He left us slack-jawed and started down a steep wooden staircase that twisted down the edge of the bluff to the shoreline. There, human men were loading and unloading weather-beaten wooden crates. Some merchandise was being handed off to a few dwendes who wore the same ragged pants and leather sandals as the humans, along with knitted caps pulled down over their ears, which poked out the top.
I pulled up my hood and followed Lucas, Nix close behind. This was not a place I had any business visiting, let alone knowing about. If there was someone out there who wanted to get me, this was a good opportunity. Nix and I were unarmed and unguarded, except for Lucas and the dagger on his belt—little consolation against a longsword or multiple men. Or multiple men with longswords. A bad scene all the way around. But I did feel safe with Lucas. It was so confusing, to distrust him but also feel safe around him. I didn’t know what to think.
We approached a group of men who looked like they’d been out at sea for decades. Their skin was thick and mottled with liver spots from many days exposed to the sun; their clothes were tattered and threadbare. One of them wore boots, but another was barefoot, and his feet looked a lot rougher than his face.
“Excuse me,gentlemen,” Lucas said to them, sprinkling a touch of sarcasm on “gentlemen.” They looked at him but didn’t respond. “I was wondering if you could tell me where to find Romulo.”
“Who wants to know?” one of them spit out.
I could tell by his accent that he wasn’t from here; in fact, judging by his regular-looking ears, he was completely human. I wondered if they were prisoners like Althea or here by choice somehow.
“I do. I thought that was clear,” Lucas said without a hint of irony. I closed my eyes and tried not to laugh during such an unfunny situation. But Lucas’s lack of familiarity with certain human-world expressions was very amusing.
“Romulo isn’t taking visitors right now,” the man said to Lucas.
“I see. Could you please let him know that Sir Lucas Invierno came calling for him?”
The man chewed on that, looking Lucas up and down. “Hang on,” he said gruffly. He walked across the dock and stepped aboard one of the ships.
We all waited. I kept glancing around us anxiously, afraid someone would jump out of nowhere and grab us.
After a few minutes, the man came back out again, and someone else was with him. The other man, who must’ve been Romulo, was bald and had a long, unkempt brown beard. He walked over to us and said, “I hear someone’s looking for me?”
“I am,” Lucas said.
“What can I do for you?” Romulo sounded polite enough, but there was something sinister lurking below the surface. I could tell he was irritated at the interruption and on the defensive.
“I’m looking for a book,” Lucas said.
Romulo snorted. “I’m not a bookseller.”
“I know. But you do deal in forbidden goods, yes?”
He narrowed his eyes at Lucas. “Sorry,” he said. “I can’t help you.” He began walking back toward the ship.
“Wait,” Lucas called after him. He added, “We have coin!”
“We do?” Nix quipped.
Romulo stopped walking. He looked down at the ground with his hands in his pockets, weighing his options. When he finally turned around and came back, his demeanor had changed. “Why didn’t you say so from the beginning? Why don’t you tell me what you’re looking for, and I’ll see what I can do.” He put up a finger in warning. “No promises, mind you. And the price will be steep. Those coins better be gold.”
“Of course,” Lucas said, unfazed. “The book is calledThe Mysterious Properties of Magical Herbs, and the author is Lady Elowina.”
“The Mysterious Properties of Magical Herbsby Lady Elowina?” Romulo repeated back, and Lucas nodded. “This some type of prank? It’s just a book! Go and get it from the bookseller.”
“We tried that. Apparently, the author was tried for treason.”
“Ah,” Romulo said. “That makes more sense, then. Should’ve just said that. I’ll see what I can do.”
30
Romulo was asgood as his word. We weren’t sure how he did it, but he had that book in our hands about an hour later—for a hefty price, which Lucas paid, because neither Nix nor I had more than a few coins on us, enough for food and a trip to the bookseller but not for Romulo’s contraband.
Lucas handed over the money in exchange for the book, and we made a hasty exit from the docks. We still had to trudge back through the spooky forest, but I was relieved to get away from the place where all the outlaws congregated. As princess, I felt vulnerable and exposed, unsure whether my title endangered or protected me. I wondered if—or how many of—the men gathering near the ships were involved with the insurgents. Though we knew the mambabarang was behind the murder, that didn’t mean none of them were working with the witch or up to schemes of their own.
“I’ll pay you back,” I told Lucas.
“Me too,” Nix chimed in.
