From the harbor, the city of Adoti was beautiful. Its buildings were painted a wild variety of colors, even the humble warehouses clustered up against the waterfront. At night it was lit by thousands of lanterns, and the glow could be seen far out to sea. But after three days, even that sight was starting to get old.

They had sailed into the harbor early in the morning and made their way to the customs pier, a long wooden structure that jutted out from the far corner of the bay, away from the city. Dozens of ships were tied up to it, practically a forest of masts. Their hopes of a quick inspection were dashed when the harbor master told them there was a backlog and they'd be stuck waiting for a few days. Everyone resigned themselves to finding something to do, whether it was study, train or gamble.

Aven leaned forward and gathered all the cards off the table and started to shuffle them. There was barely any breeze, so they set the table up on the sterncastle. Batro and Yazwa were using the main deck to spar anyway.

"The game is still Chuxa's Palace, he said, beginning to deal, “Cai needs one more palace to win this round. Ru Talas and I need two, and Ji still needs three."

"This time I'm getting one," Ji said, snatching up the cards and examining them. Her eyebrows rose sharply before she tried to wrestle her face back into a neutral mask.

"I don't care who gets one, as long as I don't have to lose to Cai again," Ru Talas mumbled. The old fisherman held his cards close to his chest, carefully rearranging them.

Cai grinned, holding his cards over a small pile of dull copper coins. "Just be glad you talked me into playing for low stakes."

Aven picked up his five cards to take a look. The deck belonged to Cai, and the cards were legible, but wrinkled, faded, and spotted with water damage. He had a sneaking suspicion that Cai had memorized some of the water stains on the backs.

Maybe he would pick up a new deck while they were here and he had money to spend.

Inspecting his hand, he found he had two Hearth Chuxas with the same terrains. A good start. "I discard two and draw two," he said, tossing two cards face up and pulling two from the deck.

Ji peered down at her cards and then at the ones Aven had just put down. "You have to discard two face up to get one face down, right?"

When Aven nodded she tossed two cards and grabbed one of his, a War Chuxa with land terrain and elder age.

"I'm starting to get sick of taking your money," Cai mused as he rearranged his hand. "You've been here before Aven, any good places to gamble?"

"Not legally," Aven said, watching Ru Talas drop four cards from his hand to pick up one of Ji's and two from the deck. "Gambling is illegal in Adoti, so all of it goes on in the back rooms. You'll have to ask around if you want to find a good game."

"The best games are back room games," Cai smiled, dropping two of his cards to pick up two from the deck. "If I wanted to ask around, where would I start?"

Aven studied his hand. He needed another Hearth Chuxa to make three, but there weren't any in the discard pile. Which meant he had to try his luck at the deck after he made the first bet. He grabbed two copper coins and placed them in front of him on the table. Ji and Ru Talas copied him, but Cai triplied it with six.

Aven frowned internally at that, but stopped it from showing on his face as he answered Cai’s question."On the south side of the river. All the rich people live north of the river, so you're not going to be invited to any games there. That's where the Temple of Illitzo is too, they're the ones behind the gambling ban. At the mouth of the river is where all the warehouses and merchants and craftsmen are, so the place is empty at night. Behind there is where all of the people live, so that'll be your best bet." He drew three more cards, his internal frown deepening when none were Hearth Chuxa.

"I don't want to walk that far," Cai mused as Ji and Ru Talas took their turns. "Are there any wagons or boats I can hire to go back and forth?"

"The wagons are for the rich, so I know you won't want to pay for one," Aven replied, watching him closely as he took his turn. Cai discarded two cards to draw two from the deck. "There are free ferries between the south bank and the temple, and you can hire a private boat to go up and down the river. You'd still have to walk in and out."

"Or just find a game close to the river," Cai said, holding up his cards. "I'm calling Palace. Who wants to match my bet?"

Aven looked down at his hand. He had two Hearth Chuxa, two Craft Chuxa and one Wealth Chuxa. No way to make a solid trio. "I'm out," he said, dropping his cards face up.

"Me too," said Ru Talas, following suit.

"I raise the bet to ten," Ji said, putting the rest of her money down. "Will you match?"

Cai replied by dropping his coins down. "Palace, Young Land."

"Ha!" Ji said, laying her cards down. "Three War Chuxa, full Air!"

"Three Craft Chuxa, full spread," Cai grinned, laying them down with a flourish.

Aven winced at the unbeatable hand. A trio of Chuxa with one of each terrain and age type. "How long have you had that?" he asked.

"Right from the start," Cai laughed as he pulled in all the coins to his growing pile. "Sometimes you just get lucky.

"Or unlucky," Ji said, scowling down at her cards. "Who are these people anyway?"

"The Chuxa," replied Ru Talas. "Before Illitzo passed on to heaven she wove nine shrouds for each of her greatest followers to grant them strength and long life. The shrouds have been passed down from worthy bearer to worthy bearer for thousands of years to help guide those who follow Illitzo's path."

Cai leaned back in his chair with a smirk on his face. "Think the Chuxa would approve of you gambling with them?"

"I think a Wealth Chuxa wouldn't mind if I won," Ru Talas replied, grabbing the cards to shuffle.

"I'm out of money," Ji sighed, handing her cards to him.

Cai grabbed a fist full of coins and slid them over to Ji. "Stay. The game’s no fun with just three people. If we're stuck here one more day, I'm going to go stir crazy. I want to get into Adoti and have some fun."

"Oh," Ji said, stacking her coins in a neat pile. "Aven, Saiyun wanted to ask you if you knew of any good bathhouses here. We both want to wash up while we can."

"Good bathhouse?" Aven asked, thinking back. "No, there aren't any. But I can tell you how to keep anything you bring with you from being stolen. Bathhouses are a great target for thieves."

"They are?" Ji asked.

Aven nodded, stretching his arms up to the sky. "My mother went on a job for a few weeks when I was a kid and left me here with a friend who ran a thief ring out of one of the baths. I learned all the tricks. Secret passages into the bathing rooms, copying keys, false bottoms on the lockers. After she came back to get me I was a top earner," he said with a smile.

"And that's why I bathe in the ocean," Cai laughed. "It might drown you, but it won't steal anything from you."

"Speaking of stealing," Ru Talas said, slowly shuffling the cards. "Are you going to be able to sell my share of the tin like I wanted?"

"Easy. There's always someone to do that kind of work," Cai nodded. "Once I get off this wretched ship, I'll sell the full share for gold dust, not coin. Then I just track down a smith to forge your gold into buttons and buckles that will look just like brass. Never known a thief to steal buttons before. But I'm not the expert."

Aven wrinkled his forehead. "Wait, you're selling your full share? I thought we agreed we were only selling half the tin."

"Not me," Ru Talas said, shaking his head slowly. "I'm getting my gold now."

"We're keeping half of it for a reason," Aven said. "A chest of tin is a lot harder to steal or lose than a pocketful of coins. After Bill's job, we're sailing on to Hilt and a lot of Vathlanri Ata dock there. They'll pay a lot more for tin than you can get here."

Ru Talas snorted. "I'm not going to Hilt, I'm getting my gold and going home."

"What?" Aven asked. "But...but, this is going to be big. Really big. You're going to miss out."

"I have never been more happy to miss out on anything in my life," Ru Talas laughed. "There's no way that black ship is still looking for ME after what you all did to it. Once I have my money, I'm booking passage on the first ship heading east. The gold should be more than enough for me to buy a new boat and get back to my life."

Aven was silent for a moment as Ru Talas dealt out the cards. "So...that's it? You're leaving, just like that?"

"That's right," Ru Talas said, examining his hand. "I've had enough excitement for three lifetimes ever since I found that wrecked ship. I am out."

"Just like that..." Aven mumbled, picking up his cards.

-

Yazwa took a deep breath, wiping some beaded sweat off her forehead. She held her oar in both hands, one end wrapped in several layers of cloth. Across from her stood Batro, holding a wooden rod also wrapped with cloth. She took another breath, willing the soreness out of her muscles and planting her feet wide. "I'm ready."

"Good. Batro said, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “Remember, the key here isn't to land a hard blow, but to give yourself space when someone gets in close."

Yazwa lunged forward with a strike aimed directly at his chest. Batro shifted to the right and darted forward as she stretched her arms forward. As Yazwa stepped back she shifted her grip and swung upwards, deflecting a blow to her head. He staggered and Yazwa hesitated, torn between backing up or seizing the initiative and following up with a blow with the butt of her staff. She shifted her grip to strike at him, but her indecision cost her. Batro snuck under her guard and landed a hard thrust on her stomach. Yazwa gasped and staggered backward, raising her hand to end the spar.

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Batro stood by and waited while she caught her breath. "You hesitated," he said.

"I know," she wheezed, inhaling deeply and straightening up. "I would have had you."

"Unlearning your old instincts won't be easy," Batro sighed, taking a drink out of his canteen. "On land, you have an advantage. Your height and staff give you a major advantage in reach, but that's next to useless aboard a ship. Short weapons rule the day in close quarters. Once someone gets inside your guard, it's over."

Yazwa put her hand over her sore stomach. "I noticed."

"Then stop backing up!” Batro snapped. “The style you were taught is mostly defensive. It's about keeping your enemy at a distance where you can safely hammer them into submission." He pointed the cloth-wrapped rod at her. "When you're fighting off boarders there's nowhere to go! If you don't get better, I'm going to have to live with the shame of my first student dying in battle without landing a single blow."

"How awful," Yazwa grumbled, standing at the ready again.

"You should be more considerate of other people's feelings," Batro said, shifting from foot to foot again, rod held close to his body.

They repeated the same steps. Yazwa lunged forward with a long thrust, and Batro danced aside, rushing in close. Again, she shifted her grip, swinging up to deflect a swing at her head. But this time she didn't hesitate, surging forward and shoving him to the deck. Yazwa raised her staff high above her head to swing it down hard on him, only for it to get tangled in the rigging. Before she could untangle it Batro jabbed the rod into her gut from the ground. She clutched her stomach and staggered backward, makeshift staff clattering to the ground.

"Better!" Batro cheered, climbing to his feet with a broad smile on his face. "No hesitation, you have to use that aggression if you want to survive."

"But I still lost," Yazwa snapped as she tugged her staff down. "If you didn't notice."

"Hesitation kills you faster." Batro wiped some sweat from his brow and undid the cloth from the dowel. "When you meet your ancestors, do you want to tell them you died in glory or in indecision?"

"I'd rather tell them I died of old age," Yazwa replied.

"That attitude will get you killed and forgotten. Think about it. I think that's enough for today," Batro said, rotating his arm. "Unless you want me to beat some more wisdom into you."

"I think I have as much wisdom as I can handle, thanks," Yazwa said, getting to her feet.

Batro pulled his chainmail off and handed it to Yazwa. "Good, you can contemplate my wisdom while you scrub my armor. I want it nice and shiny next time someone tries to kill me."

The mail shirt was dull and Yazwa could see several rust spots as she examined it. They were small, but rust had a way of spreading. Especially in the sea air. "I don't know about shiny, but I can get rid of the rust."

"While you're at it, give this a look too," he said, handing her his sheathed sword. "I can take care of my own blade, but why bother when we have a blacksmith on board?"

"You want anything else?" Yazwa asked flatly as she took the sword in her other hand.

"Would asking for a massage be out of line?" Batro asked with a grin.

"Very," replied Yazwa.

Batro shrugged his shoulders. "Worth a shot! I'm going to go take a nap, just put my stuff under my hammock when you're done," he said as he headed below decks.

Yazwa fumed as she went into Bill's cabin to fetch a chair, a stiff wire brush, and a whetstone. With her supplies gathered she set up on the ship's sterncastle in hopes of catching a breeze off the water. Scrubbing rust off steel was hard work, especially in the sun. By the time she finished cleaning the shirt, the afternoon had drifted by and the sun was starting to sink into the west.

The steps leading up to the sterncastle creaked as Bill made his way up them. His coat was off, leaving him wearing nothing but his loincloth. "How's the washing?" he asked, casting his shadow over her.

"Fine," Yazwa said, holding up the shirt to look at it in the sunlight. The rust spots were gone and with a close examination, Yazwa spotted a few twisted and scratched rings. The legacy of some attack the armor had blocked. "I've never actually seen damaged armor before. All the pieces I've had to look after have been for show. But it looks like it's saved him more than once. You'd think more people would wear it."

"Batro's an odd one," Bill said, reaching out to rattle the chainmail. "This will stop a knife or a sword, but a pistol bullet would punch right through this and out the other side if you fire it from close enough. Once guns become widespread, armor starts to disappear fast. It's a pattern you can see all through history. If I remember right, most of Ibscaal’s armorers fell to ruin once the armies started fielding matchlocks."

Yazwa furrowed her brow. It was true, her father had taught her all about it. Their family had survived because they focused on making beautiful swords that were more for display than use on the battlefield. "I'm surprised you know about that," she said, folding up the chain shirt and setting it beside her chair.

"If you haven't already noticed, the pirate's life has a lot of waiting around," Bill said with a chuckle. "I keep enough books around to pass the time."

Before she could ask him anything else, she was interrupted by a shout from the water. Looking over the railing she saw a man in a long, narrow boat rowing up to the side of the ship. Every available space in the boat was filled with baskets packed full of vegetables, loaves of bread, and cuts of meat. "Who's he?" Yazwa asked as the man rowed up beside their ship, still calling out. Cai rushed to meet him, followed by other members of the crew.

"Just someone here to price gouge us," Bill said, looking over his shoulder. Cai threw a rope ladder over the side and the man climbed up with a basket slung over his shoulder. "When ships get stuck at customs for a little too long, people like this will show up to sell fresh food at a premium. After a month of hardtack and fish, it's hard to resist."

Yazwa watched for a moment as the man pulled out a short knife and used it to cut into a bright pink fruit. As the juice ran down the blade onto the man's fingers Yazwa felt a strong pang of hunger. "Yeah. But I thought we weren't allowed to buy or sell anything until we cleared customs," she said, pulling Batro's sword out of its sheath.

"Harbor inspectors tolerate small-timers like this. A few places even sell licenses to make a little coin off the trade," Bill said, stretching his arms over his head. "I should get something before all the good stuff is bought out. What are you doing?"

The curved blade flashed in the sunlight as Yazwa brought the edge close to her eye. There were no nicks or rust spots to be seen. She ran the tip of her pinky finger along one side of the blade, feeling closely for any imperfections. "I'm sharpening Batro's sword for him."

Bill cocked his head to one side. "And what's he doing for you in return?"

"I'm just-" Yazwa stopped when she saw a smile twitch to life under Bill's beard. "Right, the Favor Game."

Bill laughed, hairy belly jiggling. "If you're not careful, people are going to take advantage of you out here."

"Oh, you mean like blackmailing me into spying on someone?" replied Yazwa.

"Exactly like that," Bill said with a grin.

Yazwa didn't answer him, taking a quick second to look around. No one was watching from the ships on either side of them or from the jetty they were tied up at. After the debacle in Ortan she wanted to make sure no one caught her using her Sight. "I might as well do it, the more practice I have with Sharp the better."

"Whatever you do, don't tell him that," said Bill. "You could wring a couple favors out of him for a good sharp sword."

Closing her eyes and taking a breath, Yazwa activated her Sight. The rest of the world became dull and muted, save for the blade in front of her. A narrow, glowing line of white light ran along the blade's edge. It was hard to spot, but there were a few sections where the line flickered and wavered. A few passes of the whetstone would fix that. But as she reached for it, something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. The man selling the food had a strange aura about him. Pink mist flowed out of his mouth and nose, slowly drifting down until it hit the ground and spread out in a pool around his feet. "Weird," she muttered to herself.

"What?" Bill asked, little more than a watery blue outline.

"The man selling the food," she said. "His aura is weird, like he's breathing out mist."

Bill grabbed hold of Yazwa's shoulder. "Are you sure?"

Yazwa winced, the surprise jolting her out of her Sight. Bill wasn't smiling anymore, his eyes were so intense it made her stomach drop. "Yes."

"What was the mist doing?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper and still holding her shoulder. "Rising into the air, gathering around his head like a cloud or falling to his feet?"

Something was very wrong and Yazwa had no idea what it was. "Falling to his feet," she said slowly.

Bill cursed and his face turned into a cheerful mask as he let go of her shoulder. "I hope no one bought up all the grapes! As Captain I have the first pick of any grapes!" he called, walking down the stairs with a bounce in his step.

Getting out of her chair, Yazwa stepped over to the railing and looked down at the scene below. The man had brought up more baskets from his ship and some of the crew, even Aven and Ji, were gathered around and examining them. Cai was speaking with the man, who was slicing open a cut of meat and talking quickly. Bill walked over and glanced at the baskets, then stepped behind Cai and the man to look over the railing down at his boat.

Without a word of warning, Bill spun around and seized the man's head with both hands.

The man reacted so quickly Yazwa barely saw him reverse the grip on the knife and plunge it backwards into Bill's belly.

Bill turned to water and splashed overboard into the sea.

The man shoved Cai so hard he went sprawling backwards onto the deck. Without wasting a second the man bolted for the gangplank that connected their ship to the jetty.

"Stop him!" bellowed Bill from the water below. Aven and Ji reacted first, leaping to their feet and taking off, hot on his heels. Others followed, not nearly as quickly.

Yazwa ran down the stern castle steps as Bill was pulling himself up the rope ladder. "What just happened?" she asked, reaching out to help pull him up on deck.

"Did they get him?" Bill asked, seawater rolling off his body onto the deck. It was joined by blood oozing from a wound on the right side of his belly. "Are they going to catch him?"

Yazwa glanced over at the jetty, but they were too low in the water for her to see the chase. "I don't know, I can't see. What just happened?"

"Shit," Bill muttered, pressing his palm against the cut. "Shit."

Cai got to his feet and dusted himself off. "Bill, I hope you're not going to tell me what I think you're going to tell me. Because we're in deep shit if what I think just happened just happened."

"Aven might have caught up with him," Bill grimaced. "Wait until he gets back."

Yazwa looked from Cai to Bill and bit down her questions. Luckily, there wasn't long to wait. The rest of the crew filtered back with Aven and Ji bringing up the rear.

"He got away," Aven said, walking up to Bill and pulling his hand away from his belly. "This needs to be cleaned."

"Wait," Bill grunted as the crew gathered around. The commotion had woken Batro and pulled Saiyun away from his research. Only Tsen stayed below decks. "Did anything seem strange about him? Anything off?"

"He moved very quickly," Ji said with a thoughtful look on her face, tip of her tail flicking back and forth. "And when he jumped...he jumped much higher than he should have."

"Cleared the guard checkpoint at the end of the jetty in one leap. It's not that tall, but I couldn't get over it without some climbing," Aven said with a frown. "I told the guards he stole our Captain’s watch, but I doubt they'll bother following up."

Bill straightened up with a wry smile. "Well everyone, our lives just got a lot more complicated. That was an Akshi."

Yazwa blinked as the whole crew cringed, some even muttering prayers. "Those…those mist demon things you told me about back on the island?"

"Didn’t look like much," Batro said, from the back of the crowd.

“What it looked like was one of Azun’s spies,” said Bill. “I've caused Azun enough grief to know his spies are on the lookout for me. Rest up Yazwa, because you're going to be very busy."

Yazwa stared at him before she realized what he meant. "I'm the only one who can see it."

"Correct," Bill said. "The second we clear customs, I'm sending you and Aven into the city to root that wretched creature out before it can tell Azun we're here."