as the head of my new route to Ceros, the Trade Council will concede.”
I tried to slow my breaths, holding onto the arm of the chair. “And Saint?”
“Saint is a problem that neither of us want to have. Trust me.” She took a sip of tea from the gold rim. “He’ll be taken care of by the time we’ve set up post in Ceros. Without him and Zola to contend with, I’ll be handing you the control of the gem trade in those waters.”
I looked to West, but he was staring at Holland, his murderous gaze like fire.
“Meet me at Wolfe & Engel tomorrow night with the contract.” Her eyes fell to my shaking hands and I curled them into fists, setting them in my lap. She leaned in, the cold gentleness returning to her face. “I don’t know what filthy hull of a ship you were born on, Fable. I don’t care. But when you sail back to the Narrows, it’s going to be under my crest.”
THIRTY-THREE
The crew stared at me across the cabin, silent. Even Koy looked speechless.
“You’re not signing it,” Paj snapped. “We’ve been bleeding coin since we left Dern so that we could bring you back to the Narrows and do what we said we were going to do.”
“You can do it without me. This doesn’t change that,” I said.
“It changes everything,” Willa muttered. Behind the others, she was turned toward the lantern, watching its flame behind the glass. This had a different implication for her. If I wasn’t on the Marigold, it wasn’t likely that she’d leave the crew.
“If I sign the contract, we get the deed to the Marigold back. If Saint and the Roths come through, it won’t even matter. It’ll be void.”
“And if they don’t come through?” Willa asked.
“Then you sail one crew member light for the next two years. It’s not that long.” I tried to sound as if I believed it. Two years away from the Marigold, away from West, sounded like an eternity. But it was a price I’d pay if it meant having a place to come home to after my contract was up.
“Contract or not, we need to decide what our next move is. There’s still more than enough coin to get a trade route up and running out of Ceros.” Hamish set the open book down on the desk between us. Since we’d left Fable’s Skerry, he’d been running the numbers. “We don’t need a post, not right away.”
Everyone looked to West, but he was silent beside me.
Paj sighed, stepping forward to look at the ledgers. “There’s no point in getting a license from the Gem Guild if Holland is moving into the Narrows, so I say we stick with rye for the most part.”
“Always sells,” Auster agreed. “Mullein, too.”
It made sense. There wasn’t a port in the Narrows that wouldn’t take shipments of both.
“That’s what I was thinking.” Hamish nodded. “Still puts us at odds with Saint, but that’s nothing new. Three ports to start—Sowan, Ceros and Dern, in that order.”
“I don’t know if we’re welcome in Sowan anymore. Not for a while, at least,” Auster said.
Hamish glanced at West, but he said nothing. Word had probably travelled all over the Narrows by now about what West had done to the merchant in Sowan. That was a reputation that would take time to live down. But there was one place in the Narrows where reputations didn’t matter.
“What about Jeval?” I said.
In the corner of the cabin, Koy straightened, his eyes finding me.
“Jeval?” Paj was skeptical. “It’s a supply stop, not a port.”
“If trade is going to open up between the Unnamed Sea and the Narrows, then it’s only a matter of time before Jeval becomes a real port. It’s the only berth between Sagsay Holm and Dern.” I repeated the words Koy had spoken to me only the day before.
Hamish’s mouth turned down at the corners as he considered it. “There aren’t even any merchants on Jeval.”
“Not yet.” I glanced at Koy. “But if we’re trading rye and mullein, there will always be coin on Jeval for that.”
“It’s not a bad idea,” Auster said, shrugging. “West?”
He thought about it, scratching the scruff at his jaw. “I agree.”
“We’d have to find someone trustworthy to set up trade with,” Hamish murmured.
“I think I know someone.” I grinned, tipping my chin up toward Koy.
They all looked at him.
“That true?” Hamish asked.
Koy stood up off the wall, standing taller. “I think we could work something out.” He was playing