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time, Katin felt Lesid’s presence at her elbow. Curse him for being a stubborn gallant. The captain beckoned her, so Katin slipped past the guards and onto the gangplank. Remaining on the pier, Lesid watched her with the bundle of pastries still under his arm.
    Clearing her throat, Katin marshaled the Old Fretian in her mind. “I give you greetings.”
    The official stared at her and said something very rapid. She could not even tell where one word ended and the next began. His voice slipped like oil upon the water.
    “Speak slowly please.” She slowed her own speech to demonstrate. “I do not understand.”
    His lip curled and he spoke slowly, mockingly, as though she were a damaged person. Still she caught only a few words, making her aware of how kind the other people had been to use simple words. “Name” and “travelers” and then “oxtail.”
    “Did you say ox-tail?”
    “Yes. Show me your oxtail.” Then his speech exploded into a confusion of words. “Oxtail” again and then “center” or perhaps “middle.”
    “I am sorry. I do not understand.”
    The man threw his hands up into the air in an obvious sign of aggravation. He turned to one of the bodyguards and gestured toward the ship imperiously. “Take it.”
    The bodyguard to his left stepped toward the ship and unsheathed his sword— Except it was not a sword. It was a hollow tube, which he pointed at the captain.
    “Move.” The bodyguard gestured roughly, making his meaning clear.
    The captain put his hand on Katin’s shoulder. “What is happening?”
    “I—” She did not know. This was not what she had studied for. Katin turned to look over her shoulder at him. “They want something. He keeps asking for an ox-tail. Maybe it’s an offering of some sort? And now, I think—but I don’t really understand. It sounds like they want the ship. But I might be wrong.”
    Lesid shouted, “Hey, there! None of that.”
    Katin grabbed for the rough rope rail as the gangplank shuddered. She turned back in time to see Lesid grab a bodyguard by the arm and pull him back from the ramp. The huge man looked astonished and angry. He pointed the tube at Lesid and then—
    There was a flash and a clap of thunder. Smoke billowed from the end of the tube. On the docks, people screamed and ran from the sound.
    Lesid took a step backward and then sat heavily. Red stained the front of his jacket. He toppled to the side and fell into the water.
    “Lesid.” The captain pushed past her and stared at the spot where the sailor floated facedown. Blood curled around him in the water. “I need a lifeline!”
    No. No! What had happened?
    The blue man on the dock said something and it took Katin a moment to realize that he was speaking to her. “I do not understand.”
    “No one move.”
    “He’s dying!”
    “Dead. Already. Stay still. Tell them.” He spoke with exaggerated care.
    Swallowing, she said, “Captain. He wants everyone to stay still.”
    “No. I have a man down.” He bellowed back to the ship, without taking his eyes off Lesid. “Where’s that rope?”
    A sailor ran to the edge and wrapped a coil around the rail. His fingers tightened a knot.
    The blue man spoke again, in that strange sliding Fretian. “I said, no one move.”
    “A man drowns!” Katin pointed at Lesid. The water was so red.
    He snorted and turned to the bodyguard. “Make it two.”
    The weapon flashed and thundered again. Katin covered her ears, shrieking at the noise. Below her, the captain jerked and stumbled. He grabbed the rope railing with both hands.
    “No!”
    His feet went out from under him and he dropped to his knees, still clutching the railing. As the acrid smoke curled around her, Katin found herself behind him, pulling him back before he could fall into the water.
    She wrapped her arms around him, feeling the blood soak into her tunic. Her scarf of office fell across his chest. “Stop. We do what you say.”
    “Good.” The blue man’s teeth glinted in