Chapter XLI (41)

  Breaking into the crate and sealing it back up with Mend was the easy part. Waiting while curled up into a ball while half buried in gooey blue fruits was less easy. Especially when the rat she carried around was constantly yammering about the history of fruit on the archipelago and how this was a unique subspecies of tree developed from separate islands. He had eaten down to the core of one and was speaking out loud as he examined the magical nature of the fruit. Of all the advances to be impressed by in the last millennium, he had chosen fruit to be the one to fascinate him. Mitsuko did her best to tune him out and just nod along.

  Then something caught her attention. It was brief, but he mentioned druids using a cross pollination spell to create a mixed breed tree. In that sentence, she caught a single reference to Azure Island. So that meant the history of the tree traced back to the island in some way. It wasn’t a lot, but it was still a lead about the mythical island.

  “Ugh,” someone said outside the crate. “This thing heavy as fuuck.”

  Mitsuko held her breath. She recognized the voice as one of The Terror’s sailors. One of the newer members. Which made sense. Loading up cargo wasn’t exactly a job for the captain.

  “It’s the pits,” a second voice said. “They’re really heavy. Wizes over on Amber love the things though. Easy money. Sell the fruit meat on Verdant, then the pits to Amber. Just load it up, same as the other normal goods.”

  That was interesting. It implied they had some means of accessing the roaming wizard island. Something to keep in mind for future loops.

  The new crew member grumbled as he laboriously carried her across the dock, swaying and nearly dropping her crate on several occasions. He released a slew of curses when he finally set the crate down in the cargo hold.

  And then silence.

  Or there would be if Sterling would shut up about the unique taste of the fruit and how the juice melted in his rat mouth like nothing he’d ever before experienced. Mitsuko finally gave in to temptation and tried a bit of the blue fruit. It tasted like a gooey pear that clung to the roof of her mouth. Not a sensation she particularly enjoyed.

  “You only like it because you’re a rat,” Mitsuko muttered after finally getting the fruit’s meat down. She wished she had some water to rinse her mouth. Her tongue desperately fought against the fruit stuck between her teeth.

  Sterling paused. “Perhaps you are correct. I find more enjoyment out of the things I devour simply as a result of my body’s taste buds. For example, I never fully appreciated drinking milk until I existed in a feline body.”

  Mitsuko was tempted to correct him and say something smart about how everyone enjoyed milk at some point in their lives. But she held her tongue. Better to not rile up Sterling into a rant. She might be the only one able to hear the sage, but outsiders could still hear her responses. And it was too easy to slip from whispering when your companion spoke at a normal volume.

  Instead, Mitsuko rested her head against the crate and wished, far from the first time, that she was able to stretch out her cramped legs.

  She woke up to a terrible cramp. The pain in her calf was worse than some actual stab wounds she’d received. Biting her lip to keep from crying out, she massaged the muscle.

  “I need to get out of here,” she mumbled to herself. Then, on a whim, she cast Mend on herself. The cramp disappeared. Nifty. But she still wanted out of the box.

  A moment of silence while she listened intently for any nearby people. She held her breath and did her best to ignore the beat of her heart. Nothing.

  She repositioned to press her metal rod up against a plank at the corner of the crate’s top. With a heave, she pried it up. The nails popped out and she quickly dismantled a few more planks to scramble out. Then she cast Mend on it and watched as the planks zipped back into position. The nails embedded themselves down, rebending to fit perfectly.

  “I highly recommend you bring some of the delicious fruit with you,” Sterling suggested.

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  Mitsuko ignored him and slowly prowled through the ship. It was completely still, implying they remained docked at Mauve Port. That actually worked better for her though. It meant less people to spot her as she stealthily moved through the hull.

  The secret room was exactly where she remembered it and it opened with ease. Inside was the box of the enchanted items the captain was smuggling. She closed the door and let out a sigh of relief. Excellent. She’d made it to safety. Now a day or two at sea and she could devote the last couple days of the loop to exploring Verdant Island.

  She had just settled in when the secret door burst open. Mitsuko stumbled back, tripping over the box of trinkets.

  Captain Alina stood in the doorway, murder in her eyes and a cigar clenched between her snarling teeth. Behind her was one of her wind elementalists who took a hostile stance with her hands raised and ready to cast magic.

  “A thief,” Alina growled. Her cigar smoldered.

  “Ah. I think there’s a misunderstanding,” Mitsuko said, raising her hands in surrender. “I’m a stowaway, not a thief.”

  “Ha. You know a lot about my ship for a stowaway.”

  Mitsuko thought fast, then adopted a cool persona and lowered her surrendering hands. “Sett hired me. Told me about this spot.”

  Captain Alina reached up, took a long drag from her cigar, then stepped forward. Mitsuko held her ground as the captain pressed the tip of the cigar against her cheek. Burning flesh stank up the small room and Mitsuko’s eyes watered at the pain. But she gave no ground. Finally, Captain Alina removed her cigar and tilted her head at Mitsuko.

  “Why would he tell you ship secrets?”

  Mitsuko opened her mouth to speak, then winced as her cheek flared up. She resisted the immediate urge to cast Mend on herself. Instead, she carefully spoke, mostly from the other side of her mouth.

  “He’s planning a mutiny. Wants you dead.”

  Captain Alina chortled. “And what, he chose you as the assassin?”

  “I’m not a mage. And I don’t need to be. I have skill. No antimagic barriers will hold against a steel knife to the back.”

  The captain began to scoff again but was cut off by her elementalist.

  “Captain. I recognize her description. A Hon woman of her height and build escaped from the prison a few hours ago.”

  “What was she in for?”

  “Murder,” Mitsuko answered for the elementalist. She was playing a dangerous game. But maybe, just maybe, if she impressed Captain Alina now she might still salvage her free voyage to Verdant Island.

  “That’s not all,” the elementalist said. She hesitated and glanced at Mitsuko who frowned, wondering what else she’d done this loop. Trespassing hardly seemed notable. “After she left, the prison’s food supply was poisoned. Xeri died. Suffocated in her cell while clawing at her neck.”

  Mitsuko’s heart skipped a beat. Xeri died? From poison? Poisoned food given to the prisoners. That couldn’t be a coincidence. She’d never once heard of any event like that in previous loops.

  “An assassination.” The captain mulled over the information while Mitsuko did her best to keep a stoney expression. “Why Xeri though? Was it that cheating bastard I heard about?”

  Mitsuko was asking herself the exact same thing. Why did Xeri die? The pieces of the puzzle were there. It was food for the prisoners. And she’d been a prisoner until only a few hours ago. Had the Mauve Island guardian located her? But neither this attempt at her life nor the last one with the trapeze accident threatened to harm her heart. The guardian had to know that suffocation wouldn’t kill her permanently. That was the entire reason the guardian in her first loop dragged her off to cut out her heart. Who else would want her dead? An enemy of the Emperor? Fuku the mind mage witch? Her pa? Or was it someone entirely different?

  “I can’t disclose my clients,” Mitsuko replied.

  That finally got a slight smile from Captain Alina.

  “You were quick to sell out Sett. Why tight-lipped now?”

  “Giving you that info directly changes your understanding of the situation. And it gives me an opportunity to not die.”

  “I see. And you don’t think that whoever wanted Xeri dead is worthwhile information? Xeri was a friendly acquaintance of mine. We’ve worked together before on the occasional job. I don’t take kindly to people killing my connections.”

  “I doubt you’ll kill me for the information.”

  Captain Alina took another drag of her cigar as she considered.

  “Nope. I won’t. So long as you do something for me.”

  She didn’t allow her relief to show. Even if death wasn’t permanent while in the Prismatic Spiral, she wanted to avoid it whenever possible. Especially if she could use this to scout out another island.

  “And that is?”

  “Kill Sett.”

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