The Witch's Patron

Chapter 22

"You're hoping for discretion in a pub?" Noori balked as Captain Denali steered her through the raucous crowd at the door and across the threshold. Inside, the pub was warm and inviting, but hardly the place for a covert conversation.

"I'd rather take my chances in here than outside." The Captain threw an uneasy look over her shoulder before nodding in the direction of a vacant table in the only quiet corner in the room. She waited until they were settled before speaking again in a low voice. "You're being watched, Owusua."

Eyes wide, Noori searched the room. She peered out the windows but saw nothing.

"By who?" she asked.

Captain Denali shook her head, her eyes casing the pub. "Not who: what."

Noori tensed. "What then?"

"That's what I've been trying to find out," the Captain admitted. "But first, tell me how you are. Have you been safe? Are you well?"

A deep gratitude swelled in chest Noori. After her disastrous meeting with Toddrick, being in the company of someone who cared felt like a warm hug on a cold day.

"I've been doing as well as can be expected, I suppose," she answered, her voice quavering slightly. "I'm trying to find a way to clear my name."

"As am I," Denali said. Noori was so relieved to hear it that she could have cried. "The fact that anyone believes Lourda's ludicrous story is pathetic, especially now.

"What do you mean?"

"Strange things are been happening in the harbor, Noori." Denali licked her lips. Noori had never seen her so on edge. "Several ships have been broken into over the last few days."

Noori's heart sank like a stone. "Do they think it was me? I haven't been back to the docks once, I swear!"

"I believe you, Noori." Denali sighed and rubbed her face with callused fingers. "Besides, nothing seems to be missing. But the break-ins keep happening. And there's been a surge in the mystery illness. People are afraid."

Noori placed her head in her hands and moaned. She was heart sick that her beloved home was facing attacks from all sides. Nothing like this had happened there before. "This is terrible. I should be there to help!"

"Honestly, it's better this way. It's harder for them to pin this on you when you're nowhere to be found, right?" Denali gave Noori's arm a comforting touch. "But don't worry — I set up watch around the clock, trying to catch the real culprit. That's how I discovered the creature."

"The creature?" Noori sat up straight. "You mean the thing that's watching me?"

"Yes. It scurries like an animal but it's as dark as a shadow. I haven't been able to get a close look at it yet, so when I spotted it this evening I decided to follow it. Strangely enough, it led me to you."

Tapping a finger against her lips, Noori considered this information carefully. "So, a mysterious creature is sneaking onto ships, not stealing anything, and now it's stalking me around the city?"

Denali nodded. "As far as I can tell that seems to be the case."

Noori leaned back in her seat with a frustrated sigh. She rubbed the space between her eyebrows as the beginning throbs of a headache bloomed. When she looked up, Noori found Captain Denali's face twisted in an uncharacteristically sour expression, and for a heart-stopping moment she thought the Captain had been lying about believing in her innocence.

"Is that one of those plants Minty has been handing out?" Denali asked, her nose crinkled with disgust as she jutted her chin toward the seedling in Noori's lap.