“The trouble is,” Alucard was saying, “that metal heats much faster than it cools, so the punishment doesn’t end when they take away the rod.”

Lila felt ill. “I’m sorry,” she said, even though she hated those words, hated the pity that went with them.

“I’m not,” he said, simply. “Every good captain needs his scars. Keeps the men in line.”

He said it so casually, but she could see the strains of memory on his face. She had the strangest urge to reach out and touch his wrist, as if heat might still be rising from the skin.

Instead she asked, “Why did you become a pirate?”

He shot her that coy smile. “Well, it seemed like the best of several bad ideas.”

“But it didn’t work.”

“How perceptive.”

“Then how did you escape?”

The sapphire winked above his eye. “Who says I did?”

Just then, the call went through the crew.

“London!”

Lila twisted, and saw the city rising like a fire in the fading light.

Her heart raced, and Alucard stood up straight, the tunic sleeves sliding down over his wrists.

“Well then,” he said, his rakish smile back in place. “It seems we have arrived.”

VI

The Night Spire docked at dusk.

Lila helped tie off the lines and settle the ramps, her attention straying to the dozens of elegant ships that filled the Isle’s banks. The Red London berths were a tangle of energy and people, chaos and magic, laughter and twilight. Despite the February chill, the city radiated warmth. In the distance, the royal palace rose like a second sun over the settling dark.

“Welcome back,” said Alucard, brushing his shoulder against hers as he hauled a chest onto the dock. She started when she saw Esa sitting on top, purple eyes wide, tail flicking.

“Shouldn’t she stay on the boat?” The cat’s ear twitched, and Lila felt that whatever pleasant inclinations the cat was forming toward her, she’d just lost them.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Alucard. “The ship’s no place for a cat.” Lila was about to point out that the cat had been aboard the ship as long as she had when he added, “I believe in keeping my valuables with me.”

Lila perked up. Were cats so precious here? Or rare? She hadn’t ever seen another one, but in the little time she was ashore, she hadn’t exactly been looking. “Oh yeah?”

“I don’t like that look,” Alucard said, twisting chest and cat away.

“What look?” asked Lila innocently.

“The look that says Esa might conveniently go missing if I tell you what she’s worth.” Lila snorted. “But if you must know, she’s only priceless because I keep my heart inside her, so no one can steal it.” He smiled when he said it, but Esa didn’t even blink.

“Is that so?”

“In truth,” he said, setting the chest onto a cart, “she was a gift.”

“From who?” asked Lila before she could catch herself.

Alucard smirked. “Oh, are you suddenly ready to share? Shall we begin trading questions and answers?”

Lila rolled her eyes and went to help the men haul more chests ashore. A couple of hands would stay with the Spire, while the rest took up at an inn. The cart loaded, Alucard presented his papers to a guard in gleaming armor, and Lila let her gaze wander over the other ships. Some were intricate, others simple, but all were, in their way, impressive.

And then, two boats down, she saw a figure descend from an Arnesian rig. A woman. And not the kind Lila knew to frequent ships. She was dressed in trousers and a collarless coat, a sword slung on a belt at her waist.

The woman began to make her way down the dock toward the Spire, and there was something animal about the way she moved. Prowled. She was taller than Lila, taller than Alucard for that matter, with features as pointed as a fox’s and a mane—there was no better word for it—of wild auburn hair, large chunks not braided exactly but twisted around themselves so she looked half lion and half snake. Perhaps Lila should have felt threatened, but she was too busy being awestruck.

“Now there’s a captain not to cross,” Alucard whispered in her ear.

“Alucard Emery,” said the woman when she reached them. Her voice had a slight sea rasp, and her Arnesian was full of edges. “Haven’t seen you on London land in quite a while. Here for the tournament, I assume.”

“You know me, Jasta. Can’t turn down the chance to make a fool of myself.”

She chuckled, a sound like rusted bells. “Some things never change.”

He flashed a mock frown. “Does that mean you won’t be betting on me?”

“I’ll see if I can spare a few coins,” she said. And with that, Jasta continued on, weapons chiming like coins.

Alucard leaned on Lila. “Word of advice, Bard. Never challenge that one to a drinking contest. Or a sword fight. Or anything you might lose. Because you will.”

But Lila was barely listening. She couldn’t tear her gaze from Jasta as the woman stalked away down the docks, a handful of wolfish men falling in step behind her.

“I’ve never seen a female captain.”

“Not many in Ames proper, but it’s a big world,” said Alucard. “It’s more common where she’s from.”

“And where’s that?”

“Jasta? She’s from Sonal. Eastern side of the empire. Up against the Veskan edge, which is why she looks …”