“I can get you into the Captain’s tower.”
I stare for a moment. “Why should I believe you?”
“The crew guards the main entrance, but I can show you another route.”
“It can’t be that simple.”
“It’s not.” He grins. “There’s an angel on the bottom floor. But the Council has a key that will get us past it. I’ll lend you mine.”
“And then … what?”
“That’s up to you.” He spreads his arms. “You and your princess have been asking about getting to the Captain for weeks. I assume you have some plan for what you want to say to him.”
I wish I did. But …
“And what’s in this for you? I assume that if the rest of the Council found out, they wouldn’t be pleased.”
“You assume correctly.” The Scholar raises his eyebrows. “I want you to bring me the dredwurm’s eye.”
That’s not what I expected to hear. “I thought the Council already had a bounty on that.”
“They do. Let’s say that we disagree on what should be done with it.”
“Why?”
“It doesn’t matter.” He grins again. “More of my ‘craziness.’ But that’s my price.”
“Even if I thought I could kill the dredwurm,” I say carefully, “nobody knows where it is. Half the crew is out looking for it. If I ever see the thing, it’ll be as part of some big team Zarun puts together, and I won’t be able to get the eye for myself.”
“As it happens, Zarun has just received a report from one of his scouting packs,” the Scholar says. “He’s putting together his team now, but it will take him a few days. If you hurry, you can beat him to the punch.”
“Assuming he tells me what he knows. Unless you have the location already?”
“Unfortunately, my informant didn’t quite get that far.” He taps his cane against the deck. “But you’re the Deepwalker. I have every confidence in you.”
“If I do this…” I shake my head. “If anyone found out, Zarun or the other officers, they’d kill me.”
“As they’d kill me, if they knew I let you into the Captain’s tower. I think it’s a fair trade.”
“I’m not sure I do.”
“It’s my price,” he snaps. “If you don’t like it, you’re welcome to try to find another way to get to the Captain.” He glances at the map, then back at me. “If you think you have time.”
* * *
I sit in my room, back against the wall, one foot tapping out a fast rhythm on the floor.
The Scholar may be crazy, but he’s right about one thing. This is a hell of a bet. He thinks it’s worth it, because he believes we’re all headed to the Rot.
If he’s right, we’re all going to die. And if I die here, that means Tori—
Rot, rot, Blessed’s rotten balls in a vise.
The curtain rustles, and Meroe comes in, looking worried.
“Are you all right?” she says. “Berun said you were looking for me.”
I beckon her over, and she sits beside me, favoring her bad leg only a little. She’s still carrying the cane, but she doesn’t use it much.
“Isoka?”
I hold up a finger, close my eyes, and listen. The walls here aren’t thick, Blessed knows Thora and Jack have proved that often enough. I don’t hear anything now, but best to be careful. “Try to stay quiet.”
Meroe obliges by whispering. “Isoka, what’s going on?”
“I met with the Scholar.”
“And?”
“He’s mad.”
She eyes me. “Is it contagious?”
“He made me … an offer. If we bring him the dredwurm’s eye, he can get me in to see the Captain.”
Meroe frowns. “I thought nobody knew where the dredwurm was.”
“Zarun does. If I can get the information from him, we can beat him to the prize.”
I see her eyes widen in understanding. “By ‘we’ you mean—”
“You and me. Berun. Aifin, if he’s willing.”
“Not Thora and Jack.”
I shake my head. “I like them, but they were Zarun’s people long before they were part of this pack.”
She nods, slowly. There’s a long silence.
“Do you really think we can kill the dredwurm? The four of us?”
“We killed a blueshell and a hammerhead.”
“You killed them, you mean.”
I shrug, uncomfortably. “Honestly? I don’t know. But this could be the best chance we get.”
It sounds like a weak argument, even to me. Why not wait, and look for a better opportunity? Get closer to the Council. If not for the Scholar and his rotting map, I would have agreed. But as it is … if there’s a chance …
“If you think we can do it,” Meroe says, “then I’ll help.”
I want to hug her and swear at her at the same time. Tell her she shouldn’t put so much trust in me. What in the Rot do I know?
She shifts uncomfortably, working her fingers idly through her braids. “What about Zarun?”
“I’ll figure that part out.”
“We’ll be betraying him.”
“Does that bother you?” I cock my head. “You didn’t want to accept his help in the first place.”
“I…” She bites her lip. “I can’t forget what he did the day we got here. That poor girl. But … he’s done everything he promised since then. I don’t like him, but I feel like I can trust him, if that makes any sense.”
“He’s using us, just like we’re using him. We don’t owe him anything.”
“But if he finds out—”
“He’ll kill us.” I feel my fist clench. “Or I’ll have to kill him. But he doesn’t have to find out. I have a plan.”
“Okay,” Meroe says, and the trust in her voice tears at my heart. “When?”
“I’ll get the information from Zarun tonight. We’ll go looking tomorrow morning. We can’t risk someone else getting there first.” I hesitate. “Can you talk to the other two?”
She nods. “They’ll help, I’m certain.”
Of course they’ll help. Berun is half in love with Meroe, and she’s the only friend Aifin has ever had. They’ll do it for her, and she’s doing it for me. Which means it’s all my responsibility.
Rot, rot, rot.
“Okay.” My chest feels tight. “Then we’re on.”
“Okay.” Meroe waits for a moment, looking at me. “Isoka? Are you all right?”
I’m not all right. I’m trying hard not to stare at her, my hands laced together in my lap. I know what I want to say, but it feels like my throat has swollen shut.
“It’s…,” I manage. But that’s all.
Meroe scoots closer, until she’s sitting directly opposite me, our knees touching. She takes my hands in hers and holds them gently.
“I know what this means to you,” she says, still whispering. “Getting off this ship and back to your sister. You’re doing what you have to do, Isoka.”
“I know.” She doesn’t know the half of it. Doesn’t know about Kuon Naga, or the threat hanging over Tori’s head. But I’m suddenly certain that even if she did, she’d understand. “Meroe…”
She’s right there, face inches from mine, her lips slightly parted. All I would have to do is lean forward, put my arms around her.
What I want to say is:
I didn’t think it was possible for someone to be as kind, as smart, as brave, as you are.
I didn’t think I could care about anyone but Tori. I thought I’d burned that out of myself. Blessed knows I tried.
I have never wanted a girl before. I have never wanted someone so badly in my life. I want to kiss you, touch you, drag you down, and rut until we’re both too tired and shaky to stand. To fall asleep with you in my arms, listening to you breathe.
But my arms hang dead, and my lips won’t move. Because I have no idea what she’ll say. If she wants me. If she likes women, or likes anyone.
Because the last person I slept with, I put my blade through his head when I thought it would help Tori. And I’m not sure I’ve changed.
She licks her lips, a quick dart of a pink tongue.
I get to my feet, pulling my hands away.
“I have to go.” Forcing the words out feels like vomiting broken glass.
Does she hesitate for a moment? As though she was waiting for me to say something else? “Good luck.”
* * *
First a side trip to Sister Cadua’s. She has what I need.
Then the market, which never really sleeps. A bottle of Jyashtani wine, costing far too much scrip.
Then to Zarun’s tower.
One of his crew is on guard at the door, a boy who blanches at the sight of me. I’m wearing the same outfit I had on the night of the Council meeting, sleek, tight-fitting leather and crab-shell armor, the blue tracks across my skin standing out in the lamplight. I tell him I’m here to see Zarun, and he hurries inside with the message, then reappears to escort me. He takes me up a floor via an echoing metal staircase, then raps at a door.
“She’s, uh, here,” the boy says. “The Deepwalker.”
“Very good,” comes Zarun’s voice from inside. “Get lost.”
He swallows hard, nods to me, and hurries away. I push the door open.
Zarun’s chambers aren’t as gaudy as I expected. There’s a front room with a large table and chairs, and a desk pushed into one corner. Through a rear doorway I can see a bedroom, with a huge bed in the Jyashtani style. Another room is curtained off. Zarun is standing in the bedroom doorway, wearing a black silk robe belted loosely at the waist. It hangs open enough to show off his smooth, well-muscled chest.