No. I shook my head, forcing the thought away. I couldnotafford to gamble, could not risk losing even a single preciousmon. Each one I earned drew me closer to Kaneko.
I was about to return to my soup when movement caught my eye.
A figure slipped in from the street and moved to the table next to mine—one occupied by sailors who looked different from the rest. They were cleaner and better dressed, their clothes were worn but well maintained. Their postures spoke of discipline rather than drunken revelry. Officers, perhaps, maybe even a ship’s captain and his seconds?
The figure who entered wore black. I couldn’t tear my eyes away. It was as though he or she somehow repelled any light that dared alight on their clothing. Oddly, no one else seemed to notice the figure enter, weave through the myriad of tables, then sit. I watched with interest, but no one else batted an eye or turned a head.
I should not have paid attention, should have focused on my soup and my own miserable existence, but everything about the scene nagged at me. I couldn’t look away.
Curious, I angled myself slightly to better hear without appearing to listen. I only caught every few words, but they were enough to chill my blood.
“. . . are ready,” one of the sailors was saying, an older man, scarred and weathered. “. . . kegs . . . marked and loaded . . .”
The hooded figure’s voice was neutral, hard to place—male or female, young or old. “And the others?”
“Three . . . confirmed.”
“When?” another sailor asked.
“Not your concern.” The hooded figure leaned forward. “. . . attack . . . . demonstration of . . . after . . . with us or . . . targets.”
My heart stilled.
With us or become targets.
The rebellion. This wasrebeltalk—right here in this tavern,mytavern. They weren’t even trying to hide it beyond lowered voices and a dark hood.
I stared down at my soup, forcing my expression to remain neutral even as my heart hammered. This was not my business, not my problem. I was here for one reason only—to find Kaneko and get out of this city before it tore itself apart.
But . . .
I had just heard something dangerous, something that could get me killed if anyone realized I had been listening. I finished my soup quickly, keeping my movements as casual as my tattered nerves allowed, then stood and walked toward the stairs, not looking back at the table or acknowledging those who’d sat near me or what I’d heard.
Get to my room. Stay out of it. Focus on Kaneko.
I climbed the stairs, each step an effort with my exhausted legs. Behind me, the common room’s noise continued. Laughter and shouting and the rattle of dice. And somewhere in the middle of it, a conspiracy unfolding in plain sight.
I slipped inside my room, closed the door, and leaned against it, breathing hard.
Within the week, there will be an attack.
That’s what they were saying, wasn’t it? I was shoving bits and pieces together, but they fit. Damn it, they fit perfectly.
I should tell someone, warn someone.
But who? The city guard? The Samurai?
They were already overwhelmed, already brutal in their attempts to maintain order.
The Emperor’s people?
I would be arrested just for approaching the palace.
The dockmaster?
He probably already knew—or was part of it.
I couldn’t trust anyone. Not anymore. And if I spoke up, if I drew attention to myself, I would become a target, and my search for Kaneko would end before it truly began.
