The shopping district was crowded, which was good, though I really needed women's clothing to make this believable. I was a little too off as a boy. But I pulled some old tricks I learned from one of the crew of Papa's ship, this fellow who'd had a birthmark up the side of his face that made the usual sort of pickpocketing difficult, and after two hours I had a pocket full of coins and another full of jewelry. I scuttled out of the shopping district quick as a beetle and went down to the waterfront, where I found a dealer who didn't ask questions about how a young man-or-woman like myself wound up with a fistful of ladies' baubles.
When I walked away from the dealer, the shadows started squirming and wriggling. The sun was high up, right overhead, so Naji didn't have a lot to work with, just the dark line pressing up against the buildings and a few spindly tree shadows. I ducked into the first alley I could.
"I've never seen a more commendable bout of thievery," Naji said, rising up out of the darkness.
I smiled real big and handed him the pouch of coins from the dealer. He tucked it away in his robe.
"Keep that on you," I said. "Assuming they let us on the ship. But until we know the crew, it's best to not leave money lying around."
"As you wish."
"Also…" I took a deep breath, cause I knew he wasn't going to like this. "You have to take off your mask."
He got real quiet. "Why?"
"Because we need 'em to trust us enough to let us on their boat. You covering up your face like that, it's a sign of bad intentions."
"I usually have bad intentions."
"Well, you don't now, and even if you did, you'd still have to take off the mask."
Naji didn't say anything.
"Look, ain't nobody on that boat's gonna care about your face."
Naji's eyes narrowed.
"You never wear it in front of me. It ain't like Leila's around."
I knew I probably shouldn't have said that, but he didn't answer, didn't react at all. For a few minutes we stood there staring at each other, sand and heat drifting through the alley. Then he yanked the mask away and walked out into the sun.
When we arrived at the Free Country boat, the cardplaying crewmen had all cleared out, and the ship rose up tall and grand against the cloudless sky. The sea, pale green in the bright afternoon sunlight, slapped against the docks.
"This is your ward?"
I turned around and there was Marjani with some big barrel of a man in the usual flamboyant captain's hat. He had his eyes plastered on Naji, who scowled and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Yeah," I said. "This is Naji."
"I was expecting a little boy," Marjani said.
"He acts like one sometimes."
Marjani laughed, and Naji turned his scowl to me.
"What business do you have in Port Idai?" the captain asked.
I spoke up before Naji could say anything to screw us. "Meeting with an old crew of mine. We got separated in Lisirra after a job soured. Got fed bad information. You know how it is."
"He part of your crew?" The captain jerked his head at Naji.
"No, sir. Picked him up after my own crew'd left me for dead."
"Bet you're not too happy 'bout that."
"Not one bit."
The captain kept his eyes on mine. "And so why exactly is he accompanying you?"
"He's got some history with my old first mate." Thank Kaol, Naji kept his face blank. "Needs to have words with him, you know what I mean."
The captain laughed. "What kinda history?" he asked, turning to Naji. "It about a woman?"
"It usually is," Naji said.
The captain laughed again, and I knew we had him.
Tell any grizzled old cutthroat a sob story about a double-cross and a broken heart and he'll eat right out of your hand.
"Well, if he don't mind sharing a cabin with the rest of the crew, I guess we can spare you."
Naji blanched a little but didn't say anything.
The captain nodded at me. "You can work the rigging, yeah? That's what Marjani told me."
"And anything else you need me to do. I grew up on a boat like this." And did I ever miss her, the sound of wood creaking in the wind, the spray of the sea across my face as I swung through the rigging – but I didn't say none of that.
The captain grinned, face lighting up like someone had just told him there was a merchant ship sitting dead in the open sea. "Exactly the kind of woman I like to have on board."
I ain't gonna lie, after weeks of following around Naji, not knowing what was going on, it felt good to hear that.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Marjani accompanied me and Naji on board the ship while the rest of the crew was setting up to make sail. She led us down below to the crew's quarters, all slung up with hammocks and jars of rum and some spare, tattered clothes. Naji wrinkled his nose and sat down on a hammock in the corner.
"I know what you are," Marjani said to him.
All the muscles in my body tensed. Naji just stared levelly at her.
"And what is that, exactly?" he asked.
In one quick movement, Marjani grabbed his wrist and pushed the sleeve of his robe up to his elbow. The tattoos curled around his arm.
"Blood magic," she said. "You're one of the Jadorr'a."
I pulled out my knife. Marjani glanced at me like she wasn't too concerned. "The crew doesn't know," she said. "They wouldn't recognize you. They're all Free Country, and we've got our own monsters to worry about. I only know because I studied Empire politics at university." She dropped Naji's arm.
"You went to university?" I asked. I'd talked to a scholar once, after we'd commandeered the ship he'd been on. He hadn't been nothing like Marjani.
"Are you going to tell them?" Naji asked.