loganjacobs
patreon
The OP MC 8 Chapter 8
🕑 Added 2021-08-02 20:00:04 +0000 UTCA blur of maroon and silver motion to my left caught my attention, and I swiveled to see what it was.
“Arajah!” Sarosh rushed to the rail and leaned over to get a closer look at the steadily growing landmass ahead. “Oh, Bash! I haven’t laid eyes on my homeland since I was a very young woman.”
I realized there was still much I didn’t know about the mysterious priestess, but her secrets were half her allure. There was always something more beneath the surface when it came to Sarosh, and I had all the time in the world to unravel each story.
“How old are you?” I asked in a curious tone.
Sarosh flashed me a wry smile, but she didn’t respond, and I chuckled.
“Fine,” I said. “It was rude to ask, you’re right. Not very gentlemanly of me.”
I reset back to my save point so I could strike the conversation from the record, plus I’d be able to predict our arrival at Arajah before the watchman announced it.
Chime.
I lay in bed in the captain’s quarters between Evangeline and Caelia, and the horizon was alight with the pre-dawn glow through the window. I couldn’t help the shit-eating grin that spread across my face, and I nudged the two beauties at my side awake.
“We’re arriving in Arajah today,” I said. “In fact, we’ll be there in a few hours.”
“Are you certain?” Caelia yawned and stretched her arms over her head. “If you’re not sure, we can just sleep a little while longer, right?”
“I’m sure,” I laughed. “Come on, sleepy head, and greet the dawn with me.”
“I’m up!” Eva sat bolt upright in bed, but her eyes were still closed.
I shook my head in amusement, but then I moved across the room to my clothes and pulled on a clean shirt. I was careful in my choice of outfit since it would be the first impression the Arajians on the island had of me, but with my flashy fire resistant armor, I cast an imposing figure regardless of what was worn underneath, so in the end I opted for clean and comfortable clothing.
Caelia was out of bed by the time I began to strap on my armor, and her chocolate eyes danced with excitement as she assisted me with the buckles and straps on the backs of my shoulders.
Evangeline was a little slower to rise, but I gave her plenty of time to accustom herself to being awake since I knew she wasn’t ordinarily an early riser, and she was getting dressed when Caelia and I finished our task.
The three of us stopped by the crew’s bunk room to fetch Sarosh and Risthan, but the space was empty, so we continued to the upper level. The deck was already bustling with activity despite being so early in the morning, and I scanned over the heads of the crew in search of the captain.
I spotted Risthan and Sarosh in the same glance across the ship, but I headed to the helm to tell Captain Black-eye we would reach land soon.
“Good morning!” I greeted. “We are getting close to Arajah. We should arrive within the next few hours.”
“I figured as much from the way you were looking at me as you walked up.” Black-eye nodded. “Thanks for the notice.”
Sarosh and Risthan were my next stop, and I clasped forearms with the silver-haired middle-aged man before I flashed my priestess a broad smile.
“We’ll arrive in Arajah within the next few hours,” I informed her without preamble. “The watcher in the crow’s nest will shout when he spots land.”
My priestess’s gray eyes widened, and her gaze leapt to the horizon ahead of the ship. The wind buffeted her long, loose silver locks, and she very much so resembled an elf in that moment.
“How exciting!” Sarosh breathed. “I haven’t been home since I was a young woman…”
“How old are you, Sarosh?” Caelia asked with the most innocent smile, and I could have kissed her right then and there.
I swore these women could read my fucking mind.
“Much older than you, my dear,” the elven-looking older-woman chuckled.
“Oh, come now,” Eva teased. “Your secret is safe among friends.”
Sarosh’s eyes twinkled with amusement, but she pursed her lips into a tight line, and I didn’t expect her to answer.
“I have seen seventy summers,” the ageless priestess informed us after a moment of consideration. “Although, the people of Arajah age differently than folk from Sorreyal.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“We live longer, I believe,” Risthan supplied. “My father wasn’t considered past his prime until he had seen one hundred summers.”
“Wow!” My eyebrows rose in surprise. “How old are you, Risthan?”
“Not nearly as aged as Lady Sarosh,” the silver-haired man countered with a mischievous wink. “I have seen sixty-seven summers.”
I was grateful my women had managed to open up the conversation, and I tucked all my newfound knowledge away for future use. The two Arajians had much in common, but I wouldn’t have guessed either of them were their actual age.
I wanted to learn more about this mysterious island and the secret its people guarded so closely, but uncovering the hidden magic would be the most challenging task of all, if the behavior of the Arajians was any indication.
We loitered about the deck for a while and just chatted, but eventually a call went up, just as I knew it would.
“Land, ho!” Krin shouted from the crow’s nest, and my companions all turned to me with knowing smiles.
“How can you always predict every single thing?” my wife asked as she stared up at me with adoration in her smoky gray eyes.
“Just a god thing, I guess.” I shrugged, but then I tweaked her nose affectionately, which caused the customary wrinkled expression I loved so much.
We all rushed to the prow to watch the shoreline of Arajah slowly come into focus, and I whistled under my breath at the gigantic trees that graced the coastline. It resembled pictures I’d seen of the northwest region of the United States, and I imagined one could easily drive a car through a tunnel in the trunks of Arajah’s trees.
A break in the trees offered a view of a cobblestone road running into the shadows of the forest, and I suddenly wished I’d brought our horses. I envisioned a lot of walking ahead of us, but I was up for the challenge. It was my possibly pregnant women I worried about, but riding horses wasn’t the best for them, anyway.
The Quest anchored within view of the shoreline, but then several crew members began to lower rowboats into the waves. At a signal from Captain Black-eye, my companions and I lowered our packs into one of the boats before we climbed down the rope ladder into the small vessel.
Black-eye and Kipper followed behind Sarosh and Risthan, but then the heads of the former slaves popped up over the rails above my head.
“Your Grace, may we join you in the return to our land?” Torin asked with a hopeful smile.
“Of course!” I laughed. “Come on down.”
The row boats would each hold around ten people, so the former slaves climbed into the second vessel, but then the deck hands leaned over the rails of The Quest.
“Get on in,” Black-eye growled with a wave of his arm, and the young boys grinned as they scrambled into the vessel with the freed slaves.
I grabbed an oar, and we all worked together to push the vessels through the water toward the coastline of Arajah. The trees grew even larger in my vision until they towered over our heads and cast deep black shadows across the waves, and a chill crept up my spine.
There was an ominous energy in the atmosphere, and I wondered what I would find on the road ahead.
Would we be welcomed on these shores?
Or would we have to fight our way through to the king?
I wasn’t going to leave until I’d spoken to the leader willing to trade the lives of his people for another month of peace, but I didn’t want to have to kill any innocents to do it, so I would just have to be cautious.
Worst case scenario, I could always redo the day, and I gazed with confidence at the road winding away from the shoreline.
We banked the row boats a short while later, and we all jumped onto the sandy beach before hauling the vessels away from the water. Then I lifted my pack to my shoulders, adjusted my armor slightly until it hung more comfortably from my frame, and jerked my chin toward the road.
“I suppose that’s the direction we need to go in.” My gaze flicked to the Arajians among us, and several of the metallic-haired people nodded their heads in confirmation.
I took the lead, but Black-eye walked a pace behind me, and Evangeline took up the rear guard as we made our way into the shadows of the forest. The road curved into the tree line, so I couldn’t see what lay ahead, but I could see smoke curling into the air in the distance.
People.
We kept a steady pace for a while, and the sun soon shone directly overhead, but then a structure appeared through the trunks of the trees. I hurried my steps as I scanned over the building, but it appeared to be a single farm tucked into the woods.
A small barn sat a short distance behind the house, and pens full of pigs and sheep filled the space in between. Chickens roamed freely, and flowers grew along the outside of the wood-panelled structure. A strand of smoke climbed from the chimney, so I knew there were people here, and I marched up to the door before I knocked on the wooden surface.
No one answered, so I pulled on the handle.
The door knocked against something wooden on the other side, and I realized there was a bar blocking the portal. The people had locked themselves inside, and it was probably caused by our sudden appearance in the woods.
“Looks like they’re scared of us.” I sighed as I turned back to my companions.
“There is a small village ahead,” Risthan informed me. “We should be able to seek a meal there, and possibly get news from the villagers.”
“Alright.” I nodded. “Let’s see for ourselves.”
We continued on down the cobblestone path, and it wound back and forth through the trees in a general easterly direction. The sun crept across the sky until it shone directly on our backs, and sweat soon began to drip down my spine to pool along my waistband.
I drank heavily from the water skin, and while I would have killed for a breeze, the tropical heat was slightly abated by the shadows of the enormous trees.
My mixed group of sailors and Arajians continued down the path until the trees began to thin, and a short while later, I spotted a clearing full of squat buildings. It had to be the village Risthan had mentioned, but I was eager to get out of the heat, so I hurried my pace down the road.
The road curved and entered the town square as the sun cast long shadows across the path, but the sound of doors and shutters slamming shut echoed down the street as we emerged from the shadows of the trees.
“I’m not sensing a warm welcome,” I observed with an arched eyebrow.
“Hello!” Risthan called out as he walked ahead of our group toward one of the buildings. “We come peacefully. You don’t have to hide. I am from Custanov, and I brought people who can help us!”
Nothing happened.
“Akani, Svenish? Are you here?” Ivasthi rushed to Risthan’s side, and the young gray-haired Arajian woman cast her eyes around the village. “It’s me, Ivasthi!”
A window on a second story creaked open, and a copper-haired girl stuck her head out.
“Ivasthi is dead!” the young girl cried out, and her voice was drenched in pain.
“Akani! I live!” The former slave crossed the distance to the house where her friend was, and the gray-haired Arajian craned her head up to look at the redhead.
“You betray Arajah by bringing foreigners to our shores!” an older woman’s voice screeched, and Akani was yanked back inside the window before the shutter was once again slammed shut.
Ivasthi burst into tears, and we were all quick to rush to her side. The former slave was cradled by the entire group, and we held onto her until her sobs subsided.
“Fuck them,” I growled. “We don’t need their help to save Arajah. They can go down in a sinking ship for all I care.”
“No, Your Grace.” Ivasthi scrubbed at her face with her hands and shook her head. “We must save them all. They do not know what they do. They don’t know what will happen to them if we don’t…”
Her lip quivered as her words trailed off, but none of us needed her to finish to know what she meant.
The pirates wouldn’t have any mercy on these poor people, but I wouldn’t stoop to the level of thieving assholes.
“Let’s go see the king,” I said, and I jerked my chin down the road. “We have a few hours of daylight left for walking.”
“We will reach the capital by sunset,” Torin chimed in. “I am ready to see my parents.”
“Do you suppose we’ll have a warmer welcome in the city?” Caelia asked.
“Not likely,” Eva said. “This is a cultural issue, and it seems to run deep.”
“We have brought this upon ourselves.” Sarosh gave the two women a tight-lipped smile. “For too long, Arajah has closed her shores to foreign lands, and now we have no one to turn to for help.”
“Wrong,” I interjected. “You have me.”
“And me,” Caelia said as she squeezed my priestess’s hand warmly.
“All of us,” Eva added with a decisive nod.
“Arajah is fortunate,” Risthan observed, and his eyes danced with hope. “Soon, the people will see this for themselves, but it is up to us to open their eyes.”
With that, we all turned toward the road, and we marched with decisive steps until our energy began to flag. We’d covered a great deal of distance, though, so I called for a brief rest. Everyone drank greedily from water skins, and we sat beneath the shade of the evergreen trees until everyone was more rested.
Finally, a line of wooden walls roughly forty feet tall came into view between the trees, and I made a new save point before we came within sight of any guards.
I had a feeling I would need a few tries to gain access to the city, even with the group of Arajians traveling with me.
“Custanov,” Risthan breathed as he came to stand by my side at the head of the group. “My home town and the capital city of Arajah.”
I followed his gaze down the road to where the walls met a gate made of thick logs, and the entire portal into the city had to be thirty feet wide by forty feet tall. It was massive, and almost impenetrable, but I knew wood was weak in comparison to other building materials, so improvements were already running through my head.
The wooden gates were shut, but I spotted the metallic glint of Arajian hair from the ramparts, so I marched up to the open space in front of the entrance and cleared my throat.
“Greetings from Sorreyal and beyond! I am Sir Sebastian, Archduke of the Kingdom of Sorreyal, Dragon Slayer, Red Hands the Pirate Bane, and the God of Time! I come to this world to bring hope back to the people! Open the gates, I demand to see the king!”
“Oy, scram stranger,” a gritty, masculine voice called down from the top of the wall.
“They’re not going to open the gates for you?” Risthan shot me a skeptical glance, and Sarosh frowned, so I reset back to my save point with a wave of my will.
Chime.
I tried bribery next, then intimidation, but the same old tactics weren’t working this time, so I took some time to brainstorm ideas before I approached the wall again. My companions watched me in confusion while I paced, but I ignored all their reactions and responses while I spammed respawns in an effort to hack the gate.
Chime.
I was as charming as I could possibly be, but it still didn’t work.
Chime.
The guards mocked me, spat on my head, and blatantly ignored me, but I wasn’t about to give up. I had all the time in the world at my disposal, and sooner or later, I’d figure out the winning combination.
I would achieve one hundred percent completion, of that I was certain.
Chime.
Chime.
Chime.
The bell chiming in my ears blurred into one constant sound, but nothing worked. How had the others who’d come to these shores manage to get past the wall? Should I attack? My magic could blast a hole in the gate big enough to drive a car through, but I didn’t want to use violence unless absolutely necessary.
My enemies saw me as the God of Death, but my followers and other innocent people needed to see me as the God of Life.
The pirates hadn’t had any issues gaining access to Arajah, but they’d likely used violence and intimidation until the pacifists had cowed before them. I wasn’t willing to sink to their levels, but maybe I could use their actions to my advantage nonetheless.
Then an idea struck me, and I reset yet again.
Chime.
I halted out of sight of the walls, and I gestured for my companions to gather close.
“We’re going to pretend to be pirates to get past the gate,” I explained in a conspiratorial tone. “Nothing else has worked so far.”
“So far?” Ivasthi frowned in confusion.
“What must we do?” Samaria asked with a determined air.
“Well…” I grinned at the curvy older woman. “I’m sorry to do this to you, but I need you to pretend to be my slaves.”
“Bash!” Caelia gasped.
“It’s fine,” Alaster interjected, and the older man gave me a curt nod. “We will do what we must to gain an audience with the king.”
“Good.” I returned his nod, and I made eye contact with each Arajian until I was confident they were all on board with my plan.
No one had any other words of argument, so I fished some rope out of my pack and began to tie loose loops around the Arajians’ wrists. I even included Sarosh and Risthan in my ruse, but the two didn’t complain.
“Black-eye, you and the others have to pretend to be pirates with me,” I said. “We’ll act like we’re unsatisfied with our slaves and want an exchange.”
“Alright.” Black-eye bobbed his head in understanding. “I can do that, even if I never even attended a theater.”
“Anyone can act,” I assured my friend as I clapped him on the shoulder. “Just keep your mouth shut and follow my lead.”
“That I can do,” Black-eye chuckled.
Once we were all ready for our act, we marched forward in a tight formation until I was directly beneath the men on the top of the wall.
“Oy, slime bags, you think you can trick us with these shitty slaves?” I spat to the side as I yanked on the rope attached to Risthan’s wrists, which caused the silver-haired older man to lurch forward. “I want different ones! Ones that’ll listen! The King of the Sea ain’t happy, and if he’s not happy, no one is!”
“Who are you?” the guard called down. “Where is Lord Ratchet?”
“Dead!” I lied. “I took his ship, as is my right.”
There was silence following my words, but I held my breath and bit my tongue. I’d given enough for them to either make a decision or not, but I always had a save point ready just in case I needed to try again.
The gates suddenly began to creak open, and we all took a few paces back to give the massive doors room to swing apart. There were three Arajians waiting on the other side of the entrance, and they began to approach us as soon as the city beyond the wall came into view.
Dumbasses.
The three men walked in a circle around our party as they scanned us over, but there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with our appearance since they gestured for us to follow them inside.
The city of Custanov was beautiful, and I paused just inside the entrance to take a good look around. Everything was built out of a dark lumber, and the grain shone in the light of the sun like it had some sort of sealant over it. The buildings were tall, and they almost mimicked the structure of the giant trees all around the city walls. The streets were the same cobblestone as the road we’d followed from the coast, and they were lined with lanterns hung from gnarled tree branches that dotted the street.
The Arajian city blended in with the forest environment around it, but at the same time, it was a bustling metropolis compared to the small village we’d passed through.
The streets behind the three men were completely empty, and I marvelled at how swiftly the Arajians fled from view. The guards had probably sent up some sort of alarm, but I wasn’t worried about our arrival being known.
“We can find our own way from here,” I told the Arajian guards, and the three men glanced at each other before they nodded in agreement.
Apparently, they didn’t relish the idea of escorting pirates to the king, but they were happy to let us find our own way through the city.
Arajah was a weird place, but I would make sure I shook things up before I left, just like I had in the Zaborial Isles.
“Can I please show you to my childhood home?” Sarosh asked as she cast me a hopeful glance. “I haven’t been home in many years, and my heart aches to see familiar faces.”
Something in the pit of my stomach told me it wouldn’t end well, but my priestess still needed closure.
“You may not be pleased with what awaits you,” I warned. “If it’s been as long as you say, then a lot could have changed.”
My main thought was her parents could have died since she left, and I wanted to be prepared for the grief that would surely follow.
“I am prepared for whatever comes,” Sarosh assured me, and her eyes blazed with determination.
“Then lead the way,” I said as I gestured to the city.
Our mixed group followed the priestess away from the city walls, but once we were out of sight of the guards, I quickly removed the faux bindings from my Arajian friends. I didn’t want them to have any more reminders of their time spent as slaves than they already had to endure, but it had been necessary for the ruse to be successful.
It didn’t take long for us to reach the street Sarosh said was where she’d grown up, and the silver-haired priestess swung her eyes from side to side as she searched for one structure in particular. Then we came to an empty lot where rotted wood lay among long dead coals.
The color drained from Sarosh’s face as she stared at the empty lot, and I realized we’d arrived at our destination.
I considered resetting back to my save point to save her the pain, but deep down I knew this was needed before she would come to Bastianville for good. Until she got her closure, Sarosh would ache to return home.
This was for the best.
“My… family…” Sarosh fell to her knees in the dirt before her childhood home, and I quickly moved to kneel beside her.
“Sarosh…” My voice cracked with emotion as my heart ached for the silver-haired priestess who had already endured so much. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, and I tried to push all my empathy into a single gesture. “I’m so sorry…”
“Words fail me, Bash,” Sarosh sobbed, but she turned to lean into my embrace.
I held her in silence for a long time, and eventually her sobs subsided. Sarosh swiped at her eyes as she pulled away, but she gave me a tight-lipped grateful smile.
“Who are you?” an elderly woman’s voice croaked from behind us, and Sarosh inhaled sharply as her eyes lifted.
“Yavashi?” the priestess asked as she squinted at the old woman.
The elderly lady was stoop-backed as she leaned on a weathered cane, and her dull steel-colored hair was braided in a thick strand that hung over her shoulder. Her eyes were wrinkled and glassy white with age, so she had to be close to a hundred years if not older.
“Little Saroshi?” the elder woman gasped, and her walking stick wavered in her grasp, so I quickly crossed the distance to support her. “You return from the dead!”
“I never died, Yavashi,” Sarosh explained in a patient tone as she crossed the distance between us. “Tell me, what happened to my parents?”
“Dead.” Yavashi shook her head sadly. “Sacrificed two summers ago.”
“I’ve been gone so long…” A pained expression crossed Sarosh’s face.
“You should not have come here,” Yavashi muttered, and then she suddenly spat at Sarosh’s feet. “Ghosts be gone!”
The old woman shoved me away from her with a scowl, and I shot Sarosh a questioning glance, but she gave a subtle shake of her head, so we slowly stepped away from Yavashi.
My companions followed behind us as Sarosh wandered down the street with me right by her side, but a short while later, Risthan trotted to keep pace with us.
“I believe we will receive a warmer welcome at my home,” the silver-haired middle-aged man said. “Allow me to lead the way?”
I, again, glanced at Sarosh to see how she felt, and the priestess nodded, but the sad look never left her eyes. She still needed time to process the news of her parents and the sight of her childhood home, but I knew there was still a chance her parents lived. If they’d been sacrificed to the pirates, then they could still be among the slaves being held prisoner.
Risthan took the lead, and we all trailed behind him as he took us into a nicer part of town. The windows were all illuminated against the coming twilight, and I even heard music pouring from an open doorway. There was still no one on the streets, though, so we had no issues as we crossed the city to the Arajian’s home.
After a short walk, the silver-haired man held up his fist to signal a halt, and he jerked his chin at the house at the end of the street. Lights burned in the windows of the dark, wood panelled, two story house, and I could hear laughter coming from inside. Risthan stiffened at the sound, and he seemed hesitant to approach, so I strode toward the structure with my chin lifted high.
The Arajian quickly caught up with me, and he was the first to reach the stoop, but he paused with his fist lifted over the door.
“You got this,” I encouraged him. “Whatever happens, you have friends at your back.”
Risthan pursed his lips, swiped his palms on his robes, and swallowed hard before he forced himself to knock on the wooden portal. For a long moment, nothing happened, but then I heard footsteps from the other side of the door, and I held my breath as we waited in anticipation.
An elderly man pulled the door open, and his eyes widened in shock when his gaze landed on Risthan.
“Father,” Risthan greeted in a terse voice.
“Ri-Ri-Ri--” The older man couldn’t even get the word out before his eyes welled with tears, and he opened his arms wide for his son.
Risthan fell into his father’s arms with a choked sob bursting from his throat, and I turned away to give the two a moment of privacy. I was glad the Arajian I considered to be my friend received a warm welcome, but I was still prepared to be turned away from their doorstep at a moment’s notice.
“Bash,” Risthan said, and he cleared his throat, so I turned around to face the two Arajian men. “This is my father, Radamash.”
“A pleasure to meet you.” I lowered myself into a full bow. “I am glad to see you well.”
“I am fortunate, indeed, to still have my health.” Radamash smiled, and he stepped away from the threshold to gesture inside. “Please, come in and tell me what brings you to Arajah. Surely, my son did not reveal the location of our island to strangers.”
“I already knew of Arajah and her problems when I met Risthan,” I said. “He sought my aid against the pirates, but I was already determined to do everything I could to free the seas from their blight.”
Radamash frowned, but he didn’t reply as he led the way into a hallway lavishly decorated with beautiful rugs and art work covering the walls. They had to be filthy rich to live like kings in a city full of downtrodden. Risthan’s father took us into a sitting room even more luxurious than the corridor, and I resisted the urge to inspect the knick knacks gracing every surface.
Risthan took a seat in an armchair, and the rest of us filed onto couches and chairs of our own. Radamash remained standing, and his eyes continuously flicked to the entrance we’d just come through.
“Expecting company?” I asked.
“My wife…” Radamash muttered.
“How is mother?” Risthan asked, and I could hear the worry in his voice. “I have missed her terribly.”
“She mourned your loss deeply,” Radamash said, and his face grew solemn. “She had only recently begun to emerge from the bedchamber. I fear what your return shall do to her state of mind…”
“Should we leave?” Risthan frowned.
“Nonsense.” Radamash tore his eyes away from the hallway doorway to give his son a stern look. “You have only just come home.”
“Alright, then my friends would like to stay the night here before we go see the king tomorrow,” Risthan said as he gestured to our mixed group.
Radamash’s eyebrows rose as he glanced around the room as though seeing us for the first time, but then he nodded, and I released the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. Risthan’s father clapped twice, and a moment later, a young silver-haired boy emerged from the hallway.
“Show our guests to the silver rooms,” Risthan’s father commanded.
The boy’s eyes bulged as he took in the strangers sitting before him, but he quickly swallowed and gave his master a nod.
We pushed ourselves to our feet as the boy turned toward the hallway and looked at us expectantly, and I cast a questioning glance at Risthan over my shoulder.
“I am going to catch up with my father,” the silver-haired man said. “Rest well, Great One, I will see you in the morning.”
“Cool with me.” I grinned. “It was nice to meet you, Radamash.”
“You as well.” Risthan’s father peered down his nose at me, but he forced a smile on his face. “Enjoy your rooms. They haven’t been occupied in a very long time.”
The servant boy led us up a series of stairs, and we took a left on the second level before we traversed a long hallway. At the dead-end, the silver-haired boy turned and bowed to us.
“These are the silver rooms,” he explained in a barely audible voice. “Clap if you need anything.”
“Thanks.” I grinned, but then I fished into one of the pouches strapped to my waist for a Zaborian coin to give the kid.
His eyes bulged once more as he accepted the gold, and I doubted he’d ever seen, let alone possessed, that much money in his life. He scurried off with a gleeful expression, and I chuckled as I turned to my companions.
“Pick a room, and I’ll see the lot of you tomorrow,” I said.
Everyone moved about the corridor, and they opened doors to peer inside before inspecting a different room, but a few moments later, we were all in our own chambers for the night. Eva, Caelia, and I chose the bedroom closest to the stairs since I wanted to be able to access the exits swiftly if needed, and Black-eye took the room directly across the hall.
The bed was decorated with fine, silver threaded embroidered lace that resembled spider webs, but I pulled back the blankets to crawl in without looking around at the rest of the room. These rich Arajians had weird taste in decor, but as long as the mattress was comfortable, it could have a creepy doll theme and I’d still be happy with it.
“What do you think the king will say when we tell him about how the slaves were treated?” Caelia asked once we were all snuggled into bed.
“He probably won’t care,” Eva guessed. “He didn’t care when he sacrificed them, after all.”
“No matter how he reacts,” I said, “I’m going to make sure he does everything he possibly can to save his people. We’ll protect Arajah from the pirates, and he’ll see how dumb he’s been to negotiate with them.”
“If anyone can do it,” Caelia breathed in a sleepy voice, “it’s you, Bash.”
“Get some sleep,” I chuckled, but then I blew out the lantern, and the room was cast into darkness. “We want to be ready for anything tomorrow.”
“Can we trust Risthan’s family?” Eva hissed into the shadows. “Should I keep watch?”
I made a new save point just in case I had to eat my words.
“We can trust them for one night,” I said. “They probably wouldn’t want us to stick around much longer than that, though.”
“Fair point,” Eva allowed, and she relaxed against my side.
Soon, all three of us were fast asleep, but my dreams were plagued with nightmares where all my women became sex slaves for the pirates’ pleasure, and I woke up full of rage.
I was ready to face this king who allowed his people to be tormented by their enemies, and I was determined to do whatever I had to do to set him straight.
Even kill him and place a new person in power.
Everyone seemed just as eager to get on with the day as I was, and my two sleepy women quickly got dressed and prepared to meet the king, but the rest of our companions met us in the hallway as we exited our bedchamber.
The captain, Kipper, and the deck hands had smoothed back their hair, and their faces were pink from the hard scrubbing their cheeks had received. Sarosh, Alaster, and the other Arajians had combed their hair out long and loose, and the shiny tendrils caught the light of the sun bursting through the window at the end of the corridor.
Everyone looked shiny.
“We’re ready,” I announced with a decisive nod, and I led the way downstairs.
“You didn’t think you could go meet the king without me, did you?” Risthan met us in the hallway, and he flashed me a broad grin as he pulled open the front door.
“The thought never crossed my mind,” I laughed. “Lead the way to the palace.”
We all filed out of the large house to the cobblestone street, and I glanced around at my companions with a fierce sense of pride. They were good people, and they deserved a safe homeland to live in. There was no way I was going to stand idly by while they were terrorized by pirates, but I couldn’t help but wonder about the secret magic as well.
It was time to change things around Arajah.
Starting with the king.
