The danger of the spirit-infested hunter forgotten, Elaina and Keelin raced to rid each other of their clothing, and in close to no time at all they were both as naked as they could be arsed to be.
He didn’t last long, but Elaina was used to that. Keelin always finished first to begin with, but they’d never left it at just the one time before, and this was no exception.
“So why are we here, Keelin?” Elaina said, picking up her trousers and attempting to shake the dust out of them. She had a warm, flushed feeling deep inside, as she always did after an orgasm. It didn’t mean she was about to ignore the big, important question that had been nagging her since they’d arrived. “Don’t give me that shit about treasure. I know ya well enough to know ya don’t give a fuck about gold more than keeping ya ship afloat and ya wardrobe full of fancy jackets.”
Keelin sighed. He was sitting on one of the tabletops, mostly naked. Elaina felt her blood stir again when she looked at him, but she ignored it. They could fuck more later; now she wanted answers.
“I’m here for the Observatory,” Keelin said. His eyes were pinned to her breasts.
Elaina placed her hands in front of her tits until Keelin met her stare. “That’s suitably vague, Stillwater. Fancy filling me in on the rest?”
“Haven’t I filled you enough for today?” Keelin grinned wickedly, again looking like the pirate Elaina remembered from years before.
“You reckon that’s enough?” She winked at him. “Your standards must be slipping. I still want an answer.”
“I’m looking for someone. Have been for a long time. I’ve heard the Observatory here has ways of finding them. No matter how far away they might be.”
“The Arbiter?” Elaina said as she started buttoning up her blouse. “The one that killed ya sister?”
Keelin leapt off the tabletop and snatched his trousers from the dusty floor, shoving his legs into them. Anger marred his usually pretty features.
“How do you know about that, Elaina?”
“You told me a long time ago. You were pretty drunk at the time and bawling like a babe. I remember it clear as day though. You told me how ya sister had been sick since birth, had fits and was weak, barely able to stand. You also said she was smart, knew things a girl her age shouldn’t.
“Your da thought it was more than just sickness though. He thought she was possessed, or a witch or something. He sent a request to the Inquisition, asking for one of their witch hunters to come and have a look at her.”
Keelin pulled his jacket on over his shirt and kicked at a stone on the floor. “Bastard set fire to her. Burned her alive just for being a sick little girl.”
“And you’ve spent all ya years since trying to find that bastard. Pin?”
“Prin. Arbiter Prin.”
“And ya reckon ya can use this Observatory to find him? So we can go put him in the ground?”
Keelin was quiet for a long while. “Yeah.”
“Let’s get moving then, eh?” Elaina grinned.
“Why did you never tell me that you can see spirits, Elaina?” Keelin didn’t look like he was in any rush to leave the comfort of the little bakery.
Elaina cackled. “Same reason you never told me you’re noble born, I reckon.” She winked at him. “I figured it out though.”
Keelin snorted and shook his head. “No, you didn’t. Someone on my ship told you.”
“I’ve known ya for… I don’t know. Since we were old enough to know each other, I guess. Ya really think I didn’t figure it out?”
“Nobody else did.”
“Nobody else sat and listened to ya voice for hours. Nobody else spent so long with ya they heard ya accent slip. Nobody else cared enough to figure it out, Keelin.”
“Nobody else got me so fucking drunk I spilled my closest-kept secrets?”
“Aye, that too. Point is, your family were nobles from the Five Kingdoms who murdered their own daughter. My family can see spirits, and my da’s an evil bastard who had me raped to teach me a lesson.”
“What?”
Elaina’s smile vanished. “Shit. Forgot ya didn’t know that one.”
“I’ll kill him,” Keelin hissed. He crossed the room and put his arms around Elaina, and she didn’t stop him. It felt nice to be protected and supported. It felt nice not to be alone for once.
“No, you won’t,” she breathed into his shoulder. “The isles need Tanner Black. So do I.”
“No, you don’t, El. You never have.”
Elaina let out a weary laugh.
“What about the… whoever did it?” Keelin said.
Elaina tensed, pushing out of his embrace. In truth she hated being reminded of it. Hated remembering the feeling of helplessness. The pain and the shame that went along with it. “Don’t you worry. I’ll deal with that fucker myself, just as soon as my arse touches my throne.”
Keelin looked like he was about to say more, but he just sighed and nodded.
“So how about it, Stillwater? We gonna find this Arbiter of yours or not?”
Chapter 40 - The Phoenix
Aimi took a faltering step inside the temple and peered left and right, holding her torch out in front of her and praying there was nothing hiding in the deep shadows the light left behind.
“Bitch, hurry the fuck up or I swear I will fuck you with your own torch,” Smithe growled, still standing a few feet ahead of her. The rest of the expedition were still outside, waiting for Aimi to move out of the way.
“Nice threat, Smithe,” she said. She didn’t move, nor stop waving her torch around. “The only problem is, I’m more scared of this temple than I am of you.”
“Ya might wanna rethink that, bitch. I can be real scary.”
“Are you a dark temple dedicated to a long-forgotten god in a ruined city that’s been lost for thousands of years?” Aimi said. “No? Then I think I’ll stay more scared of this place.”
A hand landed on Aimi’s shoulder and she damned near jumped out of her skin.
“Ignore him, lass,” Alfer said calmly. “He don’t wanna admit it, but he’s scared as you are, as we all are. Still, job to get done, and all that.”
Aimi nodded and took another step into the temple, still holding her torch in front of her like a shield. Smithe snorted out a laugh and turned away to look deeper into the building.
The first room was small, with a number of stone benches built into the floor. Three dark alcoves lined the wall to Aimi’s left, and a glance right told her the same was true on the other side. The roof was high, and there were signs that it had once been marked with some sort of symbol, but most of the paint had long since been lost to time.
As the others started to file into the room behind her, Aimi approached one of the alcoves on the left, holding her torch out so that she could see what it contained. A stone box ran the entire length, its lid firmly in place, and there were symbols Aimi didn’t understand etched upon the stone.
“Coffins,” Pavel said, confirming Aimi’s suspicion. “Six of them.”
“Who do ya think is in them?”
“The six faces of the temple’s god,” Kebble said from outside. He was still refusing to set foot through the door. “I would not open them if I were you.”
“Might be treasure in them,” Smithe said. “Folk bury treasure with the dead sometimes.”
“They are not buried,” Kebble said, “and there is nothing inside but death. The temple kept many religious items made from gold, and metals even more precious. You will find them further in, either upon the altar or in the chests located in the cellar.”
“Last chance, mate,” Smithe said, looking back from the darkness, his face lit only by the flickering torch he held. “Share of the risk, share of the loot.”