Dragon-Ridden (13 page)

There was also the slight issue of
her real goal in Aurelia. Looking back, she now realized, she should have
headed out of town the moment her feet touched land.

Regardless of the sympathy she had
for Umi, this wasn’t the sort of thing Tate wanted to get involved with. But,
could she refuse was the question. Ryu would have objections, but maybe she
could get around that.

“I am truly sorry for you and wish
I could help,” Tate told Umi. “But I don’t think I can do as you ask. I’m
sorry.”

“We can pay you,” Umi said. She
looked just slightly crazy as she pleaded with Tate.

“It’s not about the money. I just
think you’d be better served with someone who has done this before.”

Umi fell to her knees and
prostrated herself on the floor. She looked up at Tate with desperation.
“Please, please help us. If our mutual friend says you are the person suited
for this task, you are our best hope.”

Tate tried not to look directly at
Umi. She hated when people cried.

Before she could refuse, again, Ryu
stepped in and pulled Umi to her feet. He murmured in her ear as he steadied
her, her slight form dwarfed by his more muscular one. Umi nodded and pulled a
handkerchief out of her sleeve and dabbed at her eyes. Shooting Tate a watery smile,
she ushered her guards out of the room.

Tate watched them leave feeling a
little perplexed. That had been easy. Especially given how adamant Ryu had been
earlier.

A sense of unease stole through her
as he closed the door and turned back to her with a toothy grin.

“That is not the reaction I was
expecting,” she told him. “You do realize I just refused to help?”

“Oh, you’re taking the job.”

She shook her head no. She wouldn’t
do it.

“You’ll take the job or I’ll tie
you up and keep you prisoner until Jost comes back,” he threatened.

It was just another variation of
his earlier threat but no less scary the second time around. She tilted her
chin up at him. She was almost willing to risk it. She had learned to pick
locks and escape ropes from some of the best in the business. At any rate, Jost
might be gone for months. No doubt she’d find a way to escape before he
returned. Once she did, she’d head straight for the country until she was far,
far away.

“Oh, and I’ll be taking these for
safe keeping.” He held up several small pouches.

She froze at the sight of them.
They couldn’t be hers. They just looked similar. She’d been on guard since he’d
caught her.

She slid a hand down her thigh
checking one of the hidden pouches she’d had sewn into her clothes. Empty. So
was the one on the other side as well as the ones on the inside of her boots.

Her money was gone.

 “Son of a plague ridden
gutter rat. That’s mine.”

He smiled but didn’t respond.
Low-born pirate, Tate raged. Of all the underhanded sneaky things to do. She
couldn’t believe he’d stolen her money. She needed that to survive until she
could get settled. He must have taken it during their tussle on the fence or
the one in the carriage.

What had happened to being crew?

Well, no more. That was her money.
She needed it to get by. Jost had given it to her. Most important of all it was
hers. People didn’t take what was hers.

As her feelings swirled into a
churning morass of anger that made it difficult to think clearly, Ryu moved to
stand by the bed, his hands loose at his sides, watching as her anger built and
built. First her face got redder, then her hands clenched at her sides. She
began to pace back and forth in front of him in agitation.

When she moved, he almost didn’t
see it. Her hand lashed out for one of the pouches. He let her fingers touch
cloth and feel victory just before he spun it out of reach. She fell back a
step and aimed a kick at his knee. He gracefully sidestepped still holding the
bag tauntingly above her head.

She growled and tackled him. The
world spun as he swept her off her feet. She landed with a slight bounce on the
bed. She leveraged herself up onto her elbows and glared. The bastard didn’t
even look mussed.

“Would you like to try again?”

With an inarticulate cry she
launched herself at him, arms thrust out for the bag. He twisted away. She’d
anticipated the move and aimed a back kick into his stomach. It landed.

He exhaled in a whoosh and bent
forward.

She followed up with an uppercut to
his face. He blocked and used his grip on her fist to spin her around and pin
her against him.

“That all you got?”

She snarled and stomped on his
instep. She thrust an elbow into his midsection and was rewarded by his arms
loosening.

She wrenched herself out of his
arms and said gleefully, “Not by a long shot.”

He gave her a gesture that said
‘get on with it.’ Meanwhile, her money had disappeared into his clothes. That
was fine. She’d just knock him unconscious and get it that way.

Her hands came up in a defensive
position that allowed for easy striking and settled into a fighting stance with
her legs a little wider than shoulder width apart, her weight balanced evenly.

The bed prevented her from
attacking from the left and attacking straight on hadn’t worked yet.

She fainted with a low kick and
slid to the right, her hand flashing out and landing harmlessly on his forearm.

Her leg hooked around his and
tugged. He began to lose his balance. She saw her chance as she swung at his
throat.

He grunted as he blocked and
grabbed her waist, flipping her over his head. She landed once again on the
bed.

“Damn it.” She slapped the bed, the
force of it absorbed by the mattress.

“Be a good girl and agree to take
the job,” Ryu said. “You’ll be given your money back, plus an additional half
at the completion of this job. And I’ll clear it with Jost so he releases you
from the crew.”

“You can do that?”

“You could have too if you’d just
gone to him with your problems,” he said imperiously. “He’s not a monster.”

“If he would have released me
anyway why make me go through all this?”

He bent down and patted her on the
head. “You broke the rules. This is your punishment.”

Condescending bastard. Tate pushed
his hand off her hair.

She sat on the bed, unwilling to
concede she was beaten. It was obvious she couldn’t win, but still, it stuck in
the craw to do what she was told. She slapped down the part of her that was
whining that it was her money, and this wasn’t fair.

“Tate?” Ryu crossed his arms and
waited for her to look at him. After a long moment in which she debated the
possibilities of finding a job and escaping, she met his eyes. What she saw
there convinced her she wasn’t leaving this room until he got the answer he was
looking for.

Her shoulders slumped and all the
fight rushed out of her. “Yeah. Whatever.”

Ryu’s expression softened and for a
moment she thought he’d relent. Instead he said almost to himself, “This is
necessary.”

With a bitter gaze she watched him
let Umi back into the room. This job was going to be a huge pain in the ass.

As the three Kairi filed back into
the room, Tate worked hard to present a neutral and calm facade.

She remained on the bed watching as
the other three arranged themselves. Ryu, the rat, didn’t let her attitude faze
him, taking a seat on the opposite side of the bed from her. It dented under
his weight, and his shoulder brushed hers as he made himself comfortable. She
inched away, but the bed wasn’t that big.

After an uncomfortable hesitation,
Umi finally settled into the desk’s chair, the only other seat in the room besides
the bed, while Tempest and Kadien stood sentry by the door and window.

Umi’s back was ramrod straight, not
touching the chair’s back, with her hands folded primly in her lap. Tate’s back
ached just looking at her. How long could she keep that position without her
muscles protesting in pain?

Umi’s posture alone made it clear
she was from the upper classes. Only someone who’d had it drilled into them
from birth could sit that straight.

No wonder they hadn’t made any
progress in finding their little object. Any criminal in the Lower wouldn’t
lift a finger for the privileged lords and ladies from the Upper. Not without a
fee anyway. Even then, only if they couldn’t figure out a way to stab them in
the back.

Her guards weren’t much better,
standing with weight evenly balanced and eyes constantly moving as they checked
for hidden dangers. They practically screamed ‘Valuable person here. Kidnap for
ransom.’

Tate sighed. This was going to be a
lot of work.

There was an expectant hush as
everybody waited for her to get things started. It felt familiar in a way, and
she had the unsettling feeling she’d been in this position before— being relied
on to have a plan and lead others to its conclusion felt comfortable, like she
had done it before.

Perhaps she had been a leader in
that prior life. She shook her head firmly. Unlikely. She much preferred
following other people’s lead. Less responsibility that way. Less worry, too.

“How about we start with what makes
you think the missing object is here?”

Umi’s eyes flicked to Ryu as if
asking permission. What he thought remained locked behind his neutral
expression, and Umi was forced to make up her own mind on how much should be
shared. With obvious reluctance she said, “It is the only answer that makes
sense. We are currently renewing contracts, and the object is the seal that
binds them. It has great value to my people and could be used to compel our
cooperation in certain matters. It is my belief that to do this it will need to
be kept fairly close to provide proof of its existence.”

“I don’t suppose you could tell me
what it is you’re looking for? It would simplify things if I knew.” It was a
shot in the dark, but you never knew until you asked.

To her credit, Umi looked regretful
as she shook her head. “I’m afraid not. If knowledge gets out that it is gone,
it will have devastating consequences on all involved.”

“How bad could it be? Whoever was
on watch when it was stolen is demoted and everybody goes on with their lives.”

Ryu, silent until now, said grimly,
“Its former guards are already dead. If Umi or a family member does not recover
it by the time negotiations are complete, they will be put to death as well.
That circumstance is negligible compared to what happens after.”

“Well, shit,” Tate said in stunned
disbelief. One glance at Umi’s composed face, and the grim expressions on the
guards’, convinced her Ryu wasn’t exaggerating. “That seems a bit harsh.”

“Now you can see why I want your
full attention on this,” Ryu said

Tate exhaled shakily. If she’d
thought the responsibility before was bad, it was nothing compared to what she
knew now. No pressure.

It left the question, what could
possibly be worth an entire family’s lives?

Nothing good, she thought grumpily.
There were so many ways this ‘job’ could go wrong. More and more she wished she
hadn’t stopped to watch the procession. Ryu would never have seen her there,
and she wouldn’t be in this position now.

She shot a dark look at him.
Convincing him of that would be impossible though.

“Where was it stolen?”

“En route to Aurelia about three
days ago. We were able to track the ship they used to twenty miles south of the
city. We believe they traveled over land from there and joined with travelers
journeying to the city for the festival. Unfortunately we lost the trail once
arriving here which is when Ryu offered his assistance.” Umi had avoided
glancing in their direction while she explained.

Tate’s curiosity prodded her to ask
how Ryu came to know about the super secret object, but she decided that
question could wait. Like when, people’s lives weren’t hanging in the balance.

“How did they know which ship the
object was on? I assume you didn’t announce its location to the public or the
date it would be sailing.”

Umi bowed her head, shame echoing
from her posture. It was Kadien, however, who answered, “Some believe we have a
traitor in our clan. One who has sold his allegiance elsewhere.”

“Hmm.”

That could make things a little
difficult. She pinched the bridge of her nose in thought. The facts she’d been
given so far had been rather sparse and there were gaping holes in their story.
Knowing what was missing would narrow the search. What could be so important
that people were willing to die for it? She crossed her arms. Maybe that wasn’t
the right question. People were willing to die for a great many inconsequential
things. The better question would be, why get outsiders involved when it was
this important to them? They were questions that would have to wait, however.

 “I don’t suppose you have any
suggestions on where to start?” she asked turning to Ryu.

“Thought you’d never ask,” he said
with a slight smile. “I was going to watch you putter around in ignorance for a
little while before offering to help, but since you asked so nicely I suppose I
could do you a favor.”

Tate snorted. She’d had just about
enough of his help to last for a good long while.

His quick grin told her he knew
what she’d meant by that snort. “You’ll need to go to the underground market
and gain entry into the Red Circle. Throw Jost’s name around, that should get
you in fairly quick.” He turned serious. “You are not to enter the Black
Circle. If it comes to that, I’ll be the one to go.”

“Why not me? It’ll take too long if
we have to come back and get you.”

Tate didn’t really understand the
parts about the red and black circle, but she could figure that out later.
Right now she was more concerned about the fact he’d restricted her movements.
As usual, being told no made her itch to explore.