OoOoO

What felt like hours, but was probably only minutes, passed as Vinie, Gideo, and Bakko sprinted along the back alleys of Moaan. Finally, when their legs would carry them no further they paused, gasping for breath behind a stack of crates. The air was hot and stifling in the narrow alleyway. Vinie gulped down lungful after lungful of the heavy air, feeling rivulets of sweat plaster her clothes to her back, arms, and legs. They seemed to be doing a lot of running these days.

With a cough and a spit, Gideo regained enough breath to speak. He stood barely upright with his hands braced on his knees.

"Well, that went better than it could have."

"And also worse," Bakko wheezed, looking like he was about to pass out. The old pearl diver did in fact collapse to the ground. With a grimace of pain, he stuck his bad leg out in front of him and started massaging the spindly calf muscles. Vinie noted that his leg must be getting stronger if he could run even short distances on it. "If we weren't wanted in Moaan before, you can bet your life we are now."

Pushing her damp, black braid back over one shoulder, Vinie sent a chagrined half smile in her dad's direction. She decided not to let Bakko know that there was a rather large dock rat poking its nose out of the crate behind where he sat.

"It was only a matter of time anyways," she said, trying not to sound defensive. "Besides, you heard the magistrate; twenty-five lashes just for smoking sativa. Bury my bones if I was going to stand and watch that!"

"I'm not saying it was the wrong thing to do, just bloody brazen all the same," Bakko replied. "It's done now though, and we're going to have to think of somewhere to hide out." He jerked his chin toward the sunny main street where it beckoned at the end of the alley. "This quarter of Moaan is going to be overrun with soldiers for days."

"We can't go back to the Gull's Nest, even if we had any money." Gideo shed his sweat soaked vest and gave it a few shakes before shrugging back into it. "The innkeeper wasn't exactly inconspicuous in the fight, so she'll have enough trouble to manage without us around."

Nadathan and Sula's invitation from earlier came back to Vinie then, and she snapped her fingers.

"Yas, it's our best bet," she declared aloud to herself.

Both Gideo and Bakko looked at her with near identical expressions of confusion. Vinie didn't imagine Gideo would appreciate being told that he resembled the wizened old Bakko in any capacity though.

"As much as I would like to agree, I don't dare for fear of agreeing to storm the Southern Citadel next," Gideo chuckled nervously. "I'll fish for your thoughts?"

"Sorry, I was thinking out loud. What I mean was that Sula and Nadathan told me where to find them before we escaped the square. They have a boat in the Serpent's Tunnel too, and want to hear more about...well, about this idea for a new country."

Bakko struggled to his feet. Gideo moved to offer him a hand up, but Bakko waved the help aside.

"This is, as they say, your mad fool adventure, Vinie. Lead the way, my pearl." Then he frowned, the dim light of the alley making him squint. "What's that?"

Following her dad's urgent pointing, Vinie looked down at herself. She stiffened with surprise to discover that the slickness on her forearms was not in fact sweat, but blood.

With shocking speed, Bakko was at her side, his knobby fingers gripping her wrists and turning her forearms upside. The sunlight from overhead barely reached down to where they stood between the buildings on either side. It was hard to see in the heady shadows, but Vinie thought the cuts crisscrossing her dark skin did not look so very deep.

"Here, sit down."

Bakko's tone would brook no protests, and Vinie did as she was told. The back of her legs hit a crate and she eased into a half-sit, half-stand.

"When did that happen?" Gideo asked, concern tightening his words.

"Probably when I tackled the magistrate; he had a knife."

Vinie bit her lip when Bakko gently prodded at the edge of one slash. A line of blood promptly rose up and ran around her wrist, a single drop threatening to break loose and fall to the stones below.

"Gideo, let's have your belt. These are still bleeding and need to be tied." Any hint of fussiness and uncertainty was gone, replaced by the swift, assured dad that Vinie remembered from her girlhood days when she had scraped her leg open on a sharp coral reef.

Without hesitation, Gideo undid the knot that kept his colorful woven belt tied around his waist. Using his teeth to make the first tear, he ripped it straight down the center into two thinner strips. These Bakko used to wrap several times around each of Vinie's forearms. The sudden pressure stung, and Vinie had to bite down a hiss of pain.

"Now isn't the time or place to worry about this," Vinie ground out. "Dad, can you lead us back to the Serpent's Tunnel from here?"

Bakko did not look happy about leaving Vinie to run around with bleeding wounds on her arms. Neither did he likely want them out in the open in Moaan any longer than they needed to be. Shaking his head, he adjusted the strips of scarf one more time before letting Vinie stand.

"Prison's made you reckless, you know that?"

"I was always reckless."

Gideo chortled. "She has you there Bakko."

Bakko gave Gideo and Vinie both a stern look. He started down the alley toward the street entrance nonetheless.

"Come on. The both of you may be old enough to have half-grown children of your own, but you're still young hellions. Let's see if we can make it to the harbor without anyone getting arrested or stabbed, yas?"

OoOoO

They had to be cautious, keeping their faces downturned and meandering rather than walking with purpose through the streets. It was hard, especially since every loud call or unusual noise set their hearts racing. Gideo's height was far from helpful too; his distinctive mop of curly hair easily cleared the heads of most of the Moaanese in the crowd. He did his best to hunch his shoulders and walk stooped, but there was only so far he could carry that posture without looking equally unusual.

Bakko led them by the most direct route, straight back down to the harbor. The Bay of Torbos was clogged full of ships coming and going today. Vinie wondered how they didn't become entangled in one another, or how a tiny skiff didn't get broadsided by one of the large merchant cogs. Somehow the sea-faring traffic managed to conduct their suffocating dance without incident. Maneuvering in the Bay of Torbos was not for amateur mariners.

The Serpent's Tunnel was likewise crowded. The smell of many bodies all in one place mingled with sea salt was a pungent aroma, but Vinie was grateful for the cover the multitudes provided them with. Still following Bakko, they made their way down the long, covered walkway of the tunnel.

Finding the jaliboot Nadathan had spoken of proved to be harder than they expected. There must have been easily a hundred boats tied up on either side of the Serpent's Tunnel. They passed their little dhow as they searched, and Gideo took a moment to check that everything was as they left it. Not that they had had anything worth stealing with them on their sea voyage anyways. The small craft was dwarfed by the cutter it sat next to, but Vinie's heart swelled affectionately at the sight of it anyways. She and Zaneo had built that dhow with their own four hands, and she would forever be grateful to Sahar for having kept it safe.

When finally they did find Nadathan and Sula's jaliboot, it was at the very furthest end of the Serpent's Tunnel on the side opposite to where Vinie, Bakko, and Gideo stood. As tempting as it was to just jump into the water and swim across the channel, the risk of being keelhauled by a passing boat was too high. They had to trek all the way back up one side of the tunnel and down the other.

"If they were any further away from dry land, they'd be outside the Bay of Torbos," Gideo grumbled.

"They're also smart," Bakko countered. "Who would ever come this far down the tunnel unless they had a boat tied up down here? This is as private a spot as you can get in a city like Moaan."

The jaliboot's high sides and narrow prow made the eastern boat look as slender as a knife. No doubt it could cut through water, and quick and quiet as a knife too. The green paint on the hull confirmed that this was the craft they sought. Vinie called out soft and low toward the cabin.

"Sula? Nadathan?"

At first there was no reply, only the gentle lapping of water on boat hulls. Vinie tried again, a tiny bit louder this time. There were other boat owners not too far away down the tunnel, and she dared not call too loudly. One more time she tried, this time as loudly as she would risk.

A door creaked, and someone stepped out from the jaliboot's cabin onto the deck. The sun reflected off the sea, casting ribbons of pale light onto Sula's face. She wore the same billowy tunic and cinched pants from their first meeting in the square, but also a woven headwrap that covered the top of her thick hair. Her eye was darkening from purple to black and nearly swollen shut.

"Come aboard, quickly."

She waved them onto the deck. It was a hard step to clear the high sides of the jaliboot, and Vinie's short legs almost didn't make it. Gripping tightly for balance made her arms sing with pain. Now that she was aware of the cuts, they only seemed to become more insistent with each movement.

"You found us quickly," Sula commented as she ushered them through the cabin door.

"In truth, we have few other places to go," Gideo admitted, ducking to avoid smacking his head on the threshold. "The inn where we were staying is likely to be watched closely now."

Sula turned up the wick on an oil lantern hanging from the rafters of the low ceiling. The space was small and smelled strongly of a spice Vinie didn't know. There was a single bunk in one corner made up with woven blankets decorated in a brown and white geometric pattern. Nadathan lay stripped to the waist on his stomach, but propped himself up on his elbows when they entered.

"You got away safely I see," he said. "Luck was with us all today then."

"Some more than others." Sula tucked a leg under herself as she settled onto the narrow bunk beside Nadathan. Taking up a bloodied cloth and a small bottle of liquid, she dabbed at the two long red stripes that decorated Nadathan's back. Nadathan's sun-kissed shoulder twitched, but other than that he did not react. "There is water in the cask there, and some flatbread on the table. Please, eat and drink if you wish."

Tentatively Gideo, Bakko, and Vinie arranged themselves around the table on benches that were so close to the cabin walls they could scarcely be pulled out. Gideo poured water into hollowed horns he found hanging from the rafters. A single sip reminded Vinie just how thirsty she was, and she drank deeply despite the strange smell the inside of the horn gave off. What kind of creature such a horn would have come from she couldn't imagine.

"Can I trouble you for a needle and thread, if you have them?" Bakko was speaking to Sula. "My daughter, her arms were cut up in the fight."

Self-consciously, Vinie lowered her arms down into her lap beneath the table. Nadathan nodded toward a small cloth bag on a barrel next to the bunk. Sula dabbed once again at the whipping marks, and this time he did flinch.

"In there. Sula, do you have extra salve too?"

"Yes, but only one bottle."

Nadathan shifted, turning gingerly to look up at Sula over his shoulder. "Are we expecting many more injuries?"

"I should hope not, but all the same, I would ask that you use it sparingly."

"I will, and thank you." Bakko accepted a second bottle of the same liquid that Sula was using on Nadathan's back. "Here, let me see those, Vinie."

Vinie slowly placed her arms palms up on the time-smoothed tabletop. Bakko went to work untying the now ruined strips of scarf. As the fabric pulled away from her raw flesh, Vinie tried not to twitch and jerk. Cuts from coral were vicious, but these were deeper still, inflicted not by benign stone but by a keen blade in the hand of an attacker. They seemed not to be bleeding much when the last layer of wrap came away. Vinie was still taken aback and dismayed though to count not one but three and four slashes on each forearm.

Leaning over for a look in the lamplight, Gideo let out a low whistle. "I hate to speak bad news, PearlDiver, but those are going to scar you for sure."

"Forgive me for this, but I am thankful for both you and your scars," Nadathan spoke up across the cabin. The muscles of his jaw were taught, but his flickering smile was warm. "If not for you and your friends today, I would have far worse to deal with etched into my own skin."

Glad of any conversation to distract her as Bakko set to work cleaning up the bloody knife marks on her arms, Vinie returned a somewhat grimmer smile.

"I have seen what the law of Goran will do to those who get in its way. Believe me; I would have felt every single one of those lashes written into my soul if I had turned away."

"You spoke to the people today of a different way," Sula said. "Did you mean that?"

Vinie nodded, studiously looking away as Bakko tried to thread the needle.

"Yas, every word."

Sula for some reason looked satisfied. She and Nadathan exchanged a glance, an entire unspoken conversation unfolding in the space of a blink.

"The reason I ask is because you are not the first person I have heard to speak of such things. Does that surprise you?"

"There are others who want the south to separate?" Vinie leaned forward on the bench so abruptly that she almost bumped her dad. A sharp protest from Bakko reminded her that in a few minutes it would be most unwise for her to be jumping around.

"Well, not the south, exactly," Nadathan said. "The east. Have you ever been beyond The Teeth?" When they all shook their heads, he continued. "If you had, you would know that things are very different where we come from. The laws, the customs, the way we dress, the foods we eat, very little resembles what we call West Goran. There are only two ways to get to the east from Amenthere; traverse the oft-blocked Old Mountain Road across The Teeth, or sail from Moaan all the way around the southern edge of Goran to Derbesh. As you can imagine, that means official representation from the capital is sparse in the east. There are so few magistrates with royal authorization, and even fewer that have not lived in the east for so long out of necessity that they prefer to turn a blind eye. Even if a magistrate were to get uppity and try to supersede clan law, the eimirs, our clan leaders, would pitch them so far out into the Hanara Desert they would forget what water even looked like before they died."

"You mean you're not governed by the crown?" Gideo sounded both stunned and thrilled. Then he noticed Bakko trying and failing miserably to thread the needle with his arthritic hands and frowned. "Here, Bakko, can I do that?"

Bakko sighed and handed over the needle and thread. Vinie let out a private sigh of relief when Gideo traded Bakko places on the bench next to her. With a quick motion, Gideo had the needle threaded. Bakko settled for sitting across from Vinie and placing a comforting foot atop of hers while Gideo started stitching.

Biting her tongue around her words, Vinie tore her attention away from what Gideo was doing to her forearms. She listened to Sula speak overtop of Gideo's bent head. At least years of skin painting had made Gideo's fingers unusually deft.

"No, on paper we are still very much a part of Goran. Amenthis's brother, Anders, was the one who led the clearing of the East, according to history, and so we belong to the nation of Amenthis's heirs. However, Anders did name himself the first Wal of the East, and much of eastern governance was left to him by Amenthis. There has not been a wal for centuries now. In private and sometimes not-so-private conversations, the suggestion has been made for the East to declare ourselves independent and name a wal to govern us once again."

Nadathan's words sent unfiltered hope and relief flooding through Vinie. If others had said the same of the East, then maybe her dreams of southern independence were not so crazy after all. They might have allies in their quest for freedom, support from the East if they could only just convince the people to rise up with them. A particularly sharp stab from the needle barely dimmed the growing bubble of light in Vinie's chest.

"And where do you two fit in to all that?" Bakko was asking Nadathan.

Rising, Sula patted Nadathan's shoulder to free him from her ministrations. Moving slowly, he sat up and reached for a clean tunic spread across the pillow. Vinie could clearly see the angry red tracks across his olive-skinned back, stretching from hip to shoulder blade. It seemed a crime that anyone should have damaged such a well formed person.

Sula went to a small port window and wrung her cloth out into the sea. "We are members of two different clans, Clan G'Hesh and N'Shar. Nadathan's clan, N'Shar, is very much in favor of the becoming its own country. In fact, they have designs on the title of wal for one of their own, if such a thing ever came to pass. My clan, G'Hesh, not so much. Our eimir has benefitted a little too much from good relations with Amenthere," she added darkly.

"But you personally believe in separation from Goran?" Vinie pressed.

"Yes, I do. After what's been done to Nadathan today, and what Gorian law would have done further, how could I not?"

"Then maybe we could help each other." Vinie barely felt the knitting together of her skin now. Gideo was so absorbed in his work that she did however feel his hot breath on her wrist. "We all want the same thing for our homelands."

Sula chewed her lip. Little sun lines sprung up at the corners of her eyes, barely visible beneath the soot-black paint she had rimmed them with. Vinie guessed Sula to be close to her own age, if a year or two younger.

"Maybe. Nadathan and I are strangers in Moaan, and now wanted strangers at that, so I don't know how much help we could be. Still, you three are welcome to lay low here tonight. No sense spreading felons out in many different places to be found, hmm?"

"Thank you," Bakko said fervently.

The moment Gideo was done stitching Vinie's arms, Bakko leaned across the table to wipe away the blood and start wrapping her up with strips of clean linen given to him by Sula. Nadathan meanwhile went out onto the deck to check their mooring lines.

After sharing a brief meal of the flatbread, a tasteless, if oddly filling morsel, they set about trying to make themselves comfortable in the jaliboot's tiny cabin. Gideo and Nadathan rigged up the blanket from the bunk with rope to make something Sula called a "hammock". It swung and creaked when Vinie tried to climb into it, but in the end she managed the transition with Gideo holding one end. Sula and Nadathan slept in their bunk, and Bakko and Gideo laid out sacks of flour to sleep on the floor of the cabin. Vinie tried to brow-beat Bakko into trying to share the hammock with her, but Nadathan intervened, stating that a hammock would crush two people together so tightly neither would ever rest.

A great deal of tossing and turning kept everyone awake for an hour or two. It had been a very eventful day though, and one by one the five people in the cabin dropped off to sleep. Nadathan slept on his front with an arm slung over Sula's chest. Gideo's deep breathing threatened to transition into snores. Bakko lay curled only an arm's length away from where Vinie swung in her hammock.

As for Vinie, she lay awake staring up into the darkness for some time more. The curve of the hammock was unusual beneath her spine, and the feeling of hanging in air felt even stranger. The itching of the stitches in her arms did nothing for comfort's sake either. When finally she did ease into sleep, she dozed fitfully, waking several times throughout the night.

OoOoO

Sunrise broke over the Bay of Torbos orange and early, heralded by the cries of over a hundred gulls. The sound of knocking brought Vinie back to full wakefulness. Had she really heard it, or was her tired mind playing tricks on her? It was still difficult sometimes to fully trust everything she heard and saw, especially after her vision in the sea spray on their way to Moaan.

Another knock echoed around the cabin, louder this time, and very close. Someone was standing on the deck of the jaliboot, literally outside the cabin door! Sula and Nadathan sat bolt upright, Nadathan keeping his arm in place in front of Sula while she retrieved her tunic from beside the bunk. Gideo and Bakko likewise were on their feet quick as a thought, Bakko's joints protesting the whole way.

"We've been found,"Vinie mouthed at Sula.

Her full lips set in a grim line, Sula nodded. Nobody made a sound, or even breathed when the knocking came again. With every round it grew sharper and more insistent.

"Nadathan N'Shar?"

A voice came through the thin wood door, but it was not what they were bracing for. This was the voice of a woman, one that almost could have been familiar.

Nadathan got to his feet and cautiously made to approach the door. Gideo made as though to block him when he apparently remembered whose boat they were on. With his ear cocked to listen, Nadathan answered.

"Who's asking?"

"Someone who seeks a new way."

Everyone inside the cabin darted nervous glances around at one another. Sula nodded imperceptibly, and Nadathan opened the door.

Standing on the deck was the woman from the square the day before, the one in colorful silks and a flamboyant headwrap. She was somewhat less standout-ish today; her long robes and headwrap were of a moss green color tone with white spots. She was most certainly the same woman though. Her form was generously rounded, bringing to mind a mother who has birthed and carried multiple children to adulthood. She would most definitely have been an incredible beauty in her youth, and was still reasonably fetching on the verge of middle age. She wasn't quite dark enough to be from Utunma, so Vinie figured she was likely Moaanese.

"Ah good, my directions were right then!" the woman exclaimed, her large, heavily lashed eyes brightening with pleasure. "May I come in?"

"Who are you, and how did you find us?" Nadathan demanded, standing across the doorway.

Vinie saw something glint in Sula's hand and realized it was a small, highly curved dagger with barbs near the handle. It occurred to Vinie then that she, Bakko, and Gideo were completely unarmed, just as they had been in the square. In hindsight, what they had done yesterday was incredibly reckless without any weapons or ability to use them.

"My dear sativa smoker, I can find anyone I want in this city. Thank the luck that led me to you, actually. Now, where is the little Utunman woman with fire in her belly?"

"You're looking for me, yas?" Vinie stepped around Gideo and into the light from the doorway. The sunlight made her squint, and she lifted a hand to shade her still sensitive eyes.

"Oh, so you've already all found each other, even better!" the stranger exclaimed, clapping her round hands together. "That will make this all far easier, with no having to repeat myself."

"I think you had better start making some sense, right now." Sula stalked toward the woman in the doorway, making no effort to hide the knife she held. "Who are you, and what do you want?"

If she saw the knife the stranger was barely ruffled by it. If anything, she seemed more pleased than ever.

"My name is Kiisss, and I can confidently swear by the sea that your interests and mine are aligned. Now, will you please let me inside so my standing here on your deck doesn't attract any unwanted attention?"

Without even waiting for a proper invitation, Kiiss ducked under Nadathan's arm. Her presence took the small cabin from crowded to jam packed.

"Now then, that's better," Kiiss said, plunking herself down onto a bench at the table. "Perhaps you had all best sit, yas? You look liable to fall down at any moment."

It was true; they did all have expressions ranging from open fear to bewilderment tightening their faces. Vinie was also curious. Eyes still on Kiiss, watching her every move, she sat down across the table. A moment later so did Nadathan and Bakko. Sula remained standing, arms folded across her chest with the curved knife glinting against her sleeve. Gideo likewise hovered against the wall, eyeing Kiiss like one would watch a landed shark.

"Would you prefer more detailed introductions, or shall we skip past that and go straight to business?" Kiiss asked pleasantly. She placed her hands palm down on the table, and more gemstones than Vinie had ever seen before in her life sparkled up at them.

"Both, but keep it to the facts and truths," Vinie said.

"Of course. Now I know you, Nadathan N'Shar. Everyone who was in that square yesterday does, after all. I'm afraid I could use names for everyone else though. You're from Utunma, yas?" She addressed Vinie.

Vinie nodded. "Yas."

"And your name is?"

Bakko was squeezing Vinie's knee beneath the table. Vinie didn't trust this woman as far as she could throw her, but neither did she see any point in lying about her name. They might as well connect all the points on the map here.

"Vinie."

Kiiss let silence linger a moment, hoping to get a surname out of Vinie. When none was forthcoming she raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment.

"And judging from the way you're hovering, my dear fellow, you must be some way related to this fiery orator. You are?"

"...Bakko."

"Well Bakko, as you can see, I am hardly an armed brigade of guards. With how that one there is brandishing her knife at me, I suspect if things came to blows you all could handily kill me and feed my corpse to the fishes. You may as well relax; I can hardly do worse to you than hurl harsh language."

"It's not you we're worried about; it's whoever might be with you," Gideo spoke up from against the back wall.

"Now you are a handsome one, aren't you?" Kiiss waved at Gideo with a coy wink. "How you can walk from one end of the street to the other without getting mobbed I can't imagine. What do I call you, besides 'Love'?"

Gideo's eyes rolled so hard they almost fell out of his skull. "I'm Gideo, but call me 'Love' even once and you can add IdiotStrangler to my name."

"And you would still be just as lovely even so. And you?" Kiiss's demeanor cooled somewhat when she turned from Gideo to Sula. When she was met with stony silence Kiiss arched a painted eyebrow. Finally, Sula grumbled out;

"Sula G'Hesh."

"A G'Hesh and a N'Shar? Interesting..."

"Alright, enough about us." Bakko waved a gnarled hand, cutting off further commentary from Kiiss. "Just who do you think you are, tracking us down all the way out here?"

Kiiss straightened her headwrap nonchalantly, taking her time in answering. This woman set Vinie's teeth on edge, but she also had to admit it was rather interesting that a lone, unarmed person would dare to walk into a room full of edgy strangers and leave them hanging on each word.

"I, dear Bakko, am an art merchant. I travel amongst the highest classes in all the towns and cities of Goran for the purchasing and selling of beauty. If there is aesthetic appeal to something, I will find it and I will find a buyer for it. Business is good, as you can see." Kiiss flashed her rings at them once again. "However, it could be even better. If there's one thing we high class merchants love, it's opportunity. That is why your talk of a new country appeals to me so much."

Vinie was confused, to say the least. A quick glance at Gideo confirmed that he, likewise, had no idea where Kiiss was going with this. Nadathan and Sula seemed dubious . Only Bakko showed any glimmer of understanding.

"You think you could make a new country profitable?" he asked. "How, exactly?"

"Tariffs, my good man, tariffs! You don't know what those are? Neither does anyone else who doesn't study theoretical economics. I'll tell you then. If a new country separate from Goran were to be created, then hypothetically that new country could trade with Goran. The two would have their own markets and economies, which of course they would want to strengthen by encouraging their citizens to buy at home. But suppose someone from Goran wants to buy something that can only be found in the new country? Well then, that something would have to be brought across the border, or imported. To do that though, the buyer would also have to pay a tax on whatever they're importing. Which means extra money for the people in charge, as well as extra money for the merchants who arranged the sale. So you see, it is in my very genuine interests to try to get this idea of a new country from a rum dream to a reality."

"It isn't a rum dream!" Vinie protested. "I spent years in prison arriving at this idea."

"I'm sure you did." Kiiss didn't sound convinced. "However you got the idea, I like it, and I am here to offer you access to my network of resources."

To say that Vinie was stunned would have been an understatement. Such an offer should have had her prancing about, whooping with glee. There was something about Kiiss that she didn't trust though. Apparently she wasn't alone in that sentiment either. Neither Nadathan nor Sula jumped to accept Kiiss's offer of assistance. Bakko sat sucking on his teeth, his graying eyebrows pressed together.

"Can you give us a moment to talk this over?" Nadathan asked. When Kiiss nodded but didn't budge, he added, "A moment alone?"

"Oh, very well, but remember that there are eyes besides the ones I own in Moaan. Don't leave me waiting outside for too long!"

With a rustle of moss green draperies, Kiiss got up and showed herself out of the cabin. Sula followed her and locked the door anyways for good measure. Only when the self-professed art merchant was out of sight did everyone let out a breath.

"I say we sail her out into the middle of the sea and throw her overboard!" Gideo exclaimed, throwing up his hands. "We heard it from her own mouth; her only interests here are her own."

"Yes, but that might also mean she'd be personally invested enough not to double-cross us," Nadathan pointed out. He stretched carefully, lifting the fabric of his tunic away from his raw back.

"Nadathan, we've known people like this Kiiss before in Derbesh." Sula shook her head. "Even if she doesn't betray us, she will desert us if things don't go exactly how she expects them to."

"Fine, then she deserts us," Vinie interjected. "We don't need to put all our pearls in her basket. We do need some help getting started at least though. How else are we going to challenge a dynasty, without money or connections?"

"We have money and connections in the East," Sula protested.

"You mean the N'Shar clan does." Nadathan shrugged apologetically at Sula. "Your guess is as good as mine whether my uncle would be willing to forgive and forget our last encounter. Even if he would, asking him to go public against Amenthere would be too much."

"It's no less than what you two are doing," Vinie said. "Your names are going to be just as black as ours if you stick with this any further."

"We're already stuck in this. You did after all use me as something of a bloody pennant in your call to arms yesterday," Nadathan pointed out. There was no resentment in his voice, but Vinie felt guilty regardless.

Gideo called on Bakko, where the older man was sitting quietly at the table.

"Bakko, you know more of the world and the people in it than Vinie or I. What do you think?"

Bakko shifted, his spine letting out a ripe pop, then he cleared his throat. Twice he opened his mouth as if to speak, and twice stopped himself. Everyone else in the cabin waited on their resident elder to deliver his thoughts on the matter.

"I have also known women like Kiiss, and I agree that her motivations aren't the greater good. She has however shared her motives with us, which means she's given us a chance to predict her. I'd say that is as much a gesture of good faith as we're ever going to get from a profiteer."

Gideo sighed. "I trust you Bakko, so I'll go with whatever you suggest. If she calls me 'Love' so much as once though..."

"You could always get someone to break your nose and free you from the apparent curse of your good looks," Sula suggested with a sarcastic nudge to Nadathan's arm. "Nadathan can do it, if you agree not to hit back."

"I am not going to hit him, Sula," Nadathan said mildly. "Break his nose yourself."

"I'd rather nobody broke my nose, actually."

"That's good!" Kiiss's voice sounded out muffled through the cabin door. "Your little band of traitors to the crown is going to need every resource you can get moving forward, and a face like that is worth its weight in Sols!"

"Stop eavesdropping!" Sula bellowed at the door.

Vinie couldn't help laughing a little bit. "Let's let her back in. If everyone is agreed, we'll tell Kiiss we accept her offer."

"Luck be with us," Nadathan groaned.

OoOoO