up into his face, studying the wrinkles that framed his deep-set eyes, and he glanced over my head nervously for a fraction of a moment, to the deck. He was making sure no one was watching us, and that was the only answer I needed.
He reached for the peg on the mast beside us, leaning over me. “Not here.” His voice ground, making me swallow hard.
If Clove was looking out for me, then he hadn’t turned on Saint. He hadn’t turned on me. And that could only mean one thing. Zola wasn’t the only one who was up to something.
My father was, too.
“Dredger!” The bosun shouted over the wind, his hands cupped over his mouth. “Helmsman wants to see you! Now!”
I tried to meet Clove’s eyes, but he snapped the book shut, crossing the deck. He walked through the open door to the helmsman’s quarters and I stopped before it, watching Zola. He stood at the window, his hands clasped behind his back.
Clove took a seat at the end of the table, setting one foot up on his knee and leaning back into the chair beside a basin filled with suds.
Zola looked over his shoulder to me when I didn’t move. “Well. Come in.”
I glanced between them, searching for any hint of what was coming. But Clove looked unconcerned. He’d done a good job of convincing Zola, but there had to have been a price for that trust. Clove had never been an innocent man, but I wondered what he’d done to get on this ship.
“The haul?” Zola lifted the tails of his coat to sit on the stool beside the window.
“Sorted and itemized with the letter of authenticity from the merchant in Sagsay Holm,” Clove reported, rote. “He put total worth around six thousand coppers.”
I flinched at the number. Six thousand coppers in one trade. That was the kind of sum that launched entire trade routes.
“And you checked them?” Zola looked up to me.
“Twice,” Clove answered.
But Zola was still looking at me. “I want to hear it from you. Did you check the stones?”
“Twice,” I repeated, irritated.
“The person these stones are going to will catch it if you missed anything. And I don’t think I need to tell you what will happen if she does.”
“Guess you’ll have to wait and see,” I said flatly.
“Guess we will,” Zola said. “I want you cleaned up and ready before we make port.” He motioned to the basin.
I stood up off the wall, dropping my arms. “Ready for what?”
“You’ve got business in Bastian.”
“No, I don’t. I got your haul. I checked your stones. I’ve earned my coin three times over.”
“Almost,” Zola said.
I stared at him. “I’m done playing this game. When am I going back to the Narrows?”
“Soon.”
“Give it to me in days.” My voice rose.
Zola tipped his chin up, looking down his nose at me. “Two days.”
My hands curled into fists at my sides. I let out a frustrated breath.
“I have one more thing I need you to do. After that, your fate is in your own hands.”
But I wasn’t going to rely on the Luna to get me home. I had a better chance with just about any other ship in Bastian’s harbor. I could buy passage from another helmsman and sail back to the Narrows with fewer enemies than I had here. “Give me my coin now and I’ll do whatever you want.”
“That’s fair.” Zola shrugged. “But you’re only getting half. The other half, you can have tomorrow night.”
“What’s tomorrow night?”
“It’s a surprise.” He opened the drawer of his desk and took out a purse, counting out twenty-five coins quickly. When he was finished, he set his hand on the pile and slid them over the maps toward me.
Clove got back to his feet.
“I need you dressed and down on that dock by the time Bastian is in sight.” Zola closed the drawer and stood, coming around the desk to face me.
“Boots.” Clove held out a hand, waiting.
I looked down to my feet. The leather of my boots was still scuffed and muddy from the streets of Dern. I muttered a curse, sliding my feet from each one and leaving them on the ground for him to pick up himself. The tick of a smile twitched at the corner of his mouth before he bent down to snatch them up.
Zola opened the door and waited for Calla to enter before he and Clove left. She had a change of clothes draped over her arms, and I glowered at the ruffled