The Docks were a graveyard of rotting wood and broken dreams. Rain began to fall—a cold, needle-like drizzle that turned the soot on the stones into a slippery black sludge.
"There she is," Kaelen whispered, pulling me behind a stack of spice crates.
The Silver Siren was a sleek, black-masted schooner. She looked fast, dangerous, and expensive. Men were scurrying across her decks, hauling crates with practiced, silent efficiency. No shouting, no sea shanties. These weren't sailors; they were professionals.
"I see the Captain," I said, pointing to a man in a long leather coat standing by the gangplank. He held a small, velvet-lined box under his arm like it was a holy relic. "That's the Star. And probably my commission check."
"We can't just charge in," Kaelen said, his eyes scanning the perimeter. "There are at least twenty guards on the pier. Even I can't take twenty-to-one in the mud."
"We don't need to take them all," I said, my "Auditress" brain clicking into gear. I looked at the crane used for loading cargo. It was held in place by a single, tension-heavy winch. "We just need a distraction. Something that hits their 'bottom line.'"
"What are you thinking, Elara?"
"That crane is holding a crate marked 'Alchemical Spirits.' Very flammable. Very expensive. If that crate drops... the pier becomes a bonfire, and the Captain will have to choose between the diamond and his ship."
Kaelen looked at the crane, then back at me with a look of pure, terrified respect. "Remind me never to deny you a raise."
I crawled through the shadows toward the winch while Kaelen circled around to the gangplank. My hands were shaking, slick with rain and grease, but I kept my eyes on the goal.
Leverage, I thought. In physics and finance, it's all about the pivot point.
I reached the winch. I didn't have a sword, but I had a heavy iron pry-bar I'd swiped from the tavern. I jammed it into the gears and shoved with every ounce of "I-want-that-island" energy I had.
CRACK.
The winch screamed as the gears sheared off. The massive crate of spirits swung wildly before plunging thirty feet onto the stone pier. The explosion was beautiful—a roar of blue and orange flame that lit up the harbor like a second sun.
"FIRE!" the sailors screamed.
In the chaos, Kaelen moved like a streak of black lightning. He didn't go for the guards; he went straight for the Captain.
I didn't stay to watch the fight. I ran toward the gangplank. As the Captain stumbled back from Kaelen's initial lunge, the velvet box flew from his hand. It skittered across the wet wood, heading straight for the dark water of the harbor.
"NO!" I screamed.
I dove. My expensive midnight-blue suit hit the deck, and I slid through the muck, my fingers closing around the velvet box just inches from the edge.
A heavy boot slammed down on my wrist.
"You've caused a lot of trouble for a bookkeeper," a voice growled.
I looked up. It wasn't the Captain. It was a man in a hooded cloak—one of the "Shadow-Guild" from the gala. He pulled a serrated dagger from his belt.
"The diamond, Lady Lexen. Or your hand. Choose quickly."
I looked at the diamond. I looked at the assassin. Then, I looked behind him.
"I choose... the Prince," I said.
Kaelen's sword erupted through the assassin's chest from behind. The man collapsed, and Kaelen was there in an instant, pulling me to my feet. He was breathing hard, blood—none of it his—splattered across his face.
"Do you have it?" he asked, his voice raw.
I opened the box. Nestled in the silk was a diamond the size of a plum, pulsing with an inner, celestial light. The Star of the South.
"The books," I whispered, holding the jewel close to my heart, "are finally balanced."
The Silver Siren didn't sail that night. By dawn, the Imperial Guard had seized the ship and the three million dragons hidden in its hold.
Kaelen and I stood on the pier as the sun rose, the smoke from the fire still curling into the sky. He took the diamond from me, but he didn't look at the stone. He looked at me.
"You realize what this means, don't you?" he asked.
"That I get my 15%?"
"It means you're no longer just the 'Grand Auditress,'" he said, stepping closer, the smell of smoke and rain clinging to him. "You've saved the Crown twice in one week. The people are calling you the 'Saviour of the Treasury.'"
"The 'Saviour'?" I laughed softly. "I'm a Villainess, Kaelen. I'm supposed to be the one people fear."
"Oh, they still fear you," Kaelen whispered, leaning down until his forehead rested against mine. "But I think I'm the only one who realized... that's exactly why I love you."
My heart stopped. No calculator in the world could have prepared me for that.
"Is that a formal declaration, Your Highness?" I asked, my voice trembling. "Because I'm going to need that in writing. Signed and witnessed."
"I'll give it to you in gold," he murmured, before finally closing the gap and kissing me.