Vampirates: Tide of Terror by Justin Somper

thick of it, but he was evidently too preoccupied to notice her. Cheng Li reached for Grace’s hand and led her to a dark stairway to one side of the tavern. They climbed up the narrow stairwell, emerging in an upstairs gallery. It was lined with booths. Each booth was separated from its neighbor by wooden panels, which were intricately carved with images of ships and waves.
    The booth they entered reminded Grace of a church confessional. It overlooked the downstairs bar but there was a red velvet curtain you could draw across to shut out prying eyes and drown out some of the hubbub below.
    This Cheng Li did, with a sharp tug. “There,” she said. “Now, we can be private.”
    It was dark inside the booth and Cheng Li’s face was illuminated by a single candle, flickering from a glass lantern in the center of the table. The meager light softened Cheng Li’s features, reminding Grace that in spite of her aura and rank, her companion was actually only a few years older than herself.
    Cheng Li was quite different from how Grace remembered her. Her glossy black hair had grown in the months since they had last met and she had styled it a little less severely. Then Grace noticed that Cheng Li wasn’t carrying the twin katanas on her back. Now that she was a tutor at the Pirate Academy, had she relinquished her weapons?
    “What does it take to get some service around here?” Cheng Li said, extending her hand out of the booth and snapping her fingers. Grace spotted the katanas laid out on the bench. Not relinquished, then, just resting.
    One of Ma Kettle’s servers arrived at the booth. It was, Grace was surprised to see, a boy. He bowed low. “How may I be of assistance?”
    “Bring us a pot of Sea Lily Tea,” Cheng Li said.
    “Right away, Mistress Li!” He scurried off.
    Cheng Li smiled at Grace. “It really is a nice surprise running into you,” she said, “I’ve thought of you often.”
    Grace flushed at her words. “It’s good to see you too,” she said, a little embarrassed.
    The serving boy swiftly returned, bearing a tray crowded with jugs, glasses, and different-sized caskets. Could all this be just for the two of them? Clearly there was quite a ritual to this tea drinking.
    Grace could feel Cheng Li’s eyes upon her as she watched the serving boy. He placed two prettily painted tea glasses on the table. Next, he set a tall glass teapot in the center. It was empty, Grace noticed. Bowing, the boy opened a small onyx casket. It was full of flower buds. Taking a pair of silver tongs, he carefully dropped two of the buds into the glass teapot. He closed the casket and took up an elegant silver pot, pouring hot water in a high arc over the buds until the tall glass pot was almost full.
    “Now be patient!” he smiled, removing the casket and the tray. “Oh, I almost forgot, here’s some honey.” He set down a small black jar, a tiny spoon jutting out from its lid.
    Cheng Li dropped a coin onto the tray. “Close the curtain after you,” she said.
    He smiled and bowed once more, then disappeared, drawing the curtain around the booth. The two young women were completely enclosed.
    “Now watch,” Cheng Li said, indicating the glass teapot.
    Grace followed her gaze. The clear water had turned a pale shade of pink — a shot of more intense color spiraling through the clear liquid as if a used paintbrush had been dipped inside. Grace saw that the two tiny buds at the base of the pot were spinning about like the smallest of sea creatures. Then, very slowly, the buds began to open out. Petals gradually fanned out from each bud, like arms gently stretching after a long night’s sleep. As the petals extended farther, the two flowers touched. All the time, the water was turning a deeper and deeper pink — like the sky at sunset.
    Now the buds were fully open and began to rise to the top of the pot — until the flowers were floating together on the surface of a jewel-pink ocean.
    “Wow,” Grace said,