Chapter 4 #4
Tahren managed to set the raft down gently, with only a little creaking from the thick hardwood planking.
Kai had stuffed his veil up into his sun hat and now pulled it down as a person walked up the dock toward them.
They wore a long shirt with rolled-up sleeves and wide pants, which were common everyday clothes in Belith and Palm, but had one of the long stoles wrapped around their chest and shoulders that officials wore here.
The stole was blue and a little weathered, so Kai guessed this was a port official.
They wore their sun-bleached hair in the most common Belith style, cut short in front and braided down the back.
They had the traditional facial tattoos and Kai thought the curled designs along the cheekbones were considered masculine, but it had been so long he wasn’t certain.
They approached the raft with wary politeness, and introduced themselves as a dockmaster, with the e suffix on the end of the word in Belithan that signified male gender, so that answered that question. The dockmaster said to Tahren, “Hail to you. Immortal Blessed?”
It was obvious from the fact that she was piloting an ascension raft, if not her height and build.
“Yes.” Tahren pushed her hair back, tumbled by the wind, and made a vague gesture to the rest of them.
“With my family.” Sanja, who was much better at deception than Tahren, popped up onto the bench and tilted her hat back so the dockmaster could see she was a child.
“I’m sure there’s a fee to use the port.
We’re not sure how long we might need to stop here. ”
“Ah, yes.” The dockmaster had clearly seen enough to know that Immortal Blessed families did not usually include mortals or veiled Witches, even if they were all dressed like well-off Arike.
Which would probably explain why they were not continuing on to land wherever ascension rafts normally did, probably the nearest Immortal Blessed enclave.
“Just a day’s fee, then, for now we’ll say. ”
There was a pause as they had to remember where the money pouch had gone and turn out a couple of bags before Kai realized it was in his coat pocket.
Then he had to count out the amount in a mix of Rising World currency from Benais-arik and of local coins from the various trading posts they had stopped at.
At least Dahin just stood around making exasperated noises instead of hiding under the steering column like he had in Benais-arik.
By the time Kai finished paying, the dockmaster was a good deal less wary.
Presumably he thought Immortals on the run with a stolen ascension raft would be better organized.
Not that Kai was sure whether they were on the run or not, or if there was anyone still alive who wanted to claim this ascension raft.
Once the dockmaster had gone, Kai turned to the others. “I’m going to the city center to look for the envoy houses. I’ll send a message when I know anything. Where will you be?”
Ziede folded back her hat brim to study the arcade above the harbor walkway.
A number of shops stood under the curved tile roofs, places selling imported goods and supplies for ships.
Signs indicated various wash houses, a free one maintained by the city and a fancier one that cost coins to enter, another sign for a free sailors’ hostel in several different languages, and pots and grills hung up to indicate small cookshops.
She pointed to a large place with awnings shading its terraced seating, with carved and painted fish over the pediment of its entrance.
“That one.” It was a good choice; they would be able to watch the raft from there and see if anyone official took notice of it.
“So we’re just going to stop and have lunch?” Dahin demanded.
“Yes. We won’t be able to meet with any scholars today anyway,” Kai said reasonably. It was getting toward late afternoon and Belith kept strict hours, with everything except food sellers shutting down at what they considered the day’s end.
“And I have to pee,” Sanja contributed.
“The child has to pee,” Tahren seconded.
“I heard her,” Dahin snapped.
Ziede winced and rubbed her temple and Kai didn’t need to touch her heart pearl to tell she had a headache from the wind and sun. And he was suddenly done being reasonable. He said sharply, “Dahin, do you trust me or not?”
Dahin looked away. He rightly understood that Kai was not asking for an argument. He let his breath out and said, “Yes, of course. And I’m sorry I’ve been…” He made a loose gesture. “I’ve been … thinking about this a long time. I thought … I’d have more time.”
Kai hadn’t expected to get that much of an apology, at least not now. The fact that the apology was toward him and not Dahin’s sister didn’t do more than take the situation back to the already unpleasant status quo. He just said, “Good. I’ll send to you as soon as I know anything.”
Kai left the raft and started up the dock. He had almost reached the walkway when familiar steps sounded behind him and Dahin caught up. “I’m coming with you,” Dahin said, and didn’t sound surly at all, which made some of the tension go out of Kai’s shoulders.
“Did Ziede tell you to come?” he asked.
“No, it was Tenes.” Dahin sounded mildly amazed. “She said I was acting like a bull’s anus and since being here was all my doing I shouldn’t let you go alone. And she’s right, the two of us will draw less attention than a veiled witch walking alone.”
It required a very rude gesture to say bull’s anus in Witchspeak.
“So a veiled witch and a Lesser Blessed walking together will draw much less attention.” He nodded to the remainder of the audience who had gathered to watch the raft land, now sitting around on a pile of baskets, chests, and sacks waiting to be loaded on the square cargo ship at the next dock. They were still watching.
“I’m in disguise,” Dahin protested.
Kai glanced sideways at him and saw he had put on an embroidered Arike coat over his tunic and pants. “If you’re pretending to be an Arike, remember you’re an Arike woman.”
“Oh, right, I forgot.” Dahin jammed his sun hat further down on his head as the wind tugged at it. “I’ll pretend to be your wife, then.”
Kai gave up on being angry. He put his arm around Dahin’s shoulders and squeezed. “I would rather throw you into the sea than marry you.”
“That’s probably wise of you,” Dahin admitted readily.