Varragher was a busy man. He conducted his business in the inn of Waystation 17I, which he owned in part from a previous deal he had made. When we walked in, he was sitting at one of the tables along the wall of the dining area, chowing down on a pile of food. Someone sat across from him, sliding a scroll across the surface of the table. Varragher took a moment before opening it, but as soon as he saw the insides, he tossed the scroll back to the patron, spitting out some sort of retort with a full mouth.

The patron was escorted away, and the next person in line sat down across from Varragher. A few people were waiting, all of them looking around with shifty eyes as they clutched their propositions in their hands. Fal moved to join the line, but I made my way over to the table. “Varragher,” I said, “it’s been too long.”

Varragher looked up from his plate, breaking out into a smile. “Wannfota, it’s nice to see you again. You’ve caught me during my rush hour.” He waved his hand to the woman sitting across from him, who looked dismayed at my presence.

“I need to cash in my favor.”

“In cutting the line? Or making the deal?”

“I think you know my favor is bigger than both of those. See me now, don’t charge me, and we’ll call it even.”

Fal appeared over my shoulder, sulking as he looked down at his old business partner. Varragher looked to him. “I didn’t know you needed muscle. You after something big?”

I crossed my arms. “He’s just here to repay a debt. I’m transporting him for a mutual friend. The mission isn’t big, just time sensitive.”

Varragher leaned back in his seat, propping his elbow up behind him. He looked between me and the woman, who clutched her scroll tightly. He picked something out from his teeth. “Fine. Make it quick.” With a wave of his hand, his own goons lifted the woman from her spot and placed her back to the front of the line. I sat to take her place. “What do you need? Or who? It’s always one or the other with you.”

“I’m looking for a set of twins, a boy and girl. They’re from 20J.”

“What’s special about ‘em?”

“You’re familiar with Fallon Ere?” I reached forward and picked a beet chip from his plate. A fish with tall spikes lay there, tore open and pink meat spilling out, mixing atop a salad of cabbage. As I bit down on it, Varragher smiled at me with steady eyes. Varragher was older, but rather handsome. His black hair had of late been graying, and piled on top of his heads like storm clouds. Gems pierced his ears, hanging low towards his intricate tunic.

“I am. That explains this one here,” Varragher slid his plate closer to me as he looked to Fal. “What did he do, get duped by a few kids?”

I picked up another chip. “Something like that. We just need to know where to find them. We’re a week behind, and figured that if anyone knew, it would be a man as well-connected as yourself.” I grabbed his fork from the plate and twirled it between my fingers. “So, have you?”

“You seem eager.”

“Like I said, it’s time sensitive.”

“I can see that.” He sighed and rubbed at his chin. “Here’s what I know. Free of charge. Two twins have been causing some trouble. Underground, that is. Making rotten deals. I know there have been rumblings that they’re using magic to cheat.”

“Where?”

“18H.” Varragher smirked, pulling the plate back towards himself. I looked up to Fal, who seemed impressed.

“It’s been a pleasure.” I pushed myself up and out of the seat, but as Fal and I were about to walk away, Varragher cleared his throat.

“There’s something else. Though, that one doesn’t come free of charge.”

I sighed, turning back to face him. “Is it important?”

“Very.”

“Then perhaps you’d be inclined to recall the favor I did for you the last time we met.” I brandished his fork, and when he reached for it, I held it back. “Or need I refresh your memory?”

Varragher pursed his lips. Thinking hard. The last time we had crossed paths was when I had just managed to stop the Wayman from discovering Varragher’s counterfeit business. He had found a way to melt together cheap metals so that they would look and feel like the higher-priced coins of the Waysts’ economy. It took a lot of digging to find that the Wayman had his own secrets, and to show him that he gained nothing from exposing the operation.

A sigh escaped Varragher’s lips. “A few men in the Trade have pooled together resources to get the sister. From what I heard, they were set to head out soon. It seems like your time sensitive matter just became a little more time sensitive.” He plucked the fork from my hand and waved me off. “See you around, Wannfota.”

⇼❂⇼

The journey to 18H was swift. Fal and I burned through our water as we marched underneath the hot sun. We were finally getting close to the end of the journey, and we couldn’t let a couple of Traders mess it all up. Traders were like cockroaches. Daya was in the Trade, taking in and selling girls. The difference was that she housed them, clothed them, and fed them. Daya taught them how to protect themselves. Even though it still benefit her in the end, other Traders were nowhere near as kind. The others were the kind that aren’t as considerate or as well-connected as Daya. There are no lavish homes waiting for them. They’re often kept in cells or cages on wagons so that they could be paraded around. Men who wanted a cheap wife were often the targets, though there were some men who were willing to pay the price for a cheap night. The girls who slip through Daya’s cracks go to only the worst kind of men, if they even make it there.

We only needed the spellbook, but the idea of having to steal it from raiders or finding it left behind after she was taken was too much. We needed to be there before anything terrible happened. For my own sanity. As we came to Waystation 18H, the sun was beginning to sink down towards the horizon. I wrapped myself up until Fal agreed that no one could see I was a woman, and tied Durabi off on a lone post out in front of the Waystation’s walls. The air was salty, and I could hear the noise of the waves crashing onto the beach off in the distance. Lanterns lit the alleyways of the station, painting the rock a soft gold color. The market square was usually the place to check for parlour games, so we started there.

The square was lively, with lanterns swinging over our heads as they clung to the railings of balconies. Music was being played by a band in the corner, the drums and strings making residents dance around them. The beat was fast and strong, and nearly covered up the raucous laughter coming from the crowd. Fal and I pushed our way around the edges of the square, where my eyes landed on people gathered in a small circle. I stepped up, and saw between two towering men a set of twins playing cards with a bearded man. It was quiet, and everyone was watching closely as they played.

The twins were beautiful, and looked so much alike it was strange. The girl had her hair tied up into a bun, the thick black curls falling in ringlets around her face, her eyebrows were thick and furrowed as she watched the man across from her. The brother sat lazily, picking at his cards as if waiting for some miracle to happen. Moments later, his sister displayed her winning hand that sent the bearded man storming off, leaving behind a sack of coins.

“Who will play next?” The girl rose an eyebrow, her smile spreading from cheek to cheek. No one volunteered. “Come on, someone must want to play?”

One of the towering men I was standing behind lurched forward, smiling down at the girl. “How about we make a deal? You come with us and we’ll consider giving your new address to your twin, here.” The man pulled out a set of cuffs, and I watched as more men emerged from the crowd, ready to pounce.

The twins flipped the card table up and over before disappearing in a plume of black smoke. When it dissipated, they had fled the scene. “Find them!”

Fal grabbed my arm and yanked me away from it all, running down an alleyway. “They went this way!”

I tore my arm from his grasp and ran alongside him, spotting two figures turning around a corner. Fal and I came up behind them, and saw that they were trapped between us and two of the Traders. The girl looked back to us with wild eyes, while the boy pulled a dagger from his coat. “Stay away from her!”

I yanked the dagger from my boot and shot it through the air, skimming above the girls head and embedding itself in the throat of one of the Traders. “This way! Run!” I ran up between the twins, lunging at the second Trader. He landed a blow to my stomach and threw me down to the ground. I reached for the dagger in the fallen Trader’s throat and wrapped my hands around the hilt of the blade. Swinging my arm upwards, I impaled his inner thigh.

He let out a scream, grasping for the knife. I turned to see the twins backing away, but staring at Fal with fear. “Fal! Get them out of here!”

Fal picked them both up and turned in the other direction, but the Twins weren’t able to fight against him. My attention was drawn back to the man as he pressed his boot down onto my throat. I tore at it, but my gloves slipped helplessly off of the leather. When I felt myself getting too close to the edge, I pulled the scarf away from my face to reveal myself to him.

The Trader released me, but grabbed me by the hair and held me up to face him. “Well, what a sight to see. Lose one, gain one.”

He held my dagger in his right hand, twirling it about as I grasped at his hand. I took a moment to breathe, but swung my leg up into the air until it made contact with the side of his head. His grip on my hair tightened before it released, and we both fell to the ground. I snatched my dagger back and ran after Fallon, covering my face once more.

“Fal!” I called out, but didn’t hear anything in return. “Fal!” I rounded a corner and ran into someone. I stepped back and braced myself for another fight. Instead, I found Fal holding the twins over his shoulder. “This way,” I said as I led him to the shipyard.

We zig zagged through the dark alleyways, which opened up into a moonlit shipyard, filled with lumber and wooden skeletons with tall masts. I glanced around before darting towards one of the unfinished ships, and Fal followed suit. Once we were all hidden behind the wall of the ship, Fal sat the twins down. “My apologies, I didn’t know how else to get you both to follow.”

The twins scrambled away from us, taking us in with their identical eyes. A few moments passed before the boy spoke up. “Thank you. For all of that. We’ve had issues with Traders in the past, but we used to have arrangements to keep them away. I’ve never seen so many.” He sighed and rubbed his sister’s back. “We owe you one.”

The girl scoffed. “We don’t. We could have handled it. You two didn’t need to barge in like that.”

I pulled the scarf from my face. “Handled it? You two froze up as soon as you were trapped.”

“We wouldn’t have been trapped if you two hadn’t come after us.”

“They would have chased you down. What would you have done then? Use another smoke bomb to disappear?” I crossed my arms, looking up to Fal. “You two shouldn’t be messing around with cheating anyway. People don’t take kindly to being cheated out of their money by witches.”

Fal sat down on a pile of wood, causing it to creak under the weight. “How did you do that, anyway? Enchanted cards? Sleight of hand? A good luck charm?”

“That’s none of your business. What is this thing?” The boy walked up to Fal, examining it closely. “I didn’t realize desert orcs talk.”

“I’m--”

“Cursed,” the girl finished. “You reek of a bad hex. Who did you upset?” The girl looked like she could smell something sour in the air, her nose wrinkling up in disgust. “You must have really made them mad.”

“That’s none of your business,” I repeated her brother, who looked at me with amusement.

“So, we all have secrets,” he mused aloud. “Glad we could get it out of the way. Now, what do you want with us?”

“We don’t want anything,” I said simply. “Just figured you could use some assistance.”

“What kind of girl chases down someone who is running from Trader’s? No one is dumb enough to risk their freedom like that.” The girl scoffed. “We know you want something. If it’s to remove his curse, I’m afraid we can’t help. That’s powerful magic. He’s either going to have to live with it, or find someone as powerful as whoever it was that cursed him.”

Fal’s shoulders drooped. “Looks like I’ll be living with it, then.”

I watched the siblings. They didn’t realize people were still after them. They seemed to only be concerned about the Traders. We could use that. “A friend of ours told us that there was a family in 20J who had powerful magic. They said we could check there. Is that not you?”

The twins looked at each other. “The Morrigans. Yes, but our parents passed away. Our understanding of it all is still… rudimentary, at best,” the boy said as he looked to his sister with annoyance. “Not everyone in the bloodline takes to the magic of the Wayst as naturally as others do.”

The girl shot a glare to her brother. “I can only do certain things. I have a book that may help, but… it’s in Old Deorcalo. It’s been a slow process to read it. If you guys can wait a few months, I can try to reverse the spell.”

Fal perked up. “You’re in luck. I happen to know the language.”

I rose an eyebrow at him. “You do?” Daya was one of the only people I knew who could speak it, or deorcalo for that matter.

“I used to be a collector of old items. I learned a few things. How about we make a deal?” Fal rose to his feet, and I watched as he approached the twins. He was a businessman, after all. “We can help you and you two can help us. My friend here is a very talented fighter, and can help to fend off any unwanted attention. I can help you to learn the language in the book you have so that you can improve your magic, and I can get my curse lifted.”

The girl looked very, very tempted, but one glance from her brother made her face close like a pair of shutters. “I’m sorry, but I can’t guarantee that I can meet my end of the deal. Like I said, I’ve only just begun learning the basic levels of magic.”

“And,” her brother added, “we don’t need help. The four of us will draw too much attention.”

I came to Fal’s side. “Word of the two of you has spread far. We come from the southern tip of the Wayst. Here. For you two. There are more people than Traders looking for a young, pretty girl. There are people who don’t like cheaters. And there are people who don’t like witches. And… there are people who have a soft spot for spellbooks. We just need a curse to be broken,” I lied. “If you help us, we can help you. Even if it’s just for a little while. We can’t go to the person who cursed him, and there aren’t many other well-known witches out there. You’re our only lead.”

They shared a look, and then turned to us. The boy spoke first. “I’m Ambrose Morrigan, this is my twin, Sidra. She does the magic. I prefer not to mess with it.”

Sidra looked at me with steady eyes. “Yourselves?”

“Aumee Barlow,” I said. The last name was fake, but I figured they wouldn’t trust me without one. “I was sold off and trained to be a fighter in the Ring before managing to escape.”

Fal looked at me before speaking. “Fallon Ere. I collect things and get stuck in the bad stuff.” He presented his hand, and Ambrose shook it. “I’m excited to get started.”

I could see that Sidra was containing her excitement, and just when I thought her smile would break the surface of her face, she excused herself. “I should go get our things--”

“Wait,” I shot my arm out and grabbed her. When she looked back at me, she tore her arm away from my fingers. I huffed. “Regardless of who saved who, those Traders are likely still out there and still looking for you. Let me go. You can tell me where it all is and I’ll bring it back here along with our saladassi.” I motioned to the hole in the side of the ship we cowered behind.

She wasn’t having it. “I’m supposed to just trust you to go get my things for me and return with them? While leaving us here with a desert orc?” She crossed her arms, eyeing me up and down. “We may not be the most experienced in survival, but we still have gut instincts.”

Ambrose cut in before I could say something I would regret. Your gut instincts so far have gotten you nowhere. “Sid, calm down. They’re just trying to help us. If it would make you feel better, I can go with her.”

“And leave me alone with muscles?”

Fal laughed. “Aumee is the true muscles of the relationship.” He came up behind me and pat my back. “Your brother is right, though, we’re only trying to help. We need you as much as you need us.” More than you realize, I thought bitterly. If the Traders hadn’t ambushed them, we would have been able to follow them back to their hideout. Would have been able to take the book when they least expected it. We would have been on our way back by now. We wouldn’t be dealing with a stubborn witch.

Sidra tried to ignore the look from her brother. “Very well. Ambrose will show you the way. We’ll be waiting here.”

I nodded. I pulled my own scarf up above my face, and grabbed the sash from my waist that added extra bulk. It would make it easier to identify me as a woman, but at least this way I could ensure that people would be less likely to recognize Ambrose. “Put this on,” I said as I tossed the sash to him. “We don’t need anyone remembering that pretty face of yours.”

“You think me fair, do you?” Ambrose pretended to dust something off of his shoulder. “I’m flattered.”

I pretended a laugh. “I’m sure you’re flattered quite often. Come, we need to get going.”

I led Ambrose out of our hiding spot, walking calmly back through the shipyard.

“Sorry about my sister, she’s never been one to take to others. She’ll warm up eventually, trust me.” He went on talking, saying how grateful he was for us intervening and that we shouldn’t take what his twin said to heart. As he spoke, my muscles relaxed. We had their trust. Now, all we needed was an opportunity.