And Lila? Was she loyal, too?
She thought back to those first nights, when she’d slept with her back to the wall and her knife at hand, waiting to be attacked. When she’d had to face the fact that she knew almost nothing about life aboard a ship, and grappled every day to stay on her feet, clutching at scraps of skill and language and, on the occasion it was offered, help. It seemed like a lifetime ago. Now they treated her more or less as if she was one of them. As if she belonged. A small, defiant part of her, the part she’d done her best to smother on the streets of London, fluttered at the thought.
But the rest of her felt ill.
She wanted to push away from the table and walk out, walk away, break the cords that tied her to this ship and this crew and this life, and start over. Whenever she felt the weight of those bonds, she wished she could take her sharpest knife and cut them free, carve out the part of her that wanted, that cared, that warmed at the feeling of Alucard’s hand on her shoulder, Tav’s smile, Stress’s nod.
Weak, warned a voice in her head.
Run, said another.
“All right, Bard?” asked Vasry, looking genuinely concerned.
Lila nodded, fixing a sliver of a smile back on her face.
Stross slid a fresh drink her way, as if it was nothing.
Run.
Alucard caught her eye and winked.
Christ, she should have killed him when she had the chance.
“All right, Captain,” shouted Stross over the noise. “You’ve got us waiting. What’s the big news?”
The table began to quiet, and Alucard brought his stein down. “Listen up, you shabby lot,” he said, his voice carrying in a wave. The group fell to murmurs and then silence. “You can have the night on land. But we sail at first light.”
“Where to next?” asked Tav.
Alucard looked right at Lila when he said it. “To London.”
Lila stiffened in her seat.
“What for?” asked Vasry.
“Business.”
“Funny thing,” called Stross, scratching his cheek. “Isn’t it about time for the tournament?”
“It might be,” said Alucard with a smirk.
“You didn’t,” gasped Lenos.
“Didn’t what?” asked Lila.
Tav chuckled. “He’s gone and entered the Essen Tasch.”
Essen Tasch, thought Lila, trying to translate the phrase. Element … something. What was it? Everyone else at the table seemed to know. Only Kobis said nothing, simply frowned down into his drink, but he didn’t look confused, only concerned.
“I don’t know, Captain,” said Olo. “You think you’re good enough to play that game?”
Alucard chuckled and shook his head. He brought his glass to his lips, took a swig, and then slammed the stein down on the table. It shattered, but before the cider could spill, it sprang into the air, along with the contents in every other glass at the table, liquid freezing as it surged upward. The frozen drinks hung for a moment, then tumbled to the wooden table, some lodging sharp-end down, others rolling about. Lila watched the frozen spear that had once been her cider fetch up against her glass. Only the icicle that had been Alucard’s drink stayed up, hovering suspended above his ruined glass.
The crew whooped and applauded.
“Hey,” growled a man behind the bar. “You pay for everything you break.”
Alucard smiled and lifted his hands, as if in surrender. And then, as he flexed his fingers, the shards of glass strewn across the table trembled and drew themselves back together into the shape of a stein, as if time itself were beginning to reverse. The stein formed in one of Alucard’s hands, the cracks blurring and then vanishing as the glass re-fused. He held it up, as if to inspect it, and the shard of frozen cider still hovering in the air above his head liquefied and spilled back into the unbroken glass. He took a sip and toasted the man behind the bar, and the crew burst into a raucous cheer, hammering the table, their own drinks forgotten.
Only Lila sat motionless, stunned by the display.
She’d seen Alucard do magic, of course—he’d been teaching her for months. But there was a difference—a chasm, a world—between levitating a knife and this. She hadn’t seen anyone handle magic like this. Not since Kell.
Vasry must have read her surprise, because he tipped his head toward hers. “Captain’s one of the best in Ames,” he said. “Most magicians only got a handle on one element. A few are duals. But Alucard? He’s a triad.” He said the word with awe. “Doesn’t go around flashing his power, because great magicians are rare out on the water, rarer than a bounty, so they’re likely to be caught and sold. Of course that wouldn’t be the first coin on his head, but still. Most don’t leave the cities.”
Then why did he? she wondered.
When she looked up, she saw Alucard’s gaze leveled on her, sapphire winking above one storm-dark eye.
“You ever been to an Essen Tasch, Vasry?” she asked.
“Once,” said the handsome sailor. “Last time the Games were in London.”
Games, thought Lila. So that’s what Tasch meant.
The Element Games.
“Only runs every three years,” continued Vasry, “in the city of the last victor.”
“What’s it like?” she pried, fighting to keep her interest casual.
“Never been? Well you’re in for a treat.” Lila liked Vasry. He wasn’t the sharpest man, not by a long stretch; he didn’t read too much into the questions, didn’t wonder how or why she didn’t know the answers. “The Essen Tasch has been going for more than sixty years now, since the last imperial war. Every three years they get together—Arnes and Faro and Vesk—and put up their best magicians. Shame it only lasts a week.”
“S’the empires’ way of shaking hands and smiling and showing that all is well,” chimed in Tav, who had leaned in conspiratorially.
“Tac, politics are boring,” said Vasry, waving his hand. “But the duels are fun to watch. And the parties. The drinking, the betting, the beautiful women …”
Tav snorted. “Don’t listen to Vasry, Bard,” he said. “The duels are the best part. A dozen of the greatest magicians from each empire going head to head.” Duels.
“Oh, and the masks are pretty, too,” mused Vasry, eyes glassy.
“Masks?” asked Lila, interest piqued.
Tav leaned forward with excitement. “In the beginning,” he said, “the competitors wore helmets, to protect themselves. But over time they began to embellish them. Set themselves apart. Eventually, the masks just became part of the tournament.” Tav frowned slightly. “I’m surprised you’ve never been to an Essen Tasch, Bard.”
Lila shrugged. “Never been in the right place at the right time.”
He nodded, as if that answer was good enough, and let the matter lie. “Well, if Alucard’s in the ranks, it’ll be a tournament to remember.”
“Why do men do it?” she asked. “Just to show off?”
“Not just men,” said Vasry. “Women, too.”
“It’s an honor, being chosen to compete for your crown—”
“Glory’s well and good,” said Vasry, “but this game is winner take all. Not that the captain needs the money.”
Tav shot him a warning look.
“A pot that large,” said Olo, chiming in, “even the king himself is sore to part with it.”
Lila traced her finger through the cider that was beginning to melt on the table, half listening to the crew as they chatted. Magic, masks, money … the Essen Tasch was becoming more and more interesting.