Chapter 136: Assignment

Book 3, Chapter 35 - Assignment

Several months later

Eksa yawned audibly. She rested her chin in her hand and kicked up dust with her feet. “Prove my talent he says. Flaming lies.”

“All good things come with patience,” said Viper, whose voice had come from within the shadows of her thighs.

Eksa flinched, cursing in her own head. One could never tell where the Shadow Walker was. Even after a few months of having known him, his random interjections when she thought she was alone with her thoughts frightened her to no end. Add to that his hoarse voice, and her heart skipped a dozen beats each time. “Can you not do that?” she asked.

“Not do what?”

“I'd like to know beforehand whose shadow it is you're attached to.” Wearing a shirt and trousers aboard her ship was fine. But winter had arrived and the southern heat was not so damning. Eksa had an urge to wear long skirts or simple dresses on nice days like these, when the weather was mild and sea breeze an abundant luxury. She'd treated herself to a set of skirts for her fifteenth birthday, adding a second trunk to her cabin. But wearing them was wholly impossible if Viper was going to hitch a ride in the shadows beneath her feet.

“I've been at the lumberyard since before dawn,” Viper said. “Your new ballistae are supposed to be finished today. It took me a while to understand the carpenter drawings and measurements, but I think they're good enough for us.”

Eksa couldn't comprehend him. It seemed just yesterday he'd been gushing over the existence of paper and its endless uses. Maybe not gushing . His emotions were widely a mystery. If he were happy, his mouth was curved into a thin lipped smile. Otherwise, judging his feelings were impossible. More so given his physical body was hardly in the real world.

“And how did you get to me with the sun directly above…” she trailed off, realizing a cloud had dimmed the lumberyard's lighting. It had been Viper's idea to upgrade the Scarlet Reaver 's weapons. Admiral Dhorjun had agreed. That left Eksa with nothing to do but patrol the shores while her weapons were crafted. And that had taken a whole half year. Eurale's lumberyard was small, and they mostly imported wood from Xenaria.

Eksa's weapons order was set after Crow's ship finished building. The bastard had already set sail with a crew of recruited mercenaries, being given missions to chase away or destroy corsair ships masked as merchant boats coming out of Ostirin's unregulated ports.

“I can make use of the barest of shadows,” Viper said.

“Must be awfully convenient, hiding whenever. Running wherever. What I wouldn't have done for your powers…” She could have snuck aboard her father's ship and joined his adventures. Could have avoided the life of a slave. Could have avoided being in constant fear of others. Avoided being weak. The powers of a Shadow Walker without the appearance of one…

“It's lonely,” Viper muttered. “And cold. And dark.”

Why do I always speak aloud? Eksa shuffled her feet. “I'm sorry. That was insensitive.” She could only imagine the kind of isolated life he'd been forced into as a child. She'd at least had happy memories up until she'd fled home. “Um… so you have friends now.”

“I do.”

Eksa turned her head away. She was terrible at conversing with either Jack or Viper. Her own prejudices and fears always crept in. It was easy when Aaron was around. They obeyed him without question like he was their master. Or was it simple admiration? Eksa was jealous of him. He made it all seem effortless. He'd known what Jack had been from the start and hugged the dying Vampire regardless while she had cowered. She was willing to bet he'd saved Viper from a life of isolation as well. “So how are your poems coming along?”

“So it was you that'd trekked dirt into Aaron's cabin. I'm assuming you know how they're coming along, given as how you surely have read them.”

Drat! She'd bought him a journal from her own pockets as a kind gesture, seeing as how paper had made him smile in the past. Now I look nosy .

“What did you think of them?” he asked, a hint of enthusiasm in his raspy voice.

Eksa frowned. “You're not upset?”

“Should I be?”

“I was going through your belongings.” Which there weren't many of. She'd lent her only three spare cabins to Aaron and Jahck and Aki, assuming Viper slept in the Umbra. None of them carried anything aside from spare clothes. Viper's journal was kept in Aaron's room, which made Eksa wonder what kind of place the Umbra was and whether it could be used as a place of storage.

“You make too many assumptions with too little thought. That isn't what a leader should do.”

“It's hardly without thought. I would hate it if any of you were to read through my diary. I base my assumption on that.”

Viper was silent for a moment. Then he said “but you went through my journal regardless of that assumption. That makes you hypocritical. Or carelessly curious.”

Eksa flushed. She buried her hands in her face. Viper had a cold way of analyzing everything and laying bare truths in displeasing ways. “Your poems are nice,” she grumbled. They were all four lines though. She didn't mention that part aloud. To her relief, one of the carpenters was heading her way. A gangly fellow with a deep tan and seeming overworked and underpaid. He'd been the one to take her orders a few months past. “Viper, can you go check his books to see what price we'd agreed upon?” she muttered. No answer. “Viper?”

He was gone. Eksa wondered if he'd heard her final compliment or left before that. She shrugged. She wasn't paying out of her own pocket for this one. This was part of King Agram's budget for the navy.

The shading cloud above drifted away, causing Eksa to squint and hold a hand above her eyes.

***

Aaron sat in one corner of Aki's bar, nibbling on a toothpick while holding the grip of a full flask set before him. He'd yet to take a sip. He'd never had alcohol, nor did he plan to. Too many memories of poison, foolishness, and death. In the early days of House Zz'tai's fall, alcohol had been used to end loyal vassals and create a state of confusion.

The bar was lively for an afternoon. The door, left open, let in natural light and let out raucous laughter, as well as the sight of Jahck juggling knives. Something he'd picked up recently and gotten adept at. He'd grown significantly taller and had a bit more girth around his bones. He genuinely seemed happy playing the part of a jester, though his taste in humor was dark to say the least.

A small purse of coins was tossed onto Aaron's table. He looked up as Aki approached and promptly seated herself on the table rather than the four empty seats around it. She pushed the purse with two fingers towards Aaron before stealing his flask and taking a swig. “Business has been good lately, thanks to you. Your friend there attracts much attention.”

Aaron grunted.

“I'm not regretting joining the little snake's ship at all now. Our delay has allowed me to make more than a few extra coins here. My palace friends just aren't good at running the place. Nor do they know how to set a drinking mood like the sailors.”

“I don't need a thank you gift, Aki.”

She cast a sidelong glance his way, shrugged, then turned back to Jahck's little show.

“What's cold and dark and filthy too?” Jahck yelled, still handling five knives in the air. “A place where sweet songs are sung to you? Piles of dregs and nasty food?”

“My wife's kitchen!” someone shouted.

“Prison!” cried a scarred man.

Jahck stared at this man for a moment, catching four of five knives by the blade between his fingers. He caught the fifth with his free hand and threw it. Aaron sucked in a breath as the blade whizzed past the scarred man and stuck to the wall behind him. “Wrong! It's this Flaming bar!” Jahck said. Laughter abounded.

Aaron released his breath. Jahck, had gotten dangerously good at throwing knives, somehow, but it was still unsettling to see him throw it at random civilians or crewmates.

“Damn bastard,” Aki said. “I'll give him this. Whoever's in the backroom doesn't know a thing about cooking or spices.”

Aaron folded his arms. “You don't know who comes in to cook?”

“It's whatever slave my friends find with free time. More coin for me. I don't have to pay anyone.” She pushed the purse again, taking a sip from the flask. “Go buy our captain something nice.”

“Why would I do it?”

Aki raised a brow. She set the flask down. “I didn't take you the dense type. I've noticed a distinct lack of action on your part. Which includes turning down my very obvious advances.”

Aaron frowned. “I don't like Eksa like that. I don't need your advice and I definitely don't need your charity, be it coin or elsewise. Take your money and piss off.”

“Boy, I thought we were past our bitter introduction from months past. I'm not your enemy.”

“It doesn't matter what you are,” Aaron hissed. He leaned in and shoved the purse of coins back her way. “You'd have me buy Ashes for Eksa with your money and then go whisper in her ear about how I couldn't be bothered to buy her a gift. Stay away from her. She belongs to me.”

Anger flashed in Aki's dark eyes. Her arms twitched. She took back her purse and returned the flask half empty. “You've some issues, boy. What, did your mother not feed you enough millk? Women aren’t possessions for you to own. Keep with that nonsense and she just might kick you out of the crew.” Aki returned to her bar counter.

I've found a person oft retreats to insults when their inner truths are exposed .

That now, was a useful memory, Aaron thought. So he'd guessed the barkeep's intentions correctly. The memory wasn't enough to smother the anger blazing inside him though. “Burn to Ash,” he muttered behind Aki's back. One of these days, he needed to settle the score with her. Prove himself the superior fighter before everyone. And maybe, just maybe, accidently snap her neck in the process. It was about as much as she deserved. Anyone attempting to usurp his possessions needed to die.

Aaron refused to make the same mistake he had with Orion. If only I hadn't been a coward then. If only I'd killed that bastard earlier . He rose from his seat, leaving payment for the drink he hadn't touched.

“That's it from me for today,” Jahck said, giving an extravagant bow.

“You don't have to follow me,” Aaron said once the half-breed had joined him outside. He felt a sudden growing migraine. More ancient memory flooded his mind.

Jahck took off his mask. “Why doesn't it work on you?”

“What did you just do to me?” Aaron hissed. The pain had disappeared as soon as the mask had been taken off. “What is that thing? How do you wear it without strings?”

Jahck shrugged. “Some kind of an Artifact. I can will it to create minor illusions.”

Artifact? Aaron took in new information surfacing in his mind. Flame Bearers were immune to afflictions of Artifact magic, getting headaches instead when something was trying to affect them. But they weren't immune to the effects of the Eternal Flames or Chronary. Why that was, Aaron wasn't certain. The answers were there, he knew it, but the appropriate memory hadn't yet surfaced.

“I was trying to make you trip over your feet,” the blonde boy grinned.

“Jahck—”

“It's Jack now. No mask.”

Aaron rolled his eyes. “We're saying the same word. Bah, forget it. Don't use that magic on me again. It makes my head hurt.”

“Hurt a lot or a little?”

Aaron glared. It'd been cute before, almost like having a little sibling, but Jahck's antics were growing increasingly irritating by the day —especially now that he was nearly as tall as Aaron. And he was more than two years older. Come to think of it, Eksa is a few months older than me too . That bothered him. Almost felt as if he had less control over her. “Don't use it in my presence at all unless absolutely necessary.” Aaron turned away and marched towards the docks. “As I meant to say earlier, you're free to do as you want. You don't have to follow me around.”

“Free huh?” Jack asked.

Aaron felt another splitting headache grow. He clenched his teeth and began sprinting to get away. “Flames burn you!”

“No you!” Jackrin giggled, skipping along behind and keeping up with ease. Jack had better physical attributes with half Vampire blood coursing through his veins. Attributes that only enhanced itself past sundown. Aaron wondered if that strength would be greater than even Dhorjun, thin as Jack still was.

Hand drawn wagons were being pulled towards the docks by iron collared men. A ten set of vicious ballistae were set upon them. The Scarlet Reaver's new weapons. The wicked bolts they were capable of firing were designing specifically to tear giant holes into a ship's side and force it to sink. Eksa stood near her ship alongside a few of her sailors, arms folded, watching as slave men hauled the complicated wood constructs aboard.

Aaron slowed his pace and steadied his breath as he approached her. “We're finally setting out?”

“Not until Admiral Dhorjun returns and gives us orders,” she replied. Her gaze followed a thin slave struggling to march up the gangplank whilst tugging on a thick rope slung over his shoulder. The rope's rough fibres brushed against his skin, causing a red rash to form. “Help him,” Eksa ordered.

Aaron nodded. He and Jackrin helped the man haul the large weapon up and drag it to where it belonged. Other carpenters were on board, taking apart the smaller artillery weapons the ship had originally come with to replace with larger ones. Aaron rested his hands on the ship's ledge and examined Eksa from above. Her tricorne hid most of her fiery hair with a tail length braid sticking out. She undid her top buttons and rubbed her neckline with her fingertips whilst keeping her eyes on the collars of slaves. So that's how it is.

“You think I can knock her hat off with a knife from up here?” Jack asked.

“I will throw you overboard like a ragdoll.”

“Wouldn't be the first time I was thrown.”

Aaron turned only to find Jack grinning. His fangs were considerably larger now, and that wide smile was enough to drive icicles into the stoutest of hearts, assuming no one knew Jack. Aaron himself didn’t really know Jack. But he'd somehow become the leash holding back a monster that still surfaced now and then. So far, no troubling rumors had arisen. Jackrin sustained himself by feeding off of drunks, frequently complaining about how bitter alcoholic blood was.

Aaron returned to his captain's side again while Jack remained on board. “How do you do it?” Eksa asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Have you never been afraid of them?”

“Fearing something you don’t understand is a human reaction,” Aaron said, speaking from memory. “But fearing something you do understand is a greater fear. Because you understand it and know that you can do nothing about it. I never had time to fear stories and people I'd never seen. Now that I see and understand them, they aren't much different from me. I've no reason to fear Viper and Jack. They're my friends. As are you.”

“But… I don’t feel a friend to them,” she grumbled. The last of the ballistae were hauled aboard. Eksa turned to Aaron at last, the top half of her face shadowed by the brim of her tricorne. Her hazel eyes had a dash of green mixed in. “It's been months and I'm still not used to them. I want to know them better, I really do. I know they've been hurt, but…” she looked down.

“You know Jack can probably hear us,” Aaron said, glancing at the half-breed who was staring out into space with an emotionless expression. “He has better senses than us.”

“Does it matter? He's always avoiding me. I don't think he likes me very much.”

“He avoids you because you just about drown in perfume. Better senses, Eksa. Jack very much remembers the food you offered him during our first meeting. And Viper likes you enough for the journal you bought him. So long as you don’t betray their trust, they won’t betray yours.”

Eksa's sailors began boarding, speaking in hushed tones about the new artillery weapons like a group of boys having stumbled upon wooden swords. She pulled her tricorne lower as if trying to hide her eyes. “And you? Do you like me enough?”

Aaron's eyes narrowed. “Are you afraid of me?”

Her gaze flickered to his hands, the knuckles of which were callused and dark with bruising. She swallowed, met his eyes, and then snapped them away. A blush formed on her round cheeks. “No,” she said, turning around and boarding the vessel.

There'd been a quake in her voice. Aaron didn’t know what to make of it. Her feelings were obvious. But there was a hint of fear mixed in which left him confused. He stared at his own hands for a moment. Had it been that moment he'd brutalized Shank's face? But he'd done it for her.

Just as he'd killed for Carmin and Isabelle. But they cried about it . Aaron didn't understand. Why was it wrong for him to defend his belongings?

***

Aki tilted her neck to force a crack from her joints. She'd been feeling more stiff of late. There was little to do under the girl's watch. Dhorjun didn’t let her stray far from the shores. And the rest of my time I spend drinking.

It'd been a while since her last time sharing someone's bed. Hawthorne was off on his own paltry voyages, and no one of Eksa's ship caught her fancy. Not even the black headed boy. He was younger than her preference, and more a passing curiosity than anything. She had a degree of respect for his martial skill and nothing more. He seemed respectable enough to not visit brothels, but he came with a host of issues on its own.

“Flames,” she groaned, taking a long swig from a bottle whilst rubbing an ache at the back of her neck that came more from the raucous atmosphere of the bar than stiffness. I wouldn't even bat an eye at that brat if I still had Crow…

Crow who was a manipulative and conniving bastard himself. But he was a damn good pleaser, Aki would give him that. Good enough to drown her woes for days at a time. She had no such relief on Eksa's ship. The burning questions that she thought she'd finally outrun were creeping back into her nights. They stole from Aki her sleep, and made the light of day an agony to embrace. Nightmares replayed themselves, but she preferred them still to the questions that branded her as would the naked sun.

“Rends take me,” she breathed. Some heads turned toward her, but soon went back to their own merriment or misery. By what shadow's folly had she decided to board Eksa's ship? She could have declined. She should have declined. The little snake didn't know what torments Aki prevented her from experiencing. Without me, Crow would have opted for the easy route in breaking the girl. The bald bastard just couldn't stand anyone on the crew with an ounce of intelligence capable of defying his schemes. Some inferiority complex or some such, Aki suspected.

Yet I stayed on the girl's ship. Eksa was, after all, just a hapless, foolish girl. Just as Aki's little sister had been. A sister she'd lost long ago in a fishing accident on their father's boat. Screams, tides, shadows. That was all Aki recalled of that day. There'd been much blood too, but she'd seen and spilt her share of blood to fear it no longer. Yes, Eksa was just a little lamb not deserving such a fate.

Only, the boy, Aaron, seemed intent on complicating things. Aki couldn't get a grip on him, on his wants and desires or objectives. Eksa thought of him as a friend. Worse . A romantic interest. Not many boys his age around her after all. Least of all with the class and manners he oft manages to display. Aki suspected him to be some highborn bastard kicked out of his family. The way he clung to Eksa and subtly influenced her behaviours and decisions didn't sit right with Aki.

What's it to me anyways , she thought after another long drink. It was a lot, she realized, and would continue to mean a lot so long as she stayed on Eksa's ship.

***

So long as you don't betray their trust, they won't betray yours Aaron said.

Was it enough to call one a friend after a single kind act? Eksa chewed on the thought, staring out at the blue horizon.

The Virulence appeared not soon after, seeming a shark fin sticking out of the sea with its sleek design.

Eksa knew better than anyone what a single kind act was worth when despair had settled in and hardened. When avarice and selfishness were the only traits of others you could see, a single kind act then became a paragon for humanity. Perhaps, for Viper and Jack, isolated as they'd been, her kind acts were enough to form a bond. And she was returning their trust with fears born of prejudice.

Friends . She had four of them now, including Aki.

The carpenters from the lumberyard had finished setting in the new weaponry by the time Eurale's admiral had returned. And he hadn't come alone. He'd brought along another ship sailing behind him. A smaller caravel like The Scarlet Reaver . Not Crow's ship, then, but a new addition to Eurale's expanding fleet. And it wasn't purchased either, judging by the puncture wounds in the vessel's sides. A miracle it hasn't sunk.

Eksa reluctantly descended to greet the admiral. The sooner he gave his orders, the sooner could she escape out to the open ocean, and be away from him. Dhorjun now, was someone she felt only contempt and fear for. The giant man was drinking rum out of a square bottle as he descended from his vessel. His quaking footsteps made the wooden boards of the port groan. Eksa saluted with a fist to her heart and offered a slight bow. “Admiral. Welcome back.”

He grunted, eyeing her up and down. He smelled sour, like rotting limes. Or a shirt simmering in sweat for cycles. Dhorjun's eyes lingered a tad too long on Eksa's neckline, forcing her into buttoning up her shirt to the collar. “You've got your new weapons, girl?” he asked.

Icy air pierced the soles of her feet. Viper was with her again. Friends. Protection . Eksa filled her lungs with confidence, surprised at how easily it'd come without the influence of alcohol in her blood. The pounding in her chest mellowed out after having been set off by her giant captain's grotesque and commanding voice. “Er, yes,” Eksa said. “Sir,” she added quickly after. His favoured soldiers still sniggered at the way she always hesitated around him. There was no respect offered to her despite her now outranking all of them. Not that I've proved anything yet.

“Good. Number of pirates been increasing. I heard Theodore's wife's gotten pregnant. He's been giving the Basin less attention lately.”

That news, while surprising, didn’t hurt Eksa as much as she expected.

“I'm sending you out alone,” Dhorjun continued. “Prove what it is Theodore was willing to pay seventy crowns for, girl. All the better if you manage to capture vessels for us, smaller or larger doesn't matter. Is Aki still at the bar?”

Eksa nodded.

Dhorjun stepped up beside her. He grabbed hold of a loose thread of flame with his meaty fingers and touched her cheek with the back of her hand. It took Eksa a great deal of effort to not cringe and turn her head away. “Good,” the giant said. “Come drink with me to celebrate this new conquest.” He gestured to the new ship he'd brought. “Then you can grab Aki and set out. If you want more fighters, I'll pay you to go buy some slaves or hire mercenaries.” Dhorjun squeezed Eksa's shoulder before heading off into the city.

She followed, again reluctantly, though with the knowledge that Viper was with her. And Aki would be at the bar. There'd been a veiled threat there, Eksa felt. Something saying if you don't bring results, you know what it is you'll end up being good for . She shuddered.

From her own ship, she spotted Aaron glaring daggers into the fleet admiral's back. He never did answer her question about whether he liked her enough.