“Noharm?” Hark said. “Best tell that to all the dead you’ve left behind.”
Ayla tugged the second letter out of her pack as Niel tried to mutter an apology and the castle’s lord tried to stop Hark from getting too worked up. She held it out to Hark, who snatched it from her with a scowl and snapped it open.
“General Corin wanted…” she started.
“Again?” Hark muttered. “Why does he keep askingmeto smuggle runaway nobles? He thinks I run my ship like a two-penny whore. Doesn’t he know any other captains he can ask?” He shoved the letter towards the castle’s lord, who took it.
Lady Hana gave Hark a scandalized look.
“In fairness, your reputation isn’t exactly law abiding,” the lord said as he read.
“Me? I’m perfectly reputable.”
“Is that what you call piracy?” the lord asked, staring at Niel over the top of the letter he was still reading.
“A man spends one year flying a black flag and his family never lets him live it down,” Hark scowled. “It’s not piracy if it’s against another country.”
“Take a deep breath,” Hana said. “The healer told you to stay calm.”
“I’ll arrange a ship,” the lord told Ayla and Niel, folding Corin’s letter. “As a favor to the general.”
“Don’t bother,” Hark said. “I’ll do it myself. On one condition. I want that cloak.”
“Get us to safety, and it’s yours,” Niel agreed.
“Should you really be sailing?” the castle’s lord asked.
“I promise not to use my magic, Mother,” Hark drawled sarcastically. “We leave tomorrow. Take a fucking bath by then. You both look like castaways.”
“Thank you,” Ayla said. She hoped they could trust him. The man seemed to hate Niel with a passion.
Hark paused in the doorway, gripping the frame with white-knuckled fingers. He turned to stare at the two of them.
“You came from court?” he asked. Ayla nodded. Hark wetted his lips. “Tamsin. Tamsin Rogess. How’s the lady fare?”
Ayla had never heard the name, though she knew fief Rogess lay in Enar's southernmost territory.
“I’m sorry,” Ayla said. “I don’t know.”
“Has she married?”
“I haven’t a clue,” Ayla said.
“She was unwed as of spring,” Niel said. “Past that, I don’t know.”
Hark nodded sharply and left the room.
“Come, then,” Lady Hana said, rising from her own chair. “Let’s see to baths, food, and clean clothes. I’ll give my sister no reason to rebuke Dencai’s hospitality.”
“I was up two,” the lord said, gathering the cards into a stack.
“Very well,” Hana said, rolling her eyes. “You win, my dear, again. One would almost think you’d been cheating.”
“Never,” he said. “But I’ve yet to meet a sea-lord who couldn’t weight the odds in his own favor.”
Hana pursed her lips and led the way out of the sitting room.
The Land of Oranges
