“Welp. S’pose I better get this checked,” he said, mounting his own Ash’va. The text looked correct for an official writ, but he’d have to give it to someone who could actually read to be sure.
“He didn’t suspect a thing!” Maiya said, laughing her heart out, riding behind Vir on Bumpy. “We just strolled right in and walked right out with Bumpy! Didn’t we, Bumpy?”
The Ash’va grunted.
“That’s my Bumpy,” she said, petting his hide. “You were so brave, all alone like that. Bumpy the Brave!”
Bumpy whinnied at hearing his name called. “You hear that? He likes it, Vir!”
Vir chucked. “Bumpy the Brave, huh? It’s a good name.” The plan went off so well, he was honestly surprised. Even though he lacked any training in the arts of subterfuge. Despite that, they’d pulled off a far better plan than Old Man Bakura’s gambit.
“Great call, Vir, using our makeup to disguise ourselves!”
“Just felt like we weren’t using our makeup well,” he replied, scratching his nose as he navigated Bumpy down the streets to the harbor, his hooves clacking against cobblestone. “I mean, the whole point of using makeup and changing our clothes was so we could be whoever we wanted to be. Not just two Sawai boys.”
Maiya nodded.
“But the problem was the suspicion we’d attract if we just up and changed our appearances in front of the urchins and Old Man Bakura. We needed some kind of excuse.”
“And that’s where me being an artist came from!” Maiya said, smacking a fist against her palm.
“Right. Aristocrats dabble in the arts. And makeup’s a kind of art, isn’t it?”
“It surely is!” she said. “I’m just thankful Riyan taught me. Can you imagine how much trouble we’d be in if we weren’t in disguise? We’d never be able to return to Saran!”
“I’m glad they bought it. Otherwise, we’d be dealing with a bunch of guards right now.”
“Speaking of,” Maiya said, looking around. “We could just make a run for it, right? Nobody’s any the wiser.”
But Vir shook his head. “No… All we’ve done is buy us some time. Old man Bakura mentioned it, right? The first thing that stablemaster’s gonna do is get the writ verified. And when he does, he’ll realize it’s a fake. I suspect we only have a few minutes, and the harbor’s much closer than the city gates. Besides, I’m pretty sure the guards locked the gates down the moment they learned of our jailbreak. We’d have a really tough time getting through with Bumpy.”
“Hmm. I suppose you’re right. We’d be taking a risk either way.”
“Yep. Either we chance it with Bakura, or we risk it with the guards. This whole plan only worked because the urchins knew the stablehand was illiterate. I’m actually surprised he didn’t force us to wait while he verified the writ, but I guess that’s where your makeup skills really helped.”
Vir gingerly touched his left eye. The swelling from his beat down earlier that day had decreased, but it still throbbed. Maiya had spent extra time with that area, ensuring the wound was completely hidden under foundation and compound. The stablemaster would’ve been far more suspicious of them if Vir had shown up with a black eye, after all.
They arrived at the harbor district moments later, and not a moment too soon. Vir parked Bumpy in an alley as a group of mounted guards tore across the street in the opposite direction.
“Think the guards been alerted,” he whispered, waiting for the law enforcement officials to pass them by.
There’s no way we’d have made the gates in time, he thought.
“What do we do about the rest of the supplies?” Maiya asked when the sound of their Ash’vas’ hooves had dissipated.
Vir had been mulling over that as well. Riyan would not be happy if they came back with only half a load. But with this many guards out, it’d be the height of folly to attempt to raid a shop. If they were caught, it’d give the authorities all the evidence they needed to lock them up forever. Or worse.
No, they had to escape, even if it meant enduring triple chores. Vir brought Bumpy back out of the alley and trotted him down the pier to Bakura’s awaiting ship.
The pier wasn’t nearly as well lit as the rest of the harbor, and with the ocean looming nearby, Bumpy needed a bit of persuasion to make the final few steps. But with Maiya’s coaxing, calling him ‘Bumpy the Brave’ over and over, the crippled animal finally made it.
Even in the darkness, Bakura’s enormous form was clearly visible. “Looks like yer plan worked after all!” the loud man boomed, making Vir and Maiya cringe.
“Yeah, so let’s set sail as soon as we can!”
“No can do, ’m afraid. Waiting on one last shipment. Gotta wait ’till mornin’.”
“What!” Maiya cried. “That wasn’t our deal.”
“Ye, well, me bad, boy. I be a merchant, after all. Can’ say no to more profit.”
“And what if the guards search your ship and find us?” Vir said. “You’d be implicated too.”
The man waved away his concern. “Ain’t gonne happen. Don’t worry.”
Vir worried. He also understood how people like this worked. He’d seen the bargaining process too many times in Brij to be oblivious to these kinds of things.
“How much is that shipment worth?” Vir asked.
“Mmm?” Bakura said, as if he hadn’t anticipated the question. “Oh, expectin’ ta make ’bout two Imperium silvers off o’ it in Balindam. Pagan Order’s thirsty for trinkets from all ova de world. They sell like hotcakes.”
Understanding where Vir was going with this, Maiya spoke up. “Trinkets? Doubt you’ll be able to sell them all. And then you’ll have inventory on your ship that you’ll have to either dump or sell elsewhere. And that means less space for your other cargo. Which means lost profits.”
Bakura perked a brow. “Ye know yer business, boy, I’ll give ya that.”
Vir pulled out a silver from his coin bag. “I’ll pay you one silver to set sail right now.”
Bakura’s eyes glinted. The negotiation was on.
“Not a chance, boy. I know I can turn that profit. But, well, yer brother’s right. It ain’t without risk. Alright, I’ll meet you middle. A silver ’n a half.”
Vir sighed. “Remember, you had a hand in putting us in this situation. We shouldn’t have to pay for this at all.”
Bakura waggled his index finger. “Uh, uh, uh. I promised I’d be waitin’ and ah’ll give ye safe passage. Never said we’d put out tonight. That’s a special service. A silver ’n forty coppers. Thas the lowest ah can go, boy. Don’t like it, wait till the morning.”
Vir flipped the man a single coin. “One silver, and instead of just putting in a good word, I’ll make sure my father gets in touch with you.”
Bakura deftly caught the coin and stared at Vir. “Thas a promise, ye?”
“Sawai honor,” Vir lied coolly.
The sailor looked up at the stars. “You’re lucky the stars ’re bright tonight. Not much cloud cover, ’else we’d hafta wait until morning regardless.”
He turned to his crew. “Hear that, boys! Ready for sail!”
“Ready for sail!” a motley of voices called back, springing into action aboard the ship. Magic Lamps flickered on, and sailors climbed rigging and yanked on various ropes.
When Vir turned back to the pier, he saw Alda and Barid standing a handful of paces away.
“Maiya,” Vir said. “Give me Alda’s coin bag.”
“You’re gonna return it to them?” Maiya said with a scowl. “After all the trouble they caused us, I say we let them hang!”
“I’m as angry as you are. Maybe even more. But they helped us, in the end. Sure, I came up with the plan to break out Bumpy, but even so, they hooked us up with Bakura and helped us with the rest of the supplies. Besides, I’d feel a little bad leaving them like that. They’ll probably starve.”