Cole looked as if he was about to protest until Brianna spoke up. ‘Yes, a new appearance. A more rugged look. As befits a man of action,’ she added with a small smile.
That seemed to do the trick. Cole looked thoughtful and then nodded.
‘You must avoid suspicion until you are inside the city,’ Brianna continued. ‘Our contact will take care of the rest.’
Sasha had wanted to send word to Garrett and the other Shards, but Brianna was insistent that their messenger spend as little time in Dorminia as possible. The White Lady had shown her hand when her agents tried to assassinate Salazar the last time, and the tyrant would be on the alert for more of the strange pale women. If the messenger was somehow apprehended, their plot to kill the Magelord would fall apart.
Something occurred to her. ‘Where’s Isaac?’ she asked. The manservant had been remarkably quiet ever since The Caress had liberated them from the chasing soldiers. For some reason Cole had taken an instant dislike to him.
‘Over here,’ came the manservant’s muffled voice. He was hunkered down next to a pile of crates, scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment. ‘I was just composing a little something. An ode to heroes, you might say.’
Sasha frowned. ‘Is that a lute?’
Isaac glanced at the small wooden instrument beside him. ‘Why, yes it is. I can hardly believe it survived our adventures.’
Brianna looked impressed. ‘The lute is one of my mistress’s favourites. Do you play it well?’
‘Passably well,’ the manservant replied modestly. ‘I still have much to learn.’
Brodar Kayne shook his head and gave them all a rueful grin. ‘Knowing young Isaac, I reckon that means he’s skilled enough to make stone weep. Is there anything you can’t do, lad?’
The manservant shrugged, a slightly wistful expression on his face. ‘I strive to learn a little about everything. Still, there are a great many things of which I am ignorant.’
‘Such is life,’ the old barbarian replied sagely. ‘You’re a handy man to travel alongside, Isaac. Saved our skins more than once, I reckon.’
Jerek nodded. ‘Aye,’ he said. ‘You did all right.’ From a sociopath like him, Sasha thought, that was about the highest praise anyone could expect.
Cole seemed to be growing increasingly agitated. ‘Yes, well, we had our own adventures, didn’t we, Three-Finger?’
The ugly convict shrugged. ‘Sure. If you count being imprisoned in one shithole after another and almost drowning as adventures.’
‘What about the great escape? Don’t you remember how I rescued Soeman?’
‘Yeah, but he died anyway. That flying Augmentor put a bolt in his scrawny head.’
‘And I made him pay for it,’ Cole responded grimly.
‘It was me that did for him.’
Cole’s face darkened. ‘And how many Watchmen did you kill? Let’s see.’ He raised a hand and began counting on his fingers. ‘One. Two. Is that it? Funny, I can’t seem to recall any more. There must have been at least a dozen in the boat I blasted from the water—’
‘I’m sure your heroics are worthy of many a tale,’ Brianna cut in politely. ‘But your greatest deed of all lies before you. We sail at sunset.’
‘Maybe we can spend a few hours ashore,’ Isaac suggested. ‘This region was once home to the Fade. I believe some ruins still exist nearby. I would like to study them.’
‘I could do with a break from the ship,’ Sasha added hopefully. They had docked only once in the last week. Brianna had wanted them ready to flee at a moment’s notice.
The wizard frowned. ‘I suppose it couldn’t hurt. Captain, we’ll anchor for the afternoon.’ The pale lady at the wheel raised a hand in acknowledgment and then began to guide the craft towards the shore.
Brodar Kayne flexed his legs. ‘I could do with a stretch,’ he said. ‘Put some life back into these limbs.’ He turned to Isaac. ‘I’ve a mind to hear that song you’re working on, once it’s finished.’
The manservant smiled and nodded. Cole scowled nearby. Sasha shared his annoyance, though for entirely different reasons. She wiped her sweaty palms on her trousers and rubbed at her nose. The blackness was there, clawing at the edge of her consciousness, but she wouldn’t let it in.
She caught Three-Finger eyeing her and scowled back at him. He licked his lips and turned away, and she couldn’t quite stop the shudder that passed through her.
The land was unsettled and surprisingly barren this far north of Thelassa. While still technically within the domain of the City of Towers, the poor quality of the soil