CHAPTER ELEVEN
The village of Dew on the island of Aver was adorable. Sure, it wasn’t flocks-of-winged-cats adorable, but it had cheerful pastel houses, cobblestone streets, and flowers beneath every window and on every street corner. Marin liked it.
She guided her boat into a slip in one of the many public docks—to entice visitors, Dew had filled its harbor with dozens of fingerlike docks instead of moorings, available to anyone for a fee—while Ree scampered up the mast.
“Ree, maybe you shouldn’t—”
He leaped off the top of the mast, somersaulted in the air, and splashed into the harbor just beyond the dock. He sank beneath the water for less than a second before he bobbed up and shouted, “I’m okay!” then paddled himself with his branches toward the dock. Kneeling, Dax scooped him out of the water by his top branches. Ree shook himself off like a wet dog.
“Okeydokey.” Marin sighed.
After checking to be sure her silver ribbon was tied neatly, Marin plastered on a smile for the dock official as the burgundy-clad woman bustled down the dock. Her white hair was slicked back and pinned, and she was scowling as if she disapproved of boats cluttering up her harbor, or maybe she just disapproved of their boat. Her quill posed over a notebook, the woman asked, “Name and business in Dew?”
“Mariner Eversay. Here to visit the job board.”
Joining her, Dax said in a low voice, “Mariner?”
“I know,” Marin whispered back. “Good thing I wanted to be a sailor, right?” She’d once spent an entire afternoon reassuring her pa that she didn’t feel pressure because of her name. She chose to love the sea.
“Any deliveries?”
“Not this time,” Marin said, “though I can procure pretty much anything you want, for the right price. Earlier this season, I found a rare mayharp for the Music Conservatory of Alyssium. Had to bargain with a dragon for it.” She grinned at Dax. “The dragon had a particular fondness for Eltaminium pearls, so I traded those.”
The official smiled, her expression softening so much that she was nearly another person. “I grew up on Eltaminia. Haven’t been back in ages.”
She’d guessed right on the slight accent. “A beautiful place.”
“Indeed.” In a far warmer voice, the official asked, “Your crew?”
Marin pointed to each of them. “Dax and Ree will be coming ashore. The sea serpent and orange cat are with me as well, but the serpent will stay beyond the docks. Can’t speak for the cat.”
“No one can speak for cats,” the woman said wisely.
Marin paid the fee for the dock usage, which was lower than she’d expected—the official had given her the fee for locals, thanks to the Eltaminia connection. Shehadbeen to that island once—it was in the western reaches of the Crescent Islands, and it had beautiful beaches lined with stone statues who watched the waves.
As the official pocketed the fee, she eyed Dax with interest. Marin was trying to figure out why that made her want to snarl, especially when she’d been given a discount already. Abruptly, the woman asked, “Are you a musician?”
“Yes, I am,” Dax said.
The official looked pleased. “If you’re looking for a gig while you’re here, ask at the Kraken’s Nest. My cousin and her wife own it,and they’ve been desperate for new acts ever since the last flutist set the bar on fire. They’ll pay fair.”
“Will they pay room and board?” Dax asked.
A good question, but a better one: “A flutist set the bar on fire?” Marin asked.
The dock official noted the payment as she answered, “She claimed she could juggle burning bottles of alcohol while playing her flute. She could not.”
Transaction completed, the dock official retreated to attend to other business.
With an eager-as-a-child smile, Dax turned to Marin and asked, “Do you mind if inquire at the Kraken’s Nest? That’s the inn you mentioned, isn’t it? The one we can’t afford?”
The Kraken’s Nest was the premiere place to stay in Dew. It supposedly had gryphon-feather beds and boasted a restaurant on the first floor that served an incredible blueberry pie. She’d never tasted it and had certainly never stayed there. He might as well see the best the island had to offer. “Go for it. Ree, want to come with me or go with Dax? I’m going to check the job board.” She waved toward the center of the square, up the hill from the harbor.
“No offense, Dax, but Marin’s task sounds more sailor-y,” Ree said.
“Absolutely not offended. Come join me at the Kraken’s Nest when you’re done.”
“You’re that certain you’ll get the job?” Marin asked. She’d heard him play, but mostly complex, beautiful pieces, not up-tempo background-while-you-eat music. She wasn’t sure conservatory music was what an inn would want, even a fancy inn with blueberry pie.
