This is a world of wonders where even the mundane can be miraculous. Take the Edda Aroyac, the great river that separates Uazica and Obai. Some call it a sea, and I have seen more than one map where it is marked as the Emerald Sea. The water is a brilliant green, and in places even shames the jungle.

For much of its length, the Edda Aroyac runs east to west, fed both by smaller rivers and streams on both continents. The water is brackish, rendering it unsuitable to drink, but filled with creatures that can exist nowhere else.

The river is so wide in places that the opposite shore cannot be seen. Islands dot it, and none have ever managed to chart them all. It is a haven for merchants, and where there are merchants, there are pirates.

The bulk of the northern shore belongs to Kharsoom, the marshy areas that are often forgotten when picturing the endless arid expanses of the Red Wastes. The southern shore includes parts of Lixha, the Ocaital, and innumerable other kingdoms, free cities, and even the Nayarak Republic. The name, Edda Aroyac, comes from two different languages. Edda, is of course, Kharish for river. Aroyac is river in Huyu.

So this most wondrous of things, a jewel in the crown of Thür, is quite literally named "River River."

This fact still tickles me. The Edda Aroyac was one of my favorite places in the world before its transformation. It was grand, and beautiful, and humbling. I first set eyes on it a few months after leaving the highlands. Quiyahui and I traveled north and west, eventually emerging from the dense jungle in sight of the churning emerald water stretching to infinity.

Not long after, I found a small town that needed my help against some pirates. I had driven them off and on the day in question was sitting on a small wooden dock on the eastern edge of town, dangling my bare feet into the water.

As a reward, they had given me the use of a fisherman's shack and this dock, and food for the asking whenever I took the short path into the cluster of houses that made up the town. It was a pleasant existence in every detail save one. I did not much care for the local chocolatl. The bean lacked the complex character of the Pelesamatu varietal. This did not stop me from drinking it, though it made me long for my old home and the love of Ixem.

I was nearing the time when I would have to leave, but for the time being, I was determined to enjoy this place, chocolatl aside. I spent my days on the dock with a line in the water, caring not if I caught anything, and my nights in a hammock hanging next to the shack.

Quiyahui coiled nearby, her eyes closed, her tongue occasionally tasting the air. Her feathers shimmered every gorgeous color of the rainbow as the sun caressed her. Sadly, the full moon was not immanent, and it would be some time before the two of us would lay together again.

I judged another day or two before the two of us would follow the river west. I did not know what I sought, but with my companion, I was more at peace than I had been since I found my night eft's limp form on that distant beach.

My highland clothing had been packed away in a bag, my boots leaning against it, my spear nearby. I wore only my loincloth and hat, my skin pleasantly baking in the sultry air. My line was motionless. There would be food in plenty in the city's center, and more importantly I had my eye on a lovely young widow who might assent to spend a night in my hammock.

I was considering making my way into town when I noticed a boat out on the water. It was headed upstream, hugging the shore to stay out of the strongest current. I watched curiously, as there was nowhere else it could be going other than my dock. It was not flying the banner of the pirates I'd fought, but that meant little. Perhaps they had returned to try again.

"Quiyahui," I murmured.

The coatl's lightning-colored eyes were expressionless, and her blue tongue snaked out once again. She drew herself into a tight coil, her powerful body ready to strike into the sky. I set the pole aside. Ur-Anu was not far from my hand. If these were pirates, they would see what a weapon forged to kill a god would do to them.

The boat was of the most common kind of personal transport often on the river. It was two decks the upper mostly open to the air with a single cabin on the aft end. The second deck was lower, where the oarsmen worked. The ship's figurehead was a stylized coatl, I noted with some amusement.

"Hail!" called a man from the deck. He spoke Nahlor, a local tongue that was a close enough relative to Huyu that I could understand it when spoken slowly and clearly. He was stressed well, in a fine loincloth and light cloak, a feathered headdress indicating his high status. He wore gold at his wrists and throat, but the adornment was small. His long hair was tied back and generously streaked with silver. His body was soft, with a narrow chest and a wide belly. He looked to me like a man who paid others to do work for him.

"Hail," I called back in Huyu.

Two younger men stood by him, both carrying spears and muscled like professional warriors.

"You are the Blackspear?" the man called, now speaking in accented Huyu.

I glanced over at the magic spear and the feathered serpent. Who else would I be? "Yes."

"Please, take the guideline." One of the crew threw a rope to me. Curious, I took the line and helped guide the boat to the dock. After some jockeying, the crew silently put out a gangway. The man who had spoken, who could only be a noble, strode down it, followed by his two bodyguards.

"Hail, Blackspear," he said, nodding to me. "I am Oqyo Malvica."

"You are a noble."

"My family has means and title, yes," he said, "though I would not expect an outlander to follow our customs." When the people of Pelesamatu called me outlander, it never carried any derision. With him, I could not miss a subtle venom.

"And what do you want?"

He gave Quiyahui a superstitious glance. "Is there a place to sit?"

I looked to the shack at the end of the dock. I had been sleeping out of doors, but the shack could provide shelter from the weather. "In there."

He nodded. A gesture to his men, and they stayed on the dock. Quiyahui slithered to Ur-Anu, but she did not do anything else. I went with the noble to the shack and opened the door for him. A tiny hearth took up the bulk of the room, and a pair of stumps served as stools. Oqyo gave the stump a skeptical look, but then tossed his cloak and sat. I settled opposite him.

"Thank you for speaking with me, Blackspear. I understand a man of your skills is highly sought after."

"It seems so."

"I would like to hire you."

"Hire?"

"I have gold in plenty. Does a man like you have need of gold?"

"At times."

"Good. Pirates are a constant danger on the Edda Aroyac. One of them, called Red Zuhreii, has stolen something of value from me and I want it back."

"Red Zuhreii?"

"She is the whelp of a Kharsoomian whore and some anonymous client. Now she exacts the price of her parentage on the world."

"What is the object?"

"A necklace. A gift from the king. If it becomes common knowledge that this gift was lost, the damage to my family's reputation will be immense."

"You want me to find this pirate and steal your necklace back."

"And if you have to take her head while you're at it," he showed his teeth, "perhaps the reward will be even greater."

"I see."

"You will barely have to look for her. She hides somewhere in a cluster of islands not far from here."

"If you know where she hides, why not go yourself?" I guessed the answer, but I was curious as to what he would say.

"I could never get close. Her pirates would see my boats and attack. But one man of your abilities might be able to approach undetected. Or, perhaps you will announce yourself. I imagine pirates would be as eager to hire the Blackspear as everyone else. You go, find her lair, take back my necklace and return it to me, and I will reward you. Do we have a deal?"

Even then I did not trust Oqyo Malvica, but I was curious. "We have a deal."

The river at night is perhaps even more beautiful than it is during the day. The islands flickered with torchlight, evidence of camps and enclaves both legitimate and outlaw. I sat in the canoe the nobleman had given me, using my paddle to steer while the current carried me downstream.

Though the night was cool, I had left my highland clothing in the shack. Quiyahui sat on the floor of the canoe, her head peering over the side, her body coiled about the shaft of Ur-Anu. She had a strange obsession with the weapon and when she wasn't touching me, she was touching it.

Oqyo had shown me a map of the river, circling a cluster of islands downriver from the town I'd been staying. Red Zuhreii was in there somewhere, operating a small fleet of vessels that preyed upon the local chipping. She had not troubled the little village where I had stayed, but I gathered she had been a terror to the larger towns and cities on either shore. She struck me as one who was on the verge of making herself enough of a problem that the local governments would be forced to take action.

Torchlight beckoned to me from the middle of the water ahead. I knew it must be from the cluster of islands I sought. I was not certain if her fleet patrolled the water at night, but I did not want to be found in my little canoe.

I stood up, sheathing my spear on my back. I dove into the water as Quiyahi struck into the air. The current swept me to my destination. With powerful strokes, I made my way to a small island bare of anything save for a few small trees. I pulled myself from the water, catching my breath. The water clung to my skin in the warm night.

Creeping to the western end of the little island, I searched the darkness for where a pirate could hide. There were many islands in this place, creating narrow lanes that would make travel difficult. The torchlight came from one, and I was close enough to glimpse what it illuminated. An old Kharsoomian fort, its stones crumbling, brooded on the northern shore of that island, fingers of light poked from the broken walls.

I gauged the current, and dove back into the water. Though the Edda Aroyac is filled with all manner of predators, I did not fear them thanks to the coatl slithering through the air just over me. The current carried me to the island with the fort. Quiyahui moved up and off, going into the sky to hide among the clouds.

Along the south side, shielded from the shore by other islands, was a modest wharf with a collection of boats. Most were the size of Oqyo's boat, but one was comparable to the smaller ships that plied the Turquoise. A group of men and women sat by a burning brazier, playing cards around a table and drinking from fat clay jugs. They were an interesting lot, some with the brown flesh of Uazica and others with the crimson skin of Kharsoom.

I caught one of the pilings that supported the wharf and crept beneath the boards, moving from piling to piling. The pirates spoke a dense patois, and even the words I understood were mauled by a rough accent.

A path led from the wharf to the back gate of the fort, currently open into a courtyard where the dragon's share of the torches burned. There was no way to approach that way without being seen, but I noted a portion of the western wall had collapsed, leaving an open slice.

I went around the far side of the wharf, paralleling the shore until I found a place where the ferns grew thick. I climbed out of the water and into the undergrowth. I crossed through this patch of jungle to the broken wall. I believe that at one time, there had been a clear area between jungle and fort, but in the years since, the jungle had grown hungry.

I peered inside, finding more pirates arrayed about the courtyard. Some were asleep, others drank, none were watchful for one such as me. The fort appeared to be three levels, with plentiful balconies overlooking the central courtyard.

I crept inside, exploring the fort. Avoiding the pirates was simplicity itself, though I was impressed with the force this Red Zuhreii had assembled, I did not hold much esteem for their watchfulness. With these numbers, it made sense that Ocupiri, the city Oqyo hailed from, had not mustered their forces to dig her out. Such a battle would be costly.

I made my way to the upper floor of the fort. The walls were still thick on the north side, but age had taken its toll on the structure. Trees sprouted from every surface, roots burrowing through the masonry. Torches and candles blazed everywhere. I passed a hole in the ceiling, and Quiyahui was there, peering in with her lightning-colored eyes. I nodded to the corridor, and she seemed to understand what I meant, joining me inside.

For all their militarism, Kharsoomians were never enthusiastic conquerors, electing instead to safeguard their homeland with forts. Now, with the Red Wastes in the grips of decadence and rot, such defenses seemed positively quaint. I imagined there would be many such abandoned forts along the Edda, waiting for new inhabitants.

On the top floor of the fort, I came to a heavy door at the end of a hall. I eased the door open, finding a sumptuous quarters, likely where the fort's commander had once lived. The walls wept moisture, but the furnishings were fine. A bed, draped in Kharsoomian silks stood against one wall. A wide chest sat at the foot of the bed. More silks hung from the walls, disguising this rotting place with finery. I would soon learn that this was an apt description of much of the Red Wastes.

I ran to the chest, opening it. If there was treasure to be had, it would be here. I was right, finding a pile of coins from a dozen different mints, peppered with precious stones. What I did not find was a golden necklace set with an emerald the size of my fist as Oqyo had described.

As I sifted through the riches, my jungle-honed senses caught footsteps coming up the hall behind me. I gripped Ur-Anu, the sheath releasing it into my waiting hand. Then, casting about, I hid among the silks, putting my back against the weeping wall. Quiyahui slithered up to the ceiling, coiling about the broken stonework.

I peeked from the folds of silk and saw the necklace I sought.

It was around the neck of a young woman, the great emerald Oqyo described shining from its bed on an impressive chest.

I estimated she had her second decade and perhaps a year or two more. Her body was soft, her form shapely. She had wide, round hips and substantial buttocks, along with full, heavy breasts capped with fat brown nipples. Her relative youth had given her a narrow waist, but I knew that would not last as the years began to pile on. Her skin was smooth and brown, her hair long and black. Her face was pleasantly round, with pillowy lips, full cheeks, and wide, innocent eyes. She wore a small loincloth that hung from a jeweled belt, covering a narrow strip over her sex, a perversely tiny scrap of cloth against her bountiful figure. Golden bangles flashed from her wrists and ankles.

Though I was a killer, am a killer really, I had no intention of slaying her. One look told me she was no pirate, and I'll not raise a weapon against one who cannot defend themselves. I could only wait for her to remove the necklace and then spirit it away. In the meantime, I would watch her, which thanks to her considerable beauty was no hardship.

She removed her bangles and the necklace, setting them in the chest. She gazed at the necklace for a moment before shutting the lid, an expression of fondness and longing on her lovely features. Then she took off the loincloth, revealing her softly-furred orchid. I found myself already wondering how it would feel against my caress, or its subtle, spicy flavor on my tongue.

Her skin shiny with the sweat of her day, she climbed languidly into bed. Watching her the candlelight play over her gentle curves, I found myself longing to join her. She settled back and I waited for sleep to claim her. I watched her chest rise and fall, her breathing slowing. Soon, she would drift off and I could take what I came for.

The door swung open and another woman came in. Where the first woman had been soft, this one was hard. She was perhaps ten years older than the lovely creature on the bed, nearly as tall as me, with the lithe muscles of a fighter. Her skin was a smoky umber, crisscrossed by numerous scars. A wavy mane of hair fell to her shoulders, only partly corralled by a scarf tied at her forehead. Her face was pretty, but it was leaner. Her cheekbones were high, her maroon eyes carrying a subtle squint, her lips were thin over a stubborn chin. A dueling scar ran over the right side of her face.

She wore a vest, and every stride revealed a glimpse of her modest breasts with her small, hard nipples. Her loincloth was as small as the other woman's, revealing toned legs marked with more scars. On her belt she wore a straight Kharsoomian sword and one of the local curved daggers. I had no doubt she could use both of them.

The woman on the bed uttered a happy groan. "Are you coming to bed, love?" she asked in Nahlor.

"Do you think that's wise?"

"Why would it not be wise?"

"Because we have company." She said the words so casually that it took a moment for them to penetrate my understanding. I tensed, gripping Ur-Anu, ready to fight. The pirate woman, who from the description I'd heard had to be Red Zuhreii, raised her voice. "I see you behind that curtain. Step out slowly, or I'll kill you where you stand."

I moved out from the silks, making no overt threats. The woman on the bed uttered a scream, scrambling off the bed to hide behind the pirate, whose hand was on the hilts of her weapons. "You are Red Zuhreii," I said in Huyu.

"I know who I am." She spoke in the same language as her eyes flicked to Ur-Anu. "And I think I know who you are. I heard what you did to Captain Michikak's men."

"Does that anger you? Honor amongst pirates?"

She snorted. "It serves him right. Stealing from fishermen when there are fat vessels filled with cane and chocolatl begging to be plundered. Now, tell me, what is the Blackspear doing in my bedchamber?"

"You stole a necklace. I am here to return it to its rightful owner."

"Oqyo Malvica?" it was the other woman. Her eyes had narrowed, and I saw a keenness in them that I had not seen before.

"Yes."

"Your father," Red Zuhreii said. "He sent an assassin."

"I am no assassin. Although he intimated my reward would be higher if I brought your head with the necklace. I didn't know about you until this moment." This last I said nodding to the other woman. Oqyo was her father, and he had sent me here. How could he know I would not have hurt his daughter?

Zuhreii sighed, looking into the eyes of her companion, then to me. "Blackspear, I have heard you are an honorable man. Give me your word you won't start violence."

"To a pirate."

She smirked. "Careful. I haven't decided if I like you yet."

"You have my word. I've no wish to shed blood. My plan was to steal the necklace and be gone before you noticed its absence."

"Very well. I'm going to get some food and drink. We're going to talk, the three of us." She looked me over, her eyes lingering on my torso, catching on the scar at my abdomen. "You are lucky. I nearly killed you where you stood."

"She might have had something to say about that." I nodded at the ceiling.

The two of them turned and found Quiyahui coiled there, measuring the both of them. The younger woman screamed, and Zuhreii cursed.

"Indeed," I said.

Zuhreii inhaled. "I have your word, Blackspear? And the word of that beast?"

"You do." I made my way over to the table and sat, leaning Ur-Anu on the wall next to me. Quiyahui descended, laying her head in my lap where I stroked the feathers about her jaw. Zuhreii gave the two of us one last superstitious glance and strode from the room. The younger woman watched me from the bed. Though she was undeniably wary, I saw no real fear in her. She was made of sterner stuff than her initial appearance might have implied.

"Blackspear? You were not named that."

"Ashuz," I said.

"That's nice. What sort of name is that?"

"Qammuzi."

"You are from Old Qammuz?"

"Not exactly."

She scooted to the edge of the bed, her eyes sparkling. "You are an enigma. We've heard of you, you know. A wandering barbarian who helps people. Every day the traders who come through here have another story of the Blackspear."

"Some of them might even be true."

A smile quirked at the corner of her mouth. "And you were hired to kill Zuhreii?"

"That was a bonus. One I did not intend to collect. My purpose was the necklace"

Zuhreii returned with a clay jug and a plate of roasted meat. She put the plate on the table and took a pull on the jug before setting it down.

"His name is Ashuz," said the younger woman. "He's from Old Qammuz."

"I'm certain that's true." She turned to me. "I am called Red Zuhreii, and this is Sumatika Malvica."

"Charmed," I said, helping myself to the meat. It was smoked pork, savory and delicious. I sampled from the jug. Rum, and of a powerful vintage. "Tell me the story. When you learned your father hired me to retrieve that necklace, you were surprised, but not shocked. A story lies in that gap."

Zuhreii took the jug and drank deeply from it. "Sumatika was going down to Cahuanaca," she said, naming the capital city of Toranam, the kingdom on the southern shore. "I took her boat, and found that I had a valuable hostage. I sent a messenger to her father with a reasonable random demand and he sent back my man's head."

My eyebrows shot up. I had not much expectations of Oqyo, but that level of ruthlessness was surprising. "He cared nothing for his daughter?"

"Evidently not."

"Or he knew you would not hurt her."

"He had no way of knowing that. I've cultivated a certain reputation here. The more fearsome, the more merchants are inclined to surrender rather than put up a fight."

"What is the necklace?"

Sumatika's hand went to her chest where the necklace would have hung. Zuhreii passed over the jug and the younger woman drank. I ate more of the pork. "My family owns a mercantile concern, transporting mostly cane up and down the river. We were wealthy," Sumatika said.

"Were," I said.

"My father was already squandering his family's wealth when he married my mother. When he got his hands on her family's money, he only spent it faster. It was gone through his hands like water."

"He said the necklace was a gift from the king."

"That's right. A gift to my mother's father. When she died, it became mine. My father sees only its value in money, but its worth is far greater."

"You would not sell it."

"That would be an insult to my entire family. No, I would never sell it."

I know that these women could be lying to me, but I did not believe it to be so. While they were both barely dressed, they were not using that upon me. Deception would feel sweeter. I thought of my conversation with Oqyo and the sense he was holding something back. I ate a little more and drank too much.

At a certain point in the night, Sumatika, nude, had climbed into Zuhreii's lap. Had they been trying to seduce me, it would have been mine. I saw a need in their eyes when they looked upon one another, as though they could not bear to be apart even for a few vanishing moments.

Our conversation turned, and soon Sumatika was pressing me to know which of the tales she'd heard was real. A shocking number seemed to be invented from whole cloth, and many of the others had been embellished, though I recognized pieces of truth here and there. People need stories as much as they need food and drink. I was an easy place to hang these stories.

Finally, fatigue compelled me to cease the revelry. The pork was long gone and the rum was down to the dregs. The two of them gazed at one another more amorously, and I started to wonder if they would get started with me there. "I need to sleep," I said, standing.

Zuhreii nodded to a couch at the far end of the room. "Sleep there, Blackspear."

"You would not prefer I find a place outside?"

She grinned. "If you're caught out there, my crew will attack."

"I am not worried."

"I fear for them, Blackspear. I don't want you slaughtering my crew."

"Oh. Yes, of course."

I made my way to the couch and settled down on it, Ur-Anu within easy reach. Quiyahui joined me, twining partly around me and partly around the spear. My body, weighted down by pork, rum, and a swim through the river, fell into the loving embrace of slumber.

I awoke sometime in that border between night and morning. The scent of the river was heavy in my nose, and the only sound in my ears was the rushing of water. Quiyahui's muscular coils shifted, then were still. She was only warm where my body touched hers. The softness of her feathers was a comfort.

A moan carried across the room. The candles had long since burned out, the air holding only the deep blue of early morning, peeking through the narrow loopholes that looked out over the river.

I looked over at the other end of the room. Shapes writhed about on the silken sheets. A scent caught my nose, slipping past the wall of the river. It was the delicious miasma of passion. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I made out Zuhreii and Sumatika on the bed together. The younger woman was on her hands and knees, her fat hindquarters raised. The pirate knelt over her, spreading the hemispheres of her buttocks, laving her rosebud with a curious tongue.

Sumatika's moans were high-pitched and girlish. "Deeper," she whispered. "Fuck me deeper."

Zuhreii shushed her. "Stay quiet or the Blackspear will stir."

"And what will you do then? You want to watch him fuck me?"

"Would you like that?" Zuhreii teased, working her fingers into Sumatika's rosebud. "Stab you with that barbarian spear?"

Sumatika let out a soft yelp, pressing her face into the bed to muffle her cry as her whole body jiggled with sudden bliss. The two of them fell back to the bed in an affectionate embrace. I heard whispers now, too quiet to understand. They must have thought they were being quieter than they were before, and now that passion had receded, rediscovered subtlety.

"Blackspear?" Zuhreii whispered, then again, louder. "Blackspear?"

I planned to remain silent, but Quiyahui stirred, her feathers hissing over the couch. "What?" I said, trying to sound like I was struggling free of sleep.

"Are you awake?"

"I am now," I said.

"You didn't murder us," Sumatika giggled.

"My head hurts too much from the rum to hurt much of anything."

I stood up, retrieving my sweetwater goblet from the folds of my loincloth. Though the process was mundane for me, it was a wonder. One second, a fold of cloth was flat against my nethers, a second later and I pulled a silver goblet encrusted with old sea life from it. I filled it from the jug of rum, and the magic of the goblet transformed it into refreshing water. One drink in and the headache was already abating.

Zuhreii got up from the bed and I was able to see her for the first time. She had narrow hips, and defined muscles across her torso. Her breasts were small and high on her chest. Her mound was hairless, as it was with Kharsoomians, with the indecent red of her innerfolds poking between the lips.

"Like what you see, Blackspear?"

"Very much," I said, pouring another goblet full of rum. I hadn't realized I was staring, but I also felt no particular shame. She seemed not to mind.

"You have quite the appetite for drink."

I chuckled, swallowing the last of the water.

She pulled on her vest and loincloth. "Come, Blackspear. Let me introduce you to the crew. Let you move freely about the fort." I put the goblet away, an act she did not see. I took my spear in hand and Quiyahui moved along with us.

"What do you plan, Blackspear?"

"I don't know. I have no desire to give Oqyo what he wants, but if I abandon him, he won't stop. He will send others."

"Who might not be as reasonable as you."

"I will have to think. Do you think Sumatika would part with the necklace?"

"It is precious to her."

"And she is precious to you."

"We might yet cross steel," she said with a smile.

"Ur-Anu isn't steel," I said absently.

Zuhreii took me to the various places on her small island where the pirates gathered. Some recognized me, a few did not, but all were suitably impressed by both Ur-Anu and Quiyahui. Her captains were wary of me, but I sensed no true animus from any of them.

My present conundrum consumed my thoughts. The necklace was up in the bedchamber. I could take it and run and I was fairly certain I could escape. Perhaps this was Zuhreii's idea, a way to test my honor.

Then what? Bring the necklace to Oqyo. He would sell it, squander the money. To him, the necklace was an object. I thought of the reverence in Sumatika's eyes when she spoke of it, the way she laid it in the chest. It meant more to her.

Desperation would fuel Oqyo. Sumatika said he needed money. If his first mercenary failed, he would hire another. One thing I have learned was that when hiring freeblades, the money did not primarily pay for skill. It paid for loyalty. A man without money would hire cutthroats, and cutthroats would exact a price beyond what was promised. While I didn't want to see either woman killed, Zuhreii had chosen a life of violence. Sumatika had not. I am nothing if not sentimental.

I ate and drank with the pirates that day, my decision weighing heavily on my mind. I walked out to the river's edge, looking out over the rest of the cluster of the islands, downriver to Ocupiri, where Oqyo lived.

As the day came to a close, I started to hunt about for a place to lay my head. I was looking about in the courtyard when Zuhreii and Sumatika passed me. "Come, Blackspear."

I caught knowing grins from some of the pirates, but none of them said anything. I followed the women up to their quarters, and I was not so innocent that I did not think I would soon have a night to remember.

As soon as we were through the door, Sumatika doffed her loincloth, leaving only her bangles. They reminded me of the bracers on Zhahllaia's wrists and ankles, symbolizing her servitude. Zuhreii removed her vest, but her loincloth stayed in place. The three of us settled onto the couch where I'd been sleeping, sharing a jug of rum between us. Quiyahui, perhaps sensing the charge in the air, coiled up near the table, her blue-white eyes blank. The air held a charge, like unshed lightning.

"Tell me," I said, drinking the heady brew. "This thing between the two of you. Did you look across the deck of your ship and see this one batting her eyes at you and decide you had to have her?"

Zuhreii chuckled, then looked over at Sumatika fondly. "No, I gave her to a pair of my captains for sport."

"Sport?" I asked, truly shocked for the first time.

"This one was game," Zuhreii said. "You should have seen the way she moved."

"Did you hope I would lament and wail?" Sumatika teased.

"I did not know what to think. A young noblewoman taking two men with the skill and eagerness of a whore trained in the Silken Labyrinth."

"Wasn't my first." Sumatika sighed. "It was lovely, though. There was a...freedom to it. I could do what I liked."

"You wouldn't stop looking into my eyes, even when Wayta filled your mouth with his seed."

Sumatika licked her lips absently at the memory. "And then you took me into your bed."

"I had to try you for myself." Zuhreii looked at me, as though suddenly remembering my presence. "She hasn't left my bed since."

"I would be nowhere else," Sumatika said, gazing at Zuhreii. I had seen that look in eyes before, most recently from my Ixem. I know she saw that from me too. It was love, as brautiful and powerful as any I had beheld. As I said, I am a sentimental sort. It was Zhahllaia I thought of in that moment, a longing to be with her but the conviction I could not face her in my present diminished state.

"Where did you go?" Sumatika asked, looking into my eyes. Her gaze was keen. She had a sharp mind, easy to forget considering her relative youth and soft noble's body.

"Home," I said.

"I didn't know what home was," Zuhreii said. "Not until Sumatika."

"And now home is this fort in the middle of the Edda," Sumatika said.

"Until they inevitably attack. No pirate haven lasts forever."

"And when that comes, we will have enough to find a place to hide in the Ocaital."

I laughed.

"Something amuses you, Blackspear?" Zuheii asked archly.

"Not in the slightest. If there is anywhere to hide, it's there. Make your way to the Copatloc and you will never be found."

"I don't know if I could be away from the Edda," said the pirate.

"The highlands," Sumatika mused. "Tending a flock, living a quiet life."

"I would be bored. You would be bored. Blackspear, tell her."

I took a long pull on the jug. "Very recently I nearly took such a life. I would have been growing peppers, not tending a flock, but it would have been a quiet life, like you said."

"You did not take it."

"It was taken from me. I won't ever know if it would have satisfied me. I think it would have." I shrugged. "But I will never know."

Sumatika's eyes sparkled as she looked at Zuhreii. "Would such a life satisfy you? No one but me?"

"Would it satisfy you? But one person in your bed?"

Sumatika giggled. "Perhaps for a time. Until the Edda forgets about us."

"Everyone is always trying to move on," Zuhreii said. "Better to enjoy the life you have then spend it constantly preparing to give it up."

"An excellent idea," Sumatika said. She turned to me, running her fingers lifghtly over my torso. They fell to the starburst pattern on the right side of my abdomen just above my loincloth. "What happened here?"

"A war wound. Fought a wizard."

"And what did you do to that wizard?"

"Captured her," I said. Those sweet, savage days with Lysethe stirred me.

"Did you give her to your captains?"

"I shared her with my bodyguards."

"I can't imagine the Blackspear needing bodyguards," Zuhreii said.

"I was not always as you see me." The thoughts that had been chasing one another through my mind resurfaced. "Your father is noble. That means you are as well."

"Yes. I'm his heir, though there is not much to inherit anymore."

"Your family has lands?"

"Not anymore. He's sold them. We still have our concern, a fleet of boats, but I don't know how long that will last."

I chuckled, nodding to the chest. "What would he do if he knew of that?"

They both laughed. "He hasn't seen that much money in a long time," Sumatika said. "The Blackspear is contemplating a plan."

"Then he needs another drink," Zuhreii said, passing me the jug.

"True, alone with two beautiful women and he's thinking of my father."

"My apologies. Perhaps I am not being distracted well enough."

Sumatika toyed with my scar. The skin was still sensitive there, on the edge of pain, her nails playing off a wound that had been caused by the fire of the sun itself. "Perhaps you are right." She turned to Zuhreii. At that moment, the lightning I felt in the doom spidered down, the promised clouds breaking. My skin prickled with desire. Her next words were sudden in the moment, but in retrospect they were inevitable. "Would you like to watch me take the Blackspear?"

Zuhreii's eyes flashed. "I find myself a bit curious. Let's see the weapon in question."

Sumatika's hand came down over my swelling staff. Her eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, I think you will be pleased."

I wrapped my hand about Sumatika's head and pulled her to my lips. I felt no love for her, but I had affection and an unquenchable attraction. Her mouth was eager, her tongue soaked in rum but no less agile for it. I caressed her breasts, feeling their lovely heft, teasing her fat nipples. They hardened beneath my touch, a purr in her body demanding more.

"You like these?" she teased as we parted.

"I want to feel them pressed against me."

She smiled wickedly, flicking her gaze to Zuhreii. "You heard him."

"Oh yes," said the pirate captain, taking another swallow from the jug.

Sumatika dropped to her knees before me, easing my loincloth off. As my staff popped into view, she smirked. I glanced over at Zuhreii, whose eyebrows raised. "Told you," Sumatika said. I hooked my hand about her head, taking a handful of her thick, glossy hair. She swatted my hand. "Now now, trust me."

She took her breasts in her hands as though sampling their not inconsiderable heft. She caressed herself for a few moments, across her silky skin and over her swelling nipples. Between us, my staff was turgid, longing for the embrace of her mouth. Instead, she moved closer, putting me between her breasts, resting my length in the channel there. She pushed them together, imprisoning me between the velvety skin of her chest. Then, her eyes never leaving mine, she began to stroke. I uttered a happy groan.

"I told you to trust me," she said, her eyes sparkling.

"This feels wonderful."

"It should. Nice soft skin against this lovely tool. Oh, Zuhreii, this is going to feel so good inside us."

"I look forward to it."

I pulled the pirate to me, kissing her. She grinned into this fresh assault, her tongue plundering mine. Then she broke the kiss, took a mouthful of rum and our mouths joined again. Our spit, aflame with the liquor, sloshed between us as we drank. We broke, and I traced her lips with my finger, even as her partner continued to stroke me.

I felt myself losing control. I wanted to pick them both up, bend them over, and ravage them, but this was more fun. I liked the sense that while I was currently the center of their attention, I was, in essence, a new toy for the both of them to play with. In this way, I felt free.

Zuhreii took another mouthful of rum and leaned over Sumatika. The noblewoman looked up, opening her mouth without ever stopping her slow strokes, and the pirate dribbled a stream of rum between her lover's lips. I took the pirate's hair in hand, guiding her down. She grinned, and as I poked up between Sumatika's breasts, Zuhreii gave me a lick. It felt like the caress of flame. I felt my whole body jerk, the bliss in my loins longing to spill.

Zuhreii took another drink, her mouth returning to mine. Then, I felt a hot wet enclosure over the head of my staff. I looked down, finding that Sumatika had put her chin against her neck and now, as she stroked all the way to me, took the end of me in her mouth. With each stroke, she gave me a teasing lick and a searing suck. The weight of her, the insistence of the caress, and the finishing lick stoked me well.

I continued to kiss Zuhreii and we shared the rum between us, one delirious mouthful at a time. But as Sumatika took me more, I could no longer do more than breathe. Zuhreii gripped me, looking me in the eye. "Go on. Finish. Look at her. You will want to see this." She kissed me once again and then pushed my head to look at her lover.

Sumatika, her mouth reddened, looked back at me. Her eyes, so dark as to be almost black, were wide and mischievous. The enjoyment she took in the act danced in the depthless dark of her gaze. I was close, the bliss building upon itself in a tower inside me, ready to spill out. She sensed my need and abruptly, took me into her mouth and sucked hard.

The bliss was white hot as it ripped out of me in shuddering spurts. She let me go, pressing her breasts together before me. My seed painted her chest, her throat, and her mouth. I watched it run in pearly streams like candlewax over her body. Then, my body went limp, my breath heavy.

"Join us when you're ready," was the last thing Zureii said as she rose. She pulled Sumatika to her feet, kissing her, then her mouth fell to the other woman's chin and throat. Between the kisses, the pirate was licking the strands of seed from the other woman's body. A decadent display, but not one for me. This was a game for the two of them. I was only too happy to witness it.

They fell into bed together, their hungry mouths ranging over one another. Zuhreii pressed her hand between Sumatika's legs, and Sumatika did the same after tearing the loincloth from her lover. The two of them touched like they had been apart for ages, but it had been only moments. The hunger in them for one another was insatiable.

I pulled my boots off, glancing over at Quiyahui. The serpent was still as death until her tongue flickered from her mouth. I wondered what she thought. There appeared to be no jealousy in her. It would be some time before I would truly understand my most loyal companion. Now I believe she had some faint regret for it not being the full moon.

I picked up the jug, as I strolled to the bed, taking another big mouthful of rum. My mind was swimming, as intoxicated by the drink as I was the two beauties cavorting on the silken covers. Zuhreii knelt over Sumatika's face, her hand gripping the other woman's hair as she pressed her face against the pirate's mound. Zuhreii's muscled buttocks were tensed, and I thought of what she had done to Sumatika the morning before. The noblewoman's thick thighs were spread, a pink slice of slick flesh visible in the thatch of her hair. Candlelight flickered over the glistening skin of both women.

I knelt onto the bed, kissing Sumatika's belly and sucking in the aroma of her sex. She shivered under the touch of my lips. I reached out, caressing Zuheii's buttocks, then hooked my arms beneath the noblewoman's knees. She shifted, giving me what I wanted.

I put myself at her gates and took her with a push. She was quite wet, moaning into her love as I sheathed myself in her. Zuhreii's moan joined Sumatika's as the noblewoman's ardor grew. I watched Zuhreii fall onto all fours, gyrating her hips against her lover's mouth. At the same time, Sumatika rolled her hips up, taking me deeply. My fingers sank into the soft fat of her body for purchase. Her sex held me as her breasts had, milking more pleasure from me.

Sumatika moved suddenly, her voluptuous body agile in this arena. I had the sense that I was in her arena. I believe Zuhreii had this same realization after she watched her captains use the noblewoman. She was a force, even in submission. In the moment as Sumatika disengaged from both of us, Zuhreii mewled in confusion. Sumatika pulled herself to her knees, kissing her lover, offering some reassurance to her love in the moment.

"I want to watch you now." She looked over Zuhreii's shoulder into my eyes. "Blackspear, lay back."

I realized then what I should have known from the start. Despite appearances, Sumatika was the dominant of the two. We were playing her game and I did not mind in the slightest. Sumatika was deliriously beautiful, inhumanly seductive. I lay back, my staff shining with the noblewoman's juices.

Sumatika turned the pirate about. Zuhreii looked down at me, her maroon eyes smoky with desire. Sumatika's soft hands ran up and down Zuhreii's hard body, playing across her hard abdomen and over her small breasts. Then Sumatika helped Zuhreii forward and up while her soft hand embraced my staff. Then, forcefully, she guided me to Zuhreii's lips. The pirate sank over me with a soft gasp, quivering as she took me in.

The pirate captain began to surge, in deep, rolling strokes. She was already far along the path to her bliss, soaking with her juices and Sumatika's saliva. The noblewoman did not let her go unattended. She continued to stroke, kiss the pirate's neck, and toy with her body. Sumatika's agile fingers found the apex of Zuhreii's sex, and the pirate cried out, the shuddering taking her body.

I was close myself, though after what Sumatika had done for me, I could stave off the pleasure. Still, I felt myself moving unbidden against Zuhreii. As the shuddering ran through her, the pirate gasped, pushing herself off of me. Sumatika held the shivering Zuhreii, kissing the pirate and holding her. My staff shuddered, longing to be inside one of these two beautiful women.

The two of them faced one another, both on their sides. I moved behind Sumatika, spreading her legs. She shifted for me, and I slid into her easily. She moaned softly as I pushed to the hilt. As she moved against me, pushing down hard, she kissed Zuhreii, each one harder, more passionate than the last. The pirate came back from her cloud of bliss, now her hands moving against her lover.

I leaned back, my strokes long and slow inside Sumatika. Her mouth was hard against Zuhreii's, their tongues lashing. I felt fingers against my staff where it plunged into Sumatika. Zuhreii was exploring, and she must have hit something, as Sumatika's hips ground harder against mine, the bliss now insistent.

I gave the noblewoman's buttocks a slap, and she moaned into Zuhreii's mouth. My thrusts grew faster. She was moving, mewling against the two of us, the pleasure ready to break her. She convulsed suddenly, a throaty cry into her lover's mouth. Zuhreii held her tenderly through the tremors. A moment later, I reached my limit. For the second time that night, I unraveled. I filled her with pulse after aching pulse. She squealed softly, a small bliss on the heels of the first.

I rolled back, leaving Sumatika's warm folds. The three of us lay on the bed in the aftermath of our loveplay, the two of them cuddled together, me next to them. Sumatika leaned over and kissed my cheek once. "You got to stab something after all."

I chuckled. "That I did. I believe I know what to do about your father."

"Still thinking about him? I am losing my touch."

I spent a few more days with the two of them. I would like to claim a loftier motivation, but I enjoyed laying with them and I wished to do it a few more times before taking my leave. As fun as it had been, I sensed that they would tire of me before long. This was not about me. Their love was between the two of them. They liked variety in their loveplay, and that was what I provided. As soon as my novelty was spent, I would be sent away. Better to leave while we still had affection and good feeling.

Zuhreii gave me a canoe, and I took it down to Ocupiri. Though not the capital city of this small kingdom, Ocupiri was an important port in this part of the river. The wharf was built of stone and wood, and extended far into the Emerald. I watched dragonfish prowling the murky depths for prey, though locals waded into the shallows without fear. People of all ages bathed along the banks, and as I arrived, I watched a funeral, a body in a burning canoe, pushed out into the river. The Edda Aroyac is one of the most vibrant places on Thür.

I found a slip and tied the canoe up, climbing up the stairs that stuck out of the water. The city was mostly stone, with wide flagstone streets reaching inland from the wharf. I made my way to Malvica's manor house following the directions Sumatika gave me. The population was varied, the city quite cosmopolitan, with a varied population. I saw people I recognized as locals, ones from various parts of the Ocaital, and even those with tattoos I knew to be Lixhan. There were others too, with skin tones from all corners of the world. Despite the variation in people, almost all dressed in the local costime of simple kilts and vests, some with impressive headdresses and golden bangles.

I received my share of looks, though most were directed at Quiyahui, slithering through the air over my head. The wealthier section of town was on a hill, with ornate stone houses in great tiered gardens. The view looked north over the Edda, and in the distance, I could just make out the shore of Kharsoom.

I found the Malvica estate where Sumatika sent me, facing the river near the top of the hill. The garden was overgrown in places and in others, the plants were dying, giving the unavoidable impression of a garden neglected. The high wall about the estate opened in the front, a stone path going to the door between two low walls. I made my way up to the door and rang the bell at the entry way.

The front room was completely bare, ostentatiously so. I saw marks on the stone floor and walls, as though there had once been rugs and tapestries that were gone now. Oqyo came down his stairs, flanked by the two spearmen I had seen before. I could only wonder if this was the sum total of the man's staff.

"Blackspear," he said, brightening. "Do you have my necklace?" With Sumatika's story in my mind, I saw desperation in his face, but I had to wonder if my imagination put it there.

"I don't."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Because I believe I need your help. Do you have a map? I'd like to show you something."

Oqyo frowned. "Yes, please, this way."

I followed him through more bare rooms. The house was empty. More than merely physically, but a void that went beyond that. I thought of the bedchamber at Zuhreii's fort. That place had been full.

We stopped in a room with a massive table occupying the center. The surface was an intricate model of the river, sculpted in stone in incredible detail. I noted that, to the west, a bridge appeared to span the Emerald. Small models of boats were placed here and there. This was how he planned his mercantile concern, as practical as it was beautiful.

"Impressive," I said.

"What did you want to show me?"

I looked over the line of the river, finding the cluster of islands. It was generally accurate, though I noted the absence of a few of the smaller landmasses. I pointed at the island where the pirates had made their home. "Red Zuhreii is in an old Kharsoomian fort here. She has a whole fleet of pirates at her command. The place guarded too well for one person to get close."

"What do you propose?"

"Can you hire more men?"

He stared at me, and though I caught a flash of anger behind his eyes, it vanished quickly. "How many?"

"As many as you can. If we can take the fort, we will have not only your necklace, but the balance of her crew's treasure."

"Treasure? How much treasure?" His eyes lit up, banishing the anger.

"Quite a lot of it. At least one full chest and I believe a great deal more."

"A full chest?"

"Gold and jewels. I don't know what it is worth, but it was more than I've ever seen in one place."

"Yes, I can hire a ship of men," he said, the decision made.

"One ship?" I sighed. "We might be able to do it. We would have to catch them unawares. In two days time."

"What happens then?"

"The new moon. We can approach in darkness, land before they know we are there. They'll go down without a fight."

"You're certain?"

I nodded. "I was able to get close, but not close enough. Too many pirates for one man, but for a full crew? Yes. We could do it."

"Very well, Blackspear."

"The night after next, midnight," I said. "I will meet you down at the wharf."

I left Oqyo then, hoping I had been convincing.

I had.

I waited on the wharf with Quiyahui whien Oqyo and his spearmen approached. I sized them up, wondering if I would have to fight the two of them. I wasn't worried. After the battle at Red Bridge, two men were not a threat.

"Blackspear, come," he said.

I followed him to a boat. As with everything else, it was considerably less grand than I could have hoped. The men aboard were rough sorts, but they had the mien of brawlers rather than warriors. I was fairly certain that I was the only one of them who had been forged in battle.

The boat struck off upstream, the rowers fighting the current. It took far longer to return to the islands than it had to make it to Ocupiri. I stayed at the bow, hunting the dark for the flickering of torches. It was nearing dawn when we drew close to the fort.

Quiyahui lingered close to me. For me, familiar with her body, I could see the tension carried in her serpentine form. Oqyo and his bodyguards were in the middle of the deck, and with luck blind to the subtleties of a coatl's moods. The thugs and cutthroats were waiting, their thoughts no doubt dancing with all the treasure waiting in the pirate fort. My heart thundered in my chest as I peered at the wharf. Nothing moved there. The crew pulled the ship into the wharf, leaping onto the boards and tying her up.

"Blackspear, take us to the treasure."

"It's this way." I led them up the shore and through the break in the wall into the courtyard. Torches blazed everywhere, throwing lurching shadows all about. Though I knew what was coming, my blood was a cacophony in my ears. We made it to the middle of the courtyard.

"Stand and deliver!" Zuhreii's voice echoed out through the fort.

Oqyo and his men froze. The pirates on all three levels of the fort stepped out over cover, around walls and from behind barrels, into the flickering torchlight, with bows drawn. Zuhreii, proud and beautiful on a balcony above, looked down imperiously.

Oqyo uttered a terrified curse. "Blackspear?"

"You should surrender," I said, turning about to face him. Quiyahui landed next to me, spiraling into a meaty coil, her blue-white eyes on Oqyo. We were both loose, but we were ready to strike the instant we were tested.

Sumatika stepped out next to Zuhreii. The firelight glittered off the necklace between her breasts. The emerald shone like an eye. "Hello, father. Thank you for accepting our invitation."

"Invi..." Oqyo's eyes widened, and then he looked on me with hatred. "Betrayer!"

"I got a better offer," I said. I kept his bodyguards in my view. They were the ones I was most concerned with. Though they held their spears, they were frozen in place, intelligent enough to understand their poor position.

"You shouldn't be too concerned with your assassin, father," Sumatika said. "Be concerned with me. Your heir."

"You're no heir of mine."

"I am. And I'm taking the family business. That will the price you pay to leave this place. But I'm not cruel. You'll be compensated, and well."

One of the pirates tossed a pouch that landed at his feet. He picked it up. "What's this?"

"Payment. You will now leave. Not only this place, but Ocupiri as well. The family home is mine, the business, also mine."

"And if I say no?"

"Thirty bows say you should."

"You whore! Pirates! This is what you do? This is what you do to your father?"

"When you sent your assassin, you asked him to take the necklace and kill Zuhreii. You didn't say a word about me."

"You would have come home..." he whined.

"You would have taken away my love. My other half. I would have hated you."

"You hate me now."

"I pity you, father."

"Fuck your pity," he snarled. "Men! On my order..."

"They'll be killed where they stand," I said wearily.

"Att--!" was all Oqyo got out before I put the blade of Ur-Anu through his neck. He sputtered once and fell. He lay still, his body pathetic, in the courtyard of the fort.

I looked to his men. "The rest of you, back in the boat. Leave now and you won't be harmed."

The bodyguards looked at their fallen employer. They were the first away. The thugs and cutthroats followed. They wanted treasure, but they would not risk their lives. Soon, their boat was back in the water, riding the current downstream.

Zuhreii and Sumatika joined me in the courtyard. The pirates relaxed, putting their bows aside, and exchanging relieved looks. "What do you want done with him?" I asked.

"I'll have the men bury him," said the noblewoman.

"And what then?"

She turned to Zuhreii. "You were thinking of a change. What about this?"

"Running a legitimate shipping concern? Seems outside my expertise."

"You know how pirates think," I said. "You'll do well."

"And you, Blackspear?"

"It's time I moved on."

Sumatika touched my cheek. "Thank you, Ashuz."

"Bel..." I stopped myself. My old name was not mine. I covered the mistake with a cough. "I'm grateful to have known the two of you, however briefly."

"We will think of you often," she said, getting on her toes and kissing me.

"Thank you, Ashuz," Zuhreii said, embracing me.

"Farewell," I said, picking up the pouch of coins from Oqyo's nerveless hand. I tested the weight, tossed it into the air and caught it. Then I left their island, never to return.