Chapter 1
The Pen of Truth
USAGI WINCED AT THE SCREECH of seabirds and hurried along the harbor’s busy waterfront, squinting against the reflection of the morning sun as she followed her target. A crisp spring breeze, sharp with the tang of salt and fishrot, threatened to blow off her headwrap and expose her dark braids. She shifted the pole across her shoulders, empty baskets dangling from either end, and tugged the white kerchief down more securely. While there were girl porters working the docks here in Port Wingbow, they were few and far between, and the last thing she wanted was to call attention to herself.
“To your left, Rabbit Girl,” said a familiar voice, twenty paces back. Most passersby would think that Nezu was just muttering to the other young porter hauling a basketload of packages beside him, but Usagi could hear the Heir to the Rat Warrior loud and clear, thanks to her ability to hear as well as a rabbit. She didn’t dare risk trying to reply to him and her friend Tora, neither of whom shared that particular animal talent. Raising her arm, she scratched her shoulder to show that she’d heard, then veered across the crushed-shell path toward the main pier.
“Tell her the Guards have arrived,” hissed Tora, who was keeping a lookout with her sharp tiger vision. “We’re too late. We’ll have to wait till the harbormaster’s done for the day and his Guard detail goes away.”
“You can tell her yourself,” said Nezu. “Are you forgetting she hears us?”
“I’ve known Usagi a lot longer than you—I know exactly how well she can hear. You’re the one who insisted on a protocol. ‘Everything must go through the head of the mission!’” Tora mimicked. Usagi heard her best friend stroking imaginary fuzz on her upper lip, something the Rat Heir often did when he was pleased, nervous, or deep in thought.
“Stop it, Tiger Girl. I’ve been doing this for a few years now.”
“Doesn’t mean you know everything, Rat Boy.”
“You’re just upset about not wearing the belt, but I’m telling you, it fits me better—and as head of the mission, why shouldn’t I?”
Usagi groaned. In all her thirteen years, she’d never known anyone to squabble as much as this pair. She turned and retraced her steps, pretending to look for something she’d dropped, until she bumped right into them, knocking some of their decoy parcels to the ground. Usagi yelped a false apology, and as they all bent down to collect the scattered packages, she glared at them.
“What’s wrong with you two? We’re close to getting one of the Treasures back, and you’re arguing!”
Looking abashed, Nezu reached up and tugged at the barest wisp of whiskers on his upper lip. It didn’t help them get any longer, but he’d been doing it since he first sprouted peach fuzz, and now it was a habit. “Sorry, Rabbit Girl. You’re right. We’re just on edge after waiting for so long—and now we have to wait some more.” He flashed an apologetic smile, his usual grin dimmed somewhat. At sixteen and the seniormost Warrior Heir on the mission, he was responsible for leading them, and the difficulty they’d had securing their target these last few days was wearing on him.
“If you’d only trusted me the first time I said I saw the harbormaster, we might have gotten to him sooner.” Tora’s amber eyes flamed with indignation. She was a year older than Usagi but wasn’t yet a Warrior Heir. She was hoping to become one by proving herself on this assignment.
Long before Usagi had become the Rabbit Heir, before ever meeting Nezu and the other Warrior Heirs, Tora had been by her side. For years after the Dragonlord’s overthrow of Midaga’s king and the Warriors of the Zodiac, she and Tora had been orphans in the forest. Along with Usagi’s sister, Uma, the three of them had been just trying to survive and keep their zodiac powers hidden. Until—
Until . . .
Usagi pushed the painful thought of her little sister away and handed over a stack of parcels to her friend. “Can the two of you please behave?”
“Of course,” said Tora, baring her sharp white canines. They were snaggleteeth that stuck out from the rest of her smile, making her look extra fierce even when she wasn’t annoyed. When she was truly furious, her tiger teeth would grow till they protruded from her upper lip. Thankfully they were currently in check. An angry youngling sprouting long fangs would draw attention—too much attention on a mission to steal back the Pen of Truth.
One of twelve Treasures that once belonged to the Warriors, the pen was now in the possession of a man who ran the kingdom’s main seaport—and he was using its powers for profit.
“You said you saw the Guard?” Usagi asked Tora. Her stomach clenched at the thought of the armed troops who kept order for the ruler of Midaga. Though she’d bested one in a fight once, it was always better to avoid tangling with the Dragonlord’s men.
Her friend nodded. “Two of them, right as the harbormaster got to the dock.”
“So we wait until he’s alone again. Might as well stick together till then.” Usagi straightened. “My apologies!” she said loudly. “Let me help you.” She made a show of taking some of their bundles—mostly just straw wrapped in squares of cloth—and putting them in her empty baskets. She hoisted her pole over her shoulders, making sure the sword hidden inside was secure. Nezu’s walking stick also hid a blade, as weapons had been forbidden for all but those serving the Dragonlord. Since Tora was not yet an Heir, her pole was just solid wood. She was eager to earn her place as the Tiger Heir, and with it, a hidden weapon of her own.
Together they headed toward the largest pier in port, where the harbormaster’s station was perched. Weaving between rumbling ox carts, they ducked and dodged as bales of wool, cords of exotic woods, bundles of sharkskin leather, and other imports were unloaded from the myriad ships docked along the piers built all throughout the cove. Though they’d been on Feather Island for nearly a week, Usagi was still dazzled by the sight of all the boats. Who knew there could be so many types of vessels to travel across water? There were ships with battened sails that folded like fans, sloops with white canvas billowing from the masts like puffed-out frogs’ throats, flat-keeled boats propelled by paddlewheels, longships that sported rows of oars manned by oarsmen, squat boats with chimneys that belched smoke, armored ships bristling with firecannon.
Before the fall of the Shield of Concealment, the kingdom of Midaga had never seen so many visitors to its shores. It had remained hidden from the rest of the world, safe and protected by the Warriors of the Zodiac, until Druk the Dragon Warrior betrayed his oath to the Circle of the Twelve. He shattered the Shield, allowing invasion and war to devastate the land, and seized the throne as Dragonlord.
Now, seven years into his reign, ships from lands near and far came to Midaga, eager to see and trade with the kingdom that had been but a myth for hundreds of years. The port in the Bantam Islands, once the only part of Midaga that the world was allowed to see, had been expanded by leaps and bounds, per the order of the Dragonlord. A harbor that had received at most four ships a year when the Shield was up now saw many times that each week. And from his spare wooden lean-to on the main pier, the harbormaster ruled over it all.
They drew close and saw the line of ship captains and various agents waiting to report their cargo to the harbormaster. The front of the shanty was wide open, flanked by two armored Guard. They glowered beneath metal helmets that sat on their heads like overturned cookpots. Their burly torsos were shielded by iron breastplates, and their leather- sleeved arms cradled firecannon. At the sight of them, Usagi quailed. It was an old reflex. She forced herself to hold her head up. She was the Heir to the Rabbit Warrior, after all. She’d spent months training and could handle them both if need be!