Rising tide - Mel Odom [110]
"I hear all her ships went down, and all those gathered for Fleetswake," another man said.
Jherek couldn't believe it. A cold tendril of fear arced out from his spine across his shoulders despite the sweltering heat of Athkatla's Waukeen's Promenade. Though not overly far from the Sea of Swords, the fifty foot walls of the marketplace enclosed the stadium and trapped the heat from the noonday sun inside despite the entry arches at ground level.
"What's wrong?" Sabyna asked, looking up at him from the table covered with spices, baking goods, and cooking utensils. She'd wanted to try a new dish that evening while they were in port. Cooking for two had seemed to make her even more adventurous..
Jherek craned his head toward the two seamen standing near one of the supports that held the next level above. The terraced levels were seventy-five feet across and packed with merchants hawking wares of all kinds at tables and booths. Uniformed guards occupied the marketplace in impressive numbers, which helped drive up the cost of the goods being offered.
"Did you hear that?" he asked her.
"What?"
"Those two sailors… they're talking about ships sinking at Waterdeep."
Jherek nodded at the two sailors. Both men were dressed down, looking like they'd just stepped from their ships. Already other sailors were starting to collect around them, eager to hear more.
Quickly, Sabyna made her selections and didn't bother haggling with the merchant, paying his price when she could have easily talked him down. Today the market had belonged to the buyer. Now Jherek knew why. Waterdeep did a lot of trading with the Amnians, and if ships had been destroyed, usual markets could no longer be counted on.
Sabyna placed her hand on the inside of his arm and guided him toward the sailors, covering the pirate's tattoo that he desperately kept hidden from her beneath his shirt. Despite the haze of vegetable and fruit scents, the strong smell of cured meats, and the herbalist burning incense only a few tables down, Jherek could still smell the lilac scent that clung to her. Her fingers gripped his arm tightly and she stayed at his side, doubling their size against the ebb and flow of the crowd.
He'd dined with her every night for the last three nights since the boy had been recovered from the sunken wreck, but she'd never come this close to him in all that time. Their conversations had been good, of experiences and humor, but she'd never asked him what his real name was or why he was in hiding. Each night, after each meal, it became harder not to tell her, harder not to remove the lie that existed between them, but the tattoo branded him as a pirate. He felt certain she'd never be able to accept that, especially since it had been his father who'd killed her brother. For the moment, he enjoyed the warmth of her fingers against his arm even with the sweltering heat that assailed them.
The sailors looked up at her approach.
"Hail and well met," she addressed them.
"Hail and well met, lady," a white-haired sailor in Amnian dress responded. He touched the tips of his fingers to the triangle of copper coins attached to his blue turban. His beard was white like his hair, and so was the fierce mustache that flared straight out at the sides.
"You've news of Waterdeep?" Sabyna said.
"Aye," the sailor replied, "but only bad news, I'm afraid. You're from there?"
"No. I'm Sabyna, ship's mage of Breezerunner, helmed by Captain Tynnel. We've traded there and I have a few friends who live there."
One of the other sailors glanced at the old one. "Breezerunner's a good ship, Narik. Heard of her. And her captain's a good man."
Narik nodded. His rheumy eyes regarded Sabyna, then flicked over Jherek. "Are you bound, then, to Waterdeep, lady?"
"Not on this trip," Sabyna said. "We're only going as far north as Baldur's Gate."
"Tell your captain what I tell you. There'll be plenty of gold for a man willing to take his ship into Waterdeep for the next few months. If he's willing