Angel Arias Read Online Free PDF Page B

force herself to say his name aloud.
    ‘Jud told us some.’ Her grim gaze shifted to the object that La and Plank laboured over. ‘But not enough. Pirates are only good at two things. Drinking, and keeping their mouths shut about where they get their money from. You will find out who sold them to him and how they got them here.’
    But how? Naif left her question unspoken. This was her chance.
    La Lobos squeezed his cloth one last time and handed it and the bucket to Plank.
    ‘La, take her back. We’ll leave on the tide tomorrow and return for you two days later at the end of the new moon. Be at the Old Harbour then. If you miss the rendezvous it will be another month before I can return without risk.’
    Ruzalia strode to the other side of the room and lifted a heavy curtain to stare outside. It was night now and the only light from the window was the twinkling reef markers in the bay. She let the curtain drop. ‘Tomorrow.’
    Naif nodded with relief. She was going home.
    But underneath her determination to find answers, a pit of dread stirred.

 
    ‘W hat happened?’ asked Charlonge as Naif entered their shared room.
    She was standing by the window, hands clasped tightly. Markes sat on the bed, fingering a dressing on his neck.
    ‘Are you all right?’ Naif asked him.
    ‘Long-Li brought us here and then he went back down to the ballroom,’ said Markes.
    ‘But someone bandaged you?’
    ‘He took us to Mesree in the infirmary first. I never noticed how much she smells of onions.’ He gave a weak smile. ‘You?’
    ‘I’ve just been to Ruzalia’s apartments. I saw the Register she’s trying to build. It’s only half-finished. The discovery of the beads has rattled her, though. She’s changed her mind; she’s taking me to Grave tomorrow.’
    ‘What!’
    ‘Someone in Grave has been supplying Jud with the beads and pods. She wants me to find out who and how.’
    ‘Jud told her that?’ asked Markes.
    Naif took a quiet breath. ‘I think she tortured him.’
    She told them about the room and how Plank and La Lobos had been cleaning.
    ‘Maybe she was just trying to scare you,’ said Charlonge.
    Naif shook her head. ‘I saw the blood. And Rajka and his friends had taken something. That’s why he attacked Markes.’
    ‘Naif’s right,’ said Markes. ‘He had glazed eyes. I saw them up close.’
    Charlonge’s expression became anxious. ‘Ruzalia will come back for you, won’t she?’
    ‘Yes. Two days later, before the moon rises.’
    ‘But what if she doesn’t come? Or you aren’t able to meet her at the right time?’ Markes’s tone became grim.
    ‘There’s the barge. I could hide and wait for it.’
    ‘But that could be months,’ said Markes.
    ‘I’ll find a way back.’
    ‘Back where? To Ixion? Here?’
    ‘Yes. I have to help Joel and Suki and Rollo.’
    ‘And afterwards?’
    ‘Ruzalia mentioned a place called Port of Patience. She takes the over-agers from the barge there.’
    ‘I’ve read about it in the books on Ixion,’ said Charlonge nodding. ‘It’s a trading port.’
    Markes looked around suddenly. ‘What was that noise?’
    Naif heard it then; raised voices and thumping echoing down the corridor.
    Charlonge turned the handle but Naif ran across and seized her hand. ‘No. Lock it.’
    ‘But –’
    ‘Char, lock it.’ She pushed the girl’s hand away and turned the heavy iron ring to lock the door.
    Before either of them could speak or move away from the door, someone outside began wrestling the handle. When they couldn’t get the door open they began to thump on it.
    ‘Open up or we’ll burn you out,’ shouted a voice.
    The three stared at each other. It was Rajka, for certain.
    Naif put her fingers to her lips and beckoned Markes. Together the three dragged the chest of drawers from near the window and settled it against the door. The thumping started up again, and the shouts. The handle rattled again but the heavy lock held.
    After a while the noise