I nibbled on my food, not having much of an appetite. Mar’kost finished eating first and read a book. Well, he held a book and occasionally flipped pages while his eyes stared off into the distance. 

As if that wasn’t weird enough, the book’s cover was written in English. It was already strange that I could understand spoken words, but telepathy probably explained that. I had no idea how to explain the book. Maybe they really did speak English here? I hadn’t watched anyone’s mouth too closely to see if it lined up with what I was hearing. 

“Do you need something?” His large eyes focused on me, distracting me from watching his lips. 

“Uh, how can you read the book if you’re not looking at it?”

“My eyes are for show. I’m technically blind, but I can sense the ink on the pages.” His lips didn’t move in sync with the words. It was like watching an audio dubbed show, only infinitely more unnerving because it was in real life. 

That supported my telepathy theory but didn’t help explain how I could read the book. Maybe I was picking up on the translation because he’d just read it?

“Have you read that entire book before?”

“No.”

I took it, flipped past where he’d been reading, and found perfectly legible English awaiting me. Trying to look nonplussed, I returned the book. 

His feathered head crest rose. “Did you see something interesting?”

“Not particularly.” I stood. “I’ve got to shower. You need the bathroom first?”

He shook his head. 

I retreated to the bathroom, stewing over my new-found discoveries. Judging by the fact that Mar’kost obviously hadn’t been speaking English, the chances that the book was written in English were slim. That meant I could have more than one magical ability. Reading other languages wasn’t especially impressive, but it was certainly useful on an alien planet, and it might indicate that I had other undiscovered skills. 

I started showering, grateful to get the dust and sweat of a day’s work out of my hair. Guilt reminded me how lucky I was to be here, staying in a hotel with a man who was magically obligated to protect me. If Mar’kost hadn’t found me, I’d be dead at the bottom of a tunnel. The other human-Ortai hybrids might have already met that fate. Or they could be facing similar danger right now, while I was having a relaxing shower. 

There was no guarantee that all of them could even understand the language; I’d had a connection to Mar’kost for months before I came here, but I’d never heard Grace talk about having hyper realistic dreams. She could be alone, starving and unable to communicate with anyone. 

Maybe someone knew English. After all, they had humans here, even if they were rare. Those humans must’ve come from Earth at some point, right? Unless they weren’t human at all and my telepathy had just translated their species name into “human” because we looked similar. In that case, they would be as alien to Grace as a longstrider. 

After washing my clothes in the bathtub and hanging them up to dry, I wrapped myself tightly in a robe. It dragged behind me, but at least it wasn’t too short. I left the bathroom to find that Raeve and Thyr had returned. They were looking over a notebook written in English letters, but some of the phrases weren’t English words. Maybe they were proper nouns or names of items that didn’t exist on Earth. 

I didn’t want to interrupt, but I had a pressing issue to discuss with Mar’kost. I needed to know whether he would help me find the other Ortai. Asking outright might not get the most truthful answer, but if he wouldn’t promise to start tomorrow—and fulfill his promise—then I would find help somewhere else, maybe by selling my polearm and hiring someone. 

Crap, I’d dropped my polearm off the balcony. What if someone had stolen it? No, there was an anti-theft spell on it. So it should be fine, assuming that it didn’t get rained on. I should probably send someone to get it, but I didn’t want to admit to throwing it off the balcony and being too scared to climb down after it. I would get it while everyone was asleep. 

Still, the question of my Earth companions remained. I hesitantly reached out to tap on Mar’kost’s shoulder. 

He turned to me before I could touch him. “Yes?”

Thyr and Raeve looked up at me from the couch. Their twin gazes made it difficult to think. I couldn’t figure out the best way to word my request. No, it wasn’t a request. It was a demand. Not that I was particularly good at being demanding. 

“I-“ I swallowed. “Is there any way we could go looking for the other people from Earth tomorrow?”

He opened his mouth to answer, but Raeve spoke first. 

“We have a job, goddess. We can’t go asking thousands of people if they’ve seen confused-looking deities in the bodies of humans. And you can’t go alone because you’ll get yourself killed.”

“Oh.” I wanted to argue, but I couldn’t get the words out. Instead, I crossed the room to a set of bookshelves by the balcony door. I took a random book and sat with my back against the wall to read. 

After a while, Raeve and Thyr went to their rooms, and Mar’kost came over to sit next to me. 

“Don’t worry,” he murmured. “I’ll sleep in here, so you don’t have to worry about them.”

That would make it harder to sneak out. “I can’t sleep with other people in the room. Besides, it’s not like you being there would stop them from using magic from a distance.”

“No, but seeing as Harker specializes in Grassland magic and neither Thyr nor Raeve have any formal magical training, I doubt they could do you serious harm before I noticed.”

“Grassland magic, so just grass?”

“Not exactly. He can theoretically do any magic that requires the use of Grassland arka.” He paused. “Which is a liquid energy generated by crystalline Sources the Ortai created thousands of years ago.”

“What can he do besides grass magic? I mean, realistically, not hypothetically.”

“Realistically… his staff manipulates the form, movement, and function of grass. He also has a few other charms—none of which do offensive magic.”

“So he can’t do magic without magic items?”

“No one can, with the exception of personal Skills, which almost never give someone the ability to magically kill someone from a distance. Your telepathy would be a Skill, as is my ability to shapeshift and Raeve’s ability to become completely still in the air.”

“Why doesn’t she use magic too?”

“Channeling arka makes most people sick. People who choose to be arkans typically have a higher than average resistance, but they still need to train for years to be able to cast spells in quick succession without becoming ill. Shifters don’t have that problem. I doubt you would either.”

“I want to try some magic.”

“Okay.” He went to his room. When he came back, be brought a set of engraved rings, a thumb-sized black crystal, and a scowl. “Where’s the polearm?”

Trying not to look nervous, I pointed at the balcony door. “Outside.”

Shifting into Cadmus’s form, he went out onto the balcony. Surprisingly quickly, he returned with the polearm and sat next to me. As he placed the polearm beside him, he returned to his true form. “Why didn’t you tell me it was out there?”

I shrunk back. I wasn’t sure what possibility was more alarming—that he might have jumped off a balcony and back up again like it was nothing, or that he’d used magic to zap the weapon to him. The shapeshifting was just the cherry on top of this insanity cupcake. 

“Liza, I’m not mad at you.” His voice was purposefully soft and gentle. “But this weapon is likely one of a kind in Ibar. That makes it very valuable. We don’t want to lose it to thieves, right?”

His tone wasn’t patronizing, but his question most certainly was. 

“Harker said it has an anti-theft spell.”

“Yes, but those spells aren’t infallible. Most couldn’t prevent someone wearing an anti-arka suit from taking the item.”

“Oh.” That was unfortunate. Or rather, it was fortunate he’d retrieved the polearm before anyone could take it.

Frowning, he gestured at the couch. “Sklod.” 

One of his engraved rings glowed as a pillow flew up into the air. 

“Gira.” The pillow flew to his extended hand, and he tossed it across the room. “Now you try.” He handed me the rings and black crystal. 

“What do I do, exactly?”

He shrugged. “Point, focus, and say one of the spells—sklod, grasel, gira, shu.”

One for each of the four rings. Not knowing what two of the spells did, I chose the one that presumably meant ‘go up.’ “Sklod.”

Nothing happened. Pointing and focusing as hard as I could, I repeated the spell. Again, nothing. 

“Am I saying it wrong?”

“No…” His frown deepened. “I‘ve never seen anyone cast a spell without causing an effect. Even poor magic users cause something, though it’s usually a headache.”

“Great.” So I was even more helpless in this world than I’d thought. “Is there any way I could be doing something wrong?”

“As I said, even if you were doing something wrong, there would be a noticeable effect. Perhaps Ortai can only use Ortai artifacts.” 

“That sucks.”

“I suppose.”

“What do you mean, you suppose?

He shrugged. “You have a powerful Ortai weapon and very high arka resistance. For a non-Adventurer, you don’t even need that much--especially with me helping you.”

“You won’t always be with me.”

“At the ranch, Cadmus will look after you.”

“That isn’t-” If I was going to look for Grace and the others, I couldn’t tell him about it. He didn’t have time to take me, and he definitely wouldn’t let me go on my own.

The fluffy feathers at the end of his tail brushed my elbow as he leaned closer. “Are you going to try and run away again?”

“No.” Was he still reading my mind? Should I think of a brick wall?

He sighed. “It isn’t safe for a woman--especially not a human one--to wander Darver or any city in Ibar without an escort.”

“Why especially not a human?”

“Slavers prefer exotic individuals.”

I froze, sure that my horror was clear to see on my face. “Slavery is legal here?”

“Technically, no, but functionally, yes--at least in the case of women without a guardian to claim them.”

“You mean children.”

“No?”

I crossed my arms, trying not to shiver. “Adult women need guardians here?”

“If they want the protection of the law, yes.”

Now I knew he was reading my mind. He knew I planned to run away, and he was making up nonsense to deter me. I might’ve believed him if not for the fact that Raeve was a dungeon-raiding Adventurer--obviously not something that could happen in a society where women couldn’t even walk around outside in broad daylight without being legally taken by slavers.

“You don’t believe me?” Mar’kost gave me a baffled look.

“Stop reading my mind.”

“I can’t see your thoughts unless you’re manipulating mine. I can only draw conclusions based on your vitals and facial expressions.” 

“Sure.”

He gripped my arm where Harker had, and I jerked back with a hiss of pain. 

He let go. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to hurt you. But I need you to understand that I am being very serious. If you go out alone, you will be captured. Perhaps not the first or even the second time, but it is a guarantee if you continue doing it. If you defend yourself with lethal force, you’ll be executed. If you don’t defend yourself, you’ll be forced into service--and you would be lucky if they kept you like an exotic bird in a cage. More likely, they would sex you until you grew too broken or old to serve them. I won’t allow you to go out alone. If I need to lock you in the closet to keep you safe, I will, but I would much rather allow you whatever freedom I can.”

He sounded so genuine that it worried me. “Raeve goes out alone.”

“Rarely, and only when she’s using her Skills to remain unseen.”

“Well, she’s an Adventurer.”

“And?”

“She can’t be one if everything you’ve said is true.”

“Why not?”

“Uh-” It was hard to put it into words. “You, Harker, and Thyr are men. Why would you let a woman work with you in a dangerous profession?”

He chuckled. “The High Arkans--our country’s leaders--will pay out a significant bounty to anyone who brings them a shifter, alive or dead. Most people would jump at the opportunity to turn me in.” His wry smile faltered. “I believe Harker would have done so if he didn’t owe me a life debt when he found out what I was. Thyr might have done so if he weren’t from overseas. Even Raeve might have if not for her unique circumstances--which aren’t mine to tell,” he added at my confused look. “All that to say, this team isn’t a good representation of Ibar’s people.” 

“What about Cadmus? He treated me normally, and he has a few women working for him, too.” 

He snorted. “Sorry, you think Cadmus--a scalewing who married a longstrider--is a typical representation of Ibarians? You don’t see anything unusual about the two of them? Even discounting his marriage, he gave me his blood so I could imitate him, and he risks his life every day by going along with the ruse that I’m his twin brother.”

I couldn’t argue about Cadmus being strange, even for a lizard man on an alien planet. He hadn’t even been really angry when I flew off with Bloodflight and nearly gave him a heart attack.

“If I can’t go out alone, how am I supposed to find the people who came with me from Earth?”

“I’ll help you.” He gave me a look like it was obvious. “How many are there?”

“Ten. Well, nine besides me, but you don’t have time to go looking for them. You have a job.” 

“The lives of ten Ortai are more valuable to me than our current contract.” He hesitated. “However, it would be foolhardy to wander around asking people if they’ve seen them.”

“I can’t just let them die or end up as sex slaves.”

“I know. I’m not asking you to.” He gingerly patted my leg with his tail. “We can post a bounty for information at the Communications Guild. Once I receive my payment from this contract, I’ll put it toward hiring a Finder to track them down with specialized magic and retrieve them.”

“When’ll you be paid?”

“Three weeks.”

“That’s too long. They could be dead by then.”

His shoulders slumped. “Liza, there are thirty thousand people in Darver, and you have no guarantee that the other Ortai are here at all. They could be in Holis--a city of two hundred thousand--or they could be in the wilderness, another country, a different continent. There are millions of people in the world. You can’t search through them all manually. You simply can’t. Even with my entire payment from this contract, I won’t be able to hire a Finder skilled enough to search more than Ibar. My teammates’ payments wouldn’t be enough to search the whole continent, much less outside it, and if they spend all their payment on Finders, we won’t have enough money for food or housing. Believe me, I want to help you find the Ortai immediately, but I can’t.”

I wanted to shout and argue and rage, but the cold weight of reality stifled my inner flames. If I were on Earth in a time before the Internet, finding ten people spread across the planet would be literally impossible unless you had a king’s fortune--which Mar’kost didn’t have.