Flux

this distance like tiny huts. Directly in front of them was a series of piers, most of which had mid-sized ships tied snugly to them, bobbing in the gentle waves. Larger ships lay at anchor closer to the harbor’s mouth; longboats and other small craft scurried back and forth between the big ships and the shore.
    There were people everywhere: sitting or standing in boats, rushing back and forth across the piers or over the nearby pavement pushing carts or toting boxes and barrels, standing in small groups and shouting at one another. Some of the people were slaves, mostly men wearing rags about their loins and collars on their necks and not much else, heavy loads balanced on their scarred shoulders.
    “Imagine all the places these ships have been!” Ennek said almost worshipfully. “I’ll wager that some of them are carrying gold and almonds and wool from Praesidium. Imagine the tales some of these sailors could tell!”
    “We’ve some good tales of our own,” Miner reminded him.
    Ennek looked at him, surprised, as if that hadn’t occurred to him. “Yes, I suppose we do.”
    “Maybe someday you’ll have someone to tell them to.”
    Ennek frowned, then shook his head. “Let’s go find the palace,” he said.
    Miner nodded. After Ennek had mentioned the possibility of some of these ships having sailed from Praesidium, it occurred to Miner that there was a chance someone would recognize Ennek. A small chance, perhaps, but Ennek had known a great many sailors and had been a prominent figure at the port. Moving away from the sea was a wise idea—one that appealed to Miner for several reasons.
    But Ennek disentangled himself from Miner and marched ahead, straight to a group of three men who were standing beside an enormous wooden crate. They were locals, at least, or so they appeared, in clothing similar to what Ennek and Miner wore, only of finer quality, and with their long black hair wrapped with ribbons and studded with pearls.
    Ennek said something to them in the local tongue and they all stared at him for a moment. “Why you want palace?” one of them finally demanded. He was tall and very fat, with three or four chins spilling out from the neck of his shirt.
    “Not really your business, is it? I’ve an errand to run there.”
    With someone else, such insolence would surely have made the man angry. But Ennek was smiling amiably at the man as if they were old friends sharing some joke. Ennek added something else in the local language that made all three of the men burst into laughter. One of them was wearing a small yellow cap perched atop his head; he pointed and waved his hand around a bit and jabbered, and Ennek nodded a lot, then clapped him on the shoulder. With a wave of thanks, Ennek grabbed Miner’s arm and towed him down the pavement, off to the north side of the harbor.
    “What did you say to them?’ Miner asked.
    “I said I was going to have a refined conversation with their king. And I said it using the saltiest language I know.”
    Ennek’s step was jaunty as they walked along the waterfront. His head swiveled back and forth as he took in the sights; Miner could see him practically cataloging the value of the cargo that was being loaded and unloaded. Sometimes he’d point out something to Miner—a ship of intriguing design, another waving Lagentium’s flag, a group of men and women and children in tight, colorful clothing performing acrobatic acts and begging for coins.
    But Ennek grew less cheerful as they passed an area packed with what seemed to be seedy bars. Even though it was not yet midday, drunken men lurched in and out of these establishments. On one corner, a crowd was watching as two men fought each other with fists; just as Miner and Ennek passed, one of the men pulled out a blade and stabbed the other in the chest. The crowd cheered and Ennek and Miner hurried on. Miner saw several children and a few adults giving him and Ennek considering looks, and he made sure to keep a tight hold on his bag and a careful eye on Ennek’s.
    A few blocks farther, they came upon buildings where women of every description leaned in doorways and against walls. They called out to Ennek and Miner, and although Miner couldn’t understand them, he got the gist of it from the women’s leers and suggestive movements. Ennek blushed. Just a short while later the women were replaced by men, mostly boys really, and these boys waggled their hips and yelled out phrases that made Ennek’s face