Grandmaster Harvo was speaking to Dax in a low voice. When they reached an arched doorway beyond the former fountain, Dax extracted his arm from Harvo’s and said, “One moment, please, Grandmaster.” He bowed and then crossed quickly to Marin.
Reaching her, he glanced over his shoulder at Harvo, then said softly, “I think I’ll have more luck if I speak to them solo. Apparentlythey were… upset… at my absence. I’ll have to smooth things over first, and…” He paused, searching for the right words.
“And that will be easier if the random sailor who stole you away isn’t nearby,” Marin finished for him.I don’t belong in this overly shiny world.
He gripped her arms. “That’s not… Look, right now, if we want to find Rijes, this is our best option. I promise I will do everything I can to locate her. I do have sway with these people.” He added, “I think. Anyway, I’ll have more luck if I talk to them alone.”
“Yes, sure, I understand.” She did. Of course she did. From their point of view… Whatever. She was the random sailor who’d taken him away from his great work. She swallowed hard and told herself it was fine. This wasn’t goodbye. He was just going to ask about Rijes Velk and then… what? Did she think he would just return to her and they’d sail away, happily ever after? She couldn’t help feeling as if the tide was receding, and there was no way to pull it back. “While you talk with the grandmasters, I’ll take care of that librarian’s request for transport.”
“Or you could stay here,” Dax said, his hands still on her arms. “I’ll arrange a guest pass. You can explore, listen to whatever music is being created—”
She shook her head. “You do what you need to do. I’ll make sure I’m back in…”
“An hour?” he guessed.
“An hour,” she agreed.
He glanced at Grandmaster Harvo, who was scowling, his bald head wrinkled. Dax released her but didn’t move away. “Can you find your way back to the dock?” he asked. “I’d take you myself, but grandmasters aren’t known for their patience. Once word spreads I’m here, they’ll descend en masse.”
Marin had the urge to kiss his cheek. With Grandmaster Harvo watching, she didn’t. She didn’t want to make things more difficult for Dax. “If you need a rescue…”
He grinned at her, the same grin that she’d seen daily on thesailboat. She wondered if he showed it often here. “I’ll be fine. You be careful.”
“Don’t worry about me. I have Perri.”
“And Ree,” Dax said.
“Bravest shrub ever.” Marin suddenly didn’t want to leave. She couldn’t shake the feeling that if she left him alone here, he wouldn’t step foot outside again. It wasn’t so much that he was in any physical danger. She didn’t think these people meant him harm. In fact, they clearly valued him.Or they value what he can do, which isn’t quite the same thing.She wondered if they even knew who he was, if they knew what made him smile, if they knew how he watched the sunrise and sunset every day over the sea as if it were new and miraculous.
Grandmaster Harvo cleared his throat.
Dax stepped back.
She thought for an instant that Dax wanted to leave with her right now, instead of following Grandmaster Harvo.No, I’m being ridiculous.Before she could do or say anything rash, Marin made herself turn and walk past the dry fountain toward the way she’d come. She listened for his footsteps as he left the atrium, and she didn’t turn around.
It didn’t take long to find Ceruli Square. As soon as Marin spotted the array of supply-runner boats clogging the canal, it was clear that this was the location of the job posting board. “Perri, Ree, watchSilver,” Marin instructed.
Just the top of Perri’s head was visible beside the boat, but he ducked beneath, and she felt his sinewy body supporting the sailboat, guiding it to where she could tie off. It was too busy to tie off at the dock, but she was able to loop a line around a lantern. A sidewalk—it barely qualified for that name; it was more of a ledge—ran along the side of the buildings, but it was wide enough that she could sidle along it to reach the steps to the plaza.
In the square, the job posting board was far larger and granderthan the one on Dew. It required a ladder to reach the upper postings. Supply runners were clustered around, arguing over which posting to claim, and various residents were adding requests to the board. It was tempting to peruse the postings and take a few…You could make quite a bit of money this way, if you had the time.
She lurked on the outside of the clump, trying to decide where to pin the librarian’s request. Behind her, she heard a voice she recognized and turned to see Tavo, the supply runner, elbowing his way toward the board.
Marin waved to him. “Hey, Tavo! Good sailing!”
“Marin! Good seas!” He bustled over to her. “Glad you haven’t drowned.”
“You too. Hey, I’ve a job to add to the board, and I don’t—”
Tavo laughed. “You got it backward. Our kind are supposed to take jobs from the board, not put them up. But out of curiosity, what have you got and what does it pay?”
She showed him the piece of paper with the request from the librarian’s family. “Minimal pay, but they’re willing to be taken anywhere that isn’t here.”
He shook his head. “No runner will take on cargo for charity. Are you seeing this board? It’s a runner’s market. We can pick and choose. Everyone’s filling up their holds with as many jobs as they can take—the lucrative jobs only. You should too.”
Marin scanned the board again. It was cluttered with job after job, many ordinary but some from nobles who should have had their own fleet of runners to draw on but didn’t anymore. Shecouldtry to cobble together enough high-paying jobs to pay back her parents’ debt. If she gave up on Dax locating Rijes Velk, left immediately, and just executed as many as she could…
She frowned at the piece of paper in her hand. It listed an address and said they were willing to travel anywhere they could start a new life, but payment was a pitiful five bronze coins and a promise to work on the ship. That wasn’t even enough to cover the food they’d consume on any kind of journey longer than half a day. If Tavo wasright, which she could plainly see he was, no one was going to go for that kind of deal.
