I woke to the light from the grey pre-dawn seeping through the window of my new bedroom. It was nice to be sleeping in an actual bed again. My muscles ached from last night's fights but it was a good sort of pain, the type that lets you know you're getting stronger.

  When I entered the kitchen, there was no sign of Sarei, but Kaelen was sat at the table putting himself on the outside of a decent breakfast.

  I glanced over at the corner where Yanzi lay sprawled in Kaelen's old hammock with his skinny limbs dangling over the edges.

  "What are you doing here?" I asked as I rocked the hammock to wake him up.

  Yanzi blinked up at me with confusion on his face.

  "I thought we agreed you'd be going to school," I said. "Shouldn't you be on your way?"

  The boy practically launched himself up and landed with a thud on the wooden floor. "You meant that? For real?"

  I pulled out my coin purse and counted copper petals into my palm. Enough for a couple of week's schooling, plus a little extra. "Here. When this runs out, come find me and I'll give you more." I closed his fingers around the coins "All I ask is that you work hard at school and the Broken Mast."

  His eyes widened as he stared at the money. "I will! I promise!"

  Yanzi snatched a hunk of bread and cheese from the table, stuffing them into his pockets as he darted toward the door.

  "Don't forget you need to be at The Broken Mast this evening," I called after him.

  He threw up a hand in acknowledgment without looking back, and pulled the door behind him.

  As the door slammed shut I sat down at the table opposite Kaelen

  "Morning," he grunted, tearing off a chunk of bread.

  "You're up early." I grabbed a plate and served myself some cheese and fruit.

  "Heading back out to sea this afternoon." Kaelen rubbed his chin. "Should be back in a week or so if the weather holds."

  He sighed heavily, stretching his legs under the table. "Stepped on a damn nail yesterday. Went right through my boot." He lifted his foot, showing me the punctured sole. "No time to get them mended before we sail."

  Without thinking, I reached into my purse and pulled out a few silver fangs, sliding them across the table. I knew better than anyone the misery of being at sea with wet feet. No one deserved that, least of all my brother.

  "Here. Get another pair for the voyage. You can leave these to get repaired while you're away."

  Kaelen frowned at the coins but did not touch them. Then he looked up and grabbed my hand across the table to stop me eating. His eyes narrowed as they searched my face.

  "First a house with some nonsense story about a friend and a lease. Now you're tossing silver around like it's nothing." He leaned forward. "Where are you getting this money, Taros?"

  I considered concocting a plausible lie, but Kaelen deserved better. Besides, a partial truth would serve me better than an obvious falsehood.

  "I earned it."

  He raised an eyebrow.

  "Fighting," I said. "In the pits at The Broken Mast."

  His face transformed into a mask of horror. "What?"

  "I'm actually quite good." I pulled my hands free and continued to eat. "Win an amateur fight, and you get a silver fang. I've won several."

  Kaelen ran a hand through his black hair. "The pits, though? Taros, you know those are death traps."

  "It's temporary," I assured him. "Just to build up a little pot. I've got plans that don't involve illegal pit fights but I need something to get me started."

  Kaelen leaned back, studying me with a perplexed expression. "What's happened to you?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "This..." He gestured vaguely at me. "Suddenly you care about earning money. You buy us clothes, find us a better house, better food. Sarei told me last night you're planning to see Yin Chi today." He shook his head in disbelief. "It's like you're a completely different person."

  The irony of his statement wasn't lost on me. I was literally a different person inhabiting his brother's body.

  "After you dragged me home the other night," I said, "it made me think about what I was doing with my life. I decided to turn over a new leaf."

  Kaelen looked skeptical, his thick eyebrows furrowed as he considered my words. Finally, he nodded.

  "Whatever's driving it, I like this new version." He picked up the silver fangs and pocketed them. "Keep it up."

  I smiled. "Oh, I intend to."

  Rising from the table, I pocketed an apple for the road. It was time to head to work, and I had a lot to do before I went to see this Yin Chi.

  * * *

  Work at Qin's Fresh Catch went by quickly. I took the opportunity to improve my stamina by making deliveries at a brisk pace while using Waves Take Down a Cliff. This lower level consolidation was as important as my faster growth from the fights at The Broken Mast. What I wanted to do to my meridians would compress the work of decades into weeks. It was necessary to progress quickly, but there was no profit in carelessness.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  As I jogged through Shuilin Haven's winding streets, the city continued to come together in my mind, or at least the outer part of the city did. I quickly realized that the sect compounds and the nobles' estates of the inner city weren't the sort of places that bought their produce from Old Xu so they were still entirely unknown to me. Even the old Taros had never been there from what I could glean from his fading memories.

  Yet, even as I worked, my thoughts kept drifting to other matters. A small part of me was thinking about Old Xu's ledgers and the disastrous state of the business's finances. More pressing though was the matter of Yin Chi, the money lender who had been bleeding my family dry for years. The thought of this parasite gnawed at me throughout the day.

  "Fourth bell outside the warehouse," I said to Sarei as we crossed paths between deliveries.

  "You still mean to see Yin Chi?"

  "I said we would."

  "Fourth bell then." She nodded grimly, her face tight with concern as she walked on.

  When my shift ended, I hurried home. I was juggling multiple balls and I refused to let any of them drop. In the cool darkness of the cellar, I ran through a series of sword forms with one of the marines' blades. It was meditative in its own way and, while it wasn't Tidebreaker, the familiar weight of a sword in my hand was comforting, even if my muscles weren't yet strong enough to wield it properly.

  Soon enough it was time to head back to meet Sarei. Standing by my meager weapons stash, I picked up both the dagger and a pair of throwing knives. Then I sighed and set them down. There was no chance that a money lender didn't have decent security. If this confrontation turned violent, I wasn't currently strong enough to guarantee victory. Better to avoid appearing threatening.

  Instead, I counted out enough coin to clear the debt into a purse, as well as tucking a little more, should I need it, into my pocket. It would almost clear out my funds but it was worth it. Easy come, easy go.

  Sarei was hanging up her apron when I arrived at Qin's. Her eyebrows rose at my punctuality.

  "You're actually on time," she said as she brushed the last fish scales from her clothes. "Must mean business for once."

  We set off toward the money district, walking in silence for several blocks before Sarei spoke.

  "What exactly are you planning?" Her voice was tight.

  "I'm going to ask him to forgive our debt."

  She let out a sharp, humorless laugh. "Just like that? You think he'll agree because you asked nicely?"

  "No," I said. "I don't expect him to agree at all."

  Sarei stopped walking. "Then what's the point?"

  I turned to face her. "It's important to give people the opportunity to do the right thing before they face the consequences of their actions." Even to my own ears I sounded a little pompous. I meant it though.

  Sarei's eyes widened. "Consequences? Taros, what are you talking about? I'm not going to let you do this if it's going to make things worse."

  "If there's one thing that I can guarantee is that it's not going to make things worse. Come on Sarei, is it even possible for things to get worse than they are now?"

  Sarei frowned but kept moving as she took me at a brisk pace through the market district. We stopped outside an establishment that nestled between a spice merchant and a tailor's shop. The facade was unassuming and modest, with only a small golden sign with flowing script to mark it as different from the surrounding businesses. Oh, that, and the protection formations around the doors and windows. That level of security was excessively expensive for this part of town.

  "The Golden Current," I muttered, recognizing the name from some of the threatening letters in Old Xu's office. The old man owed money here too. Interesting.

  Two hulking men flanked the entrance, arms crossed over barrel chests. One had a puckered scar running from temple to jaw, while the other's nose had been broken so many times it resembled a smashed dumpling.

  "Look what the tide washed in," Scar-Face sneered as we approached. "Fish girl and her drunk brother. Here to make another payment?"

  "We have business with Master Yin," Sarei said, her voice admirably steady.

  Dumpling-Nose laughed. "Course you do. Everyone's got 'business' with Master Yin."

  "Search them," Scar-Face ordered. "Make sure they're not carrying anything... inappropriate."

  Dumpling-Nose approached me while Scar-Face moved toward Sarei. His meaty hands patted down my sides, then reached for the money pouch at my belt.

  I caught his wrist mid-motion. "My apologies, but I'm rather attached to my coin. I would hate for there to be any misunderstandings."

  His eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed with anger. He tried to wrench free, but I channeled ki through my Storm Wake meridian, locking my grip around his wrist. Not enough to harm him, but enough to make my point.

  "Can we enter now?" I asked quietly, maintaining eye contact. My voice remained pleasant, but my grip tightened just enough to make him understand I wasn't actually asking for permission.

  He glared, nostrils flaring, then gave a grudging nod.

  I held his wrist and his eyes a moment longer before releasing him.

  "After you." I gestured to Sarei, who was staring at me with a mixture of alarm and confusion.

  Inside The Golden Current, we entered a waiting area presided over by a middle-aged man perched on a stool behind a tall desk. His pinched face and immaculate robes screamed officiousness. I hated having to deal with people like that.

  To one side, a payment window had formed a small queue of people clutching coin purses. Several others sat on benches along the wall, their expressions ranging from nervous to defeated.

  I approached the desk. "I'm Shen Taros. I'm here with my sister to see Yin Chi."

  The man sighed without looking up from his ledger. "Of course you are. Why else would you be here? Everyone is here to see Master Yin." He finally raised his eyes, giving me a dismissive once-over. "What time is your appointment?"

  "I don't have one."

  Another exaggerated sigh escaped him as he pulled a massive appointment book from beneath his desk. He made a show of flipping through pages, running a bony finger down columns of names, dates and times.

  "Master Yin could perhaps fit you in at sixth bell," he looked up with a thin smile, "nine days from now. You may return then, Master Shen."

  I reached into my purse and slid a half silver fang onto the polished wood. "Perhaps you could check again. I believe there was an opening later today."

  With a practiced motion that betrayed years of similar transactions, the man's hand swept across the desk and the coin vanished.

  "Well, well," he stroked his chin with a pretense of deep thought. "It appears my initial assessment might have been premature. It may be possible to squeeze you in this afternoon, though it would involve considerable rearranging. I'm not certain I can manage it." A look of fake sympathy spread across his face.

  I placed another half fang before him. This one disappeared even faster than the first.

  His face transformed into a greasy smile. "If you would care to take a seat, I'm sure Master Yin will see you very shortly."

  We moved to the bench. Sarei leaned close, her voice barely above a whisper.

  "What are you doing wasting money like that? Even if you want to see Yin Chi, it can certainly wait nine days."

  "It's been fifteen years already." I matched my tone to hers. "So no, it can't wait."

  Sarei fell silent, but her leg bounced nervously against the floor. Around us, the other supplicants remained locked in their private miseries, oblivious or indifferent to our exchange. No one came in here without their own troubles, and they had no interest in engaging with someone else's.

  After fifteen minutes, a door at the back of the room opened. A young couple emerged, the woman dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief while the man's face was hollow with despair. They hurried out of the front without looking at anyone.

  The receptionist cleared his throat. "Shen Taros and Shen Sarei, Master Yin will see you now."

  Sarei's hand found mine and squeezed with surprising strength. I gave her a confident nod and stood.

  It was time to meet this Yin Chi.