“Such is the way with gods, apparently,” he muttered under his breath. He would truly kill for a glass of wine.
Kayu found her mark quickly, a grizzled older captain with a galley smaller than the one they’d sailed over on. Raffe hung back while she did the deal, falling into the role of brawn and letting her be the brains. He kept a hand on his dagger hilt—he’d left his tor back in Valleyda; his rudimentary skill with the thing was embarrassing when Lyra was around—and ambled up behind Kayu, trying to look like a hired guard rather than the son of a Meducian Councilor. His fine doublet had already earned him some looks, and he felt it was probably more prudent to stay beneath anyone’s notice.
“Six of us,” Kayu said emphatically. “As early tomorrow morning as you can.”
“Only six will cost you extra,” the captain said. He flashed a grin pocked with missing teeth. “I don’t leave the harbor with less than ten, to go all the way to Floriane. Have to make the trip worth it.”
That was a lie; the galley bobbing in the water behind him wouldn’t carry ten passengers unless they slept on top of each other in the hold. Kayu knew that, Raffe saw it in the downward pull of her mouth, but she didn’t argue. Instead, she tugged a purse from her waist and started counting out coins.
“Be ready when the sun rises,” she said as she dropped the last coin in the captain’s gnarled hand. “And remember the number of passengers.”
“Aye.” The captain, for all that he’d named the price, seemed taken aback at the amount of money he’d just been handed. With a surreptitious look at the bustling harbor, he shoved the coins into the pocket of his coat. “When the sun first licks the sky, I’ll be waitin’。 For six passengers.” He held out his hand to shake.
Kayu gripped it. When she pulled, the captain gave a little grunt of surprise, tugged forward more by shock than any particular strength on Kayu’s part.
“I have an eye for faces,” she said, voice pitched low. “And friends in places that could make your life very uncomfortable, if you decide not to hold to our bargain. Just letting you know.”
Raffe’s eyes went wide, but when the captain shot a startled look his way, he tried to school his expression into nonchalance.
“You have my word,” the captain said, fingers squirming to get out of Kayu’s grip. “Sunrise, six passengers, at the Temple dock.”
“See you then.” Kayu turned on her heel. Raffe followed. When he looked over his shoulder, the captain was shaking out his hand, like Kayu’s grip had squeezed off his circulation.
Once they’d left the harbor behind, Raffe sped up until they walked apace. “You drive a hard bargain.”
“Had to.” Kayu tried for a smile, but it fell flat. “Sailors will scam you cross-eyed if you aren’t careful. You should’ve seen what I had to pay the ones that brought us here.”
A sound enough answer; still, Raffe sped up again, overtaking her and then turning around so they were face-to-face, halting her forward stride. “Kayu.”
Her full lips pressed together, dark eyes finally meeting his. “Raffe.”
“Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothing is wrong.” Something in her heart-shaped face went flinty. “Why, are you afraid I’m going to renege on your meal ticket if my mood goes sour? I know you don’t think much of me, but I’m more trustworthy than that.”
“Kayu,” he said again, because her name was all he really knew to hold whatever feeling this was. Irritation, yes, but also worry, and not just for himself.
She didn’t say anything, eyes wide on his. He didn’t realize he’d put a hand on her shoulder until he felt her muscle tremor beneath his palm.
Raffe swallowed. Then he dropped his hand. “I’m not worried about the money,” he said. “I’m worried about you.”
Her mouth twisted; he couldn’t tell what emotion caused it. Kayu took a breath, looked away from him. Thoughts raced behind her eyes.
“It’s this place,” she said finally, softly. “I don’t have pleasant memories here.”
“At the Temple?”
She nodded, making her waterfall of black hair ripple in the wind off the ocean. “I didn’t come under the best circumstances.” It was almost a whisper, like it was something she didn’t want to admit. “My father… he wanted to marry me off. To a brute of a man who’d had four wives already, every one of them mysteriously dead within six months of matrimony. I’m the third daughter. My only value is in my marriage, how much money or power or strategic influence it can bring the Emperor.”