The captain thought about this. "I'd need some sort of security. Something of value. Do you have any magical devices?"
Arvin hesitated. He'd no sooner give up his glove, bracelet, or knife than he would another fingertip, and while he did have magical ropes, he didn't want word of them reaching Zelia's ears. If she was still at Riverboat Landing when this crew returned in a few days' time, she'd quickly realize who "Vin" was.
The captain grew impatient. He glanced at the sailors, who were struggling to lift the last of the bodies on board-that of the husband. The headless corpse was as stiff as a beam of wood. They angled it down through a hatch and into the hold, on top of the other bodies, then closed the hatch and hauled up the rope ladder.
"Bodies stowed," one of the sailors reported. "We're ready to go."
"Right," the captain said, gathering up his reins. "Back to Riverboat Landing, then."
Arvin decided to take the chance. "I do have a magical device," he said, shrugging the pack from his shoulders. The captain of a riverboat would surely recognize the value of the trollgut rope. "It's a valuable one. Here, let me show you."
"Sure you do," the captain scoffed.
Karrell touched Arvin's arm, startling him-she'd come quietly up behind him during the conversation. "Allow me," she murmured. She said something in her own language then turned to the captain, making a pleading gesture. "I, too, must reach Ormpetarr quickly," she told him. "My mother is ill, and I have magic that can cure her. If I am delayed even I o day…"
Arvin was impressed with the quaver she managed to inject into her voice.
The captain gave a hesitant frown. "I don't know. I-"
"I can compensate you for your losses," Karrell said. She reached into the pouch at her belt and pulled from it a grape-sized, multifaceted gem the color of new grass. Normally, Arvin wouldn't have had the first idea of what it was-or its value. But a little of the knowledge he'd gleaned from Zelia's mind seed remained-enough to tell him it was a spinel, and valuable due to its unusual color.
"Please," Karrell continued. "Won't you accept this? It is all I have left-it cost me everything else I had to get this far. But if this will help me to reach my mother before it is too late, I will gladly give it to you."
"Keep it," the captain said gruffly." You'll need it." He turned to Arvin and held out a hand. "You, on the other hand, can pay for your passage. Twenty plumes."
It was more than twice the amount normally charged, but Arvin handed over the coins without complaint.
The captain shouted down to his crew. "Make ready. We're making for Ormpetarr."
When the riverboat was underway, Arvin walked with Karrell to the stern, where they seated themselves on a raised hatch. "Nicely done," he said, nodding in the direction of the captain. "You're handy with a charm spell."
Karrell tilted her head. "As are you. But I would advise you not to cast one on me a second time."
"What make,, you think I charmed you?" Arvin asked, feigning innocence.
Karrell just stared at him.
Arvin shrugged. "Well, you charmed me first, so that makes us even."
Karrell tossed her head. "I never-"
Arvin raised a finger. "Yes, you did. I wouldn't have… made such a fool of myself, otherwise."
"All men are fools," she said. Then, as Arvin drew himself up to protest, she smiled. "And so are some women, at times."
Arvin nodded. To a woman as beautiful as Karrell, the men constantly gaping at her must indeed seem fools. Drawn by the eagle, the riverboat traveled swiftly. The wind of its passage swept through Karrell's hair, drawing it back and revealing her jade earring and the smooth curve of her neck. Even without the charm spell, Arvin felt a rush of longing for her.
She leaned toward him. "When we get to Ormpetarr-"
"I know," Arvin said. "You want me to introduce you to Ambassador Extaminos." He folded his arms across his chest. "Tell me why you want to meet him so badly. The real reason. Is it connected with whatever it is you're looking for?"
Karrell was silent for several moments. The only sounds were the steady whup-whup of the eagle's wings and the creak of the hull timbers.
"Yes," she answered at last. "Dmetrio Extaminos may know where it is. I simply want to ask him a few questions."
"That's all?" Arvin asked.
Karrell met his eye. "That is all. I do not intend harm to the ambassador."
"I see." Arvin wanted to believe Karrell, but everything pointed to her being a rogue, out to steal something of Dmetrio's. A rogue armed with clerical magic, as well as natural beauty-but even so, she needed someone to help her earn Dmetrio's trust, to get her inside. Arvin sighed, wondering if he would ever be free of rogues and their schemes.
"You're going to charm Dmetrio," he said. It was an easy enough guess-that was the tactic Arvin had planned to use. "And get him to give you… whatever it is you're looking for."
Karrell's silence was answer enough.
Arvin pictured her luring the ambassador into her bed-once there, any man would gladly give her whatever it was she wanted. The image of the ambassador's scaly body coiled around hers repulsed Arvin.
"How about this," he offered. "I'll be meeting with the ambassador in his residence. Just tell me what it is you're looking for, and I'll try to find out where it is. I'm… pretty good at spotting things."
Karrell tilted her head. "You are asking me to trust you."
"Yes."
Her eyes narrowed. "What is it you are looking for? Or rather… who?"
"I can't tell you that."
Karrell stared at him, waiting.
Arvin sighed. "Point taken."
Karrell shifted her gaze to the captain. "I am helping you to reach Ormpetarr-and to avoid the woman you so fear. Without my assistance…"
"Fine," Arvin sputtered. "I'll introduce you to the ambassador. But not until after my business in Ormpetarr is concluded."
He was hedging, of course. The last thing he needed was a member of House Extaminos's royal family linking him with a theft. One yuan-ti wanting him dead was trouble enough. But Karrell seemed to accept his offer; after giving him a long, measuring look, she nodded.
"In the meantime, no more charm spells," Arvin insisted. "Agreed?"
"Agreed." She touched a hand to her heart and looked sincere, but Arvin vowed to be careful, even so.
The rest of the journey passed too swiftly-and too slowly-for Arvin's liking. Too swiftly, because once they reached Ormpetarr, he would probably never see Karrell again. Too slowly, because, despite his best efforts to pass the time in conversation, he kept saying things that irritated her-that made him wish the journey were already over. When the riverboat stopped for the night at Halfway Station, a hamlet even smaller than Riverboat Landing, he'd struck up a conversation about Hlondeth over dinner, telling her how pleased he was to be away from the city of serpents. He cautioned her that the yuan-ti were a devious and cruel race that cared little for humans. It was merely intended as a warning that the members of House Extaminos were dangerous folk to anger, but she seemed to take this to imply that she couldn't take care of herself. After the meal, she curtly declined Arvin's offer of a mug of mulled wine and his invitation to linger at their table beside the fire, and turned in to bed.
The next day, when their journey resumed, she spoke little. She stared over the rail, watching Vic riverbank slide by. Arvin tried once more to engage her in conversation, asking if it ever snowed in the Chultan Peninsula, but though she smiled at him as they chatted, the smile never quite reached her eyes. After a while, he gave up on conversation and instead stared at the passing scenery, watching as the riverboat left the river behind and slid out onto a broad, o pen lake.