Strong winds over the next few days brought the Sea Serpent and its crew swiftly to Port Turon, and they docked with little trouble. The pirate fg had long been stowed away, so as far as anyone knew, the Sea Serpent was nothing more than a merchant ship.

  Heads turned in the lively harbor as Emily disembarked, decked out in full, ill-fitting captain's garb and accompanied on one side by a scantily cd wood elf and the other by a living statue. First Mate Gideon followed behind them, unnoticed.

  It had already been decided that Emily would sell the ship. The crew would receive their pay from the proceeds, and were free to stay on with the new owner or find other work—there were few better pces for this in all of Thesson than Port Turon. Aria led the way in engaging potential buyers, which presented little challenge, as everyone in the area was eager to speak with the trio.

  They soon found success with the servant of a wealthy merchant who assured them that his master would pay handsomely for such a fine vessel as the Sea Serpent. "I will fetch my master immediately," he said. "After he has looked over your fine ship—a mere formality, if all you've told me is true—we shall rendezvous at the Mariner's Respite, a tavern not far from here."

  The servant was a small, obsequious man with a nervous twitch in one eye and a red fez on his head, who had difficulty keeping eye contact with Emily.

  "Excellent," said Gideon. Then, to Emily, "Captain, you must be quite sick of ship's biscuits and watered-down rum. The Mariner's Respite serves fine ale and hearty meals—as the name implies, it is a fine pce to rest after a long voyage, and certainly a better pce to wait than this dock. I would recommend you dies go on ahead, and I will wait here for this man's master and show him around the ship. Then we'll meet you at the tavern."

  Emily's stomach growled. "Yes, that does sound like a good idea. Thank you, Gideon."

  Gideon bowed.

  "Come along then," Emily said, motioning to Talyndra and Aria. "Where is this tavern you mentioned, Gideon?"

  "Ah, the Mariner's Respite, I know it well," interjected the servant. "It's just down the main road, about in the middle. There's a whole lot of trees around it and a big sign with a mermaid, you can't miss it."

  "Thank you," said Emily.

  "I'll catch up with you shortly," said Aria, as Emily and Talyndra turned to go.

  Emily cocked an eyebrow, to which Aria leaned in and whispered to her. "Someone has to make sure Gideon secures us a fair deal on the ship. I know he's been trustworthy so far, but it never hurts to be careful. Besides, I don't need food or drink, and I must also send word of our pn to the statues of Castle Elid. Go, I will see you and Talyndra soon."

  Accepting this expnation, Emily bid farewell to Aria and she and Talyndra headed for the tavern, which was a short walk down the town's main road.

  The tavern was a rge building, constructed of stone and weathered wood. "Mariner's Respite" was carved into the sign above the door in rge, flowing letters, and adorned on one side by a simple illustration of a mermaid with welcoming smile and long tresses of hair flowing down her torso. Emily blushed in remembrance of the st time she'd entered a tavern, sans pants. Luckily, she was well covered this time with even a sea captain's hat and coat.

  "Are those...? They are!" Talyndra excimed, pointing excitedly at one of the trees surrounding the tavern. "Goldapple!"

  Emily recognized the green-yellow leaves and dangling golden fruit, but was quite puzzled by Talyndra's excitement.

  "Come on," shouted Talyndra, pulling at Emily's sleeve, "let's pick some!"

  "I don't know if the owners would appreciate that..." Emily said.

  Talyndra rolled her eyes. "What they don't know won't hurt them. Anyway, we'll go round the back—it looks like they've got a full orchard."

  "Okay, okay, fine!" said Emily, stumbling forward as Talyndra pulled her towards the trees by the sleeve. "But what's so exciting about goldapples? I'm sure they'll have better food inside."

  "Who cares about the apples? I'm after the leaves! Then I can finally lose this itchy fabric!" Talyndra scratched furiously at her neck as she said this.

  Behind the tavern, there were even more goldapple trees, pnted in neat rows. Talyndra made a beeline for the first one, wrapping her arms around it and rubbing her face against its bark. "Oh trees! How I've missed you so!"

  Emily smirked at this new and very literal definition of the term "tree-hugger" and watched as Talyndra gently shook the trunk, causing a shower of green-yellow leaves to fall about her. Then she released the tree, and green sparks of magic appeared at her fingertips.

  The leaves that she'd just shaken free, as well as many other leaves from all over the orchard, flew up into the air, as if blown by the wind. They converged in a single spot in front of Talyndra, spinning together in a green-yellow blur. More and more leaves joined the spiraling column, until it was half the height of Talyndra herself.

  Emily watched in awe as the flurry of leaves slowed, resolving into the shape of a small, sleeveless dress. With intricate finger movements, Talyndra shaped the garment, moving between different cuts of both bodice and skirt until she settled on a design she liked. Once she was happy with the dress, she lowered her arms, leaving it suspended in midair.

  Talyndra then sshed at the bark of the goldapple tree with the fingers of one hand. Her nails were sharp and cut deep into the bark. With her magic, she drew out a stream of tree sap, which she expertly wove around the floating dress, presumably using it to keep the leaves together. When she was one, she lowered her arms once more.

  After a quick check that no one was watching them, Talyndra seized the hem of her top. "Good-bye, itchy human clothes!" she excimed, violently pulling the top over her head and flinging it towards Emily. Her shorts quickly followed, both garments smacking Emily directly in the face.

  "Hey!" Emily shouted.

  "Sorry!" Talyndra replied sheepishly, blushing all over before plucking the dress from the air and pulling it over her head.

  Talyndra was radiant in her natural garb. She jumped for joy and spun around, a new spark in her eyes and lightness in her feet. Needless to say, the dress was far better constructed than Emily's own prior experiment with goldapple leaves. It may be prove very useful to have a companion who could make such fine clothes from nature's bounty.

  The two companions returned to the front of the tavern and entered. The interior was dim, and they quickly found an empty table near the back. Emily sank into the plush, comfortable seating and immediately pulled out Zephyr's book and the parcel of parchment that was her own notes. Talyndra went to order the pair's meals. She soon returned bearing two rge tankards of frothy ale, one of which she smmed down in front of Emily.

  "To adventure!" Talyndra excimed, sliding into a seat across from Emily and raising her gss for a toast.

  Emily lifted her own gss and clinked it against Talyndra's, spilling the foam from the tops of both and protecting her precious notes with her other arm.

  "Where to next, cap'n?" Talyndra asked, after taking a hearty swig of her ale.

  Emily pulled out a map she'd taken from the ship and indicated the road from Port Turon to Paja Abbey.

  Talyndra's eyes lit up and she jabbed a finger at a copse of trees along the path. "That's wood elf territory, right there. The vilge of Wourd. Not my home, but I have some cousins who live there. Be good to see them again."

  Emily examined the space around Talyndra's finger. "Very well then, we will travel together. You may part from us there if you wish."

  Talyndra shrugged. "I must get word of my safety to my family. But I am also curious about your quest, and these statues you've mentioned. There's a part of my that wants to see it through, and to help you however I'm able."

  "That's very kind," Emily replied, taking a slow sip of ale. "You're most welcome to stay, but I don't know what awaits us at Paja Abbey. Or on the road there, for that matter. A lot of powerful people are after the Stoneshell."

  Talyndra waved a dismissive hand. "An old crone, a fish and a man without hands, you mean. I think we can take them."

  Emily bit her lip. But before she could advise caution, a familiar stone figure appeared at her side. "Aria!"

  Aria smiled serenely and gestured to two men at her side. One was familiar, the servant with the fez, and the other, presumably, was his master.

  The servant piped up in his high, reedy voice, "Captain Emily, may I introduce my master, Baron Kotoon!"

  The merchant, Baron Kotoon, was an imposing man with a rge belly. He was decked out in fine clothes, all silken whites and royal purples, and his broad grin showed numerous gold-capped teeth. His eyes were small but alert and active, and they sparkled with energy. "A pleasure to do business with you, Captain," he said, taking Emily's proferred hand in his own and kissing it lightly. His hand was rough, with rge rings on each of his fingers, and his lips rge and moist.

  He took a seat next to Talyndra, pushing her to the edge of the bench and dominating Emily's vision. "Your maidservant drives a hard bargain," he said. "Perhaps her firmness in negotiation is down to her stone exterior. I would love to have such a servant in my own employ. As, she did not accept my sary offer."

  Kotoon ughed heartily at this, and Emily exchanged a gnce with Aria, who leaned over to whisper in her ear, "I managed to drive up his price with some negotiating tactics I learned from talking to the crew. I rather think I'm getting the hang of this money business."

  The servant reappeared with a tankard of ale for this master and a sheet of parchment and quill, which he pced before Emily.

  "I believe you'll find these terms quite agreeable. It's more than I would usually pay for such a vessel, but I do consider myself a gentleman. To good business, then!" Kotoon raised his tankard, and Emily and Talyndra clinked their own against it.

  The contract's wording was quite simple: Baron Kotoon agreed to purchase the Sea Serpent and all its contents for the sum of two-hundred and fifty gold coins, paid immediately after all parties had signed.

  Emily thought back to her disastrous encounter with the traveling merchant Brevin. He had charged four silver, eight copper for the outfit she'd wanted. The exchange rates, she'd since discovered, were twelve copper to a silver and sixty silver to a gold. The price of the ship, therefore, could fetch hundreds of dresses and cloaks, with enough left over for anything else they might need on their journey. With such riches, Emily would never want for clothing again.

  Talyndra and Aria leaned over and read through the contract themselves, and the three made a show of conferring in hushed voices. "It won't do to seem too eager," Aria whispered.

  After a few minutes of pretend deliberation, Emily took up the quill before her, dipped it in the inkwell and signed the parchment. Baron Kotoon dipped one of his many rings in the ink and stamped his personal seal next to her signature, and then Aria and the servant both signed as witnesses. Emily looked Baron Kotoon in the eyes and firmly shook his hand.

  "Excellent," he said. "Jahar, the payment."

  The servant produced a brown bag from somewhere in his cloak and dumped it on the table, allowing it fall open and coins to spill out from the top. Emily's eyes widened at the way the coins shone in the dim tavern light, but she did her best to keep her expression neutral, lest Kotoon think her inexperienced with such sums. She took a single coin between her fingers and brought it up to her mouth, biting it in a show of testing whether it was real gold, though she had no idea how to actually do that.

  Then there was a loud popping sound, and a captain's hat appeared on top of Baron Kooton's bald head. A very familiar captain's hat...

  Emily's own head was suddenly bare. And, as a nervous gnce down soon confirmed, so was the rest of her.

  "Eeek!" she screamed, blushing and covering her breasts. "What the hell?"

  Baron Kotoon's grin widened. "A binding contract is a thing of wonder, is it not? I have a mage who enchants them for me. Charges too much, but it's all worth it to ensure I get my money's worth. Come along then, Jahar." With that, the Baron downed the rest of his ale and rose from his seat. His servant stood by, arms den with the clothes Emily had just been wearing, as well as the ones Talyndra had discarded.

  "B-but what am I supposed to wear?" Emily stammered, blushing deeper and sinking behind the table. She hoped no one else in the tavern had noticed her sudden state of undress.

  "There's more than enough money there to buy something," said Kotoon. "Pirate rags are hardly fit for a dy of your beauty in any case."

  Keeping one arm in front of her breasts, Emily pulled a handful of gold coins out of the purse and offered them to Kotoon. "Please, give my clothes back!"

  A look of annoyance briefly clouded the man's face. "Can't do, I'm afraid. The exact terms of our deal are magically guaranteed. And while I'd love to draw up another lucrative contract with your dyship, I've other, urgent business to attend to presently. Good day, Miss Emily. And might I say, that's a beautiful neckce."

  With that, Baron Kotoon and his servant Jahar bowed to the party and left the tavern. Emily sunk deeper into her seat, defeated. How could she end up naked like this, yet again? This world was out to get her.

  Talyndra and Aria sat down on each side of her, sympathy etched across their faces. All across the tavern, eyes flitted towards their table and the patrons whispered amongst themselves. A few enterprising young men got up from their tables to spread the word beyond the tavern.

  Emily sank even lower, almost falling under the table. On the pirate ship, she'd had enough time to adjust to the normality of wearing clothes all the time, so being naked once more took on a fresh shock. The suddenness and her very public surroundings only compounded it.

  "I can make you something to wear with leaves," said Talyndra, pointing at her own new outfit.

  "Or I can take some of this money and go buy you a dress," said Aria, pcing a hand over some of the stray coins on the table. "When I went to send a pigeon message to Castle Elid, I saw a dress shop not too far down the road."

  "Whatever we do, it has to be quick!" Emily said through gritted teeth, pushing herself further down into her seat and hugging her body tighter with her arms. "People have already noticed, and soon they'll be coming over here to have a closer look!"

  Twin death gres from Talyndra and Aria diverted the first few comers, but the tavern seemed to be getting busier and rowdier by the minute.

  Emily looked at Aria, then at Talyndra. She didn't want either of them to leave her now, but one would have to go if she was to have any hope of having something to wear. It would probably be quickest for Talyndra to go outside and make her a leaf dress, but that would still take time. In the meanwhile, an elderly woman was getting dangerously close to the trio's table.