"Evening, Tally," came the greeting from behind the bar.
"Good evening to you, Deklow," she replied, her eyes already scanning the drinks behind the bar.
There was only one tavern in Rhytheport. The Evergreen Stream. It wasn't green, nor was there a stream within a hundred leagues. Often enough, it didn't have anything to drink either, but that evening there was a stock of the local brew, and a fresh shipment from Helen's Bay.
"I'll try one of those fancy drinks," she said, pointing at the cask. "Jollo offered to buy me one."
Deklow, being an experienced barman, didn't say anything, but he gave Jollo a pitiful look as he began to pour the drink. She supposed she would at least need to talk to Jollo while she drank it. That much she could afford him.
But before long she was wandering around the tavern searching for better company. A man soon stopped her, offering to buy her a drink. She didn't recognise him. Could be a trader, she guessed. It didn't matter to her, she was soon sitting down with a fresh cup of ale.
"You work in the pans, right?" he said.
"Only because I need to."
"I need to get out of this town," he said. "That's why I wanted to talk to you."
She had heard that before, many times. But she had almost a full cup.
"Me?"
"Yes. I have a plan. But I need someone on the inside. Someone, er... not entirely... dedicated."
That described her perfectly. Give or take.
"On the inside?"
"You understand the concept of supply and demand, right?"
"More or less. I supply the boot, you supply the pebbles, and you curl up on the floor crying for your mother while I demand you shut up. Get to the point, what do you want from me?"
The man laughed, cheerful, unthreatened. Brave, or slimy. She still didn't know his name.
"Water," he said. "More valuable than anything else around here. High demand, low supply, you see."
"That's not news, it's just the way it is."
"True. But what if we were to tinker with that, to our benefit. Reduce the supply, increase the demand."
"Go on."
"We work together, siphoning off extra water, stockpiling it in my warehouse. You work in the pans, so you can make sure that enough of the water comes our way, preferably without it costing us anything. Then, when we're ready, we poison all the workers, disrupting the supply. That would leave only us to meet the demand, at extortionate pricesof course. We could earn enough to get out of Rhytheport."
There were three flaws in his plan. One, she would need to poison herself too, otherwise they would all know it was her. Two, the entire town would see straight through their plan and hang them up for a week in sun.
"How do I know I can trust you?" she asked. "How do I know you wouldn't betray me and take all the money for yourself?"
And finally, three: the way she saw it, she didn't need him. She would definitely screw him out of his share.
"We both want the same thing," he said. "We're both stuck in this town, and we both want to get out of it. We can help each other here."
He had a point.
"How did you end up stuck here?"
"Storm blew us around the island, and my boat sank off the peninsula three days ago. Lost my crew, and I have no money and nothing to sell. I need to get back to Helen's Bay."
She glanced at the expensive ale in front of her, she didn't ask how he could afford it.
"It sounds like we have a deal," she said reaching her arm out. "What's your name?"
"I gave up my real name years ago. Please, call me Tailfin."
Tailfin. Sounds just like someone who would work up such a scheme. She downed the remains of her ale, and after nodding to her new business partner, she left for home, delighted at her new attempt at escape.
When the panners all fell ill a week later, Talyreina arrived at the pans insisting she was still okay to work. Despite the unknown risk, they were happy for her to head out. Strangely, even with the perfect conditions, hardly any water had made it back to Rhytheport, and the stores were all but empty. Talyreina, of course, knew exactly where the water was, but she and Tailfin weren't quite ready to sell. She would collect another day's worth, and wait a little longer while the residents began to dehydrate. That should drive the price up nicely.
She enjoyed the sun for the first time in a while, wondering whether it was her last day in the pans. Her feet sank into the cool sand, though the tides were already coming in later in the day. Soon, high tide would be in the afternoon, and water production would all but fail. The townsfolk knew that too, and she could almost feel their last coins in her pockets.
"Evening, Tally," said the man in the gatehouse.
"Good evening to you, Maz," she said as she handed him the tools to store for the night.
"Too many plates are rusted through," she said. "Can hardly get a drop at the moment. Doesn't help that I am the only one here either."
Maz look very worried. He knew what it meant. Rhytheport was dry.
"I'll be back tomorrow, I promise. I will do my best. I know how much the town needs it."
Talyreina skipped away, leaving Maz nodding solemnly. He couldn't do anything more. She headed back to the edge of town to meet Tailfin. The water had been stored in his so-called warehouse – an old abandoned building, crumbling and lacking a roof – where he had been sleeping under the stars since he had been wrecked in Rhytheport.
She wasn't even half way there when a nervous thought turned into certainty. She began running, cursing to herself. Tailfin had moved faster than she had, she knew it. She felt it.
She burst in through the broken doorway to find exactly what she had been expecting. A ruin, walls crumbing, roof long gone, with an empty floor, no water, and no Tailfin. The godsdamned bastard.
Furious, she bolted into town, searching for any sign of the slimy creep. Within moments, the residents turned on her, chased her down, and grabbed her. She was taken by surprise, but it didn't take long to catch up. He had sold her out, easing his own flight.
"What the hell is going on?" she yelled.
A particularly aggressive looking woman was inches away from her face, with arms gripping hard on each shoulder. Her scowl was only outdone by her savage tone.
"You were stockpiling water, watching the rest of us suffer! Did you really think you would get away with it?"
"What are you talking about?"
"The foreigner found your stash. Don't deny it!"
"What? The foreigner? I was working all day desperately trying to get every drop of water I could, and you believe some foreigner about me hiding water? Where is he anyway?"
The woman faltered. Didn't loosen her grip though.
"He's... well, he was trying to get a boat..."
"He got away? Did you all pay for his board too?"
Now she let go, and the mob quietened down quickly, sheepishly looking at each other.
"Well, he... gave us the water. Freely."
"Freely? You paid for his way out of this place."
Rhytheport really was full of idiots. Tailfin had played them. Had played her too, but at least she managed to get away without being robbed in the process.
"Any of the other panners okay to work tomorrow?" she asked. "No? Well then you better let me get a good night's sleep!"
She didn't. Instead, she spent the entire night cursing herself, rolling over and staring at different flaws in the darkened bedroom walls. She knew Tailfin was planning on screwing her over, but she was supposed to screw him over first. She was supposed to be the town's saviour, not the one thrown to dirt for a trampling.
Well, she did at least gain something from the experience. A new goal in life. Not only did she need to get out of Rhytheport, but she needed to find Tailfin and stick a sharp blade through his testicles. One by one. Slowly. It would be a sweet revenge.
"Morning, Tally," said the man in the gatehouse.
"Good morning to you, Ma... Jollo?" she replied, more curious than concerned.
"Maz is off sick," said Jollo. "Same thing as the rest of us. You still good?"
"Seems I have a stronger gut than the rest of you."
"I guess. Hey, sorry to hear what happened last night. Nothing like being stabbed in the back by your own neighbours."
Jollo had a pitiful expression. Had he been there the night before, he probably would have been stupid enough to help her. Besides, she didn't care about the townsfolk. Being betrayed by the foreign trickster was far worse.
"Yes, well, they were desperate. It's over now. Anyone else at work today?"
"No, just you and me."
Perfect. Jollo was going to follow her around all day. Whining and pining.
"What say we split up, cover as much ground as possible?"
The tides were bad. Not enough time between high tide and sunset to get sufficient water. The stockpile would last the town a few more days, but they would need to get ahead of production if they wanted to avoid another riot.
Putting her back into it, Talyreina had resigned herself to the hard grind when she heard the sound of chains clinking coming from inland. She picked up an iron bar, the closest thing she had to a weapon, and followed the noise.
She found a man wandering towards her, stumbling meekly from the desert. She didn't recognise him – another foreigner! But this man had chains on his ankles, each one dragging an iron ball. He looked parched. Well, actually he looked half dead. Like he had been wandering the desert for a few weeks, burnt half to death.
Cautiously, she offered him some water. He stared at the bottle for a few seconds like a man who was trying to figure out if he was being tricked. Or in a dream, perhaps.
"Lytette?" he asked.
"Er, what?"
He smiled, and took the bottle. Took a deep sip, tipping his head over backwards. Then spat the water out.
"Yuk. Tastes like bloody salt!"
Talyreina smiled and chuckled softly.
"Everything tastes like bloody salt!" she agreed. "I'm Talyreina. Tally for short. Who are you? What are you doing out here?"
"Madrik. I had a run-in with an old nemesis. Probably thinks he's won. But it's the last time. This time I will hunt him down, lock chains around his ankles, and drop him into the deep ocean."
Madrik stared at the chains at his feet.
"You help me out, I will make it worth your while. I have money back in Helen's Bay. Enough to make you smile for a very long time."
Helen's Bay? Money? Maybe she could convince a trader ship to take them there, agree a price to pay on delivery. Rhytheport money was useless, but coin from Helen's Bay might just do it. She felt a smile widen on her face, ignoring the voice in her head reminding her that it was impossible to escape from Rhytheport. She had to try.
"I'll help you get back to Helen's Bay. For a price."
"Done."
They hadn't agreed a price, but her smile continued to grow regardless. Getting to Helen's Bay was good enough for her. From there, she could track down the slimy bastard that screwed her over.
"Who are you going after, anyway?"
"The slimiest bastard you'll ever meet. Goes by the name of Tailfin."
She nearly squeaked in her excitement.
"Tailfin!"