Fenrin's dream of dark-eyed dancing peacocks was interrupted when Jayln tossed his shirt on his face. "Wake up, we've got to get some more paper for the letter. Also, you should probably tell me more about the sailors we'll be negotiating with."

Over breakfast, he told Jayln what he knew of the men. "They'll probably be about half and half. Half loyal to the Bear Jaired sails under, half to the man himself. But if Jaired still runs things like he used to, most his toadies only follow him because he's the smartest and the strongest. They'll all be tough— the weak don't survive on that ship."

Jayln tapped her lips thoughtfully. "Rule of the strongest, huh?"

"Yes, so the plan is I declare who I am, get the first half, then find the strongest of Jaired's boys and call him out and take him down. The others will follow out of fear or attack and we beat them off the ship. We sail immediately before anyone has time to try to get backup or send word to Jaired."

"How do you know they won't all just attack you at once? Do they have some sort of code of honor?"

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Fenrin laughed. "Hells, no. They might attack all at once if the fight's not interesting enough. If that happens, I just have to beat them all."

"You said they were tough. You sure you could take half of them at once?"

He grinned widely. "We'll find out."

Jayln answered with a frown. "Maybe. What if I challenge instead? Most likely they'll laugh or at least be interested. I can quickly incapacitate the leader and in the moment after, you can turn your attention to whoever would next cause trouble."

Fenrin opened his mouth, but then rubbed his chin. It was a sound plan. "You sure you can win?"

She snorted. "I beat you, didn't I?"

"From afar, with a bow, and the element of surprise. Not to mention your own posse of jitsu fighters."

"Yes, the element of surprise really stole your ambush's thunder." She rolled her eyes. "Don't be a sore loser. And yes, I'm sure I can win."

"It's a plan then. We head to the docks as the sun begins to set. Here's how we get on the ship..."