Crylus was bustling.

  As one of the larger towns in the Malus Kingdom, as well as the only other major port town, there were a lot of traders coming and going. Sailors were getting ships ready to leave and fliers were buzzing around, directing incoming ships to open berths. The Golden Guard was out in force, inspecting ships for contraband before the crew would be allowed to disembark.

  I pointed at the ship coming towards us with a large golden hand sewn onto the main sail.

  “Right on time.” I squeezed Starna’s hand as I looked around. “Now all we need is for Vin to get here.”

  The beautiful Elf leaned against me. “He’s going to wait until the very last moment.” Her gold and blue eyes looked up at me. “Are you worried about him giving the Vampire some of his blood?”

  The thought had occurred to me. I hadn’t let Vin handle the bloodcoin just in case his touch would destroy the magic. If Pera was strong enough that she could manipulate a Camadt’s blood, then she could make herself a very formidable weapon.

  “My brother gave Madam Rosa some blood once and dad chewed him out.” I scanned the crowd, looking for the towering feline. “We had to watch a demonstration of just how destructive of potions she could make with it. I doubt he’d let her do anything more than feed on him, but considering that would put her into mana exhaustion, I doubt she’d do that.”

  “There he is!” Starna pointed behind us.

  I turned and shook my head as I watched the Camadt ride down the street on the back of Nipper. Vendors and customers alike hurried to get out of his way as he rode like a king coming back from victory. The smile that split my brother’s face was too pleased at the berth that people were giving him.

  “He brought the drake.” I turned towards the port where our ship was getting tied off. This was nothing more than a quick stopover for the crew and a chance to grab some fresh supplies. There was no reason why we shouldn’t be out on the water in a couple of hours at most, but I had a feeling that the argument between the two men was going to last longer than that.

  Vin and I had always had a knack for finding strays and trying to smuggle them onto the ship. There had been a kidnapping misunderstanding with a Griffon chick that we’d smuggled on board in Egrond. Eight-year-old Sectum had thought helping my brother smuggle the young avian on board would be a grand adventure. The Larimar Fleet had chased us to Laleah where my father had discovered our blunder.

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  I winced as I realized that was another senate that we were probably not on good terms with. Supposedly, we’d been cleared of any wrongdoing, but we’d never been back to the Griffon dominated city.

  “He brought a cage.”

  I turned to look where Starna was pointing. Farther behind the reptilian was a flatbed wagon with panels of metal bars the width of my arm. I sighed as my brother rode through the parting sea of people towards the dock where the Wind’s Shadow was being tied off.

  The density of the crowd made it more difficult for us to get to the ship, which allowed my brother to beat us there.

  “You’re not bringing that Lizard on my ship!” The Minotaur Captain roared.

  My brother motioned at the cage walls behind him. “Nipper can stay in my room. You’ll never know she was there.” He looked over at me. “Tell him what a good girl she is.”

  I held up my hands. “I’m not getting in the middle of this.”

  The large, black-furred feline rolled up his sleeves. “Storbeck-”

  “It’s CAPTAIN now.” The slightly shorter bull-man cut my brother off. He narrowed his eyes. “This isn’t your father’s ship. It’s mine. And my rules stand.”

  “But aren’t you supposed to be transporting the Ambassador?” Vin smirked as he gave my girlfriend his best kitten eyes.

  “Your brother told you that the Captain wasn’t going to let Nipper aboard.” She gestured back the way we’d come. “The Embassy will take great care of her while we’re gone.”

  My brother’s shoulders slumped as he realized that he wasn’t going to have anyone agree with him. The Camadt slowly turned around to leave, but paused mid step with a grin spreading across his face.

  “What if she isn’t on the ship?”

  I followed my brother’s eyes to a longboat with a large ‘For Sale’ sign on it.

  “If you want to let her swim behind us…” The Minotaur chuckled as he envisioned the drake swimming behind the ship. “Fine by me.”

  “GREAT!” My brother took off towards the dock, leaving his mount standing on the cobblestone road..

  “Is he-”

  “Yes.” I grabbed Nipper’s harness to keep the green, horse-sized lizard from following after her rider. I turned to the woman I’d just cut off. “This is the point in my brother’s schemes where we tell Whizz to get the popcorn.”

  “Wha…” Storbek turned to look at my brother talking to a two-foot-tall Gnome fisherman. “Vin! DON’T YOU-!” He turned back to us. “Sectum, you know your way around the ship. Help the lady get situated while I stop that bird-brained brother of yours from… VINCENT IRONGUT! DON’T YOU DARE BUY THAT BOAT!”

  I chuckled as I turned to look at Starna’s shocked face. “Well, we might as well get aboard.”

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