Chapter 18
As her father had claimed, Liu was an excellent cook, and she managed to turn the two chickens, our stores of rice and fish, and some herbs she’d brought along from her father’s garden, into very satisfactory meals.
She didn’t speak any Northian, but using Chen as a translator, I discovered that she wanted to open her own restaurant when she was old enough.
I promised to support that venture when the time came, and, in the meantime, to get her a job with the Palace cook when we finally got home to Northia.
We traveled the rest of the day along the river, and thanks to the swiftly flowing currents and favorable winds, soon found ourselves approaching the South Garaian Sea—another part of what we Northians called the Western Sea.
I spent the night in beast form, draped along the main mast so I could watch for any danger and keep an eye out for our destination.
Part of me would rather have been snuggled up inside with Iannis, but there was something both peaceful and breathtaking about being alone so high up in the night sky, with only the salty breeze and the cold blaze of the stars for company.
The wind whispered sweet nothings into my furry ears and gently caressed my flanks, lulling me into a catnap.
It was only as dawn crested the horizon once more that the muddy yellow river merged with the salty seawater.
The latter was a deep blue-green that lightened where the ground was sandy.
Henning turned the boat south, following the shoreline at a distance.
Soon after that, I caught sight of sailing masts sheltering in a blue bay with an inviting beach.
I frowned as I noticed there were far fewer ships than I would have expected from a big port like Leniang.
Had we missed our destination? The port nestled in a sheltered area at the back of a large island facing a peninsula jutting off the mainland.
Steep hills covered with dense vegetation rose right behind the shore, and only a few houses dotted the landscape—a sign that there were not many permanent residents.
Most of the houses were wooden, except for one further up the hill that was much bigger and made of stone.
“Iannis,” I called via mindspeak. I felt his consciousness stir, and waited a moment before continuing. “I can see Leniang Port from here, I think, but it’s much smaller than I thought. We’re only an hour or so out.”
I climbed down from the mast and changed back to human form. Leaning against the port beam, I waited for the others to come up from below decks. When Director Chen came up, her face tightened as she spotted the port.
“This is not Leniang Port,” she said, gripping the railing. “I forget the name, but this is a much smaller port that serves as a backdoor to Leniang City on the other side of the island. It’s where smugglers unload their goods to avoid the scrutiny of port officials.”
“Smuggling?” Garrett asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “Are you telling me we’re about to sail into a pirate’s cove?”
“I’m afraid that’s exactly what she means,” Iannis said. “We’d best be on our guard when we arrive.”
By the time we arrived in the smuggling port, the atmosphere on deck was tense.
I wasn’t sure if I should be excited or alarmed that we were about to walk into a pirate’s den.
After all, these pirates were no match for our magic, and something about the place beckoned to my sense of adventure.
But on the other hand, I really hoped that we wouldn’t have to kill them to get out of here.
I was getting a little sick of all the bloodshed.
We glided up alongside one of the two piers, where a gangly youth in a white linen shirt and trousers waited with a clipboard in hand, ready to collect our names and docking fee.
Apparently, Director Chen’s information was out of date, and the port officials were now in business on this side, too.
We dropped anchor, and his eyes grew round as he watched us disembark, no doubt surprised at the fact that foreigners were sailing on a Garaian junk.
“Your name and business?” the youth asked in heavily accented Northian, addressing Iannis.
“Trade,” Iannis said, pressing a coin into the young man’s hand. “Is that good enough for a name?”
Greed entered the youth’s eyes as he stared down at the money, then looked back up at Iannis. “A name is worth two coins.”
“Why you—” Garrett hissed, but Iannis held up a hand.
“Pleasure doing business with you,” he said, and gave the youth another coin.
The boy grinned, then pocketed the money and took his clipboard elsewhere. “It is not worth haggling over what amounts to small change for us,” Iannis said quietly to Garrett as we made our way up the pier.
“We’re going to need every coin we have,” Garrett argued under his breath. “We lost all our supplies when the aircraft sank, and, on top of that, we have no transportation.”
“We have the ship,” I pointed out, glancing back at the junk over my shoulder.
“With no crew to guard it, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was stolen by nightfall,” Garrett snapped. “This place is crawling with thieves and pirates.”
“I should think Henning can hold his own against mere pirates,” Iannis said mildly. We’d left the pilot and Liu aboard the ship, as they weren’t really needed for the rest of the journey, and we did need someone to look after the junk anyway.
“Speaking of thieves and pirates,” Chen said tightly. “I believe we are about to meet up with some.”
I glanced up ahead, and my stomach tightened at the sight of five muscular Garaians headed our way.
While they were all at least a head shorter than Iannis or Garrett, their swagger and confidence showed they considered themselves masters of all they surveyed.
All but one were shaved bald, and they wore broad leather sashes over showy silk clothes.
Gold rings and chains clanked from their necks and ear—a gaudy display of wealth.
They were a lot better dressed than the pirates we’d killed, but the wickedly sharp swords and cutlasses swinging from their sides, and the dangerous gleam in their eyes, told me that they were probably going to be more trouble.
The man in the middle, whose head was shaved though he sported a long, thin mustache, stepped forward and addressed us in Garaian. The smug tone in his voice got my back up, and my fingers drifted toward my chakram pouch. Who the hell did these bastards think they were?
“These men work for Bao-Sung, the local pirate overlord. He says that Bao-Sung would like to meet with us,” Chen translated. “Immediately.”
“That sounds more like an order than an invitation,” I said, my hands on my hips. And not one that I liked the sound of.
“We could kill them,” Garrett mused, his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “But that would cause a scene, and we do not want to draw the attention to the local authorities so quickly after our arrival.”
“Indeed,” Iannis agreed. He showed absolutely no emotion on his face as he regarded the pirates. “Director Chen, tell these fine men that we are happy to meet with their boss.”
Director Chen relayed the message, and the head thug grinned, nodding.
The five immediately closed ranks around us, and my spine stiffened as several of the pirates raked me with lecherous stares.
Not that I feared them, but it was pissing me off that I couldn’t just punch them in their pockmarked faces.
Instead, I had to stay quiet and let these bastards herd us up the docks and into the big stone house that squatted a little higher up the hill, dominating the cove.
Turning my head back at the picturesque beach and the colorful sails of the boats, I wondered why such a pretty place was so infested with criminals.
We had to step over the lower rim of the door—a custom that was followed all over Garai, I had learned, to keep out evil spirits—and were conducted to a small open-air inner courtyard, where a middle-aged man was smoking a water pipe.
He did not rise from his divan as he surveyed us with his dark eyes.
The place was crawling with more servants and guards, who all regarded us with derision.
Not a single woman was in sight, but my sharp ears picked out the sounds of childish laughter and soft female voices from deeper inside the building.
“Play along,” Iannis told me as the thugs motioned for us to bow. “We’re not in any real danger. We can get out of this at any time.”
I swallowed my retort as I shallowly bowed to the pirate lord, along with the others.
From his scent, he was displeased that we were not prostrating ourselves at his feet, but then again, we were still dressed very plainly, and the pirates didn’t know what we were capable of.
It made sense not to reveal our true nature until the last possible moment.
The pirate boss himself wore a Garaian silk tunic and pants, and unlike many of his henchmen, had long hair braided down his back.
He would have looked respectable if not for the gold hoops in his left ear and the tattoos showing on his neck and his left forearm.
His dark eyes gleamed with greed and curiosity as he looked us over, lingering on me much longer than the others.
My nose twitched as I smelled his lust, and I forced myself not to react.
He spoke to Director Chen briefly, and then turned to the rest of us and began speaking again.
“He says to tell you that he is confiscating our ship, and that he is going to sell us as slaves,” Chen translated, “as punishment for coming to the port without his official leave.”
“That’s preposterous!” Garrett said, taking a step toward the pirate leader. “This is a public port! You don’t own it, and you can’t control who comes and goes!”