He thumped her on the shoulder. “Nah, we’re sticking together. We’ll catch them in the next port if we have to.”
“ Next port is… Sunders City. More than… three days… by foot.”
The road widened as they entered town proper, and Maldynado pulled up to run by her side. “I’m sure we can acquire alternate transportation if we need to.”
Evrial glowered at him. “We’re not-” her toe caught in a rut, and she had to flail for balance before finishing, “-stealing anything.”
“ Better watch the road,” Maldynado said cheerily.
A few pedestrians paused to watch as he and Evrial sprinted past, but nobody called out or tried to stop them. Back home, Evrial would have found such a fast-moving pair suspicious and given chase. She hoped the enforcers here weren’t as well-trained-or paranoid.
Another whistle blew. With buildings on either side of the road, Evrial could no longer see the river-or whether the steamboat remained at the dock. She sprinted around a pair of donkey carts loaded with wood and into a four-way intersection. A glance to the left revealed the waterfront. Without waiting to see if Maldynado was still with her, she took off, barreling past candle shops and general mercantile stores. When she reached the cobblestone street fronting the river, she raced straight to the second dock. She was halfway to the end before her footsteps faltered. The steamboat’s stern paddlewheel churned water fifty meters upriver.
Chest heaving as she sucked in air, Evrial slowed to a stop. Her wounded shoulder screamed at her, annoyed at all the vigorous exertion, and probably at the fact that she briefly considered sprinting up the bank and trying to catch the boat north of the town. A few stout trees that had survived loggers’ axes perched along the edge, their bare branches stretching over the water. But the steamboat was already pulling away from the banks and into the center of the river.
“ Cursed ancestors,” Evrial growled.
Maldynado tapped her shoulder.
“ What?” she snarled.
Maldynado drew back. “Drat.”
“ What?” This time, Evrial wrenched her gaze from the steamboat and looked at Maldynado.
“ I thought we’d reached a new stage in our relationship, one where you don’t snarl and growl at me.”
“ That wasn’t at you. It was at the world in general. You were just nearby.”
“ Ah, but I’m a helpful part of the world. As evinced by the fact that I’m drawing your attention to these lovely enforcer boats tied up at the next dock.” Maldynado pointed to a pair of sleek black vessel identical to the ones that had attacked their steamboat on the way downriver.
“ We’re definitely not stealing those.”
“ Steal? We could simply borrow one and leave it tied up on the bank somewhere once we catch up with the steamboat.”
“ Borrow without asking?”
“ You don’t think the local enforcers would actually let us take one, do you?” Maldynado asked.
“ No, and that’s why it’s stealing, you dolt.”
Maldynado sighed. “How quickly the ladies forget their whispered terms of endearment from the night before. Listen, it’s for the greater good, right? If we don’t catch up and warn the others before the troupe unloads its cargo and disappears into Stumps…”
Evrial held a finger to his lips and nodded toward the waterfront. A pair of enforcers was walking up the street, frowning in her and Maldynado’s direction. “Someone may have noticed our mad sprint through town and found it suspicious.”
“ Let’s take a walk then, shall we?” Maldynado bowed, then strode down the dock.
Evrial hurried after him. They reached the head of the dock before the enforcers and turned north, toward a handful of factories and warehouses.
“ Are they following us?” Maldynado murmured.
Evrial risked a glance. “They stopped at the second dock. They’re discussing something.”
“ Us?”
“ They did look this way.” She glanced again. “No, we’re fine. They turned down the dock, probably to check their boats.”
“ If anything is locked, they’ll have the keys. This might be a good time to proposition them about borrowing one of their lovely conveyances.”
Evrial grabbed Maldynado’s arm and tugged him into a weed-choked alley between a warehouse and a factory. “We’re not beating up any enforcers. Any more enforcers anyway.” She leaned against a cedar-shingled wall and pushed a hand through her hair. “A few weeks ago, I was an enforcer. I can’t believe I’m now getting in fights with them and… contemplating stealing a fifty-thousand-ranmya boat. Do you have any idea how much trouble those two would be in if they lost a boat on their watch? You can’t exactly deduct that from an enforcer’s pay. We don’t make that much in two years.” Aware that her words were coming out rapidly, and with a hysterical edge, she forced herself to take a deep breath.
“ Listen, Evrial.” Maldynado leaned against the wall opposite of hers. “If you don’t want to help, that’s fine, but I need to get back on that steamboat. It’s not just about the magical whatchamacallits. Those enforcers knew about Akstyr and they knew about me, so that means they know the rest of the team is on board too. They’ll be looking for them. And it’s at least partially my fault.”
“ Lokdon has Sicarius. They’ll be fine. We can walk or catch a train and meet up with them in Stumps.”
“ Maybe,” Maldynado said, “but what if it’s not in time to keep the whatever-they-ares from slipping away into the city where they can be used against the emperor-er, us?”
Evrial jabbed a finger toward his chest. “ You don’t even know who you’re backing, and you expect me to go along with your people, just because?” Evrial pinned Maldynado with her exasperated glare. None of this was his fault, but he was the only one there to yell at.
“ I don’t know because I haven’t talked with Books, as I prefer to avoid his lengthy babbles about history and politics and such. But I trust Amaranthe. I’m sure she’s got a scheme all worked out that’s for the good of the empire. You need to talk to Books though, to figure out if you’re staying with us. I know, I get that.”
“ It’s hard to talk to people who are heading upriver while you’re stuck in a trash-littered alley that stinks of… what is that smell?”
“ Tobacco.” Maldynado pointed to the brick wall above Evrial’s head. In red paint, letters over a side door spelled Darkencrest Cigars: Deliveries. He peeked inside a dusty window. “Looks like the workers are off today, though I see a cart of cleaning supplies, so there might be one fellow about. Maybe we can convince him to take a break while we set up a diversion in here, something that would draw the enforcers over to investigate. Then we can sneak out the back and invite ourselves onto one of their boats. Yes, I could see Amaranthe approving of that plan.”
“ We’re not blowing up a factory,” Evrial said.
Maldynado tilted his head. “Who said anything about explosions?”
“ When Lokdon and I were stuck in that cabin together, she used cleaning supplies to blow a door off its hinges. I assumed it was a team tendency.”
“ Nah, I wouldn’t know how to do that. I’m surprised the boss did. Knowing about chemicals and useless trivia is more of a Booksie trait.” Maldynado tried the door, found it unlocked, and eased it open. He stuck his head inside. “The janitor may have taken a break anyway. I don’t see anyone.”
Evrial didn’t move. She was still balking at the idea of stealing an enforcer boat, though she had to admit, she was beginning to see how Amaranthe had ended up with a bounty on her head. One decision to pursue justice outside of the realm of the law, and getting back on the righteous railway could become a daunting feat. “What sort of diversion do you have in mind?”
“ Nothing major,” Maldynado said, poised on the threshold. “There’s certainly no reason to blow up a building. A small fire should suffice.”
“ Maldynado!”
“ What?” He smiled innocently. “Let’s look around and see what inspirations come to us.” He disappeared into the dim interior.