“Perhaps we should come back when it’s light, Cap,” Alfer said quietly. “Ya know, so there’s a few more witnesses around.”
“Scared they might kill us just for asking?” Elaina said with a grin.
“Fuck yes, I am, Cap. What’s to stop them?”
Elaina thought about it for a moment, but couldn’t come up with a single thing. The guilds ran Larkos how they saw fit, and she had no doubt they weren’t above a spot of murder.
“They wouldn’t dare,” she said eventually. “Me da would tear this place down to its foundations.”
Alfer snorted. “Ya da’s one man. This here is… Shit, I can’t count anywhere close. There must be more folk in one bloody district than the entire of the isles.”
“Stop ya whining, Alfer, and look surly. Ya know, dangerous. Like ya could take ’em all if ya wanted.”
Elaina strode up to the gate and the Blades guarding it, fixing a smug look on her face. A woman in sky blue steel stepped forward to meet her, one hand on the hilt of a sword and the other held out in front of her to stop Elaina’s advance.
“This is the central district, ma’am,” the Blade said with a kind smile. “I must ask you to turn around and leave.”
“Now that’d kinda defeat the point,” Elaina said, returning the smile. “I’m here to see ya Queen.”
“Then I am afraid your journey has been wasted. The Queen of Blades does not see anyone.”
“Now I know that’s a lie,” Elaina said.
Another of the Blades stepped forward, hand on sword hilt, while a third jogged over to the guard hut. All the while the woman who had stopped Elaina remained in front of her, and her brown eyes never shifted. A few moments later three more Blades stepped out of the guard hut and approached. They were clearly well trained, taking no chances when it came to possible intruders.
“Again, I must ask you to leave,” said the Blade, her hand still out in front of her to stop Elaina moving any closer.
“Don’t I even get to make an appointment?” Elaina said, realising for the first time she may have gone about things the wrong way.
“The Queen of Blades does not see anyone,” the woman repeated.
Elaina ground her teeth together, but getting angry wouldn’t get her anywhere. She decided on a different course. “Then how about you get a message to your bloody Queen, eh? Can you do that?”
None of the Blades said anything; they all just stood still and silent.
Elaina snorted out a laugh. “Ya tell her the future queen of the Pirate Isles wants to have a word, and we’ll see if she don’t see anyone. She can find me on my ship.”
Without waiting for a response, Elaina turned and strode away. She was beyond angry, but that rage wouldn’t serve her. Right now she needed to act with diplomacy.
They passed back into the docks district a fair time later, and Elaina let Alfer lead her to a tavern he knew to be frequented by a number of Clerics. She found a secluded table and brooded over a single flagon of piss-poor ale while her quartermaster reacquainted himself with some old friends and made a few overtures towards those in higher positions.
A handsome older man with a shock of grey in his close-cropped hair and a scarred jaw that served as testament to a number of brawl participations sat down opposite Elaina. The man had a winning smile and had brought with him a bottle of rum, which he pushed towards her. She hadn’t even finished her ale, but she took the rum and drained it by a mouthful. The fiery spirit did nothing to lift her own spirits, so she pushed the bottle back towards the man and glared at him.
“Beautiful women should not be forced to drink alone,” he said with a smile.
Elaina snorted. The only fool who had ever called her beautiful was Keelin. Desirable was something else though. “Ain’t forced if it’s my choice,” she said. “So fuck off.”
The handsome man held up his hands, then pushed the bottle back towards Elaina. The smile never left his face.
“I will leave, and leave you the bottle, Captain Black. And also tell you that your presence has not gone unnoticed. If the Queen of Blades will not grant you an audience, then the Nightborne will. I do hope you will consider us favourably.”
The man bowed his head, a sign of respect Elaina hadn’t expected, and stood. She found herself in a state of confusion. The man – a Nightborne emissary, she assumed – had sounded like he was trying to curry her favour. Elaina had never been given such a reception before; in fact, she was used to operating under relative anonymity. Her name had always carried some weight, once she let people know it, but it had always been her father who had given it that weight.
“Cap,” Alfer said as he wandered over, thumbing at the Nightborne, who was making towards the tavern door. “Anyone we should be worried about?”
Elaina thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. “Quite the opposite, I reckon, Alfer. He might just be our way into the Council.”
“Which guild?”
“Nightborne, apparently.”
Alfer sucked in a breath that whistled through a gap in his teeth. “Don’t go siding jus’ yet, Cap. Clerics are interested too. All ya need to do is strut up to the guild hall and knock, and Brother Hernhold will see you his own self. Ain’t many get an audience with the head without even asking.”
“Ain’t been here a day, and I’ve been turned away by one guild only to have two others come sniffing around.” Elaina drained her mug of ale as she tried to puzzle it all out.
“Guilds don’t offer nothing for free, Cap,” Alfer said. “Each one’ll want a piece of ya.”
Elaina sniffed, then grunted her agreement. “Might be there’s others want that piece too. Grab that bottle, Alf. Reckon it’s best we head on back to the ship. See who’s been about.”
As dawn started to peek up over the horizon, Elaina found herself standing on the docks, staring out towards the rising sun. Her feet hurt like all the Hells from the walking, but she didn’t give one drop about the pain. Her ship was gone.
Elaina and Alfer had arrived to find Starry Dawn missing from its berth, and the harbour master – not the same man as before – had simply shrugged and told her to bugger off. Frustration and fear had made her rash, and the harbour master had found himself sprawling on the ground with a couple of loose teeth. He’d crawled away, threatening to call the Clerics, and Alfer had quickly offered to find out if their ship had simply been moved. It was pointless. Elaina didn’t need Alfer to confirm the truth for her. Her ship was gone.
The rising sun set the gentle waves of the bay on fire, and the sea looked like burnished gold. On any other day Elaina might have thought the sight beautiful. Today she couldn’t appreciate it. For the second time in her life she’d had a ship stolen out from under her.
“I need you to come with me, ma’am.” Elaina didn’t bother turning to look at the female Cleric. “You have assaulted a Larkos official, and that’s a crime here.”
“Whoa, whoa there,” shouted Alfer. He sounded out of breath. Elaina didn’t look at him either. “Just a misunderstanding, I assure you.”
There was a pause. “That woman assaulted…” the Cleric started again.
“That woman is Captain Black,” Alfer wheezed out. “Believe me when I tell you Brother Hernhold wouldn’t look favourably on ya if ya throw her in a cell, eh?”
“Cap,” shouted another voice, and a moment later Four-Eyed Pollick appeared. His cheeks were flushed and his right eye was swollen almost shut.
“Who was it?” Elaina growled. She squinted as the sun, now rising above the horizon, became so bright it hurt.
“Rovel,” Pollick said. “Near as soon as you were out of eyesight, he set about a mutiny. Convinced the crew they was better off under a pirate.”
Elaina turned a furious gaze on her crewman. “And what the fuck am I then?”