“Get out and stay out, you bloody cheat.” The store clerk? Building owner? Gambling pit master?
“Just because you lose doesn’t make someone a cheat.” The man stumbled, but recovered before he ended up face-first in the mud. The larger man was already heading back inside with a shake of his head. “The nerve of some people,” the shorter man muttered. His eyes drifted to Vi. A smile slowly spread across his lips. “All you want to do is play a game of cards and they cast you out, am I right?”
She hummed noncommittally, looking back to the market.
“Say, you wouldn’t be interested in a game of cards, would you?” The man walked over, despite her showing no interest in him. That was a positive sign.
“I’m not really one for cards.” She looked him up and down, trying to remember every detail Arwin had recited after her scouting. Could she be confident this was one of Fallor’s men?
“Come now, that can’t be true. I’ll buy you a drink and we can play a game of cards—low stakes, I promise. We all enjoy a good game of cards now and then.”
“Buy me a drink from there?” Vi pointed to the brewery.
“Only place in town.” He gave a hearty laugh. As he tilted his head back, the collar of his shirt shifted, revealing the edge of a tattoo—three lines disappearing under fabric. A trident, she was sure.
Vi made a show of debating the proposition. But her mind was already made up. She had accomplished Step Two of the plan: find one of Adela’s men.
“Perhaps you’re right.” She tried to make her agreement sound reluctant. “It’s been a while since I let loose.”
“Excellent, this way!” He linked his elbow with hers and pulled her off across the market.
Vi skipped a step to get in pace with him. She tried to take a quick glance around the market. There were shopkeepers talking with farmers about the harvest, rumors being swapped by two old men sitting at the docks… but no indication of Taavin or Arwin.
They’d better be playing their parts and in their positions.
Because Vi was about to initiate Step Three: offering herself up on a platter to Adela.
Vi would make herself an easy target and lure the pirates into a false sense of security. Then, when they were busy apprehending her, Taavin and Arwin would strike. With the pirates taken care of, they would steal their vessel.
Simple enough, and it was going off without a hitch so far.
Vi followed her escort into a dimly lit tavern. There were a few patrons scattered throughout, each scarier-looking than the last. Two burly men were seated at the far end of the bar. Another table was filled with a loud group well into their cups. Two others played darts at the back wall.
If Arwin and Taavin were to be believed about this town, most if not all were pirates—though not all Adela’s men. Toris was a quaint fishing town on the surface, hub for the trade and sale of pirated goods underneath.
“What’ll you have?” The man sat at one of the bar stools.
Vi did the same, feeling her legs slide into the divots made by countless patrons’ thighs. “Whatever you’re having is fine.”
She needed to keep her wits about her and didn’t plan on drinking much. Vi took one more scan of the bar while he ordered—Taavin and Arwin were nowhere to be seen.
“Two ciders, then.” He motioned to the bartender. “The name’s Charlie, by the way.” Charlie raised his hand to his forehead, right between his brow, and lowered it. “And you are?”
“Marnie,” Vi lied deftly, not knowing where the name had come from so easily.
“And where do you hail from, Marnie? You certainly have a strange accent.”
“Monlan.” Her days studying maps in the Twilight Kingdom had paid off. Monlan was a land-locked city, one she doubted pirates got to often. But for good measure, Vi added, “But my father was from Hokoh, so I grew up with a weird mix of accents.” She knew very little about these cities other than the fact they were on opposite ends of the continent and surely produced different accents.
Vi was saved from having to elaborate further by the bartender placing down two heavy clay flagons.
“Two silver.”
Charlie produced two silver coins from his pocket, laying them on the bar. On the front of the coin was a simple carving of three circles, a line intersecting them—a symbol Vi actually recognized. Her eyes widened slightly, trying to take it all in before the bartender collected it. She’d seen that symbol carved into the old trees of Soricium.
At least, she thought she had… Because the coin was gone with the bartender in a blink.
“To new friends.” Charlie lifted his mug, holding it between them.
