To my surprise, neither Cadoc nor Amaia wanted to come with me.

Cadoc said the assignment sounded boring, and that he would much rather check out the garrison while I was doing that.

“I’ll come with you if you insist, friend,” he said. “But I don’t imagine you will need my help to sort out shipping accounts.”

I didn’t know how to respond, but my face must have betrayed some emotion because I found Cadoc’s hand on my shoulder.

“I’ll stick with you, friend,” he said. “We made a pact, blood or no. But that doesn’t mean we need to be side by side every moment of every day. You remember our deal, yes? I help you find money, you help me find power. Well, while you sort out the money, I’ll be talking to the garrison about getting more power. But if either of us needs help, we’ll just let the other one know.”

“What do you expect to get from the garrison?” I asked.

“It is good to spar with others,” he said. “If you spar with the same people all of the time, you can grow complacent. Truly, they will likely appreciate the opportunity for change even more than I, since they all possess the same magic.”

“Really?” I asked. “How do you know that?”

“The coward told me. She is a liar, I know, but I see no reason she would lie about this.”

“But how would she even know? This is her first time here, remember?”

“She said she had asked her father about it. There is some sort of cultus here, and it is quite popular among the people. The entire garrison uses their wind-magic.”

“Huh,” I said. “Well, if that’s true, they can’t really teach you much, can they?”

“Perhaps, friend, or perhaps not.” He smiled at me. “You never truly know. Maybe I can take some of their teachings and adapt them. If nothing else, I should be able to get some good spars out of it. I can hardly wait. Which, you see, is why I’d like to go there immediately.”

I sighed. “Fine. I’ll let you know when I need you. You plan to stay in town while I work everything out though, right?”

“Of course,” he said. I believed him. He was loyal, if nothing else.

I knocked on Amaia’s door next, but Naomi was the one who answered. She peeked her head in through a small gap, only opening the door a little so that I couldn’t really see inside. She was in some sort of swim-suit, and perhaps I would have been scandalized if I hadn’t already seen her in various states of undress.

Kind of cold for a swim, I thought, but I said nothing.

“Can I help you?” she asked. She didn’t mention our previous meeting that day - earlier that morning, even - and I didn’t press the issue. I could pretend it hadn’t happened, too, if that’s how we were playing this.

“Uh, I was looking for Amaia.” I tried to catch a glance past Naomi, but couldn’t.

“One second.”

Naomi disappeared, closing the door behind her. I waited in the hallway.

A few moments later the door opened again. This time it was Amaia, wearing a bathing suit of her own. I had to stop myself from staring at the black spot on her arm - if it had begun to fade, I couldn’t yet tell the difference.

“Yes?” she asked when I didn’t speak immediately.

“I, well, I was going to ask if you wanted to come with me on this assignment. But I can see you’re busy.”

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“What’s the assignment?” She seemed interested, as if she wasn’t particularly committed to hanging out with Naomi.

“I’m supposed to meet someone at the docks,” I said. “And sort out some shipment that hasn’t arrived on time. Gad said it should be simple, but said I shouldn’t go alone if I could help it. Said the dock-workers and sailors were always picking fights, especially when they drink, which is often.”

Amaia frowned. “So you need a bodyguard.”

I could have guessed. “When you put it like that,” I said. “I guess I should have known better than to ask you.”

“’I’ve had my fill of that, Miles,” she said. “I stick around because you guys have been… novel. If it gets boring, I’m out.”

“Does that mean you’re sticking around for now, at least?”

“Sure,” she said. “I’m going swimming with Naomi. And if you find a more interesting job for me, let me know. I’d be happy to help, if it isn’t boring.”

“I appreciate that, Amaia,” I said. “I mean, I guess. It’s better than nothing.”

Naomi’s head peeked into the doorway again. “I heard my name,” she said.

“Yeah,” I responded. “I heard you’re going swimming again. Do you think that’s wise? Didn’t exactly end well the last time. I won’t be around to save your lives if you’re kidnapped again, you know.”

Amaia smiled slightly, but Naomi only stuck her tongue out at me, nudged Amaia aside, and then slammed the door in my face.

And that’s how I ended up in the dockyard alongside a near-total stranger, the servant Ikhamon. Gad had offered his servant if I had needed him, but I hadn’t actually expected to be bringing him along. I had considered going alone, but had decided against it. I didn’t want to fuck things up so early just because I figured I’d be fine by myself.

Ikhamon wasn’t particularly noteworthy in his appearance, which I supposed could be a benefit in many ways. He looked to be middle-aged and used to hard labor, though he was a little pudgy - perhaps a sign that he’d left his laboring days behind him, and jumped head-first into cushier living.

“A pleasure to meet you, master Miles,” he had said, and had bowed. He was very deferential. I had muttered something or other in return, and we were off.

The way to the docks led us through the southern part of the city, and I witnessed the gradient play out as we walked. First the people were wealthy, well dressed, and I struggled to find even one who had signs of turning. I also noticed, perhaps because I had already noticed Ikhamon’s weight, that the people were all on the heavier side - though the women at least wore it well, reminding me slightly of Naomi’s mother. The men, on the other hand, were near-uniformly beer-bellied.

As we made our way east, the people became skinny, disheveled, and in various stages of turning. By the time we reached the water, it was completely the opposite of the wealthier quarters, such that I had trouble finding anyone who didn’t have at least a piece of carapace or a pair of antennae.

I tried to make conversation as we walked - it was nice to be able to ask questions without fearing I’d be revealed as an outsider.

“What magic do you use, Ikhamon?”

“I am not Hjunite, if that is what you are asking, sir.”

“That’s not what I was asking. I don’t know what that is.”

“Ah, forgive me, sir. I forget you are a foreigner here. I do not use the wind magic that is popular here, is what I mean to say, sir.”

“Ok,” I said, “But what do you use?”

“We call the study Beredo, sir, but it is easiest to describe it as freezing magic, sir.”

“Really?” I said. “I met someone else, not long ago, who used freezing magic.”

He nodded as if that was to be expected. “He was a Beredic, then. When the job is done, I would be happy to hear of him, if it does not inconvenience you, master Miles. Perhaps he was even a relative of mine.”

I couldn’t help but think of Leah and Nolan in the dungeon. I turned away from Ikhamon so that he didn’t see my blush.

Nolan was dead, I knew that well enough, but perhaps the cold-magic-using Leah made it out. It seemed unlikely.

“Maybe,” I said. “Let’s just get the job done first.”

“Of course, sir.”

Ikhamon knew the way - said he’d done basically this same job before. A shipment of ingredients from up-river was late.

“Always late, sir,” he said. “And we are to find out why. And fix the problem, if we can. Unfortunately it is a problem that needs constant fixing.”

By then we were walking north along the riverside, and I stared out at some of the ships going by as we walked. It was the closest I had seen them, and I began to distinguish two types. The difference between them wasn’t in size or style, as there were large and small, grand and ramshackle examples of both types. The distinction was in how they were propelled. Half of the ships had, if you looked closely, oars sticking out from their sides, and were clearly being rowed forward by the efforts of the men in the galley.

The other type had wide, billowing sails, and I could make out men on deck making motions that looked like some sort of eastern martial art, each motion pointed towards the sails. The was no visible indication that their movements did anything, but seeing that the ships moved even though the wind was dead, I assumed this was the wind magic I’d heard about.

Makes sense that’s it’s popular, then, I thought. In a shipping town like this, being able to blow ships around is a valuable skill.

Finally we made it to the building we were looking for. It was a warehouse of some sort, old and decrepit, like it was liable to collapse in on us while we were inside.

“Keep your wits about you, master Miles,” Ikhamon warned me. “They don’t always react suitably.”

I flexed my fingers, letting a drop or two of wax fall off of my fingers - as if testing to make sure that the magic still worked. This job didn’t call for violence, just a conversation, but Ikhamon was putting me on edge.

“Let’s get to it, then,” I said. There was a wooden door off to one side of the building, and I stepped inside.

Immediately there was a spear at my throat, and I froze for fear that another step would lead me to impale myself.

“Got you, you thieving son of a bitch,” a gruff voice said to my side. “Thought you’d steal the whole lot, huh? We played you like a damned fiddle.”

Who the hell does he think I am? I thought to myself. I began to speak up, but another voice from behind me came booming in.

“He brought a friend!” the voice said. “And he’s-“

The sentence never finished, like the words froze in his throat. A little yelp, and then nothing.

I could only guess at what had happened, and didn’t have the luxury to wait and see. The man with the spear was clearly confused, and had lowered the spear slightly when his friend had stopped speaking. I recovered my composure quicker that he did, and that’s all it took.

One flick of the wrist, and his face was on fire.

The spear flew from his hands as he reflexively brought them to his face, smothering the little flames dotting his skin. I took the opportunity to quickly scan the warehouse. Crates stacked haphazardly everywhere, but it wasn’t obvious that anyone else was there. Though they could be hiding.

The man was yelling obscenities, and I marveled at how unprepared most people were for having their faces lit on fire. If he had just kept his cool, he probably could have stabbed me before I’d have a chance to do much more. Instead, I drew my drows, and used it to quickly whack at his shin. I didn’t hit it hard enough to break it, only to send him toppling over.

A voice behind me again, but this time I recognized it. “Don’t kill him sir,” Ikhamon said. “That’s our man.”