.
“It’s not that bad. When I stayed here last time, the food was good and the mattresses had no fleas.”
“How reassuring.”
She stepped inside, ignoring the sarcastic comment. Her eyes took a moment to adjust from the bright afternoon sun to the interior. The inn, in addition to accepting lodgers, also served a mean Flaming Lips drink, which Tate knew from experience could knock a man on his ass.
She looked around, ignoring the patrons at the bar and focusing on the tables. Jost wouldn’t sit at the bar when there was business to be conducted. Too easy to be overheard. With the endeavors he typically engaged in, it was never good to spread your business to prying ears.
Many of the tables around the perimeter of the room were not immediately visible from the doorway. Tate moved deeper into the room, scanning the darkened corners.
Jost and Danny waited at a table in the back, one that had a familiar blue flower on it signifying it was a table with a sound barrier around it.
Jost was a tall man, tanned a deep brown by the sun. His brown eyes were sharp in a face that had a roguish handsomeness. It was the kind of face that could tempt someone for a walk on the wild side—charismatic and commanding, with just a hint of that thing mothers have been warning their daughters against since the dawn of time. He was older, mid-forties, but that just seemed to add to his charm.
He gave her a nod, indicating she should join him.
She paused and looked at Dewdrop.
“I’m not waiting here,” he told her.
So stubborn. She couldn’t bring herself to be too mad. It would be nice to go into this with someone who had her back. She trusted Jost, but she knew where his true loyalty lay. If the chips were down, he’d pick the empire over her.
“Fine, but let me do the talking.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to insult the Marauder’s captain. He’s friends with the Luciuses. I’ve heard plenty of stories about what he does to people.”
He might have heard the stories, but Tate had seen him in action.
Night flicked one ear as if in agreement.
Guess that settled it. They were all going to attend this meeting.
The two followed her as she headed for the table.
“Jost.”
“Tate.” Jost seemed amused by her one word greeting.
“I hear we’re going to be working together again.”
“Are you going to be able to handle that?” he asked.
“Why wouldn’t I?” she asked. “You don’t have any further orders to spy on me or throw me to the wolves, do you?”
Danny grimaced, remembering the conditions under which Tate had departed the crew. She was glad to see he had some regret.
She’d counted Danny as a friend before she’d jumped ship. He was a large man, packed with muscles, who towered over Tate when standing. His shaggy black hair and thick beard over a square jaw hid someone Tate had always viewed as a gentle giant. She still thought of him that way, but she was beginning to suspect he could be just as dangerous as Jost. He’d have to be to survive in the crew as long as he had.
“Not at this time.”
Which was to say that if he got another set of orders to that affect, he would follow them. Good to know. Tate appreciated the warning.
“Then there’s no problem.”
She dropped into a seat across from Jost. Dewdrop settled in at her side and Night collapsed in a heap at their feet.
The background noise from the room dropped to a muted roar, the sound dampener doing its job. Dewdrop raised his eyebrows at the change but didn’t comment. He wore his serious expression, the one that said thoughts were moving behind that young face. The kind of thoughts that belonged on a much more jaded, older version of himself.
“Ryu didn’t give me a lot of details. He said you’d fill us in when we got here.”
Jost gave her an amused look and arched an eyebrow at Dewdrop and Night. “Us? I don’t recall there being an us.”
“There is now,” Dewdrop said.
Jost gave him an assessing look, cataloging everything at a glance. He kept whatever thoughts he had to himself and shot Tate a look.
She nodded. Things had changed. She wasn’t the homeless stray he’d picked up in the Northern Reaches. She had friends now.
Her stomach rumbled loud enough to be heard from the table next to them before she could say anything else. She put a hand to her stomach and grimaced. That wasn’t embarrassing or anything.
Night flicked an ear and lifted his head to give her a slow blink of his eyes. Dewdrop dropped his head and grinned down at his feet.
“Guess some things don’t change,” Jost said before turning and waving a waitress over.
“I haven’t eaten since breakfast,” Tate told Danny when he raised both eyebrows at her.
It was now well past the midday meal. It was a little early for dinner, but Tate didn’t think her stomach would be quiet long enough for them to talk if she didn’t put something in it to shut it up.
The waitress appeared and gave the group a sweet smile. Tate hadn’t seen this one before. She was younger, looking to be eighteen or nineteen, with apple cheeks and brown hair tied back in a braid.
“Can I get you anything?”
“Does the cook have anything good today?” Dewdrop asked.
“His mutton roll was pretty tasty this morning. He also has a fish stew that he’s been simmering all day for the dinner crowd,” she told him.
“I’ll take the fish stew and a mutton roll,” Dewdrop said.
“I’ll take the roll and whatever they’re drinking,” Tate said.
“Same for me,” Dewdrop added.
“Make his a water,” Jost inserted.
Dewdrop’s head spun towards him, insult obvious on his face. “The water tastes like piss down here. I’m plenty old enough to be drinking.”
Jost gave him a level look, not impressed by his words.
Dewdrop shot her an outraged look. Tate shrugged at him, not wanting to fight Jost on this. He had weird rules, like not letting those he viewed as being too young drink. Dewdrop, with his young-looking face and short height, fell into that category.
Dewdrop crossed his arms and sat back as he fumed.
Not wanting her friend to get into trouble with his big mouth, Tate nodded at the waitress.
Night lifted his head and gave her a feline look.
“We’ll take a bowl of milk too,” Tate called after the departing woman.
Danny’s eyes dropped to the table hiding Night. Tate had a feeling that if this hadn’t been a business meeting he might have ducked under the table to get a better look at her companion.
“The company you keep has certainly gotten a lot more interesting since you left the ship,” Danny said with a friendly smile.
“It’s certainly better than keeping company with a bunch of pirates,” Dewdrop said.
Tate kicked him under the table and shook her head at him. If this was how he planned to behave for the rest of the meeting, she would have been better off leaving him behind.
He gave her a defiant look that changed to an apology at the set expression on her face.
“Aren’t you one of Lucius’s boys?” Jost asked with a considering look at Dewdrop.
“Used to be.” Dewdrop’s voice was slightly less antagonistic than before.
Jost arched one eyebr
ow. “You made enough to buy your way out of his crew?”
What’s this? Now it was Tate’s turn to have her eyebrow’s rise. She wanted to turn to Dewdrop and shoot a dozen questions at him. The way his shoulders rounded and he avoided looking at her told her there was more to this than an idle question from Jost.
If she was going to have Lucius coming after her because she’d absconded with one of his thieves, she would like to know before she woke up to men standing over her with knives.
But this wasn’t the place for this discussion. That could wait until they were away from prying eyes. Maybe somewhere behind locked doors where voices could be raised.
“Are we here to talk about Dewdrop’s past?” Tate asked in a bored voice. “If so, I think I’ll have to take my roll to go. I’ve got a busy schedule and all that. Places to be and people to see. You understand.”
Jost’s eyes flicked to her. He was not amused by her flippant tone. Danny hid a smile.
This meeting was not getting off to the best start. It did not say good things about the rest of this job.
“You’ve changed,” Jost observed.
“That tends to happen as time passes and people live through new experiences.”
It didn’t hurt that she was no longer on his ship and required to follow orders or show a modicum of respect. Jost wasn’t a bad captain. He was actually a good one—capable of inspiring a fierce loyalty in the men he commanded.
Tate admired him. She had no doubt she’d either be a savage existing moment to moment or dead if he’d left her where he’d found her. For that, he would always have her gratitude, even if his reasons for doing so had been a little less than altruistic.
Just because she liked him didn’t mean biting her tongue and following orders while working on his ship had been easy. It hadn’t. She’d done it, but it had been a continual struggle to suppress large parts of her personality.
Now that he wasn’t her captain, she was free to act in a manner truer to who she was.
Jost studied her for a moment, whatever he was thinking hidden behind an impenetrable mask of mild interest.
The moment was broken as the waitress set meals in front of Dewdrop and Tate.
“Anything else,” she asked, wiping her hands on her apron.
“We’re good,” Tate said, trying not to salivate over her food. She was so hungry.
The waitress nodded and took off for her next table. Tate grabbed the bowl of milk and set it on the floor next to Night. His head popped up and he stuck a paw in the milk, licking it off, only to stick it in again.
Tate grabbed a fork, cutting into the flaky dough. The smell of spices and meat tantalized her taste buds. She stuffed a bite into her mouth, momentarily forgetting the tense conversation she’d been in the middle of.
So. Good.
The chef, Matthias if she remembered correctly, was damn good. She’d had a taste of his cooking the last time she’d stayed here, but had been too afraid of returning when she’d discovered the extent of Jost and her friends’ deception. She hadn’t wanted to run into anyone from the crew until she knew how she felt about them. There was also a faction of the crew that had led to her voluntarily abandoning ship. She thought it was best to avoid places they might frequent.
“Glad to see some things haven’t changed,” Danny observed. Of the crew, he’d been the closest to Tate. His loss had hurt the worst.
Tate paused between bites and gave him a sheepish look. “I really haven’t eaten since breakfast and that was only an apple.”
His amusement changed to concern. “You should be eating way more. Your bond with the dragon means you burn too much energy to be skipping meals.”
She hadn’t realized that the reasons she seemed to be able to eat twice that of a normal person was because of Ilith.
“You going to tell me about this job or am I just here for the free food?” Tate asked, giving Jost a sidelong glance.
He sighed and rubbed one hand across his face, looking resigned. “Finish your meal and then we’ll talk. I know how fixated you get when there’s food on your plate. Danny’s right. You need to be eating more.”
That worked for her. Tate went back to her meal, finishing everything on her plate long before Dewdrop made it half way through his.
“So, what’s this we’re supposed to be working on?”
And why did he want her in on it.
“There’s been a discovery.”
Of what? Islands? Fruit? Fuzzy insects?
“And that’s important why?”
“Because the last time there was a discovery of this magnitude it made this empire’s military more dangerous than any other country and elevated four families to the nobility.”
Pretty big discovery. Tate still wasn’t sure why she’d been called in or what exactly had been discovered.
“Tell me more.” She took a sip from her glass. The beer tasted nutty and mellow on her tongue. Not bad.
“Some of the archaeologists from the Aurelian Academy, with the financial backing of a few merchants and some of the nobility, stumbled on an underground chamber,” Danny said.
“In the tunnels under Aurelia?” Tate mentally begged him to say no. She didn’t want to go back down there. She had a fear of getting stuck down there, forever wandering aimlessly. She’d come very close to dying the last time she went into the tunnels. Her dragon also didn’t like being locked away from the sun.
“No, at least we don’t think so.”
“That makes a lot of sense.”
Jost’s smile was humorless. “That’s part of why we’ve been called in.”
Tate waited, knowing they’d explain when ready.
“We don’t think it’s connected to the tunnels, but there’s so much unknown about them that they may well be connected in some way we don’t know about yet. From what I’ve been able to gather, the site is located in a separate, mini tunnel system around a main chamber.”
“Here?” Tate suspected it wasn’t. The honeycomb of tunnels under Aurelia were all interconnected. Hundreds of miles of tunnels sandwiched on top and next to each other. So many that even after centuries of exploration, the archeologists still hadn’t managed to map all of them. Of course, that could also be because of the denizens of the tunnels. Monsters left behind by the creators who were not opposed to eating people.
“About twenty miles down the coast,” Jost said.
“So, what’s the problem?”
“There are three different sects that have put in a claim.”
“Sounds complicated.”
Still didn’t answer the question of why her presence had been requested. The entire situation sounded like something Ryu would be involved in. Not a brand-new Dragon-Ridden who had only managed to change forms once.
“It is, especially given the current political climate in Aurelia.”
“Oh?” Tate wasn’t always up to date when it came to political climates or really what the world at large was up to.
“The factions are at each other’s throats. One match and the city could go up in flames.”
“Sounds like a job for the Lord Provost’s men,” Tate said. She really didn’t want the well-being of the city resting on her shoulders. She’d almost sent it into war the last time she’d been responsible for something big like this.
“Which is why I’m involved,” Jost said.
Tate sputtered. “You? Law enforcement? In what world?”
“I’m a duly appointed mediator, authorized by the emperor to act in matters such as these.”
“Huh.”
Would wonders never cease? Tate felt like her entire world view had tilted and now she was seeing it upside down. Pirates as mediators. Authorized by the emperor no less. She’d known Jost was an agent of the empire, but she’d thought it was a side gig—something he did so he wasn’t arrested and thrown to the hangman—but that his real interests lay in acting on the less legal side of things.
She took another sip of her b
eer to give herself time to think.
“What do you need me for? Sounds like you have everything in place.”
“There need to be two parties representing the empire in a situation like this. The mediator and what we call a witness. Someone to make sure that all parties act in good faith.”
“That doesn’t sound like something I’m qualified for.” Like, at all. It sounded like they needed someone else. Someone like Ryu.
“It’s something you are uniquely qualified for,” Danny inserted in a quiet voice.
Tate glanced at him. When Danny spoke, it was best to pay attention. He didn’t waste words on nonessential matters.
Her mind worked, turning over his words.
“Because I’m Dragon-Ridden.”
It was the only thing she could think of that might separate her from the rest. She doubted her faulty memory was the reason they wanted her on this. It was the only other thing that was truly unique about her. She was smart, but others were smarter. She was observant, but practically everyone on Jost’s ship was. No, that dragon was the only thing that set her apart.
Jost inclined his head. “Because of the sensitive nature of this matter, we need someone with status, but also someone who doesn’t have a vested interest in the outcome and who can appear impartial. You’re one of the few that fit both requirements.”
Tate could think of at least one other.
“And Ryu? Why isn’t he on this?”
“He will be around, but he has another mission. He won’t be able to focus on the mediation.”
If he was on his own mission but still involved on the peripheral, it meant there was more to this than a territory dispute. Despite herself, she was a little curious about exactly what he was working on. It seemed to her he wasn’t usually called in on things that weren’t of vital importance to the empire.
Dewdrop watched the two across from them, a thoughtful expression on his face. He’d been quiet since they started talking. He shot her a questioning look, asking silently what she wanted to do.
“What do you need from us?”
They were involved from the moment she told Ryu she’d take the job. There was also the little matter of the artifact. She wasn’t letting this go until she figured out why it seemed so damn familiar.