Chapter 1

Spain, May 1521

The funny thing about adventure is that once you get a taste of it, you always want more. Bigger and better than the last. Well, that was the case for me, anyway. Tulio, I'm sure, had had enough adventure for one lifetime. Of course, whenever fortune was concerned, I knew there was some leeway to persuade him.

"Have you heard the stories about Ponce de Léon?" I plucked at the strings on my mandolin and looked nonchalantly at my partner in crime, but he was wise to my game.

"Whoa whoa whoa, let me just stop you right there. Have you learned nothing about what happens when we get involved with conquistadors? When you fantasize about... about ridiculous adventures?" I didn't even need to look up to sense the glare he was giving me.

"But Tulio! They're saying he may actually have found the location of the fabled fountain of youth!" I couldn't help it, I was terrible at hiding my emotions, especially excitement.

"The fountain... of youth. Really. After all we've been through, you expect me to believe there's a fountain of youth?"

"After all we've been through, how can you not believe it?" I retorted, setting down my mandolin and giving him an anxious, pleading look.

"Nope. Nooooo. No." Tulio crossed his arms and turned his back, "I'm not doing this again."

I blew the few stray bangs out of my face and shrugged, "Alright. And what's your plan? Drift around Spain running the same scam until we get caught?"

"Yes. Exactly. It's worked for us so far, and you shouldn't mess with a good thing, it never turns out well." He glared at me again, his eyes clearly saying Don't you even think about it.

I sighed, "Don't you ever get bored of the same old routine? Dream of doing something else, going somewhere else?" I smiled, daydreaming. He gave me a serious look and for a moment I saw that same spark, same longing for adventure in his blue eyes, but then he sighed and just like that it was snuffed out.

"Miguel, with you around, things are never boring." Tulio ran a hand through his hair, a little bit annoyed but still slightly amused, "As for me... I dream of living like a king, in the lap of luxury, and that is not going to happen if you keep sending us on ridiculous... quests that almost get us killed."

"Well, it's not going to happen if we keep running the same con over and over, either." I snapped back, smirking. He opened his mouth but couldn't think of a comeback, so he just pointed a stern finger at me.

"For once, can you just try not to get caught up in fairy tales and just follow my lead? C'mon... we've got suckers to scam." He stood up, patting his pockets to make sure he had his dice. Sighing, I grabbed my mandolin and followed him out onto the street. We headed toward the usual alley, weaving our way through the crowded streets. There was a good deal of shouting and laughing, and the smell of fresh baked bread and fish were mingling in the air. When the crowds started to thin a bit and I had enough elbow room, I started playing some flourishes on my mandolin to drum up excitement.

Tulio started his routine, challenging anyone to best his luck. A few people stopped for a moment, as if calculating the risk, but thought better of it and kept on walking. After a while, a brash-looking man - muscular, but obviously lacking in brains - stepped forward with a hearty laugh and Tulio couldn't help but grin.

"I'll wager this gold ring against whatever you're offering." the man said, sounding a little inebriated. It was a little early to be drinking, but it was probably lucky for us. Tulio didn't even bother to pull out any money.

"That sounds fair." Tulio nodded, shaking the man's hand as a sign of good sportsmanship to distract him. He pulled his dice from his vest. "Alright, place your bet."

"Snake eyes." the man said, "Two's m'lucky number, never steered me wrong before." he chuckled, and so did Tulio.

"Alright then, I call seven. Would you care to do the honors?" he asked the man, knowing it wouldn't matter who rolled the dice.

"No no, you go ahead." the man laughed. Tulio rolled and, as expected, the dice came up two and five. The man sighed, paid up, and retreated back into the crowd.

"Anyone else?" my partner asked, scanning the crowd.

A brunette woman, hair done up in a bun and skirts hiked up on one side with a sash stepped out. She approached Tulio and made eye contact, leaning on one knee. On her face she wore a sly smirk as well as an eyepatch over her left eye. Her pose exposed a great deal of her right leg, and a clearly visible dagger was strapped to it. This woman did not look like someone we should mess with. A shorter, blonde and neatly-dressed woman with spectacles pushed through the crowd behind her, looking far more skeptical than her companion. She tugged at the other woman's sleeve and hissed something that sounded like "We don't have time for this...", but the taller woman just laughed and waved her off. She crossed her arms and frowned, taking a step back and looking Tulio and eye up and down. I saw Tulio gulp, almost imperceptibly, when he noticed the blade on the brunette's leg, but he forced his eyes to look at her face, smiling sheepishly.

"Welcome, Señoras!" he nodded at each of them in turn and cocked his head to the side, going for that roguishly charming look, "What brings you by?" he inched away ever-so-slightly and the taller woman noticed. She stood up and placed her hands on her hips.

"I'm interested in your 'game of chance'." she said, "What are you offering if I win?"

I leaned in closer to Tulio, still strumming away, and whispered, "I think they're onto us, what's the plan?" He pushed my head away and smiled back at her, arrogance and the need to impress the woman overtaking his usual sense of caution.

"Well, today just happens to be your lucky day, because-" Before he could finish the sentence, there was a commotion down the street and the crowd started to part.

"Over there!" someone shouted and pointed in our direction as a trio of armed guards pushed their way through the crowd. Both women quickly jumped up and faded into the crowd, looking spooked by the guards. I looked to Tulio for direction, but he didn't look as concerned as I thought he'd be. We hadn't been in town that long, maybe he thought they had no cause to arrest us.

"If you're looking for those suspicious women, you just missed them." He said, getting to his feet and studying his fingernails. I tried to nudge him as the guard pulled out a folded up piece of parchment, but he ignored me.

"These are the ones. Theft, fraud, tax evasion..." he started reading off a list of charges written on what I could faintly make out as our wanted poster. We'd been made, so why was Tulio so calm?

"You're a crook?" he turned to me, looking aghast. I really didn't think the routine would work this time, but I played along anyway.

"Of course not! Clearly this is a case of mistaken identity!" I grabbed the parchment from the guard, scraping my finger along it to leave marks that made it look like the both of us had scars, "I'm much more handsome than that!" I scoffed, shoving it back into the guard's chest with mock disdain. He was taken aback long enough that he had to do a double take, and that's when Tulio grabbed me by the arm and took off running.

We wove our way into the crowd, giving ourselves enough of a head-start to mostly lose them. Down a winding alley, up a stone staircase, through a doorway or two, it didn't take us long to get them off of our trail. I caught enough of a glimpse to see them splitting up to look for us, but we continued to run, using the less visible byways to stay unnoticed. I was about to run through another doorway, not noticing the guard about to pass by, when Tulio grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and clapped a hand over my mouth, keeping both of us out of sight. It seemed to take forever for him to pass by, and we both held our breath, sure he'd find us, but eventually he left to regroup with the snuck away and quietly made our way back to our hideout.

"Okay, that was way too close" Tulio said once we were safely inside, gasping for breath.

"Why didn't you run the second you saw them coming?" I asked.

"So I made a bad call and it didn't pan out, we got away, didn't we?" he threw up his hands, clearly more frustrated with himself than I was.

"That's true, but now they'll have guards looking for us all over the city. Can we afford to lie low anymore?" I turned to Tulio, but he was already ahead of me, rummaging through our things.

"That depends... how long can you go without food?" he scratched his chin, frowning.

"Why? How much do we have?" Tulio held up half a loaf of bread, a partially eaten salame, and a piece of manchego. I felt my jaw drop, "That's it? Between the two of us, that'll only last..."

"Maybe two and a half days if we ration it." He answered, "We've gotta get out of town before they find us. And before we starve to death." He may have been exaggerating a little, but he was right. We knew a handful of people who might be willing to hide and feed us, but the longer we stuck around the more likely we were to wind up rotting in prison - or worse.

"Well..." I started slowly, testing the waters, "I know of a way we can get far out of town fast, and make a few pesetas..." I smiled.

Tulio turned around slowly, not wanting to even indulge me, but for once he apparently didn't have a plan. "Miguel, if this is going where i think it's going, so help me-"

"They're sending another fleet of ships in a few days. We can take jobs, go to Bemini... mmmmaybe search for the fountain of youth?"

"Do you hear yourself?! Do you know how crazy you sound?! Miguel..." He put a hand on my shoulder in an attempt to anchor me, his eyes tired and unamused, "The reason we became con men is so we wouldn't have to do honest work. And I, for one, have no desire to spend any more time on boats. I like land. So please... please... stop with this fountain of youth nonsense."

"Well, I don't see you coming up with any better ideas!" I threw my hands up, pulling away, "C'mon, Tulio, where's your sense of adventure?" I smiled, this time putting my hand on his shoulder and giving him almost puppy eyes as I searched his face for that spark I'd seen earlier. He pushed my hand away.

"I cannot believeyou're serious about this." He said, sitting down and burying his face in his hands. If he was trying this hard to come up with an alternative, I must have been wearing him down, "Playing a god wasn't good enough for you? You need this fountain of youth, too?"

"What if it exists? Do you really want to pass up that chance? Just think of how rich we'd be if we found it. People would pay through the nose for just a taste of something like that!" I could see Tulio losing himself a little, thinking about all that money. When he snapped back to reality, he seemed to be weighing his options.

"Alright... if I can't come up with a better plan before that ship leaves..." He sighed heavily and hesitated for a long, long time. "Then and only then will we go along with your ridiculous idea."

"Shake on it." I nodded, intending to hold Tulio to that promise since I so rarely had the chance. He scowled, but obliged me in our traditional secret handshake.