“Follow me,” Nathan said. “The Wavewalker is this way.”
She didn’t ask how the wizard could know such a thing or how long he had been exploring the harbor without her. Together, they walked along the pier and found the Wavewalker tied up to the third dock from the end. The ship’s figurehead showed the face of a beautiful woman with curly tresses that flowed back, transforming into ocean waves—the Sea Mother, a superstition from the southern coastal towns of the Old World.
The last carts and barrels of supplies were being loaded on board the Wavewalker for departure with the outgoing tide that night. Sailors carried cages of chickens onto the deck, and the potbellied ship’s cook led a forlorn-looking milk cow by a rope up the boarding ramp.
Sailors gathered at the rails, watching the activity on the docks, many of them looking miserable from hangovers or bruised from brawls. No doubt they had spent or lost all their money and had returned early to the ship, having no place else to go.
Nicci and Nathan walked up the ramp, carrying their packs. The wizard waved at an older man in a gray captain’s jacket, who rose from a wooden stool on the deck. The captain looked perfectly comfortable on board, liking his own ship better than the amenities in Tanimura. From the corner of his mouth, he removed a long-stemmed pipe from which wafted a curl of greenish-blue smoke, pungent with the smell of dream weed.
“Are you Captain Eli?” Nicci asked.
The man raised his bushy eyebrows and bowed, meeting them as they came aboard. “Eli Corwin, ma’am. How is it that you’re familiar with who I am?”
“One of your sailors recommended that we speak to you about booking passage south to the Old World. We wish to depart soon.”
Captain Eli removed his flat, gray cap. He had thick, wiry black hair shot through with silver strands. A dark boundary of beard outlined his jaw, but the rest of his face was clean shaven. “If departing tonight is soon enough, then this is your ship. The Wavewalker is a cargo vessel, but we have room for a few passengers, provided the fee is adequate.”
“We have more than a fee.” When Nathan puffed his chest with pride, his fancy new shirt swelled, as if the ruffles were flowers blooming. From the leather bag at his side, he removed a document and extended it to the captain. “This is a writ from Lord Rahl, master of D’Hara, appointing me his roving ambassador. The protection and status also covers my traveling companion.”
Captain Eli skimmed the writ so quickly that Nicci knew he wasn’t actually reading the words. He did not seem impressed. “This writ and the price of a passage will be enough to pay for your passage.”
Nicci felt heat rise to her cheeks. “Lord Rahl’s writ should guarantee us free passage.”
“Maybe it should.” The captain put the cap back on his head and inserted the pipe between his lips. He inhaled a long slow breath, then exhaled. “But such documents could be forged. There are many tricksters out to cheat an honest captain.” He sucked again on his pipe. “Surely a powerful man like Lord Rahl, master of D’Hara, has a treasury large enough not to begrudge me the price of your passage.”
He gestured toward the adjacent ship, where men in exotic silk pantaloons unloaded crates of spiny fruit. “For most of the captains here, a letter from a ruler they’ve never heard of will gain you nothing. For me, I’ll try to be fair.”
The cow let out a low moan as the cook tried to wrestle it down a ramp to a lower deck.
“Informing the world about Lord Rahl’s rule is part of our mission,” Nicci said. She still placed little credence in the other quest that the witch woman claimed was so important.
Captain Eli returned to his seat on the stool. “And you are welcome to tell every member of my crew about your Lord Rahl’s wonderful new empire—so long as you pay for your cabins.”
Nicci stiffened, preparing to demand that the captain acquiesce, but Nathan stepped forward. “That seems eminently reasonable, Captain. You’re a businessman, and we can be fair.” He plucked open the bindings of a small pouch in his palm and dumped gold pieces into the captain’s outstretched hand.
Surprised, the man looked at the coins, warred with his decision, and then handed two gold pieces back to Nathan. “This is enough, thank you.”
When the captain secured the coins in his own purse, Nathan whispered to Nicci, “We can always make more. Why not keep everyone happy?”
Rather than carrying huge sacks of coins from the D’Haran treasury, Nathan used his magic to transmute common metals into gold, so they never worried about having whatever money they needed. The wild people in the Dark Lands had no use for currency, but here in the civilized towns of D’Hara, Nathan found it useful to carry a fair amount of gold.
“For that price,” the wizard added, “my companion and I will each receive a private stateroom.”
The captain chuckled good-naturedly. “A stateroom? I see you’ve never been aboard the Wavewalker. In fact, I wonder if you’ve ever been aboard a ship at all? Yes, I can find a cabin for each of you. Some highborn nobles might consider them closets, but each room has a door and a bunk. After a week or two on the waves, you’ll think of them as fine accommodations.”
As long as she got to her destination, Nicci didn’t care about spacious rooms or padded furniture. “That will be acceptable.”
Some of the crewmen lounged on the deck, assessing the new passengers as if they were some strange fish they had drawn up in a net. Since the ship was due to depart soon, a stream of sailors continued to return, some staggering with hangovers, some carrying possessions they had purchased in port. They glanced at Nathan with a curious expression, no doubt wondering about his remarkable clothes and his fine sword, but their eyes lingered on Nicci, drawn to her long blond hair and the black dress that accentuated her curves. Nicci saw no sign of the young man she had rescued in the alley.
Dismissing the scrutiny of the sailors, the captain directed the two guests to their cabins. As she crossed the deck, Nicci noticed five shirtless men whose broad chests sported a waving line of tattooed circles. All five had dusky skin and mud-brown hair pulled back and tied like the tail of a warhorse. Although most of the crewmen turned their gazes away from Nicci’s stare, these haughty shirtless men stared at her with undisguised hunger.
Seeing their lascivious grins, Nathan stepped in front of Nicci. “Make way! Don’t you know this is Death’s Mistress?” The shirtless men grudgingly backed off.
Their cabins in the stern of the ship proved to be just as small and unimpressive as Captain Eli had led them to expect. Nicci could tell that Nathan was disappointed in the accommodations, and she said, “Even a small cabin is better than lying on the forest floor in the cold rain and fog of the Dark Lands.”