The sun was beginning to lessen as the winter afternoon waned when the group stepped once again onto the main deck. The evening tide was swinging the ship around on its anchor line so the aft faced the docks, hiding their group from the remaining onlookers.

“Everything is in order. You are allowed to disembark and unload at will.” Signing a few forms, Colonel Nasso pulled out a stamp and sealed the clearances.

“Thank you, Colonel. However, you still need to signal the army,” Janali said. In spite of how happy she was, she still had damage control to consider, and the colonel’s earlier accusation was still going to be a terrible problem.

“I’ll inform the army and send the guards back to the garrison.”

“Colonel, do you consider House Jedalor unimportant?” Janali said, standing as tall as she could. She let her jacket hang open, exposing the purple sash she normally despised. For once, she had to agree with Cybele’s reasoning on dressing appropriately.

The colonel looked at her a moment and licked her lips. “Lady Janali, I don’t understand. I’ve cleared your ship and cargo. Why would you ask me such a question?”

Janali leaned forward, holding the colonel’s eyes with her own. “Colonel, your earlier signal was public in the extreme. Now you suggest to simply inform the army. What about the public? What about House Jedalor’s reputation which you insulted so openly?”

The colonel’s back went straight as a sword, and she scowled at Janali. Janali knew she had the right of this argument and refused to back down or look away.

The colonel relented finally. “You are, of course, right. I cannot undo that act as fast. I shall make it very clear it was precautionary due to the unusual circumstances. And I can do this.” She pulled another signal candle from her belt and lit it. The bright imperial green light visible for miles. She moved the aft railing and waved it over her head a few times before putting it into the signal flare mount there to let it burn out.

The colonel came back and bowed deeply to Janali. “Lady Janali, please accept the port authority’s apology for any misunderstanding.”

Janali knew it wasn’t perfect, and there would still be some smoothing over to do. But, that had helped as much as possible for now. She put on her ‘deal well-concluded’ face and bowed back. “Colonel Nasso, apology accepted. House Jedalor will be grateful for any additional kind words you might use to explain these unfortunate circumstances.”

Colonel Nasso straightened and started to leave for the waiting skiff. Before she went down the boarding stair, she looked back. “You were right, Lady Janali. We didn’t need your sister. If you need anything at all, you will find my door open for you.” The colonel looked at Kasen. “Lady Kasen?”

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“Give me a few minutes please. If you cannot wait, I’ll wait for another skiff.”

The colonel gave a quick nod. “A few minutes now won’t bother me. I’ll wait for you on the skiff.” With that, the colonel went to the skiff.

“I’ll join you on the bridge.” Janali handed the port authorizations to the captain. He saluted, and the officers took their leave.

“So, what about you?” Janali said to Kasen once the men had begun to retreat.

Kasen was writing on a clipboard she’d grabbed somewhere along the way using an elegant gold trimmed green marbled fountain pen. “I promised you fair rates. Here.” Kasen handed her the clipboard after signing the page on it. Her writing was tidy and small; in perfectly aligned rows and columns was a list of items from the cargo manifest with pricing and totals.

The list was longer than Janali expected. It took only a moment to cross-check the manifest. Try as she might, the smile crept onto her lips. The rates were more than fair. A tinge of guilt for taking too much from her old friend tickled her spine as she considered just accepting outright.

Her conscious won out again—a character flaw her mother and sister regularly chastised her for. “Kasy, these are more than fair.”

“Clint family will profit. Plus, I like getting the first look. Maybe you’ll consider letting me in on your other shipments. I keep my promises, and I promise—Clint family to Jedalor family—fair rates.”

Janali didn’t miss the slight emphasis. Had Kasen come back around and wanted in on Janali’s plans? She grabbed Kasen’s shoulder and squeezed. “Friends again?” she murmured.

Kasen returned the shoulder grab and then leaned in close. “I missed you too, Jan.”

“Accepted. We’ll dock in the morning and unload. Can the Clint family lorries be there to pick up?”

“Of course. Now one more thing.” Kasen glanced around before she fished in her pouch and pulled out six gold crowns. “Between you and me, I want two full pallets of that sand. Two crosses a barrel? No one will care about sand so no record. Just load them on the lorries with everything else.”

Shocked, she looked at the coins. “Are you insane? It’s just sand. Two crosses a barrel is twice the same loaded with iron grain!”

Kasen’s eyes twinkled as her lips curled up into a sly smile. “Your captain is no fool. I’m betting there is more profit in those barrels than everything else on this ship, and I want in on it. Once you figure it all out and establish the market, I want to profit too. These are my coins.”

She took the gold coins and looked at them. It wasn’t more money than she’d ever held before, but it was more money than she’d ever made personally. She’d already made fifteen silver crosses profit from her private venture and had only sold one-sixteenth of the inventory. “Thank you,” was all she could get out.

Kasen slapped her on the shoulder. “Don’t go all manly on me. I’ve often thought I made the wrong choice when I turned you away. This ship’s return is a second chance for you, and maybe for us too.” She pointed at the new glimmering light in the west brighter still for the darkening sky. “That star is surely a sign. You and I together again.”

Kasen sauntered to the stairs waving. “Just make sure everything is loaded up properly tomorrow. I’ll be watching for whatever miracle you spring on the empire to get my money back.” With that, she slid down the rail of the boarding ladder, jumped into the skiff, and leaned on the gunwale like an empress.