There was no ship waiting for them in Nobarum when they arrived. Khalil explained that they were supposed to have arrived the night before, but the incident with the Soulless had delayed them so much that the ship Khalil previously arranged passage on had left without them. So, he took Sophie, Eolisti, and Joel to an inn near the docks. He told the women to stay in their room while he and Joel went to make other arrangements.
Eolisti complained half-heartedly about being confined but promptly fell asleep after lying down. Sophie sat by the window, looking down at the narrow streets and the passing carts and people starting their day. Although the people she could see from her perch were more diverse than even those in Bardov had been, Sophie still kept her head covered, in case anyone happened to look up at her. She could have disguised herself as she had back in Tanzar, but Khalil had warned her not to use magic again until they were well on their way out to sea. This wasn’t a big city compared to the Zo’rahni capital, and it was highly likely that those after her were still on the lookout for traces of magic.
She hadn’t slept at all the night before and found herself nodding off at the windowsill, awoken only when her arm slipped, nearly hitting her head on the wooden frame. After that, Sophie forced herself to go lie down. She had to push a couple of Eolisti’s limbs out of the way, but the Anai just rolled over. The bed wasn’t much better than the cots they had been sleeping on in the desert, and the musty-smelling hay mattress poked at her through her clothes.
It seemed like she had barely closed her eyes when Eolisti called her name. Sophie briefly contemplated feigning sleep. Instead, she slowly opened one eye to look at the Anai, who was sitting up next to her with pillows propped behind her back. “What?” she murmured sleepily.
“I’m going to go downstairs and get some food. Want to come?”
Sophie blinked her eyes open and yawned. “Khalil told us to stay here,” she mumbled.
Eolisti scowled. “If he thinks he can keep me here all day, he’s a bigger fool than I thought.” She crossed her arms, looking surly. “I just want to go downstairs and get a drink, maybe have some breakfast. We were traveling all night. He can’t possibly expect us not to eat anything all day.”
Sophie sighed and pushed herself up. Apparently, she wasn’t going to get any sleep. Eolisti did have a point. They hadn’t had a chance to rest after packing up their camp and heading to Nobarum. Judging by the sun coming through the window, it was close to midday. Sophie shook her head a little to wake herself up, then tucked her feet under her and sat back on her heels. “We don’t know how long he’ll be gone. He could be back soon.”
The Anai raised an eyebrow. “Can you honestly tell me that you’re not hungry at all? Come on, it won’t hurt to go downstairs,” she pleaded. “We’ll still be in the building.”
Almost as if on cue, Sophie’s stomach growled loudly. She was more tired than hungry, but it didn’t seem like Eolisti would let her go back to sleep. “All right,” she said grudgingly, then glanced at the door as if Khalil would burst through it at any moment. “Let’s just make it quick.”
The women climbed out of bed. Eolisti rummaged in one of her travel pouches looking for some coins while Sophie grabbed the key to the room off of the table and cautiously opened the door. Sounds washed over her, floating up from the first floor. The muttering, chattering, and raucous laughing of many voices filled the hall where rows of doors to other rooms lined the wall.
“Wow,” Eolisti said as she stuck her head out the doorway and looked around. “There must be a lot of people downstairs.”
Sophie couldn’t help but notice that she sounded excited about the prospect of going into a room full of people. Sophie, on the other hand, was starting to have misgivings about agreeing to accompany Eolisti. “Maybe we should just stay here,” she said nervously. “There could be people down there who are looking for us.”
“Don’t be such a coward,” Eolisti snorted and pushed Sophie out into the hallway. Sophie stumbled into the opposite wall. Eolisti closed the door. “It’ll be fine. I’ll be with you.”
“But you’re not even wearing your sword,” Sophie protested.
Eolisti rolled her eyes. “Calm down. We’re not going outside.” She smirked. “Besides, I think I saw a rapier mounted over the fireplace. If we have to fight, I’ll just pull that down.”
Somehow, the prospect of Eolisti pulling down a weapon that may or may not be mounted to a wall was of little comfort to Sophie. Reluctantly, she locked the door, and the pair made their way down the stairs.
The tavern was indeed crowded. Men and a few women filled the bar and tables. Most of them wore clothes that were dirty and stained, but they seemed genuinely happy to be there. Sophie wrinkled her nose. The air stank of sweat, ale, and something slightly fishy. A ship must have just come in from a long voyage at sea. A few of the men leered at her and waved for her to join them. She quickly looked away, feeling anxious. She should have put her cloak on before coming down. Why hadn’t she thought of that?
There was only one table left that had any room for them to sit. An Anai was already seated there, reading a book. He had the same build and angular features as the people that Sophie had seen at Elasariin, but unlike the Anai she had seen before, he had long, honey-blond hair that was tucked behind his delicately pointed ears and pale, almost luminescent skin. He was dressed modestly, but his clothes were much finer and cleaner than those of the men surrounding him. He was obviously not one of the sailors that had come ashore.
It was clear that he wanted nothing to do with what was going on around him, and the rest of the crowd gave him a wide berth. None of the others talked to him or even looked in his direction. Sophie didn’t know how he could read with all this noise, but he seemed engrossed in what he was doing. It wasn’t hard to guess that the Anai wanted to be left alone, but when she glanced at Eolisti, her friend had zeroed in on the lone Anai and was grinning in a way that Sophie knew meant trouble.
Noticing that Sophie was looking at her, Eolisti winked and strode confidently over to the bar. Sophie trailed after her, weaving and dodging through the crowd as a couple of sailors cackled and whistled at her. They were inebriated and probably harmless, but she still made sure not to get too close to any of the men. When they reached the bar, Eolisti asked the bartender, a large man with a scraggly, gray beard, for two ales and some bread. The man reached below the bar and passed her two tankards and grunted that he would bring over the food. Eolisti nodded and shoved one of the mugs into Sophie’s hands.
“Follow me,” she said to Sophie and sauntered over to the table with the lone Anai, plopping herself down in an empty chair. The Anai looked up at them, first at Eolisti then at Sophie, his expression blank. Sophie squirmed under his gaze, but Eolisti seemed not to be bothered by it at all. She raised her glass as Sophie sat next to her, and loudly proclaimed, “There’s nothing like a cold, fresh ale,” and took a sip from the tankard. She immediately pulled the drink away from her mouth and made a face of utter revulsion. “THAT is nothing like a fresh ale.”
The corners of the blond man’s mouth tilted up in a smile, and one of his perfectly shaped eyebrows arched. Looking down at her cup, Sophie raised the ale to her lips. She almost gagged. The drink was watery and bitter, nothing pleasant about it at all. Sophie was tempted to spit it back into the tankard, but the other Anai was watching her now, so she swallowed it instead, unable to keep herself from frowning down at the ale.
Eolisti laughed at her, then looked back at the Anai. “You don’t mind if we sit here, right? There isn’t room at any of the other tables. And, uh”—she glanced around at the sailors still reveling around them—“we’d prefer quieter company.”
The blond Anai stared at Eolisti, his eyes a startling shade of blue, and gave her a ghost of a smile. “Not at all,” he said, his voice rich and silvery. Eolisti stared back at him, evidently fascinated. Sophie had learned by now that Eolisti liked interesting people, and this Anai was definitely interesting. She could tell Eolisti was almost vibrating, ready to launch into hundreds of questions but also trying to appear calm and collected. She thought it best not to distract her. Eolisti had been uncharacteristically quiet, apart from the confrontation with Khalil the night before. It was good to see that she was starting to return to normal.
“You don’t look like you’re from around here,” Eolisti said casually. She picked up the ale like she would take another sip, then seemed to remember how bad it was and put it back down.
“I am not,” he replied curtly and looked back down at his book.
“Where are you from then?” she asked, undeterred by his tone.
“Across the sea,” he answered without looking up.
Eolisti seemed to think about that for a moment. “Nemethy, then?”
“Yes.” He turned a page in his book and continued reading.
Her eyes lit up, excited at the prospect of hearing about the Anaiian court of the west. Sophie hid her smile behind her tankard. Eolisti was practically quivering in her seat. “What’s it like there?”
He shrugged, still not looking up. “It’s fine, I suppose.”
His response made Eolisti narrow her eyes. The Anai was giving them short replies, trying to discourage further conversation, and she did not look very happy about it. The Anai clearly didn’t want to talk but was too polite to flat-out ignore her. Sophie almost felt sorry for him. Eolisti’s smile started to crack, but she continued to stare at him intently, as if pitting her will against his.
“What are you reading?” she asked, trying to sound interested.
“Just some research.” The Anai turned another page, which made Eolisti frown in earnest. He definitely was not interested in conversation.
A tap on Sophie’s shoulder made her jump in her seat. She looked up to see Khalil looming over her, the hood of his cloak pulled characteristically low, his mouth pursed into that thin line again. “I thought you both were going to wait upstairs until I returned. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be down here.”
Sophie felt a flush rising up her neck, but before she could say anything, Eolisti intervened. “Did you really expect us to just wait up there all day? It’s not like we need food and water or anything,” she said sarcastically.
In response, he reached a hand into his cloak and took out a cloth bundle. He pulled out the remaining chair at the table and sat, then proceeded to unwrap three fried balls of dough the size of his palm, rolled in small seeds. He plucked one up and handed it to Sophie. She examined the ball and took a tentative bite after glancing at Khalil. The dough was lightly spiced and savory, filled with a paste that tasted heavily of cumin and turmeric. She took another, bigger bite. To her empty stomach, it tasted like heaven.
“It’s a curry bun. They are very popular here,” he said as Sophie took her third bite of the pastry.
“Let me have one of those.” Eolisti reached over the table to snatch one up. Khalil’s fingers twitched, and Sophie had the feeling he wanted to pull the buns out of her reach, but he remained still. “Mmm… that’s pretty good. Did you only get three?”
The blond Anai eyed the last dough ball.
“Yes.” He wrapped up the bun with the cloth and put it back in his cloak. Khalil’s head turned toward Sophie’s tankard of ale. “I wouldn’t drink that if I were you.”
Eolisti snorted. “Yeah, we figured that out on our own, thanks.”
Khalil turned back to Sophie. “We should speak privately.” She assumed he wanted to talk about what they were going to do next. Since they had missed their ship, he must have another plan.
“I’ll be right back,” she said to Eolisti, who waved an acknowledgment without looking away from the blond Anai.
Sophie shook her head and allowed Khalil to help her up and lead her over to the stairwell they had come down earlier. This corner of the room was mostly empty. The sailors were sitting around the bar and at tables. While many of them glanced at her and Khalil as they passed, the men must have sensed that Khalil was not someone to be trifled with since they didn’t whistle or leer at her. They stood off to one side of the stairs, and Khalil leaned down so that he didn’t need to shout to be heard. She turned her head away from him, slightly embarrassed by how close he was. “We’ll be leaving tomorrow afternoon. The ship just docked in the harbor a few hours ago, and they’ll be unloading their cargo today and tomorrow morning. After that, they’ll be setting sail for Tanalin.”
She glanced back at him, surprised. “How did you find a ship so fast?”
“There are a few captains I know who are willing to help the monks. When I’m delayed, one of their ships is usually available.”
It made sense that Khalil would need to have a backup plan in place in case something happened during his journey, and, given the nature of what he did, Sophie doubted that things often went smoothly.
“I’d like you to stay in the room so we don’t attract unwanted attention,” he continued. “I’ve already had to dodge a few men who were trying to tail me. I’m not sure who they were, but I’d rather not take the chance of them seeing you.”
Her heart leaped into her throat. Someone was trying to follow Khalil? Back to her? She glanced back around at the sailors. Could one of those men be hiding in the crowd? Sophie took a shaky breath. “Yes. I’ll stay in the room.”
“I’m sorry it has to be this way,” he said sympathetically. “Once we get to Tanalin, you’ll have a little more freedom.” Tanalin was the country south of Morigael. Khalil squeezed her shoulder and held out his arm to escort her back toward the table.
They made their way across the room, and Sophie sat in the chair she had occupied earlier. Khalil remained standing next to her. Eolisti was still trying to engage the blond Anai in conversation, but she didn’t seem to be having much success. The book was closed at least, but he maintained his bored expression. Sophie leaned over to Eolisti and whispered into her ear, “Khalil was able to get us on another ship that departs tomorrow.” She glanced at the other Anai, who didn’t seem to be listening. “I think it’s time to go back upstairs.”
“Mmm… I don’t think so,” Eolisti said loudly enough for everyone at the table to hear.
“We need to prepare to leave. You both should stay out of sight until tomorrow,” Khalil said firmly, causing the Anai man to glance at him.
“I don’t want to. You don’t need to have me locked up in a room. Besides”—she gestured at the Anai—“we’re having a good time here.”
Khalil looked like he wanted to say more, but he must have noticed that the chatter around them had grown softer. Some of the sailors were looking at them and muttering among themselves. Making a scene here would be a bad idea. “Fine,” he said. “Just come up after you are done.” Khalil turned on his heel without another word and marched toward the stairs. He stopped at the base and waited.
Sophie glanced at Eolisti, who was still glaring furiously at Khalil. She was sure her Vendarii could take care of herself, but it would be just like Eolisti to do something reckless just to spite their guide. Sophie thought about asking her to be careful, but settled on a quick, “I’ll see you soon,” and rushed over to where Khalil was waiting for her. He stepped aside and allowed her to pass, then followed a few steps behind. Sophie took one last look at the tavern and hurried up the stairs.