The four of us (we grabbed a confused Martin on the way) burst into the captain’s cabin with a dramatic bang. Captain Sraw is going over a ledger and his hand reflexively goes under his desk but pauses when he sees us.

“What do you want?” He scowls.

“You need to tell us what’s in the crates we’re carrying. No one seems to know.” I say calmly, moving at a measured angle to the side to keep my eyes on the captain, while allowing the others to move into my periphery.

I go left, both to keep my dominant hand closer to the captain, and because the door’s hinge is on that side (it opens inwards). The captain is paranoid, if he has traps in this room, it would be set up to target the door. A trajectory straight on from the thick ornate desk would be best, and another trap is likely. If so, he would set it up to have a shot of the doorway not obstructed by the door. Therefore, it would be on the right side of the room, and this spot should be safer.

I look for the traps as subtly as I can without moving my head from Sraw.

“I told you to mind your damn business!”

I shrug. “I would have been happy to do just that, but then I found out we’re surrounded by three pirate ships closing in on us– one of which has a knight and a mage on board. So, I need to know what they’re after that they’d go through so much trouble.”

“I’m curious as well.” Kalen steps forward. “We’ve had trouble with pirates before, but not like that.”

I use the distraction of another speaker to glance quickly around. There, a small hole hidden in the shadow of the desk’s carved decorations lined up straight to the door just like I expected. Another one in an armoire on the right side.

I don’t see a mechanism, maybe a magic trigger? Who’s in the way? Kalen for the desk, I can’t tell for the Armoire.

“Why should I tell you? Knowing isn’t part of your contracts.”

“Neither is keeping quiet.” I say, calmly taking a step forward to close the distance– trying to time it with my speaking to not seem like I’m trying to close the distance. “If you don’t tell us then we’ll let the crew know and maybe they’ll decide to open the crates themselves.”

The captain scowls. “…We are carrying silk, and Zantan lumber.”

Zantan, a semi-magical wood that self-repairs when wet in sunlight. Great for bows, especially enchanting them, and mages love making towers out of them since they can grow them over time.

I glance at Sarah who understands the question and speaks. “I don’t know, maybe? It could attract a high-level pirate, but three working together?”

I turn my gaze back to Sraw who’s stoneface, but with a slight tremor in his hand.

“What else?” I say, still forcing a calm to my voice.

“Standard goods. Some base metals and cloths. Local spices.”

“What else?” I press.

“…I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” I ask.

“There’s… this big orb. It’s magic, taken from Caethlon. Some mage claimed it, but it’s big, so they need a ship to take it to central. I don’t know what it does, but it’s likely powerful given the size.”

Large orb? Doesn’t ring a bell.

“… You’re a fool Sraw!” Kalen explodes. “You should never have gotten rid of my team! You should have hired even more guards if you’re transporting something so valuable!”

Sraw shrinks back from the furry, so I take the opportunity to press. “How much are you getting paid to transport it?”

He looks at me, calculating. “…Large gold.” He says, so it’s probably two.

“How big is it, exactly?” I say.

“…About a head taller than you.”

I nod. I don’t know what the standard rate for a crate that size is, but I’m guessing it’s not a large gold, much less two. I consider while Kalen glares at Sraw for a while, then speak. “All right. The way I see it we were hired to protect a ship, not a major magic item. So, you’re doubling the pay of everyone here. Otherwise, we’ll just hand it over to the pirates in exchange for safe passage.”

“The cargo is part of your contract. You’re bound to protect it.” He says.

“Yes, but there’s a hierarchy in the contract with the cargo being lower than the ship. This allows me to sacrifice the former for the latter if I think I need to.” I say, delighted to have caught that in the fine print.

I likely only saw it because the cell had been in so many situations where Gebal chose to make sacrifices to save the greater goal, so I instinctively looked for what the contract says is most important.

Sraw gnashes his teeth. “You obviously don’t think you need to if you’re bargaining for coin about it. Therefore, the contract still requires you to protect it.”

I consider this for a moment then smile. “On the contrary, I think we do need to hand it over. What we’re talking about is a new contract in which protection of the orb is the most important, and so removes that option in the hierarchy.”

“I’d leave the solicitor talk to someone who knows the better. You clearly have never studied Imperial contract law.”

“Probably not, but I have.” Sarah says smugly, stepping forward. “It’s an unusual interpretation, but there is precedent. However, even if that wouldn’t hold up in court, this would. There is a standard level of danger involved in a protection contract which is exceeded by the transportation of major magical items. There are at least a half dozen cases identical to this, and in each one the contract was deemed invalid due to the nondisclosure of the increased risk brought on by the magic item. Both due to the extra security threat, and the innate danger that the item might activate on its own. The typical penalty if it goes to court is five times the original contract, we’ll settle for three.”

“I’ve been assured by an elite mage that it won’t activate!”

“Which elite?” She asks, still calm.

“…I’m under contract not to say.”

“Which makes the assurance worthless for our contracts.”

“May I examine the orb?” I ask, stepping up, a bit excited at the prospect of examining a major magic item.

“Contract says no.”

“…What are the exact terms that say no?” I say, hoping there might be wriggle room.

“For one, that I can’t show anyone the terms, and two, especially no mages can look at it.”

“In that case I think Sarah is right. Three times our pay sounds right to start.” I say, letting my smugness overshadow my disappointment.

The captain glowers.

Kalen speaks unexpectedly softly. “They have you captain. Contract or not you can’t hope to keep the orb without them, and I assume the failure penalty will cost you more than paying them.”

“… Fine.” He spits through his teeth. “…Any other conditions while you’re extorting me?”

“Um… Let’s see.” I say thoughtfully. He sharply scowls as if saying he was being rhetorical, but I continue anyways as he pulls out paper to write the new contract. “Okay, let’s make the contract be for ten days minimum pay, and me and Martin get a medium gold for each day less than that it takes to reach our destination.”

“That’s absurd!” Sraw shouts. “Bonus pay is based on me not having to pay the crew for more days, and that far exceeds what I’m paying them daily.”

I look to Martin who shrugs. “You overshot a bit.” He says.

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“…Fine. Medium gold between us for each day.”

“Each day less than nine.” He counters. “Nine is fast, but still in the standard range. You want non-standard pay, you need non-standard time.”

“…Fine. Ten days minimum, and a medium gold between us for each day less than nine it takes to reach Tibrous starting when we left Salunt. Anyone else have suggestions?” I say, looking around.

“You aren’t going to ask for a bigger room?” Sarah asks me.

“It’s big enough, and besides I’d have to set the divination back up.”

“It is not big enough, but okay.” Sarah scoffs.

“I have a condition.” Kalen says. “Everyone here who wants gets a yearlong contract to stay on at normal rates when we reach Tibrous, and you hire four more guards with the same terms. Also, you buy some good gear for the armoury. At least one magic weapon per guard and resizing magic armour with a floatation feature. Plus, better regular arms and armour to distribute to the crew in emergency.”

“…Fine.” He scribbles on the contract furiously. “Anything else?”

We don’t have anything major, so we let him finish writing then all look over the new contract. It is admittedly thorough, being based on a standard template according to Sarah. There are a few addendums and minor wording corrections, but otherwise it’s satisfactory and we all sign.

“Now if you’re all done extorting me, can we move on to planning how you’re going to defend my ship!?” Sraw starts the sentence at a near whisper that escalates until it finishes with a shout.

“Of course. The map please, Martin.” I gesture to the desk where he quickly unrolls the map he’s been carrying.

“Alright,” I say, placing bullets on the chart as ship markers, “we’re here, and the pirates are here, here, and here. The two behind us are closing in at around forty-degree angles, while the third one is trying to head us off. The one with the mage and knight is this one chasing us on our left. They’re both moving about twenty percent faster than us, and I estimate the chasing pair will be in sight tomorrow near dark. Do you agree Martin?”

Martin pulls out his tools and studies them carefully. “Yeah, that sounds about right, give or take a few hours. It seems to me we have three routes. One of them is to go through the storm you divined, the second one is around this series of reefs which will add half a day, and won’t get past the third ship, and the third is to go straight through. However, that’ll be dangerous as it looks like we’ll reach it at nightfall, and it still won’t get us past the last ship.”

‘Deliberate?’ I mouth to Martin, to which he shrugs.

“The reef is probably our best bet.” I say pointing. “It’s faster and I can divine our way through even at night. The pirate mage can probably do the same, but the second ship chasing us can’t. They’ll either have to risk running aground or go around putting them half a day behind.”

“That’s a good plan.” Says Kalen. “But why don’t we break left and dash to a port? One of the pirates might catch us, but at least then we’ll be guaranteed to only face one at a time. Then we can repair and recrew. I know it’ll cost you your bonus you just negotiated, but I think it’ll be the better option.”

I nod. “What ports do you think we can reach Martin?”

“Um…” He hunches down over the map carefully measuring distances. “With the information you told us the only port we could reach before the second ship catches us would be Port Malsas.”

I wince, sucking air in through my teeth. “Aw, well, I’ve been meaning to bring this up, but it didn’t seem important with everything else. Earlier today I received a divination indicating something bad is going on in Malsas. I don’t know what, but whatever it is must be big to trigger a reading hundreds of leagues off our route. I would guess the danger of going to Malsas is greater than the pirates.”

“Oh, come on. You just want your bonus.” Sraw scoffs.

“No, I was in the room when it happened, and I’m not part of that bonus.” Sarah says, looking him levelly in the eye as if daring him to accuse her.

“…Fine. We won’t go to Malsas, or any other port at the moment then, and do your plan with the reefs. However, even if everything works and a ship grounds itself, we still have to fight two ships, a knight, and a mage. What are your plans for that?”

We all exchange nervous glances before Kalen speaks up. “Well, we can only plan for what we can. At what time will we clear the reefs, Martin?”

“Sometime during the night.”

She nods thinking for a bit before speaking. “Right. They’d be foolish to attack us in the reefs, so they’ll probably trail close until morning. Will the third ship be close enough to help then?”

“Not with the winds. My guess is they positioned themselves there to dash north or south and catch us as we pass.”

“All right, then we’ll only have to deal with one ship at a time, assuming things go as planned. Are you sure they’re a knight?” Kalen asks me.

“…The divination didn’t specify their social rank, but I do know they’re about three times as physically strong as Sarah, which says full knight to me. I don’t know about any of their other abilities though, so maybe they’re unbalanced.”

Sarah nods, solemnly thinking about fighting someone that might be as far above her as she is to Kalen. “What about the mage, do you think you’re a match for them?”

“I don’t think the mage has combat spells, just divination and utility.” I say confidently. “A fledgeling like me. The divination says younger.”

“But you don’t know what utility?” Kalen asks.

I shake my head. “Frankly I’m amazed I learned this much.”

“Different question then. What type of utility spell might you have learned at your level if you were a pirate mage?” Kalen says.

“Um… something to speed up your ship or slow down the target, so maybe local weather manipulation. Maybe a fog spell to cover your approach… something to communicate with the other ships obviously since how else are they coordinating, and maybe something to start small fires at a distance. Something not at combat level, just to burn particularly flammable things like sails.”

“They wouldn’t start fires on a ship they’re trying to capture, even as a distraction.” Sarah says.

“Then not that. They might have healing magic, plant growing magic for food, or animal communication to gain bird spies. But those are things I’m learning anyways, so I might be biased on their utility. Maybe something to put out fires… purify water… I can’t think of anything else that might cause problems for us, at least near their level.”

“Well, nothing sounds critical.” Says Kalen. “They’re going to catch us without magic to speed them up, so the biggest impact would be putting out fires. Both for them and for us. If they can put out flames with magic, then they might be willing to start fires on our ship.”

Sarah nods in acknowledgement of her point being overruled.

“I’ll have the crew haul water buckets up the mast beforehand just in case.” Sraw says. “Now what are you going to do about the knight? Can you two fight them?” He looks at Sarah and Kalen.

“Not a chance.” Sarah says. “I’d probably hold out longer than Kalen did with me, but my only chance is to stay at range and try to break their armour with arrows. But they know that so they probably won’t show until it’s time to board, and then there will be nowhere to retreat to. Do you have anything?” She looks at me.

“Not if they have enchanted armour.” I say. “My best plan is to do so much damage on approach to their ship and crew that they can’t board… I might have something that can break through, but I’ll only have one shot, and it isn’t reliable.”

“All right, what can you do to hurt them on approach?” Sarah asks.

“Impressive magic things? I have a shortish range fire spell with a good area that can kill swathes of them, especially if they’re gathering to board. I also have a one time use magic item with better range. It will emit a blinding light that might also cause fires. Though the light is so blinding that we’ll need to warn our own crew to look away too. But I figure we’ll be able to shoot them at our leisure while they replace their blinded crew on deck… by the way, the divination said each boat has about five times our crew. So, 150 per boat.”

Kalen speaks. “Yeah, that’s about standard. They don’t have cargo, so they pack extra crew to soak losses, overwhelm the target and sail both ships back. Lots of desperate people after Caethlon, not to mention other kingdoms sponsoring raids on imperial shipping. Most of them will be below decks until it’s time to fight. They won’t be heavily armed, but they might have shields for missiles and a simple axe or pike. They’ll also have a dozen or two archers exchanging shots with us on approach, and maybe a ballista on the prow… by the way we should get one of those.”

“Not happening, too much space.” Sraw says.

“What’s our armoury like?” I ask.

Kalen answers. “Um, four bows and three crossbows.”

“Five crossbows.” Sraw corrects. “I have some in other places.” I smirk, glancing at the armoire and desk, causing him to redden.

“Alright, five. We have four large shields and gambesons with metal plates sewn in, and five pikes. That leaves at least ten crew who will have to make do with hatchets, clubs and knives.”

I nod. “What about the rest of us?”

The captain speaks “I have plate armour and a very large shield which I will be using to keep myself safe while steering the ship. The armour is magic, and I have a magic short sword, but nothing good enough to stand up to a knight.”

Sarah next. “I have a magic longsword, shield, and bow, but my armour is just mundane chainmail. The bow is enchanted enough to maybe hurt a knight in magic plate, at least with repeated shots.”

“Same, but with lesser enchantments.” Kalen says, then looks at me.

“Magic and regular dagger, and a sling with plenty of bullets, plus a spell to make them more effective.” I say, not revealing the knives on my wrists. It’s not like I’ll be throwing them with the chance of them landing overboard. “Do we have any incendiaries I could throw with the sling?”

“What, like alchemist bombs? No, I would have mentioned.” Kalen says.

“How about jars of oil?” I ask.

The captain answers. “Not really. We use candles for lighting and cooking oil doesn’t work very well. It just doesn’t burn hot enough, so they’ll just smother it with prepared tarps. Too expensive for a distraction at best.”

I nod, realizing that typically when the cell burned things the oil was applied to the outside of the building where the defenders couldn’t put it out.

“Right, um…” I suddenly realize that I’ve taken a leadership role here. In part likely because I was the one who had the information so presenting it gave a sort of initiative. But I probably also have the most fighting experience among them, with the possible exception of Kalen.

Which is bad, because I don’t want them to think of me as capable and confident in danger, because I haven’t given them a history that would explain that. So, I try to back down. “Kalen, you’re the most experienced of us with fighting. Why don’t you go over how you plan on leading the crew.”

She nods. “Not much to it. I’ll sort the crew into roles tomorrow and give them a rundown of their weapons. Bows will be on the aftcastle. I’ll put one crossbow on the crow’s nest, three inside shooting from portholes, and the last one will be with the bows. One person with shield and armour will be placed by you to block arrows, the rest will be at the boarding point backed by the pikes to block the enemy from coming on board. The rest will be on the ropes or moved to fighting when needed. In the meantime, we’ll prepare by training the crew, the carpenter will make crude shields and other preparations, and we’ll cut sheets into bandages.”

“You said we’re carrying silk?” Sarah asks the captain. “Would you let me sew some into some gambesons?”

“That would be expensive armour.” The captain says.

“At least for Malzad. I doubt the ones in the armoury will fit, and we want to keep our mage alive, no?” Sarah presses.

The captain nods after a few seconds saying. “Fine, just for the mage. Now, I think what we have sounds like a plan, so everyone, go back to work.”