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“Ooh.” Hands on hips, I surveyed our surroundings. “Let’s split up,” I suggested. “Ask around, see if anyone knows something about Narille or what’s going on in Munarzed. I’ll try to find out when the next ship heads that way and how much passage will be.”

“Might be worth starting there,” Luthri observed, inclining his head in the direction of the large ship. It wasn’t clear if the individuals milling about the immediate area were members of the ship’s crew or not, but it wouldn’t take me long to find out.

“I’ve got this side.” Pointing the opposite way, I suggested, “Someone should head that way, and someone else down the street we came from. Meet up in a span or two?”

Luthri opened his mouth, but Daethie beat him to it. “Yrra and I will take the other side of the pier,” she proposed. “The boys can take main street—they’ll need the numbers.”

“Someone should go with Mar,” Lu countered immediately. “Two, two, and two. I’ll do it. Hohem, Vyrain, you can take main street. It’ll be more fun anyway.”

“No, you should go with someone else.” I tapped the pouch at my belt and lowered my voice. “Splitting up the money is less of a risk. You should take main street.”

Lu clicked his tongue. “Then take Yrra. For your safety.”

The groups ended up being Luthri and Vyrain, Hohem and Daethie, and me and Yrra.

We said our goodbyes with the understanding we’d reconvene soon to determine the next course of action, and Yrra and I made a beeline for the big ship.

A bearded dwarf ate breakfast alone by where the boat was tied off. It was as good a place to start as any.

“Hello!” I raised a hand in greeting. “Is that your ship?”

The dwarf, either distracted or disinterested, didn’t bother looking up. He said something I didn’t catch.

“I’m sorry?”

He repeated himself more slowly in a guttural language I wasn’t familiar with.

At my look of confusion, he jerked his chin toward a large group surrounded by wooden cases.

Half of the group appeared to be standing off against the other half, and their conversation was loud enough to be heard from where we stood.

Inserting ourselves into a tense situation wasn’t ideal, but I wasn’t about to stand around and wait for them to finish.

Yrra could only follow as I marched up to them. “Excuse me!”

“—because you can’t count ,” a woman’s voice snarled in the sudden silence that followed.

Several sets of eyes turned our way, along with one eyeless face.

The group was diverse, with a bald, green-tinted waterfolk male; a seething she-giant; an ancient, grizzled woman with smooth pits where her eyes should have been; and an androgynous being that was relatively humanoid but for the long, scaled snake tail trailing behind them.

It was the giantess who had spoken. She was dressed in the light, form-fitting layers often worn by the Northern houses, designed to keep one warm in the cooler months and be adaptable to other weather conditions.

Upon noticing us, she pulled herself to her full height—nearly three meters—and jabbed a sun-tanned, sausage-sized finger at me.

“Are you their boss?” she demanded, nose wrinkling. “This delay is unacceptable. We have a standing order every week, and we don’t make our money until the delivery is complete. There is NO reason we should have to wait for your team to get it together. Every time, at that!”

I held up my hands. “Sorry, no, I’m not involved in this. I might have a job for you, though. The little guy with the beard said you were the person to talk to about that ship?”

The giantess’s eyes narrowed. “It’s not for sale.” Behind her, the people she’d been arguing with took the opportunity to slink off and continue pulling crates together.

“I don’t want to buy it,” I said quickly. What in the world would I do with a ship like that? A pirate’s life was not for me. “I’m trying to get to Munarzed.”

Her expression went slack, then broke out in an obliging smile as she made the connection. “Oho, an adventurer! Yeah, we could work something out. How many in your party?”

“Six. Well, five and a half.”

“I charge based on mouths and assholes, not height.”

“Six, then.”

The giantess faced me, revealing another, more compact figure disguised in swathes of dark fabric who’d been sheltered in the shadow of her frame. I blinked, unnerved by its sudden appearance, before remembering what I was supposed to be doing.

“Uh… yes, so, six,” I repeated, angling my head to meet the she-giant’s eyes and wincing as the motion put me directly in the glare of the morning sun.

“You know there’s something weird going on out there?” she advised before confirming.

Her offhand comment made my heart skip a beat. Leaping at the opportunity to drive the conversation in that direction, I replied, “I’d heard. But if you have any more information, I’d love to have it. Honestly, we know very little.”

“Not unlike most of the people that go out there, then.” The giantess sucked her teeth before gesturing to her companions.

“Start loading up. I don’t want to waste any more time,” she directed them.

Turning back to me, she continued. “Munarzed was a big, ugly rock in the middle of nowhere until a couple of revolutions ago.

New management came in, a foreigner named Rugaveld, and all of a sudden, everybody was goody-goody.

The city expanded at record pace. Problems with crime were a thing of the past, and business was booming.

“That was around the time they stopped paying taxes. Didn’t respond to census requests either, and that was a big deal, because a lot of people who went out there were choosing to stay.

Obviously, the lack of communication was an issue for the leading family.

Munarzed might be a municipality, but they’re still a Kereti territory.

” She glanced down to be sure I was listening.

I held my breath and gave an enthusiastic nod of encouragement.

“So Narille goes out there to see what’s up.

Now, she’s the heir, so she’s in line to take over when her parents step back.

That’s a lot of responsibility, to be fair, but it’s something she’s been prepared for her whole life.

She goes to see Rugaveld and figure out what’s going on, and bam, she’s dropping everything to stay there.

Sends a bird home and that’s that. Anyone who tries to convince her otherwise also ends up staying. Strange, isn’t it?”

“That’s… helpful, thank you. It seems like I found the right person to ask.” I exchanged a look with Yrra. Strange didn’t begin to cover it—what was going on over there? Was their island the ultimate paradise, or was there something darker afoot?

“Gossip is one of the few pleasures of land.” The giantess grinned, revealing a mouthful of even white teeth she’d probably paid a fortune to a cosmetic change-mage for.

“But that’s not all I have to tell you. You work with people at all?

It sucks. You’ve always got people like these”—she jerked a thumb toward the suppliers she tore into moments before—“making your job harder.

“Delivering to Munarzed? Smooth sailing the whole way. They’ve got a team waiting and ready to help you unload.

As soon as you set foot on shore, they’re asking you to stop by and offering you food.

Every damn one of them’s as friendly and welcoming as the next.

Rugaveld lives in this grand old house, and his door is always open, no matter what you come to him for.

It’s nice, sure, but it rubs me the wrong way.

People don’t get along like that. It’s like they’re all part of some happy cult. ”

A cult wasn’t that far-fetched, given the evidence.

If that was the case, it made sense to try avoiding the residents so that we could investigate the situation on the island without interference.

It was large enough, so long as we could find an uninhabited area to land.

“I don’t suppose you could take us around to a quieter part of the island and drop us off where there aren’t any people? ”

“Smart.” Nodding, the giantess folded her arms. “I could manage that. Go the long way ’round and drop you on the barren side of the island. It’ll cost you extra.”

The corners of my mouth twisted downward.

“If that’s the only way,” I agreed. Better not to take any unnecessary risks.

With some luck, Luthri’s contribution would cover the cost. “I’m Mar, by the way.

” I indicated myself, then nodded toward my companion.

“And this is Yrra; he’s one of our party. The rest are around here somewhere.”

“Gerda.” The giantess extended one huge hand.

Muscle memory had me reaching out to grasp it before I remembered where I was and paused, arm extended.

Gerda didn’t hesitate. She took hold of my hand, being mindful of her size and strength, and gave it a single firm shake, then released it to slam a fist against her breast with a ferocity that made me flinch.

Stepping back, she indicated the people with her, who were hauling the crates one by one to where the ship waited.

“This is my crew,” she said proudly. “I’ll introduce you later. But you’re in good hands.”

“I’m sure, thank you.” My gaze lingered on the knee-high creature hovering behind her. It gave off the image of a shy child clutching its mother’s leg. “Are, uh… they with you too?”

“Huh?” Gerda glanced down. “Oh, there you are, Firag. Yes, my errand-runner. He’s been a more recent addition. Quick as a snap, even if he does wear more clothes than my north-born elders. The sunlight disagrees with him, or so he tells me.”

We regarded the mysterious, awkwardly shaped figure together. He appeared to stare back, though it was impossible to tell, and didn’t seem inclined to introduce himself.

“Tongue doesn’t wag much on that one,” Gerda said by way of apology.

“No worries.” I dragged my eyes back up. “Okay, so… how much are we talking? For transporting all of us to the island?”

“How much you got on you?”

My hand itched to fondle my money pouch, but that would be a dead giveaway. “That’s not how this works. ”

“Fine.” Gerda shrugged. “Thirty vodt per person. Does that seem fair?”

I bit back a curse. That would wipe out our entire purse, and we needed money for supplies too. We’d have to be frugal as it was. “Ten,” I countered through gritted teeth.

Gerda scoffed, “I’m running a business, little one, not a charity. Twenty-five.”

“You’re going that way anyway,” I argued. “But I can do fifteen.”

“Twenty. No less.”

It would be tight. Did we wait for another shipper to come along? We weren’t in any rush. Or were we? We’d lost our tents after all, and the idea of sleeping on the streets wasn’t appealing. There was no guarantee the next ship that came through would be any cheaper.

As if reading my mind, Gerda tutted. “It’s a two-day trip. The price covers your fare, bed, and food. Trust me when I say you won’t find a more generous offer.”

“Fine,” I snapped, already seeing the few coins we had slipping out of my hands. “You have a deal. Half when we board, half when we arrive at the island. When do we leave?”

“As soon as we get the merchandise loaded,” Gerda responded immediately. “Should be ready to cast off around midday. Have your group ready to go, or we leave without you.”

A final nod, and the deal was made. Gerda left to hash out details with the suppliers and oversee the loading, leaving me and Yrra to figure out our next move.

“All right. We have some time before we meet up again. Let’s keep asking around, see if anyone else knows anything.” I was already surveying the pier for a likely suspect. “With any luck, we’ll have a little more to go on by the time we have to head out.”

Nodding, Yrra slipped his hands into his pockets. “I’ll follow your lead.”

“Great.” My attention snagged on one of the little fishing boats coming back to shore to drop off a haul. They ought to be a good source of information. As my feet moved, I called, “This way!” over one shoulder, and we headed over to interrogate the new victim.