Psychic

13. The Wife

Ken could see the port where he had last docked his boat. "Okay," he groaned standing up. The others remained in their comfortable positions on the hardened sand Rai was holding and moving. "We just got to get my ship. The sooner we get out of Sakorin, the better."

Rai picked up Jericho, holding him like a baby and kissing his head. She released her hold on the sand suddenly and everyone but her and Ken, fell on their butts into the soft sand.

Port Brine looked nothing like Clement or Laridion. The buildings were dark with decay from being pounded by the ocean air and occasionally by the ocean itself. The wood they were built with was uneven and splintered. Most of the walls were covered in colorful stylized letters, which Kiyo described to them as graffiti. This port had black concrete streets, which Rai and Lestat had never seen before. Many of the businesses had massive clear windows displaying their products, which was mostly new to the cousins. Regardless of its grungy appearance, Port Brine was as busy as any large inland city, with each of its concrete streets crowded with people.

When they entered the port behind Ken, Kiyo was focused on scanning the area for military. Rai, Lestat and Marlene kept pointing out things they noticed in the store windows and running from one side of the street to another. Ken seemed to know where he was going, leading them around several corners into an urban area in the port. He approached a short chain link fence that surrounded three houses. The gate on it was locked. There was a strip of decorative rocks on the ground just inside the fence and he picked up a handful, throwing one at the door of the first house.

"Whoa, hey," Lestat gasped.

"Cool it, mate. It's my friend's house," he said throwing another rock. "Or was it that other one? Nah, I'm pretty sure it's this one." The rest of them took a few steps away from Ken, just in case the homeowner also owned a shotgun. The door was yanked open suddenly and a woman stepped out. Ken threw a rock at her and she only had to tilt her head to avoid it. "It slipped," he said with a massive smile, crossing his arms on top of the short fence.

She started to come down the stairs of her porch. The top half of her thin braids bounced all over her high ponytail with every step. The bottom half bounced over her creamed coffee colored shoulders. "I know I never prayed that the gods would return the bane of my existence to me."

"You flatter me," Ken closed his eyes and held a hand to his chest, "I didn't realize you thought so highly of me. The bane of your existence? What an honor."

She approached the gate where he was standing. "What're you doing here? When you said you were retiring, I assumed that you would, oh, I don't know. Retire."

"And what makes you think I'm here to do illegal shit?"

"The fact that illegal shit is the only thing you know how to do."

"True. You know me too well but I'd rather talk about you," Ken admitted, pocketing his hands and leaning forward. "I heard they made you guard captain around here or something."

"I wouldn't say that. We've established our own system for crime and punishment. If someone commits a crime, I punish them. Usually with this." She pulled up a blunderbuss she had sitting in a thigh holster, holding it to Ken's face.

"Mmm," he pursed his lips and laid a finger against the flared muzzle, pushing it out of his face weakly. "You kept my gun. Where would you be without me?"

"Anywhere but here. I thought you would've left Sakorin."

"Oh, I couldn't do that. Then who would be here to bother you?"

"Uh, Ken," Lestat stopped him, "we're kind of in a hurry, remember?"

"Oh yeah, Deb, I need my ship."