Cobiah tried to follow the asura's argument, but his mind was on other things. "Can we talk about this during the meeting?"

"I want an answer now. An honest answer, not one prettified for politics." Tarb shoved his finger up toward Cobiah's face. "Are you getting a cut from the contractors? A promise of military authority to back you on the council? What is it?"

"What?" Cobiah's attention snapped fully to the asura. "No. Nothing like that. I just want the city to be safe."

Tarb fixed him with a steely gaze. "Whatever you say, Marriner," the warrior grumbled. "But I know payoff when I smell it. I just want you to know: I'm watching you." Tarb pointed at his eyes, then at Cobiah, and then stalked off toward the table, unslinging the war hammer from his back with a resounding whump! Gamina paused, looked up at Cobiah awkwardly, then shrugged and followed her captain to his seat.

One by one, the seats at the table were filling. Cobiah deliberately took the chair across from Gr.i.m.j.a.w, meeting the charr's eyes without shrinking. Gr.i.m.j.a.w grinned, showing all of his snaggled, uneven teeth. It turned Cobiah's stomach to smile pleasantly back, but he managed. Yomm was last to arrive, shuffling along in a heavy new robe ornamented with anchors, gold braid, and s.h.i.+ny b.u.t.tons shaped like lions' heads. He waved his arms as he walked, deliberately showing off the ornate trim on the sleeves.

Macha rolled her eyes. "I was hoping he'd sleep through the meeting," she muttered, a little too loud. Yomm shot her a nasty look.

"Are we all here, then?" Nodobe made a show of counting chairs. "Eight. Good. Then let us all sit and discuss the future of our city."

Cobiah tensed, watching Gr.i.m.j.a.w out of the corner of his eye. The charr s.h.i.+fted in his seat but showed no sign of leaving. She looked at Cobiah questioningly, and he gave her a smile. There was no opportunity to tell Isaye what he'd found aboard the Brutality, and even if he could, it would only worry her as it had Macha.

"This council was called to vote on the future of the city's monetary concerns." Nodobe reclined comfortably in his chair, looking for all the world as if he were addressing a room filled with his personal followers. Yesterday, it had rankled Cobiah to see Nodobe act like he was in charge. Today, Cobiah had far too much on his mind to try to compete. Nodobe continued. "Thanks to Yomm-excuse me, Captain Yomm-the city's treasury currently has enough gold to address some significant issues."

"Like finis.h.i.+ng the fortress," Hedda chimed in.

Tarb said, "Or building a bank! By my golematronic grandmother, can we talk about that? I'm tired of keeping my money in my s.h.i.+p's hold. I'm a sailor, not a banker."

Laughing softly, Nodobe held up his palms. "We could do any of these things, a.s.suredly. But we cannot do them all. The question before the council is, which should we choose?"

"Should we vote first?" Cobiah said quickly. "It seemed we were tangled in argument yesterday. I'm curious to see where the council stands this morning. If we have a tangible majority, then it will save us time spent flapping our jaws."

"An excellent point, Captain Marriner," Nodobe agreed. "Shall we vote on the primary allocation, then?"

"All those in favor of spending the majority of the money on our city's defense-more guns on the northern cliff, finis.h.i.+ng the fortress on Claw Island, and increasing the city guard-raise your hand." Cobiah lifted his as he spoke, holding his palm above his shoulder.

Moran's hand shot up. "I've seen what those undead freighters can do. I don't want to take any chances." Hedda raised hers more slowly.

After a moment, Nodobe said, "Three. Very well, all those in favor of using the revenue on necessary internal upgrades: a bank, better roads into Kryta and through the s.h.i.+verpeaks, more buildings to house shops and trade." He lifted his hand, looking around the table expectantly.

Tarb was the first to join him, which was no surprise at all. Yomm's hand waved pointedly in the air as the shopkeep puffed up in smug contentment. Gr.i.m.j.a.w made a show of pretending to consider both sides, rubbing his whiskers and flapping all four ears. At last the charr captain lifted his hand in affirmation, claws glinting in the suns.h.i.+ne that streamed down through the high windows.

"Isaye?" Tarb asked. "Your vote?"

"What does it matter?" Gr.i.m.j.a.w jeered. "Four to three in favor."

She exchanged a glance with her second, and Henst put his hand on her arm rea.s.suringly. "I think Lion's Arch needs upgrades in multiple areas if the city is going to thrive. I don't see why we can't split the money between the two."

"An abstention is still four to three." Gr.i.m.j.a.w lowered his hands to the table, claws sinking into the thick wood. "We win."

"One moment, one moment, let's hear her out. If Isaye casts her vote in agreement with us," Moran argued, "we'd be tied at four to four until someone changes sides."

"That could take weeks!" Tarb groaned. "I have a vessel to run. s.h.i.+pping deadlines to make. If I'm stuck here until Wintersday, how'm I going to pay my crew?"

The charr rumbled angrily and turned toward Isaye. "Look, Isaye, I know we've had our differences, but as you're the one that started the fight that landed my crewmen in the clink this morning, I figure you owe me some consideration." Gr.i.m.j.a.w forcibly relaxed his fists and placed his pawlike hands on the table. "I want a word with you about your concerns, to see if you and I can come to a compromise. Then we'll have another vote. This time, no abstentions."

Nodobe tapped his fingers together. "Fine. We'll recess for five minutes. But let me tell you this, Gr.i.m.j.a.w." Nodobe leaned toward the snaggletoothed charr and put ice in his voice. "If you bully her . . . if I hear one whiff of trouble . . ." The Elonian narrowed his eyes. "I'll see you in chains, pulling at my s.h.i.+p's oars. Understood?"

Visibly disturbed at the thought, Gr.i.m.j.a.w nodded brusquely. He rose from the table and gestured to Isaye to follow him toward the front of the pavilion.

"There he goes," Macha hissed. "It's Isaye! We have to follow her."

Cobiah's breath caught in his throat. "What? It can't be Isaye. She wouldn't blow up her own s.h.i.+p-especially not while she was on it. She wouldn't leave me here to die."

"Maybe you care a lot more for her than she does for you, Cobiah," Macha said bitterly. "She's Krytan, remember? She works for Baede. I bet he's behind this. C'mon, we have to follow them."

He'll be king of Lion's Arch. Cobiah considered the thought fleetingly and then shook his head. "Isaye loves me. That was her s.h.i.+p. Verahd was her friend, and that bomb killed him. It doesn't make sense; there's no possible way it's Isaye. Gr.i.m.j.a.w's going to come back into the room and then leave again with the real traitor. If we go after him now, we're giving ourselves away. I trust Isaye, Macha. We just have to be patient." Refusing to consider the alternative, Cobiah crossed his arms and settled into his chair. Around them, the other captains had broken into small talk and pleasantries, discussing the weather and their next trade runs.

Macha tugged harder at his sleeve. "Maybe I'm wrong, but can we take the chance? Get up, Coby. We can't stay here. Please, Cobiah!" A bead of perspiration ran down the asura's forehead, trickling across her temple and vanis.h.i.+ng into her braids. Cobiah'd never seen her so jittery. Something was definitely wrong.

"Calm down, Macha," he said, taken aback.

"No, really, trust me-get up, we have to go. To follow them, I mean."

He twisted in his chair, staring at Macha in confusion. Why was she so insistent? Unless . . .

She wasn't just worried; she was panicking. A similar image leapt into Cobiah's mind: Macha, racing down the dock just before the bomb exploded, the same frightened look on her face. She said she'd merely followed the messenger, but when Macha was running up the Nomad's gangplank, she was yelling a warning.

"Macha." He gripped her arm. "How did you know about the bomb?"

"There's no time to argue, Cobiah. They're getting away. We have to go after Gr.i.m.j.a.w . . ." Her voice trailed off urgently.

"The package on the Nomad. How did you know it was dangerous?" Instead of answering, Macha stammered, and Cobiah tightened his grip on her arm. "It was just an ordinary brown-paper package, Macha. It could have been anything. It didn't look like a bomb. Why were you in such a panic if you didn't know what it was?"

"Cobiah, you're wasting time." She trembled. By now, everyone at the table was staring at them. Macha yelped as Cobiah's hand clenched her wrist. "Isaye could be in danger-"

"You were Gr.i.m.j.a.w's courier. You snuck onto Isaye's s.h.i.+p and placed the bomb in front of her cabin. You must have seen my coat on the pylon as you were leaving. That's when you realized I was aboard. That's when you started yelling for me to get off the s.h.i.+p."

"Cobiah, I'd never do anything to hurt you." Macha twisted in his grasp. The others couldn't hear the whispered words, but they could see that Cobiah's face was flushed with rage.

"Not me, maybe. But Isaye?" Cobiah's mind was racing. He jerked the asura closer, growling in rage. "By Dwayna, now I understand! Without Isaye, I don't have any reason to stay in Lion's Arch. In fact, I'd want to leave. Isn't that what I told you the morning before the bomb was set?" He shook the asura roughly. "Are you behind all this, Macha?"

"No!" Macha protested. "But I know who is. And yes, I helped him. But that's why we were arguing; I changed my mind. I was going to tell you the truth. You have to believe me, I didn't know there was a bomb here! He was willing to kill me, too." Tears ran down the asura's cheeks, falling on her robin's-egg-blue robe. "Please, Coby, you have to understand. I wanted to get out of this stinking city. I just wanted our life back-sailing on the Pride with all of our friends. Like it was before Isaye."

"Who sent the bomb, Macha?"

With tears still running down her cheeks, Macha pointed across the room. "He did." Cobiah turned to follow her accusatory finger and saw Isaye and Gr.i.m.j.a.w, headed out the front doors of the pavilion, their seconds at their sides. Isaye. Gr.i.m.j.a.w. Gr.i.m.j.a.w's second, Krokar, and Isaye's second, Henst. And just like that, everything fell into place.

My grandfather was a member of the Ascalonian n.o.bility.

Mr. "I'm the prince of Ascalon."

He'll be king of Lion's Arch.

Cobiah hurled himself up out of the chair, still gripping the asura's wrist. "Isaye!" he shouted. The small group paused at the doorway. "Henst sent the bomb. He was trying to kill you and inherit your seat on the Captain's Council. If you let him leave the room, we're all going to die." Everyone in the room froze in surprise, and Hedda let out a little gasp. Isaye stared at Cobiah in utter disbelief.

Nodobe was the first to speak. The dark-skinned captain said slowly, "That's a serious accusation, Captain Marriner. Do you have any evidence?"

"Yeah. Looks like I do," Cobiah said, pulling Macha forward. He rounded on the asura. "This is your one chance, Macha. Explain, or I swear, I'll sit down, Gr.i.m.j.a.w will blow that bomb, and we'll all become fizzy-widgets in the Eternal Alchemical . . . thingy."

"The Eternal Alchemy," Macha breathed, dabbing at her tears. "Oh, Coby. You were listening."

"Spill, Macha!"

Macha jumped nervously. "It was his idea!" she said, pointing at Henst. "He made a deal with the king of Kryta. If Henst could take over Lion's Arch, King Baede would recognize his authority as a fellow royal and lend him troops and s.h.i.+ps to secure the city and drive out all nonhumans. Lion's Arch would become a 'new home for displaced Ascalonians,' and Henst would be their king."

Cobiah prodded her again. "Now the part about Isaye, and the bomb on the Nomad."

The asura's shoulders slumped, and her voice fell. "Henst told Gr.i.m.j.a.w to make the bomb that was supposed to take out Isaye. My job was to put the bomb on the s.h.i.+p, because I could get there without anyone seeing me." To the asura's credit, she looked as chagrined as she did bitter. "Originally, Henst was going to buy a s.h.i.+p and get his own seat on the council, but one vote wouldn't have been enough. He needed more. So we came up with a plan.

"Henst gave his money to Yomm to buy a seat instead, and then he planned to kill Isaye. Henst was her first mate; he'd inherit her seat on the council. With Isaye dead, I could convince Cobiah to leave the city. Henst, Gr.i.m.j.a.w, and Yomm could all vote against spending more money on the city's defenses, and once Lion's Arch was unprotected, King Baede's troops would sweep in and declare Henst king of the city . . ."

"What was Gr.i.m.j.a.w getting? How did Henst convince him to help?" Cobiah pressed her ruthlessly.

"Henst made Gr.i.m.j.a.w a deal. Once Henst took over the city, he'd use Baede's backing to give Gr.i.m.j.a.w s.h.i.+ps, and Gr.i.m.j.a.w would convince the nonhumans leaving Lion's Arch to crew them. He'd get what he wanted-an armada to go attack Orr. I'm betting neither Henst nor Baede would give a flap at that point if those s.h.i.+ps were successful, so long as they left Lion's Arch." Macha's ears wiggled despondently. "Henst also promised to give Gr.i.m.j.a.w the Pride." She shook her head. "Stupid charr believed him."

"This is all ridiculous!" Gr.i.m.j.a.w bellowed from the other side of the room. "The asura's lying. Not a word of it is true. If Macha put a bomb on the Nomad and she wants to admit it, then that's her concern. I had nothing to do with any of it, and neither did Henst." For his part, Henst stood silently by Isaye's side, looking like a thunderous storm cloud. He kept his hands on his sword hilts, and his eyes glittered with anger.

"Henst wasn't going to give you the Pride anyway, you drooling git. He was going to give it to King Baede." Macha snorted derisively.

"The Pride was mine! He promised!" Gr.i.m.j.a.w said, his temper flaring. "You take that back!"

In the echo of his words, Cobiah felt rather than heard every person in the room turn to stare at the charr. "And there, ladies and gentlemen," Macha said, gesturing with a flourish, "I give you the ancient asuran legal tradition of Testimony by Idiot."

"You can't prove anything," Henst snarled. "You have no evidence."

"Where were you when the bomb was placed on the Nomad?" Cobiah said accusatorily. "You were off-s.h.i.+p, weren't you? Because you knew the s.h.i.+p would be attacked."

"Most of the crew was off-s.h.i.+p. We were on sh.o.r.e leave," Henst retorted.

"True. But I'll bet 'most of the crew' didn't take their rucksack ash.o.r.e that night. Unlike you, they were planning on coming back to the s.h.i.+p. But you knew the Nomad would be on fire, didn't you, Henst? So you took all your important possessions off the s.h.i.+p and stored them somewhere safe." Cobiah's eyebrows knitted together with anger. "Unluckily for you, I saw your bag at Yomm's shop, though I didn't connect the two at the time.

"Nodobe, Tarb-Henst stays here." Cobiah directed them. "Moran, go to Yomm's and search that rucksack. If Macha's story is true, we'll find proof there. Letters, I'd imagine, signed by King Baede."

In an instant, Henst drew his swords. "You are too clever by far, Cobiah Marriner." Gr.i.m.j.a.w's weapons followed in the blink of an eye, a dagger in one hand and a pistol in the other. Isaye stood trapped by a field of weapons, her jaw tensed and her face pale. "Not a move, Captain Isaye. I wouldn't want to spill blood on the council floor." Henst spoke quietly, raising one of his swords to Isaye's throat as his eyes flicked to Cobiah and the others. "We're going to back out of the room, and you're going to let us-or I'm afraid she dies."

"If you leave, Gr.i.m.j.a.w sets off the bomb, and we all die anyway. That is, if I'm understanding all this madness." Old Captain Moran pushed his chair away from the table, rolling to his feet with the sway of a practiced sailor. He drew his mace and tamped the heavy spiked ball rhythmically into his hand. "The h.e.l.l if I'll just sit on my thumb and go quietly."

"n.o.body's going anywhere," Cobiah growled, his cutla.s.s already in his hand.

Nodobe rose as well, and Hedda and Tarb, the first cracking her knuckles and the second reaching for the hilt of his heavy war hammer. With a smile of grudging admiration, Nodobe said, "For once I am forced to agree with my a.s.sociate Captain Marriner."

Henst snarled, "Then it would appear we're at an impa.s.se."

"Not on my account." Before Henst could react, Isaye thrust her elbow into his rib cage and grabbed for the sword in his left hand. Henst staggered, relinquis.h.i.+ng the weapon, but when he snapped back, he was twice as angry. He shoved Isaye, knocking her newly seized sword aside, and cracked his fist viciously against her jaw.

Gr.i.m.j.a.w and Krokar paused, exchanged a swift look, and ran.

"Get them!" Hedda yelled, lunging over the captains' table. "Don't let the charr escape!" Several of the others raced forward, joining in the fight.

Cobiah spun Macha around and shoved her toward Moran. "Os.h.!.+" he yelled to his old friend. "Tie her up-we'll deal with her after this is handled."

Moran quickly stripped a long sash from his waist. Ignoring the asura's protests, he bodily lifted Macha and placed her in a chair, twining the sash through the heavy wooden arms and around her wrists. With a seaman's quick knots, he secured the rope, locking her inside the chair. "What if the bomb goes off?" Macha wailed.

"Then we're all done for," he retorted gruffly. "So you better stop complaining and start praying." With that, he turned his back on her and stormed across the room toward the fight.

"Asura don't pray!" Macha screamed after him, jolting about in her chair. The old gray captain ignored her and kept walking. "Let me go! You hear me? Moran? Moran, don't walk away from me! There's a bomb, didn't you hear? Let . . . me . . . go!"

The brawl in the pavilion quickly spiraled out of control. At Gr.i.m.j.a.w's shout, his warband from the Brutality poured in the front door, weapons at the ready. Tarb, Hedda, and Moran charged the warband and blocked Gr.i.m.j.a.w's path out the door, preventing his escape. Isaye and Henst faced one another in battle, their swords flas.h.i.+ng back and forth as each tried to find a hole in the other's guard. Nodobe stayed well back near the table, reaching for the dagger in his belt. He chanted grim words of magic, and a sickly light began to coalesce around his fingers. Still, the captains were outcla.s.sed-even with their seconds, they were fighting against ten battle-hardened charr.

Yomm huddled under the edge of the captains' table, pulling his glittering golden robe close about him. "I thought you said you could fight!" Cobiah mocked him, charging toward the battle.

"I can fight!" the shopkeep whimpered. "But it's madness out there!"

Krokar, Gr.i.m.j.a.w's second, bore down on old Captain Moran with a vicious-looking hooked knife. Moran blocked the blow, cracking his forearm against the charr's wrist midthrust. The captain was not all he had been in his youth, and the blow did not make the charr drop the knife. Instead, it slashed through Moran's guard, sinking deeply into the old man's shoulder. With a yelp of pain, Moran pulled out the knife and then resheathed it in Krokar's chest.

To the side, Captain Hedda took on three charr at once. She'd picked up a heavy oak bench, her arms rippling with ma.s.sive strength beneath the softness of her chubby body. When all three charged her, Hedda set her feet and held the bench crosswise in front of her chest, setting her entire weight against it. Even with all three charr pus.h.i.+ng as hard as they could, the buxom norn woman walked forward step by step, shoving them back with each stride. When she reached the edge of the pavilion, Hedda gave a roar and slammed the bench back even farther, pinning all three squirming soldiers against the wall.

Nodobe's hex left his hand in a blaze of sickening greenish light as he finished the spell. It swirled through the air, leaving a trail of smoky ash in its wake, and then cascaded toward the captain of the charr. When it reached them, it exploded into a buzzing ma.s.s of insects, biting and digging into Gr.i.m.j.a.w's skin and expanding to encompa.s.s those nearby. Immediately, all three charr started howling in pain, scratching at their skin. They scratched so hard that their claws tore away hunks of fur. "Necromancy?" one of the charr roared toward Nodobe. "You disreputable human sc.u.m!"

Fighting the urge to continue tearing at his itching skin, Gr.i.m.j.a.w raised his pistol and fired toward Nodobe, but the shot went wild. The ball of iron careened toward Tarb and caught the asura warrior in the ribs. Tarb gasped but didn't falter, swinging his war hammer like a striking hawk. The heavy iron of the weapon's head cracked solidly into Gr.i.m.j.a.w's knees. The charr howled in pain, staggering, but fired the pistol again. The second shot hit Tarb's forearm, and within moments, the asura's sleeve was covered in blood.

Cobiah slashed at Gr.i.m.j.a.w's pistol, trying to cut off the arm that held it. Gr.i.m.j.a.w blocked the strike using the dagger in his other hand, then raised the same fist to punch Cobiah in the jaw. Spinning, he kicked Tarb in the belly with the same motion. The charr's boot struck the asura's hip and knocked Tarb sprawling. The asura climbed back to his feet slowly, never losing his grip on the war hammer. While he was recovering his balance, Cobiah stepped in to deflect Gr.i.m.j.a.w's next blow. Cobiah bullied the charr backward, away from Tarb, keeping Gr.i.m.j.a.w's weapons engaged and his line of fire to the asura blocked.

Nearer to the door, Isaye and Henst continued their combat. Isaye's leg was bleeding from one of Henst's attacks, pale skin and a red wound showing through a long cut in her breeches. Henst taunted her with each exchange of blows, drawing Isaye ever closer to the pavilion door. Cobiah understood why. With the bomb still somewhere inside the building, Henst was trying to escape so that he could set it off himself, leaving the rest to die. Although she was good with a sword, Isaye was not a match for Henst. She was surviving on sheer anger and dexterity, but eventually her luck would run out, and Henst's skill would determine the victor.

Cobiah pushed away his instinct to leap to her defense and tried to focus on Gr.i.m.j.a.w. He ducked as the charr ferociously lashed out with his dagger, trying to force Cobiah away. Tarb, still behind Cobiah, swung over Cobiah's back and slammed his war hammer into Gr.i.m.j.a.w's elbow. While the charr captain was shouting and flapping his arm in distress, Cobiah seized his chance. He grabbed the charr's ma.s.sive horn and wrenched Gr.i.m.j.a.w's head to the side. When Gr.i.m.j.a.w stumbled, Cobiah kneed him in the stomach, but the charr's return punch knocked away Cobiah's sword. The weapon clattered to the ground at their feet, but Cobiah couldn't afford to let go of Gr.i.m.j.a.w's horn, not with a pistol still waving in his enemy's hand. Rather than pick up the sword, risking a gunshot wound, Cobiah bent over and grabbed one of Gr.i.m.j.a.w's four ears in his mouth. He bit down viciously.

Gr.i.m.j.a.w howled in pain. "Marriner!" he shrieked. "You don't fight fair!"

"I fight like a charr!" Cobiah retorted through clamped teeth.

While the charr's attention was diverted, Tarb swung his war hammer behind his body. He twisted forward and swung the hammer in an underhand arc, first down and then up-straight between the charr captain's legs. Gr.i.m.j.a.w's shriek transformed into a guttural, choking sound. His pistol fell from numb fingers, and his legs clamped together. He fell to his knees, and Cobiah scooped up his fallen sword and cracked Gr.i.m.j.a.w across the back of the neck with the hilt. With a whimper, Gr.i.m.j.a.w crumpled to the ground.

"The concept of 'fair' relies on an inaccurate understanding of physics," Tarb sniffed. "And I fight like an asura, thank you very much."

"Marriner!" The voice was shaky, but it was clearly Moran. Cobiah spun and saw two of Gr.i.m.j.a.w's warband facing the old captain. Moran had raised a guardian s.h.i.+eld of blue magic, but the energy was flickering and fading as the charr pounded on it with their weapons. Losing its cohesion, Moran's s.h.i.+eld finally crumpled and dissolved.

"No!" Cobiah screamed, starting toward them, but he was too far away. One of the charr thrust his sword through the last shreds of Osh Moran's magic, spearing the gray-haired captain with the full length of his blade. The other slashed at Moran, intending to cut off the human's head before help could arrive-but before the blow could land, Tarb's a.s.sistant, Gamina, chucked a flowerpot from the far side of the room. Her aim was true, and her arm was good. The pot caught that charr dead in the muzzle, knocking him unconscious to the ground. Gamina lifted another pot to her shoulder, a solemn, grim look on her face, and Tarb shot her an approving smile.

Just then Cobiah reached them. He leapt onto the still-standing charr, enraged and slas.h.i.+ng wildly with his cutla.s.s. The soldier fell back from Cobiah's onslaught, surprised by the attack. Cobiah knocked him back farther and swept his cutla.s.s twice, ending the charr's life in a quick instant.

Dropping his sword to the ground, Cobiah knelt next to the old captain. "Moran . . ." Cobiah's voice broke with sorrow. It was too late to help him. The old captain's eyes were already fixed in death.

Swords rang as they clashed together, Isaye still pressing Henst to his utmost. Her first mate was falling back now, struggling to keep up with her last wild blows, and Isaye knew her time was running out. She used every dirty trick in the book to gain an advantage. First she toppled a chair, kicking it at him; then she spun low and slashed at his ankles, forcing Henst to defy gravity if he wanted to keep his feet attached to his legs. For his part, the black-haired man fought determinedly, refusing to admit defeat even when Isaye's sword cut a deep gash across his chest and arm.