“Time to wake up, sleepyhead.”

  Maeryn shifted, reluctantly opening bleary eyes and trying to get her sleepy brain engaged. “Ungh… it’s morning already?”

  “Sun’s just now peeking out over the horizon,” Terrance chirped cheerfully. Maeryn felt her mood drop even lower than it had been; of course the Zephyrian was a morning person. Or maybe he just hadn’t slept. That made more sense. “I already popped over to the inn to grab your captain’s outfit. Figured you’d want it when you’re seeing the Council. The guards are long gone, by the way, so I wasn’t seen.”

  “That’s…” A yawn interrupted Maeryn’s words as she stretched. Oddly, Terrance colored slightly and looked away as she did so. “That’s good,” Maeryn managed to finish. “Thanks.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t offer much for breakfast. A bit of bread and cheese, but at least you’ll have something in your belly when you’re sticking to the old farts.”

  “Oh.” Despite herself, Maeryn felt a smile cross her face. “That sounds perfect, actually. You’ve helped us out a lot, and I really do appreciate it.”

  Terrance smirked, leaning against the wall. “Just doing my best to keep my ride out of here happy. Honestly, you’re doing me one hell of a favor. You just don’t know it.”

  “Maybe one day you’ll tell me the story,” Maeryn proposed as she clambered out of bed. “But for now, a little privacy so I can change?”

  “Of course, of course. See you in a minute.” With that, Terrance jauntily strode out of his little lair.

  Maeryn changed quickly, though rediscovering just how restrictive the jacket was left her grouchy. Somehow she’d forgotten all about it in the escapades the previous night, and it was just one more irritant on top of everything else. “Why do these uniforms have to be so stiff?” she muttered grumpily, tugging at the collar.

  Afterwards, she quickly wolfed down her breakfast. The cheese tasted different from what she was used to, which made sense in retrospect, but still. It wasn’t bad, just different. But it did pair well with the bread, at least. She wondered briefly what it would be like to have a platter of the different cheeses and breads of the world; maybe one day, after the Mist was gone, she could sample them and find her favorite combination.

  “Gah, what am I thinking? Focus, Rin.” She slapped her cheeks lightly twice, forcibly bringing her mind to the task at hand: rescuing Frankie. With a full stomach and now properly awake, Maeryn felt ready for what was sure to be a draining day.

  Finally stepping through the secret door and emerging in the alleyway, Maeryn found Terrance and Dan waiting for her. “Ah, now you look awake. You ready?” the Zephyrian boy asked. His voice was light, but the eyes held a hint of seriousness… or perhaps sleep deprivation. It wasn’t as though he’d had much chance to sleep the night before.

  Maeryn tried to ignore the little stab of guilt from taking his bed. She could apologize later. “Ready as I’m going to be. Thanks again.”

  Terrance gave his trademark smirk in response. “Just keeping my ride out of here safe and happy. I prefer not to owe anything to anyone in the end. Come on, let’s move.”

  Maeryn blinked, hesitating a moment before following him. Something about the way that he’d said that nagged at her. He… preferred not to owe anything to anyone? That sounded like a pretty lonely existence. She had a sinking feeling that Terrance’s policy had something to do with Lorn, but there was no way she was going to get the story out of him yet, if ever.

  There was no time to dwell on it, though. As soon as they were out of the alleys, the three split up. Dan was headed to Stonewing to prepare for takeoff and take care of any last-second paperwork. Terrance was off to rescue Frankie… and Maeryn had an appointment with the ruling body of this flying city.

  It didn’t take long before Maeryn was seated in a suspiciously empty waiting room. Unlike when she’d visited yesterday, there was no one in line. It might have simply been the fact that it was early morning, but… no. There was something more to it. Maeryn was one hundred percent sure of it.

  She waited, her heart beating quickly, as the feeling of wrongness grew stronger. Was she walking into a trap? Even if she was, there was nothing that could be done about it now. But her senses remained on edge, each second passing torturously slowly.

  Finally, she was called back to see the Council, and Maeryn stood, striding purposely into the chamber. The three councilors were there, wearing expressions that Maeryn had more or less expected. Dreen had a bland poker face, Sipund a malicious intensity, and Lorn a curious half-smile.

  “Ah, Captain Maeryn. How can we help you today?” Lorn questioned, as though he hadn’t the foggiest idea why she was there.

  “Councilor Lorn,” Maeryn greeted, doing her best to keep her voice cool and collected. “I’m actually here to inquire about my engineer, Francine d’Vert. I’ve been reliably informed that she was… detained? Though I’m not clear as to why. Our planned takeoff is this morning, so I’d appreciate it if we could cut to the heart of the matter.”

  “I’m curious how you know she’s been detained, considering that you weren’t in your room at the Tipsy Seagull last night,” Lorn commented, his voice light but his eyes sharp.

  Maeryn’s replying smile was bland. “After a certain Councilor made remarks regarding, ahem, interrogating me for information yesterday, I didn’t exactly feel safe in a place easily found. I was able to make a deal elsewhere, and kept it quiet. My engineer elected to stay behind in case there was some kind of official business. I suppose whether that was a mistake depends on the reason for her detainment.”

  After a moment of silence, Maeryn decided she was tired of waiting for statements to react to. She turned to face Dreen. “Councilor Dreen. I’m making a formal inquiry to the reason for my engineer’s detainment.”

  Dreen coughed lightly. “Francine d’Vert has no charges against her at this moment. Councilor Sipund exercised his rights as a member of the Council to detain a civilian for up to twenty-four hours without charges.”

  Anger flared hot in Maeryn’s chest. She’d known. She’d known that it was Sipund making a power play, but hearing it out loud sent lava through her veins. She took a deep breath, hands twitching slightly as she wrestled with her impulses. “How will the Council compensate me for my time and my engineer? I filed the paperwork with the airfield stating that we would be leaving this morning, and there are fines for failing to comply. Francine is a core member of the crew.”

  “There’s no need for that,” Sipund grunted, waving his hand dismissively before turning a cruel-looking smile her way. “I just needed her long enough to get you here. The moment you walked in here I sent word for her to be released. See, she’s not the prize. You are.”

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  His words sent a chill down Maeryn’s spine. Her eyes sharpened. “So. This was a trap. I thought it might be.”

  “And you walked right into it anyway,” Sipund affirmed. “Let me lay it out for you. It so happens that there was some unusual activity near the gate to the noble district last night. The very night after a certain Geovan upstart calling herself Captain became aware that the research she wanted was impossible to get through legal means.”

  Maeryn struggled to keep the anger off her face, but the insults were not making it easy. She clenched her teeth, biting back the first few responses that wanted to escape her. “I don’t suppose the blustery windbag calling himself a Councilor is going to get to the point anytime soon?”

  Sipund’s jaw dropped, and his face reddened. “You little…!”

  Lorn interrupted him with a series of loud guffaws. “Oh, oh my. Sipund, you must admit, you had that one coming. Did you really think you could insult someone not of our nation and get nothing back?”

  “That’s enough!” Dreen called out sharply. “There will be decorum here, or else.” She looked very pointedly at Sipund. “And don’t think I haven’t noticed that you have been the instigator of every disrespect Captain Maeryn has given us. Should you continue, Sipund, I will hold you responsible.”

  Sipund visibly wrestled himself back under control. “Noted.” Turning back to Maeryn, his eyes glittered with maliciousness. “Fine, then. I’ll lay the cloud bare. I know it was you who snuck into the noble district last night. You, and that alchemist colleague of yours. There was alchemical fire at the gate, twice. Once for getting in, once for getting out. I know it. Lorn knows it. Skies above, even Dreen knows it, and getting her to acknowledge something without an essay of proof is harder than wrangling fog.”

  Maeryn’s heart pounded even as she scoffed. “So, what? Because I have an alchemist on my crew, and I needed the research, you’re just going to assume it was me?”

  “The only alchemists on Cloudreach,” Lorn said quietly, “are the sequestered researchers, and Daniel d’Greenstone. There is literally no one else it could be.”

  “And it’s impossible for anyone to get their hands on a concoction that would create alchemical fire, then? Even for noble or merchant kids getting supplies from families in other flying cities?” Maeryn asked sarcastically.

  Dreen coughed loudly. “All shipments are thoroughly inspected. No one’s brought anything alchemical in for months. The only airship that has had anything remotely capable of creating alchemical fire is yours, Captain Maeryn.”

  “There you have it.” Lorn sighed and shook his head. “None of our alchemists could have created anything to set fire outside the noble district, since they are sequestered inside that district. None of our citizens could have gotten their hands on it from anywhere else. That only leaves you and Daniel d’Greenstone.”

  “And frankly? It doesn’t matter whether you got in or not,” Sipund told Maeryn bluntly, one of his lips curling up with satisfaction. “The point is, you intended to. So, it is with great pleasure that I say this.” He stood up, breathing deeply with clear relish on his face. “Maeryn d’Vert, Captain of the airship Stonewing… you are under arrest.”

  At his words, four guards stepped into the room from behind Maeryn. She didn’t look back at them, her eyes locked on Sipund.

  “You lot are the ones with the best shot I’ve seen at maybe managing to fix it. Getting your wings clipped here won’t prevent a war, it’ll guarantee it.”

  Terrance’s words from before echoed in her mind. If she were arrested now… it would all be for nothing. All of their planning, all of their painstaking research and efforts, all of the homesickness, all of the sacrifices they’d made… it would all be for nothing.

  They had left their home behind, knowing full well that they might never be able to come back.

  In order to save the world, they’d given up everything and ventured into the unknown.

  And these people wanted to stop her? … No.

  Maeryn’s gaze shifted to Lorn, who stiffened. Somehow, he could read her. He could tell what Maeryn was thinking, what she was about to do. The councilor opened his mouth, possibly to warn everyone, but Maeryn didn’t need to speak to act.

  She drew on the mana in the air, letting it suffuse her body the way she’d practiced so many times in her life as a hunter. It was a common technique, taught to every single hunter in Geova explicitly for life-or-death emergencies.

  Body Enhancement.

  Its effects were simple and straightforward: it strengthened bones, muscles, tendons… every part of the physical body used for movement. As a result, its users could, in a pinch, call on superhuman strength and speed for a short time.

  It was an incredibly wasteful use of mana, though, so back in Geova, its use had been highly regulated.

  But she wasn’t in Geova anymore, and Maeryn was not about to end her story here.

  Even as Lorn began the first syllable of his warning, Maeryn turned on her heel and lashed out with a vicious kick, catching an unsuspecting guard in the side and propelling him into the others and sending them tumbling. The sound of their metal armor crashing against each other was almost deafening in Maeryn’s sudden hyperawareness.

  “Wait!” Lorn cried out, jumping to his feet. “Stop! You’re making a mistake!”

  Maeryn turned halfway towards the Council as the groaning guards tried to regain their footing. The guards seemed to be having trouble, considering they were a pile of limbs and the armor was apparently quite heavy. “No. We’re out of time. The world is ending, and you’re all too busy with procedures, or racism, or trading favors, or fear of how the public will see it. I don’t have time for any of that. Don’t you see that if we don’t act now, you and every other flying city will eventually be forced to land in the Mist? What exactly do you think will happen when your people start breathing it in? Will your procedures save you then, when the Mist covers the land and there’s nowhere for you to get your resources? Will the knowledge that every Geovan is dead or worse ease the torment as your body is forcibly mutated and twisted, as your mind is driven to madness?”

  The guards were starting to get to their feet, so Maeryn looked away from the paling councilors, and stalked over to the tools of their authority.

  The guard looked up at her. “Please don’t kick me again.”

  “Sorry.” Maeryn kicked him again, knocking all of the warriors over for a second time. Then she turned back to the Council of Winds, allowing all of her frustration and spite to manifest on her face. It was incredibly gratifying to see Sipund against the opposite wall, trying and failing to conceal his fear. “Huh. Guess the racist isn’t quite so brave when someone’s willing to fight back. Doesn’t matter, though. I don’t have time for any of you small-minded people anymore. So just stay out of my way.”

  “Captain Maeryn! Please wait!” Lorn pleaded. “I recognize that you have some valid points, but we can get more done if we work together!”

  “I tried that. You didn’t want to play ball.”

  “You were supposed to talk to me!” Lorn cried out. “I’m from a noble family, I would have sponsored you! The deal would have been mutually beneficial, I just wanted you to return with whatever new discoveries you made, and maybe deliver a message or two in your travels!”

  “You traitor!” Sipund spat angrily, but his mouth clicked shut when Maeryn turned a glare at him before returning her attention to Lorn.

  “And how was I supposed to know that you’re nobility?!” Maeryn heaved a deep breath, wrangling control of herself. “I would have taken that deal, you know. If you’d offered it yesterday. But you wanted me to approach you from a position of weakness, to beg for help. That’s not how you make a mutually beneficial deal, Councilor Lorn. Besides, it’s too late now.”

  “It’s not too late!” Lorn refuted desperately. “This can all blow over!”

  “No. It can’t.” Maeryn stared at him, her face and voice harder than she could ever remember them being. “You’re not the only councilor here. Sipund will never let it blow over because I’m Geovan. And Dreen isn’t corrupt enough to sweep away the fact that I physically rebelled against your judgment.”

  The truth of her words, the dawning realization in Lorn’s face, left a bitter taste in her mouth. She turned away, swallowing her regrets. There’d be time for them later. “I’m not sticking around to get arrested. Bye.” Maeryn kicked hard against the ground, launching herself back into and through the waiting room, landing lightly on her feet and dashing outside. Body Enhancement wouldn’t last long - it was best to make the most of it, and it was time to leave Cloudreach while she still could.

  She just hoped that her actions wouldn’t have too many repercussions on her homeland.