here and see what you can get out of Tallia, if anything. There’s something about her. Be ready to sail the instant I get back.”
“Van, I—” Holden shook his head, stood up and went to watch the tide from the window.
“You’re captain while I’m gone, that’s what you are. Try acting like it. If you want to sail off before I get back, there’s not a thing I can do about it, but I’m going and that’s flat. Now if you don’t mind, I’ve got things to see to.”
* * *
Rillen’s mind was no longer on Van Gast. Not yet. He didn’t go to arrest but to tease, to tempt his target in. He had to admit, the mages and his little Laceflower had helped him weave a deft web to catch the racks in, and he was part of the glue that would hold them there. They were going to out-con the racks.
He adjusted the set of his smartest tunic, gold braid over blue silk with golden buttons, for official functions. His trousers were of the same silk, a deep sky blue. Even the scabbard for his sword and the holster for his pistol were lined in the same material, topped with his father’s crest—a leaping dolphin.
He trotted down the steps and out of the palace, into the tightly controlled area that surrounded the licensed trading docks. Here, all was calm and order in a chaotic city. The broad paved avenue was lined with trees to shade any walkers from the harsh sun and to scent the night air. Tall, elegant houses painted in pastel shades faced the pleasure-craft marina where the now sadly depleted council and their families kept yachts and barges for entertaining their trading partners or seducing new merchants into believing they were the safest investment, the highest quality traders with the most sought after merchandise. They were sharks, perfumed sharks dressed up in silks and dripping diamonds, but sharks nonetheless.
The fat, wallowing merchant ships sat trim and tidy in their berths, their gunships standing to outside the harbor wall. The rattling chime of Forn’s bells filled the air as their crews bustled about, making everything orderly before they headed outside the docks and into the fleshpots of Estovan. Each would be stamped with a long-lasting ink on their way out, and the design, changed every day, checked on their way in. His guards stood at attention all along the wharf, keen-eyed and serious.
He stepped through the checkpoint with a terse nod to his guards and made the short trip to Kyr’s Palace—a sumptuous and thoroughly respectable establishment that none of the crewmen would ever have a hope of entering. Part inn, part meeting house, it was a way point, a place for those not licensed to deal with those who were. Maybe not where the biggest deals were struck—that was inside the licensed area—but influential people made a point of stopping here, of cultivating new contacts, maybe up-and-coming merchants trying to weasel a license with backhanders and under-the-table offers. A shark pool but a palatial one, and one where Rillen felt very much at home.
The space inside wasn’t one bar as such, more a succession of little cubbies and alcoves, dimly lit, discreet, decked out in velvet. Each cubby was decorated in a different color, and from the main bar, where quiet-voiced waiters poured out drinks, it was impossible to see into any one of them. A corridor of sorts snaked around them, past etched-glass partitions that let in light but not prying eyes.
None of the waiters met his eye or stopped him as he made his way to the black cubby. They all knew him very well. Most were at least partly in his employ, passing on tidbits they heard that might benefit him or the Yelen.
He paused a moment before he went in to meet his guests. This had to look good or the whole thing would fall apart. Thanks to his deadly Lady Laceflower and what she’d told him, he was going to get Van Gast where it hurt most, but he had to play his part to perfection.
Rillen pushed open the swinging glass partition and stepped into the cubby. It was one of the smaller ones, very cozy for those intimate chats. Black velvet drapes on the walls, black silk upholstered benches, a table made of polished jet, the darkness of the décor brightened with silver lamps and silver inlay in the table. Little clear crystals had been sewn into the