Sanya

“Sora, what do you want me to do?” I asked them again as Bryce, or uh, Captain Bryce, finished giving out orders and people started to stand up. Normally, calling a ship’s captain ‘captain’ wasn’t the thing to do on Paradise unless you were on their crew, or you were doing a bit of sexy role-play. The only real exception was if they were a captain on the council, then you always called them captain. Well, at least, while they were in the room.

And if Bryce really did kill Leo, then she’d be on the council. The same was true even if it was actually Sora who did the killing. As long as it was somebody on her crew.

“I’m not sure. Give me a moment,” Sora said before turning to their captain. “Bryce, what do you want Sanya and Suriel doing?”

She paused to look at me for a moment before asking. “Sanya, are you absolutely certain that you want to get involved in this? Nobody would hold it against you if you wanted to back out.”

I was about to answer when Leila scoffed. “She was sitting there the entire time we were talking. It’s much too late for her to back out now.”

I felt my heart stop, and then immediately start again when Aurora came to my rescue with a scowl. “Lei, it’s fine. Sanya is fae. If she promises not to tell anybody, then there’s no problem.”

All eyes were on me, a few of them more scary than the rest. “I won’t tell anybody, I promise! Um, also, Sora said that if I helped, then you’d owe me a favor. So, I’d like to help if I can.”

“Bryce, don’t forget what happened with Rose,” Thea warned, which gave the elf pause, and made me worry just a bit. I wasn’t sure who Rose was, but if the captain had been burned by fae in the past, then she might not be willing to deal with me.

“I didn’t fuck up, did I?” Sora asked Thea, and I shook my head quickly.

“No, you didn’t. I’m not very powerful, so I can’t enforce promises like the others,” I explained, then realized what I had just said and interrupted Leila before she could say anything. “But I still have to follow through with my own! If I didn’t, then the fae courts would punish me, and that’d be really, really bad.”

What I didn’t mention was that those same courts could enforce promises made to me on my behalf. After all, the courts wouldn’t bring me back from the dead if this group decided that letting me live was too risky.

“If you can tell me exactly what the favor is, then I’ll consider it, but I won’t commit to something that’s open-ended,” Captain Bryce answered, and I nodded before pausing to think of how I should phrase the request. I was never any good at making deals, and asking for too much would be bad. But it wasn’t often that you got to ask something of a potential council member, so I didn’t want to waste the chance.

“I grew up on Akresh with my older brother before moving to Paradise a little over a decade ago. We’re still super close and try our best to stay in contact whenever we can, but the distance makes it kinda hard.” I felt myself getting sad, which happened a lot recently when I talked about my brother. “Anyway, he sent me a message last year saying that a lord from a neighboring district was interested in his business. Xan is a bioware tech, and he’s really good at it. Like for real, everybody always says he’s the best in the Union.”

“Sanya, we are in something of a hurry here,” Sora reminded me, so I picked up the pace.

“Right, sorry. Anyway, Xan kept sending me messages as things got more and more serious, until I got a message a few weeks ago saying that he wouldn’t be able to stall any longer. The lord is insisting that they get married, and has even already taken over all the financial parts of his business. The wedding is in a couple of months, and just getting a flight back to the Union would cost thousands of credits. There’s no way that I could afford that, and even then I’d probably have to hire a whole team of people. That’s assuming I could find anybody willing to take the job, which is going to be basically impossible, considering who the lord is.”

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“I think I understand the situation,” Captain Bryce said with a frown, and I knew what she was going to say even before she started. “Unfortunately, Sanya, I’m not sure we can help you. At least, not on that timeline. We’d be hard pressed to even reach the Anarchist Union before the wedding, let alone have enough leeway to do anything.”

“Bullshit. Bryce, it’s her brother.” Aurora glared at her captain before turning back to me. “Do what you can to help us on Paradise, and I guarantee that we’ll get you there on time. Hells, you won’t even have to worry about the cost. I’ll take care of this lord personally.”

“Really?! Of course I accept!” I all but leapt into her arms and immediately started crying tears of joy. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Xan is going to be so happy. I really thought that I was going to miss his wedding, and I can’t wait to see what sort of party a devil throws. I bet it’s going to be even better than the one I was planning! It’s going to be so much fun!”

Thea and Sora started laughing while their captain was staring at the ceiling with her arms crossed and her eyes closed. Aurora just kind of went still, and her twin was shaking her head in disappointment. Sami had even stopped reading her data-pad long enough to look confused. Although, it was Suriel who was the one to actually say something.

“Sanya, I think there might have been some confusion about what you were asking for us to do. Would you mind clarifying, for Aurora’s sake?”

I blinked at him, not quite sure what needed to be clarified. Sure, I had to rush through the second half of the story because Sora was in a hurry, but I thought what I was asking was pretty obvious. “Um, I was hoping for a ride back home for my brother’s wedding, or if that wasn’t possible, then I was going to ask for some money to pay for one. That way I would have enough left over to plan the bachelorette party.”

“So your brother isn’t being forced into a marriage against his will?” Aurora asked, and I gasped as I took a step back.

“What? No, of course not. They’re in love, and if it wasn’t for her, then Xan would've gone out of business a long time ago. He's terrible with money, and She’s been amazing for him.”

“Hey, Sanya, I couldn’t help but notice that you haven’t said this mystery lord’s name yet. Is there a reason for that?” Sora asked, and I took another step back.

“No reason. I mean, none of you are from the Union, so it’s not like you would know her, anyway.”

“Sanya, if you don’t tell me her name, then there’s no way I can plan a party for her,” Aurora pointed out.

“Okay, her name is Rithu, but like I said, there’s no way you would know her unless you lived in the Union.”

“Rithu? Where have I heard that name before?” Leila asked, and unfortunately, Suriel answered.

“You probably heard it back in Elysia. Rithu is one of Iefyr’s more reasonable daughters. We always tried to get her to be the one we negotiated with when we needed to enter Union space.”

“Hey, Sanya, what are the chances that the mother of the bride and leader of the Anarchist Union is going to be at the wedding?” Aurora asked, but before I could answer, Sora placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Well, it was nice meeting you. I wouldn’t worry too much about ruining the wedding. After all, I’m sure the goddess of vengeance will be very forgiving. Leila, we should head out, otherwise I’m not sure we’ll be able to make it before your new ship gets scrapped.”

“Yeah, alright, let’s go.” Leila followed them out of the room, and just before they left earshot, I heard her ask. “Is there any chance you know where I can find a new sister? I think that I might be in the market for a replacement soon.”

“Thea—” Aurora started to ask something, but the shorter devil cut her off.

“Nooope! You’re the one who agreed to this, and besides, I have friends in Legion. There’s no way I’d help plan a bachelorette party for one of Iefyr’s daughters. Not with her ridiculous bounty on necromancers.”

“Aurora, we’ll do what we can to help, so long as we’re not directly involved. Thea is right about us having friends in Legion. It would be best if word didn’t get out that we’re associated with one of Iefyr's daughters,” Captain Bryce said before turning to me. “Sanya, would you be willing to help us find a place to stay? Ideally, somewhere between Ulyd’s hangars and Captain Penn’s territory. We also need to find somebody who will either purchase valuables or trade iron coins from the lower planes for credits.”

“Aw man, I’m totally paying for all this, aren’t I?”

“Sorry, Thea,” the captain grinned at her as she continued. “Although, if it makes you feel any better, then you can take it out of Esme’s cut.”

“I know who my clients normally go through to sell off treasure, but their rates aren’t very good. I could ask around, though.”

“Suriel, could you go with her? Having you there to identify which merchants are honest would be a huge help. I’ll even provide you with additional mana to keep you both safe.”

“Sure, maybe I can even help plan this party. I don’t know Rithu well, but I have met her before, which is more than Aurora can say.”

A sense of relief seemed to wash over my favorite devil as her brother committed to helping out our cause. “Thanks, Suriel, you’re literally saving my ass here.”