6. Chapter Six

The Phantom Night was once a sister ship to The Mark of Malice. Both were used to collect dying souls from the sea, though that was where the captains" similarities ended. Devlin Cato, captain of The Phantom Night, gave his sailors a choice to sell their souls to Liddros. He offered them time and allowed them to barter for more once it was over.

Rahmi, on the other hand, did no such thing. He picked the sailors wracked with guilt using telltale signs from body language. Some called it intuitive, but he knew it was nothing more than skilled observation—something he had honed over the past three hundred years. If a man or woman displayed said guilt, Rahmi gave them twenty years to remedy their regret. Rahmi allowed them to pass peacefully into the next life if they did. If they didn"t, they were delivered to Liddros.

The most glaring difference between the two ships was that The Phantom Night was no longer a cursed crew. Devlin Cato had seen to that two years previously, thanks to the woman he had taken as a wife. It hadn"t surprised Rahmi in the least bit that Devlin had found a way out of his agreement with Liddros. Knowing the other captain as well as he did, Rahmi figured it was only a matter of time. Devlin had always been a slippery fuck.

This is precisely why Rahmi wanted to sail straight for The Phantom Night and Captain Devlin Cato. If there were anyone who would have heard of a gemstone with innumerable magical abilities, it would be him.

Luckily, The Phantom Night was easy enough to track down. Devlin was a creature of habit, after all. From the waterways he preferred to sail down to where he set his goblet at the dinner table. It was summer. Therefore, Devlin would sail his ship to the northern end of the continent to escape the oppressive humidity and constant rains of the jungles to the south. It had been that way for over a century now.

And that was precisely where Rahmi found him.

"Captain Rahmi Abada, as I live and breathe," Devlin said, his mouth splitting into a grin that crinkled the corners of his eyes. "I certainly didn"t think I would see the likes of you again."

Rahmi stepped from the gunnel, landing heavily on the wooden floorboards of the deck. His crew bustled behind him to stabilize the dropped anchor and tether the two ships to one another, though the warm, salty wind flapped under the sails tied tightly to the masts.

"Captain Devlin Cato," Rahmi retorted as he held out his hand, which Devlin took in a firm shake. "I hope my presence comes at an appropriate time."

"Aye." Devlin nodded, squinting his eyes against the sun"s brilliant rays that bounded off the tops of the cresting waves. "We were readying to make sail for the ice caves. It"s the only time of year my wife and I agree to explore the northernmost islands of the continent. Have you met Fenna?"

As though summoned by an invisible wind, an auburn-haired woman appeared at Devlin"s elbow. Rahmi glanced down to look at her. She was of average height, the crown of her head lined with the top of Devlin"s shoulder, and freckles smattered her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. The book tucked under her right arm made her seem naively young, though her hazel-eyed gaze pierced Rahmi in a way that made him highly uncomfortable. He couldn"t help shifting on his feet as he lifted his eyes back to Devlin.

"I don"t believe that I have, and I won"t keep you long," Rahmi replied, reaching toward his belt to pull the crinkled map from where he had tucked it near the cutlass. He carefully unfolded it, pinching it between two fingers to ensure it didn"t rip at the creases. "In your studies to break your curse, did you ever encounter something called a Luminaria?"

Devlin stilled, the action nearly imperceptible amongst the rocking and rolling of the ship. "No, I"ve never heard of it."

Rahmi narrowed his eyes, pinning Devlin in place. "No one likes a liar, and you"ve always been terrible."

Waves slapped against the hull, the rigging high above them creaking in the breeze. Rahmi remained silent. From the corner of his eye, he saw Fenna"s gaze dart back and forth between the two men.

"Using the Luminaria comes with a price," Devlin said, though Rahmi was forced to lean forward to hear him. "I"ve heard…tales of it." His seafoam green eyes darkened like a storm brewing on the dawn horizon. "You"re best to leave it be. Find another way to break your curse—"

Rahmi had never been good at leaving things be. "I have no interest in breaking my curse. At least, in the way you think."

Devlin seemed torn, his cheek bowing in slightly as he chewed on the inside of it. "Come to my cabin then. I"ll give you the information I have." He pivoted on the toes of his boots, navigating through a crew of sun-kissed and tanned faces. Fenna sent Rahmi a wary glance before following Devlin to the ship"s stern, her cotton skirts billowing in the wind. She reached over to squeeze the forearm of a tawny-skinned woman, who only set eyes on Rahmi long enough to glare.

"It"s been almost fifty years since I first heard of the Luminaria," Devlin said as Rahmi crossed the threshold, closing the cabin door behind him. The whistling wind and shouts from both crews snuffed out immediately. "I researched as much of it as I could for almost three decades, sifting through scrolls in the temples of the capital city when I was allowed to go ashore." He wove around the desk laden with journals and brass instruments, stopping in front of a bookcase settled neatly into the far wall. "There wasn"t much there, but I found what I could."

Devlin plucked a book from the top shelf and cracked it open, settling it on top of an unfurled map on the wooden surface. He began to rifle through the old pages, running a finger down the lines as he quickly scanned each one. Rahmi leaned a hip against the corner of the desk before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the single coin.

"Does it have anything to do with this?" Rahmi asked, holding up the copper between his forefinger and his thumb.

Fenna"s hazel eyes narrowed as she reached up a hand and took the coin, laying it flat in her palm. She surveyed it for a long moment before finally saying, "Is this language Ubarian?"

"I can"t be sure. It certainly isn"t one that I recognize," Rahmi replied. He watched as Fenna turned away and walked toward the bookcase, pulling an old journal from the lower shelf. He swallowed the instinct to snatch back the coin, not appreciating that it was out of his hand.

Fenna returned to the desk, opened the book, and settled it across from Devlin"s. She scanned the pages twice as quickly as her husband, her eyes flitting from the pages to the coin still in her palm. "It is Ubarian," she said, gesturing for Rahmi to move closer. "I"ve heard of this. I remember reading it in a book I found at the shop I once worked at."

Rahmi stepped forward and dropped his gaze down to the open journal, the page littered with drawings of old coins and ancient markings. One drawing in particular caught his eye. From how Fenna was staring at it, he knew it had caught her eye, too. He was just glad that the assessing gaze was turned away from him.

Fenna leaned forward to pick up Devlin"s book and set it, still open, on top of her own.

"What are you—?" Devlin started, but the small woman at his front quickly shushed him. Rahmi bit his tongue to keep from chuckling.

"I know exactly where I"ve seen this before," Fenna said, flicking through the pages so quickly that Rahmi was sure the parchment would rip. They never did. "The City of Pillars." She halted on a page toward the middle of the book, pointing triumphantly down with a finger tipped with black ink. When neither man moved to congratulate her, she clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, the sound as condescending as she certainly meant it. "The ancient city, fabled to be lost to the sands? Rumored to be bracketed by pillars so tall the tops could kiss the clouds? Pillars that were so ornate that thieves still excavate the desert in hopes of finding even a shard of the golden casting?"

Devlin and Rahmi glanced at one another. Rahmi finally shrugged his shoulder. "There were stories in my village," he said slowly, shaking his head as he read the page over Fenna"s shoulder. "There was once a city completely entrenched in magic, thanks to the beings that raised it from the ground. The gods were unhappy with the amount of power given to those beings, and a war was fought. The desert swallowed the city, and the gods vowed never to allow the power to surface again." He paused to straighten from his lean. "Those are children"s stories, though, ones that my mother told me, and her mother told her to keep us in our beds at night."

Fenna bustled over to the bookshelf one final time, pulling a third book from the shelf. "The City of Pillars," she started, flicking the book open with a quick turn of her wrist, "was once in the desert region of Ubar, thought to be not far from where the city of Sha"Hadra stands today." She placed the book on the growing stack on the desk, tucking a lock of auburn hair behind her ear. "The legend goes that a powerful djinn once ruled over the city, guiding his citizens to pray in the temples dedicated to the gods that created him. But as the city grew and trade routes were established, the djinn became greedy with his newfound riches. He forced the temples to begin to praise him instead, angering the gods. There was a war, one that finally buried the city beneath the sands."

A frown pulled down the corners of Rahmi"s lips. "And the Luminaria? How does the gemstone play into the story?"

Fenna tilted her head as her eyes roved over the page. "This passage doesn"t mention that name, but it does mention that the djinn created a red gemstone as a final attempt to win the war. He poured his power into it, hoping to use it to banish the gods from this world."

"A gemstone with innumerable abilities indeed," Rahmi muttered. He glanced toward the small circular window on the other side of the cabin, taking in the sandbars" descending slopes just below the shimmering waves" surface. "And the riches? Does it say what happened to them?"

Fenna shook her head.

"Trade routes," Devlin said suddenly. He leaned onto his knuckles, surveying the open pages of the book. "You said that Ubar made its wealth through trade. Is it possible the djinn knew of the impending war and decided to clear out his stores? That"s certainly what I would have done." He glanced from the journal to the copper coin in his wife"s hand. "Will you retrieve Loma for me, my love? And tell her to set our courses north."

Fenna nodded, moving toward the door, but Rahmi stopped her with an outstretched hand. She blinked before a scowl darkened her features. Her eyes dropped to his upturned palm before lifting to connect with his expectant stare.

"Do you expect me to make off with your copper?" she asked, her nostrils flaring with irritation. "Perhaps purchase a bottle of fion from the market that will surely be established in the ice caves? I just wanted to run it by another crew member, one who has some working knowledge of old legends."

"What you will or won"t do with it is none of my concern," Rahmi retorted, watching with caution as Devlin straightened from his hunched position over the book and glided a hand to rest on the pommel of his cutlass. "My concern is that you don"t make off with it at all."

There was a charged silence between the three of them before Fenna let out a huffed chuckle, slapping the coin into his hand. "You sought us out," she added, as though he needed reminding. "It might do you some good to place some trust in those you—"

"I"m here for a specific purpose," Rahmi retorted, readying to wrap his hand around his blade"s hilt at any moment. It had been decades since he and Devlin last drew swords against one another, but he had no hesitancy to do it again. "Information doesn"t require trust." He dropped back to let her pass, smirking at the flash of disbelief that momentarily lit up her eyes.

Fenna wrapped her hand around the knob, yanking the door open with a quick tug. The sounds of gulls squawking and the clanking of metal rigging flooded the cabin before it went quiet again with the snap of the door closing.

"I like her," Rahmi announced, flipping the coin into the air before catching it deftly in his other hand. "I see why you made her your wife. She"s smarter than you could ever hope to be."

"I appreciate your deduction," Devlin responded dryly as he removed his hand from his cutlass. "Though, as usual, she does remain correct." He gave Rahmi an assessing look. "What do you want the Luminaria for?"

Rahmi was quiet for a series of heartbeats, running the tip of his forefinger over his bottom lip as he thought. "Tell me what you know about the djinn," he replied instead.

Devlin"s muttered curse cut through the cabin, a pointed annoyance pinching his lips into a tight slash. "The Luminaria is dangerous, Rahmi. That"s why it takes a djinn to use it—"

"So there is a way to use it?" Rahmi interjected, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Power comes with a price," Devlin seethed through gritted teeth. "Power that you don"t know how to deal with. It"s suicide to trap one. It"s suicide to find the Luminaria. And it"s suicide to use it." He tented a hand on the stack of books. "I studied it for decades and did as much research as I could find. It isn"t worth your time, and it isn"t worth your life."

Rahmi sucked in a breath, rocking from the toes of his boots to his heels. "Why don"t you let me judge what is worth my time and my life, Captain Cato?"

At the use of his formal title, Devlin stiffened. He shrugged as he sat in the chair behind his desk, the wood groaning beneath the sudden introduction of his weight. "You"re right," he said as he retrieved a bottle of ink, a quill, and a roll of parchment from the top drawer. "I"ll write down what I know most about the djinn. They"re harder to find than a cognizant, but the temples in the capital city are the best place to start. The priests have been known to hide magic wielders from the king."

Rahmi didn"t stop Devlin to inquire what a cognizant was, knowing the captain wouldn"t get back on course if he asked. Devlin dipped the quill"s tip into the ink bottle and began to write, a rhythmic scratching against the parchment filling the cabin.

"They"re capricious creatures," Devlin finally said after a few minutes, fanning his hand over the wet ink to help it dry faster. "Unpredictable, fickle, and easy to anger. They"ll kill you faster than you even begin to think about drawing your blade." He carefully rolled up the parchment, handing it over the desk to Rahmi. "And that"s if you can find one."

Rahmi took the scroll, tucking it into a belt loop at his waist. "It"s always a pleasure, Devlin."

Devlin leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. "I let you live solely because of the duty we once shared. But threaten my wife again, Captain Abada, and I"ll take more than your life. I"ll take your crew. I"ll take your ship. And I"ll ensure that every person still living in the village you crawled out of pays for your sins."

Rahmi merely grinned.