Chapter 12
“Ihave never been so glad to see land in my entire life,” Garrett Toring proclaimed fervently as we stood on the main deck, watching the steamship dock as we finally arrived at Maral Port.
“I agree.” It had been three days since that awful storm.
The ship had managed to survive it without much damage, thanks to the powerful spell Iannis and Director Chen had used to protect it.
“It’ll be nice to finally have solid ground under my feet again.
” I hadn’t suffered seasickness, unlike poor Solar and two of the servants, but it had been very disconcerting how the ground had consistently swayed beneath my feet.
Since learning that I had saved his life, Garrett had slightly warmed to me over the past few days.
He’d even thanked me, saying that he regretted ever doubting my usefulness on the mission.
It turned out that when he wasn’t trying to engage in a pissing contest with Iannis, he could be charming and funny, and I’d even played a few rounds of cards with him and Solar.
But though I sensed Garrett wasn’t evil, I knew better than to let my guard down around him.
He was Iannis’s rival after all, driven by ambition, and Fenris’s mortal enemy. I could never forget that.
“Are you ready?” Iannis asked, appearing by my side.
His arm settled around my waist in what would have been a casual gesture if not for the fact that he rarely touched me affectionately in public, and I hid a smirk.
The show was for Garrett, whose hazel eyes cooled significantly at Iannis’s presence. “We are going to disembark very soon.”
“I’ve already double checked our quarters,” I insisted, refusing to let him pull me away from the railing.
Excitement flooded my veins as I watched the hustle and bustle of the port from this vantage—from what Iannis had told me, Maral was the largest port in the world, which was damned impressive considering that Solantha’s port was the biggest in all of Northia.
I watched large steam-driven machines with gigantic, claw-like arms carefully lift huge colored crates, cages, and boxes from the decks of cargo ships, and then place said crates in a row of hundreds of others like it.
Trade was obviously booming in Garai—the country was even wealthier than the Federation.
However, I’d learned from Director Chen that Garai’s wealth was mostly in the hands of mage traders and high officials, while rural humans lived hand-to-mouth from one harvest to the next.
We headed down the gangway, and were met by a platoon of thirty soldiers, dressed in sturdy metal armor over long, colorful tunics.
The combination must have been hot as hell in this humid summer weather, but they all stood at attention, not betraying any sign of discomfort.
I was surprised to see that some of them were shifters—tigers and lions, judging by their eye coloring and scents.
The largest, most imposing of them, a tiger shifter in a red cape, stepped forward and introduced himself in fluent if slightly accented Northian as Captain Nagi Zhou.
He informed us that his platoon would be escorting us to the capital, Bilai, but first we had to wait on two more delegations, which were supposed to be arriving tomorrow.
There was some grumbling about this, especially from the Minister, but we allowed the soldiers to escort us to an extravagant hotel not far from the harbor, where we were to spend the night as guests of the Garaian government.
Captain Zhou warned us not to try and tip anyone, as this custom was considered insulting here.
We brought some of our bags, but left the bulk of our belongings on the ship.
Ten imperial guards stayed behind to ensure our belongings were not stolen, as well as the agents that we brought.
They would supervise the transfer of all our gifts and luggage to a barge, hopefully without calling attention to, or betraying the purpose of our odd little flying machine.
After all, it could have been intended as a present to the new Emperor.
There was time for a quick tour of Maral before our dinner, an experience that took a heavy toll on my ears and nose.
At a nighttime marketplace, the bustle and colorful crowds were indescribable.
Just crossing a street looked next to impossible, and highly dangerous, given the multitude of vehicles charging at each other with complete recklessness.
They ranged from the latest-model steam car or steam bike to rickety contraptions where the passenger essentially sat behind a cyclist, clutching their baskets of live chickens to their chests.
Shouts and toots combined into an unharmonious concert.
“Too chaotic for my taste,” the Minister said with a slight sniff.
“But fun, when you visit for the first time,” I argued. It figured that a stuffy bastard like him would not enjoy such a colorful, exotic place. Iannis smiled at me in silent agreement, his hand briefly brushing against the small of my back as we walked.
“We did not come here to have fun,” Garrett said, his voice grim. “Let’s keep our minds on the mission.”
Scowling, I considered reminding him that Iannis was the boss for the secret mission, but let it go, distracted by a strange vehicle that turned out to be a steam cycle heaped with hundreds of bird cages.
The sleeping birds reminded me of my ether parrot, who had remained behind in Solantha.
Why hadn’t he come along with me to Garai?
Had he disappeared for good, or was he simply waiting back in Solantha for my return?
Despite his irritating nature, I found myself missing the magical creature.
I hoped he’d reappear when I returned. If he did, I’d give him a name, as Rylan and Fenris had suggested more than once.
Our local escorts made sure we stayed at a safe distance from the pickpockets and charlatans said to frequent the city.
I was a little disappointed that I wouldn’t get a chance to tangle with the criminals here, but then again, I had no jurisdiction in Garai and could claim no bounties for any thieves I might catch.
“Do you have enforcers here, and bounties?” I asked Captain Zhou, unable to keep the wistful tone out of my voice. “I am an enforcer by trade, back home.”
His black brows rose in surprise. “Indeed we do, Miss Baine. But it is not an occupation for the squeamish, nor for pretty girls—even shifters.”
I opened my mouth to tell him what I thought about that, but Garrett interrupted. “I’ve heard there are powerful criminal gangs operating all over the country, for which all the smaller crooks work. Is this true?”
The Captain’s stern face darkened. “Unfortunately so. We are all hoping the new Emperor will get a handle on the problem. Even the local enforcers have to come to some arrangement with the gangs, or they won’t last long.”
I pressed my lips together at that. If the Garaian enforcers were cooperating with the criminal gangs, then how could the good guys be separated from the bad? Who would protect the innocent, if the enforcers were siding with the criminals?
Zhou then turned the tables on us by quizzing Garrett about the Resistance, wondering aloud, with entirely fake sympathy, how such a scourge could have grown so big under our very noses.
I buried a grin as Garrett struggled to remain polite.
Outwardly, he appeared perfectly calm, but I could scent his irritation, and I knew Captain Zhou sensed it too.
After our sightseeing tour, we were herded to a restaurant on the top floor of a very tall building for a sumptuous dinner, compliments of the Maral City Council.
The fresh seafood was more varied than I’d ever sampled, and mostly delicious.
I wasn’t too keen on the shavings of gold on some of the finger food, though at least it wasn’t silver, or the dish of pickled black sea cucumber.
Captain Zhou encouraged us to try the strong local spirits, and even the dour Minister unbent a bit by the end of the long meal.
The next morning, on the massive steam barge, we briefly mingled with the other two delegations aboard.
The deputy president and party from Bonara in Faricia were tall, black-skinned mages with strange scars on their cheeks.
They were polite, but very much inclined to keep to themselves.
By contrast, the King of Belgar was a haughty, vocal bastard, who was visibly miffed at having to share the barge with new-world upstarts like us.
Not that he liked the Bonarans any better, going by his sour expression.
We ignored him as we admired the various landscapes passing before us, some flat and others mountainous.
The Garaian people were dressed in colorful fashions and busily going about their agricultural tasks.
Almost all wore something white, if only a ribbon, to join in the state mourning.
“This brings back old memories,” Iannis murmured, standing beside me on deck. “I was traveling alone then, and not in state as we are doing now.”
“I bet that was a lot more interesting,” I commented, smirking a little. “If I was here with no one watching over my shoulder, I’d definitely have some fun.”
“Oh, indeed,” Iannis agreed with an enigmatic smile. “I had some misadventures that I’ll tell you about when we have nothing better to do.” And in private, he didn’t say aloud, though the sentiment was clear.
“I can’t stop thinking about my father,” I confessed, crossing my arms against my chest against a sudden chill that swept through me. “He’s going to be there, isn’t he? What’ll I do if I run into him?”
“Whatever we find there, we’ll deal with it together, Sunaya,” Iannis said gently. He gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze, and my spine relaxed a little. “Not knowing you is your father’s loss. You don’t need him.”