“Oh, that’s a great line. Put it in the pitch,” said his mustachioed companion.
“Pardon,” Amina said, popping up between the two men. “Are you here to sell something?”
“Of course,” said the passionate man, tugging at the intricate cravat at his throat, the pink color matching his rouged cheeks. “Everyone knows the best engineers are holed up in this city. If we can just get an audience with the Regent, I’m sure we’ll get investments.”
“Here,” said the companion, handing Amina a pamphlet.
Amina took one look at the sheet and rolled her eyes. “The adjustable bosom.”
Risa reached for the brochure, curiosity piqued, but Javi snatched it out of Amina’s grip and ripped it into tiny shreds. He shouldered past Risa without sparing her a look—a shame, since she was glaring at him so well—to speak with the men.
“Are you saying that everyone in this line has some kind of invention and the Regent will see them if it’s good enough?”
“Yes. Why else would we be in the Business District?” the man with the cravat said.
The mustachioed gentleman shrugged. “That’s the rumor, at least. It’s not like anyone knows anything about what goes on up here.”
Javi nodded. “Right.”
He leaned away from the two men, who continued working on their adjustable-bosom pitch. Javi stroked his chin with one hand and Brunie’s flicking tail with the other, eyes transfixed on the tiled floor beneath his feet.
“What are you thinking?” Amina asked, voice low—unlike themen in front of them, who did not adjust their volume as they spoke about women like Risa, who would be perfect if not for their bosom-less affliction.
“If the Regent meets with inventors… let them meet with the greatest inventors since the airship engineers.”
Risa did not like the way his lips curled into his most mischievous smile. His eyes sparkled bright with unrestrained glee.
“And we’re those inventors?” she confirmed as he went behind her and began to root around in her rucksack. She held her breath and protests as he handed her the childhood book she’d brought from home (“Did you ever read the sequel?” he asked, but hardly waited for her answer); then Brunhilda’s magical pouch, where she’d stuffed his circlet; and finally the rolled-up wanted poster he’d grabbed from Mustache and stowed in her pack without her knowing.
“Yes.” He unrolled the parchment and rerolled it the other way, ensuring his face was hidden. He waved the roll in the air and strolled toward the booth, ignoring shouts that rose from those in line. “Excuse me, I request a meeting with the Regent! We have invented a new and improved airship, and we’re willing to sell it!”
Hundreds of pairs of eyes turned to look at them. Javi stood apart from the crowd, arms crossed, smug, infuriating grin in place.
Amina pulled at Javi’s ruana. “Did you. Forget. That airships. Run on.Magic?” she muttered, eyes darting back and forth across the crowd.
“No,” he said and, impossibly, managed to look more smug. Risa wanted to wring his neck. “We have a witch right here.”
He and Amina both turned to look at her.
“Oh no,” she said, backing away. “Absolutely not.”
“And we have a witch to prove it!” Javi declared loudly for the crowd, gesturing at her. “Beautyandbrains.”
“She’s a witch?” shouted the man who’d given Amina the pamphlet. “She’s going to turn me into a newt!”
Uniformed officers in suits of bright green appeared from behind the booths and surrounded them. One grabbed Risa by the arm, while two others did the same to Amina and Javi.
Another detached from the group and gave Risa a once-over. “What’s all this, then?”
Well, Javi did make all that ruckus. Might as well use it to their advantage. “We’re here to see the Regent. We have created an alternative airship model. We’re going off the assumption that the Regent does not prefer competition to promote a healthy capitalist society.”
The uniformed officer’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “The Regent abhors capitalism.” She gestured at the other officers. “Take them to interrogation.We’lldetermine if your supposed invention is good enough to warrant an audience with the Regent.”
Javi’s plan got them out of the hub faster, but it did not seem to convince a horde of officers that he and Amina were, in fact, teenage engineers with a witch in tow. Which meant they were now sitting in a windowless room after being hauled into a tiny airship that buzzed around so fast that Risa was sure her stomach was somewhere in the hub they’d left behind. Javi still had his poster tucked under his ruana, she still had her pack, and Amina was still equipped with several small weapons. Apparently, San Cirilo was against the illegal seizing of property, and that included fake blueprints and possible weaponry.
The officer sat behind a steel table, arms crossed over her chest, the nameGOMEZstitched on a pocket. An onyx band that matched the black sash across the lapel of her shirt held back her tight black braids, though a curtain of them fell over her shoulder when she pressed her hands against the table and leaned ominously forward. Her tawny skin turned golden under the single orange light hanging from above. The light flickered neither like candlelight nor gaslight and made a buzzing sound that reminded Risa of a bumblebee ricocheting off the walls.
Gomez narrowed her eyes at them.
