Free Bound in Darkness by Jacquelyn Frank

wanted. The fact was, no one at that dock was going to the Isle of Thiss. Everyone knew it was loaded with weredragons and that it was wisest to steer clear. But Maxum already seemed to know this and was looking for someone else. A certain kind of captain.
    “There’s Cap’n Arud’s ship,” a scrawny little lad said, his docksy accent heavy and his clothing worn lightly on his bony body. “Ee’s goin’ to Calandria and ee might stop alon’ the way.”
    “Good lad,” Maxum said, handing the boy a silver coin and cuffing him playfully. The boy’s eyes went wide, no doubt because that silver piece could feed him and his family for a full week or more. Airi just shook her head. He had to be out of his mind. That was all she could think. She didn’t care how lucrative their adventures were, spending money so frivolously was insane.
    Before she knew it they were heading up the gangway of a mighty wooden ship. The deck was loud with shouting and full of thunderous activity as cargo was hoisted and carried aboard. The ship was readying to set sail and soon by the look of it. Maxum went up to the deckhand nearest him and asked for Captain Arud. The hand nodded to the foredeck where a man stood shouting orders and watching the goings-on on deck with an eagle eye. He was of middling height—about three and a half straps, maybe closer to four, unlike Maxum who was a little ways under four and a half straps and towered over just about everyone. The captain was made of coarse muscle and had weather-beaten skin on his hands and face, a ruddy sort of cracked condition that simply screamed toughness. Adding to that image was a weapons belt slung beneath a slight paunch that held a hefty stryker sword with its curved blade and not one but two sheathed stilettos. There was also some kind of pouch attached at the back and who knew what was kept inside of it. Another weapon perhaps?
    “Captain Arud?” Maxum called over the din.
    “That I am. Who’re you?”
    “A paying passenger is my hope. I need passage for a party of six.”
    “I don’t take living cargo,” the captain barked. “Be on your way.”
    “Surely you can be convinced to change your mind. For say, a gold sovereign per head?”
    The captain did a double take and then eyed Maxum with a look that crossed between curiosity and suspicion.
    “What’s the catch?” he asked.
    “You’re headed to Calandria?”
    “Aye, I am.”
    “Then just drop us off at the isle on the way.”
    “Thiss? You want me to take you to Thiss? Are you stark? No one of sound mind goes near that place, never mind docking up.”
    “Rumor has it you go to Thiss. That you have quite a lucrative trade going with the weredragons.”
    “Rumor is wrong,” the captain snapped. “No one in their right mind goes to Thiss.”
    “No one said you were in your right mind,” he countered. “There’s several colonies on Thiss. They have to get their supplies from somewhere. No doubt there’s a pretty penny in it for any captain willing to make the route. There’ll be gold in it for you to do this as well. As I said, one sovereign per head just to take us where we both know you’re going anyway.”
    “One way?” the captain asked.
    “There’ll be the same price per head if you wait a day and take us off the isle as well. One day and another gold per head. Surely you can manage that. It’ll take you the better part of a day to offload your goods on Thiss anyway.”
    “I don’t usually spend the night. Much rather sail in the dark than lurk around dragon waters for long.”
    “Two gold per head if you wait the full day. That includes horses. And we set sail an hour past juquil’s hour tonight.”
    “What?” Airi cried incredulously. “
Two
gold?”
    “Hush,” Maxum said softly to her, never once taking his eyes off the captain. “Do we have a deal?”
    The captain hesitated, seeming to think on it very seriously. “I’m not coming back to Docking Bay after Thiss. I’m heading