Chapter 29
29
Lucas came to pick me and Nix up the next day. “We have to go down to the docks,” he told us, without explaining why.
I hesitated. The ceremony was mere days away, and I was caught up trying to solve a series of murders. But it was fine, I assured myself. I’d get to the bottom of this, and then I’d go out to the gardens again and try to summon my power. Or maybe there’d be something in the book, a spell, that could solve my problem. And maybe Lucas knew something I didn’t.
We made our way back to the village, weaving through all the townspeople, following his lead. “Hold on!” I called when I noticed where we were going.
Nix turned and shrugged, but she kept following him, too. I ran to him. “Lucas, aren’t the docks the other way?”
“Wrong docks,” he replied.
We went past the edge of the main road and took a gravelly dirt street down a hill, into the southern edge of the Tikbalang Forest. “I don’t like this,” I whispered to Nix. We were getting farther and farther away from the center of town. Ancient trees reached over us, blocking out the light; their leaves crunched under our feet. We took a sharp left, into thicker brush, where there was no trail. I shivered—it was suddenly a lot colder. Large birds flew high overhead, their wings flapping in the leaves as they came to a stop on the branches above our heads. Somewhere, an owl hooted, and a large branch cracked. I got the feeling we were being watched. “How’s that danger meter doing?” I asked Lucas.
“You’re safe with me” was all he said.
Finally, in front of us, the trees opened up, revealing a glistening green river. Ships bearing flags from all four courts bobbed in the gentle waves. “What’s this?” I asked Lucas.
“It’s called Dwende Dock. But the kingdom doesn’t use it anymore, ever since the Royal Dock was built, which became the official port. So this is the one the smugglers use.”
“How do you know about it?”
“I told you. I do my homework.”
“That or you’ve done business with them.”
He ignored me.
The river flowed from the far west side of Lake Reyna, which was firmly in Tikbalang territory. That explained why it went undetected. Their court motto was “revelar nada”—reveal nothing.
Farther down, the water became choppier and more treacherous. “Is that a waterfall?” I asked.
Lucas nodded. “Talon Falls,” he said.
“And the smugglers travel over the falls, or what?”
“Yes, sometimes. They go beyond Talon Falls, where there’s a passage to the human realm that can only be opened with dark magic. You can’t see it because you’re not meant to.”
“Where in the human realm does it go? They just appear somewhere, or what?”
“The oceans are vast,” he explained. “They have ports of entry where no human ever goes. From there, they can travel freely.”
I couldn’t believe how much was going on right under our noses in the human world. “But what if they are seen? What then?” It had to happen sometimes. Yes, the oceans were huge, but they were also heavily trafficked.
He looked at me. “Then they disappear.”
“Who does? The smugglers?” I asked.
“No, the witnesses,” he replied, as if it were obvious.
“Like the Bermuda Triangle?” Nix blurted out. We looked at each other.
“If that’s a place where sailors disappear, then probably yes,” he said.
He left us slack-jawed and started down a steep wooden staircase that twisted down the edge of the bluff to the shoreline. There, human men were loading and unloading weather-beaten wooden crates. Some merchandise was being handed off to a few dwendes who wore the same ragged pants and leather sandals as the humans, along with knitted caps pulled down over their ears, which poked out the top.
I pulled up my hood and followed Lucas, Nix close behind. This was not a place I had any business visiting, let alone knowing about. If there was someone out there who wanted to get me, this was a good opportunity. Nix and I were unarmed and unguarded, except for Lucas and the dagger on his belt—little consolation against a longsword or multiple men. Or multiple men with longswords. A bad scene all the way around. But I did feel safe with Lucas. It was so confusing, to distrust him but also feel safe around him. I didn’t know what to think.
We approached a group of men who looked like they’d been out at sea for decades. Their skin was thick and mottled with liver spots from many days exposed to the sun; their clothes were tattered and threadbare. One of them wore boots, but another was barefoot, and his feet looked a lot rougher than his face.
“Excuse me, gentlemen ,” Lucas said to them, sprinkling a touch of sarcasm on “gentlemen.” They looked at him but didn’t respond. “I was wondering if you could tell me where to find Romulo.”
“Who wants to know?” one of them spit out.
I could tell by his accent that he wasn’t from here; in fact, judging by his regular-looking ears, he was completely human. I wondered if they were prisoners like Althea or here by choice somehow.
“I do. I thought that was clear,” Lucas said without a hint of irony. I closed my eyes and tried not to laugh during such an unfunny situation. But Lucas’s lack of familiarity with certain human-world expressions was very amusing.
“Romulo isn’t taking visitors right now,” the man said to Lucas.
“I see. Could you please let him know that Sir Lucas Invierno came calling for him?”
The man chewed on that, looking Lucas up and down. “Hang on,” he said gruffly. He walked across the dock and stepped aboard one of the ships.
We all waited. I kept glancing around us anxiously, afraid someone would jump out of nowhere and grab us.
After a few minutes, the man came back out again, and someone else was with him. The other man, who must’ve been Romulo, was bald and had a long, unkempt brown beard. He walked over to us and said, “I hear someone’s looking for me?”
“I am,” Lucas said.
“What can I do for you?” Romulo sounded polite enough, but there was something sinister lurking below the surface. I could tell he was irritated at the interruption and on the defensive.
“I’m looking for a book,” Lucas said.
Romulo snorted. “I’m not a bookseller.”
“I know. But you do deal in forbidden goods, yes?”
He narrowed his eyes at Lucas. “Sorry,” he said. “I can’t help you.” He began walking back toward the ship.
“Wait,” Lucas called after him. He added, “We have coin!”
“We do?” Nix quipped.
Romulo stopped walking. He looked down at the ground with his hands in his pockets, weighing his options. When he finally turned around and came back, his demeanor had changed. “Why didn’t you say so from the beginning? Why don’t you tell me what you’re looking for, and I’ll see what I can do.” He put up a finger in warning. “No promises, mind you. And the price will be steep. Those coins better be gold.”
“Of course,” Lucas said, unfazed. “The book is called The Mysterious Properties of Magical Herbs , and the author is Lady Elowina.”
“ The Mysterious Properties of Magical Herbs by Lady Elowina?” Romulo repeated back, and Lucas nodded. “This some type of prank? It’s just a book! Go and get it from the bookseller.”
“We tried that. Apparently, the author was tried for treason.”
“Ah,” Romulo said. “That makes more sense, then. Should’ve just said that. I’ll see what I can do.”