"Captain Walker."
"Archer. A pleasure to see you, of course. I'd stand to greet you, but-"
"All things considered I'd really rather you didn't right now. It's a bloody miracle you didn't lose consciousness in the battle, let alone when we began to leave the valley behind us. I've come down to inform you that we're now deep into Gallic airspace; the rebel presence in the air is far weaker here than it is in the border regions between the kingdoms, so we should be safe. All of that aside, there's some talk of you receiving a knighthood from the Gauls. Greyfax has plagued them for years, but you removed that threat."
"Greyfax is dead?"
Archer nodded, grinning all the while.
"A merchant ship gave us the news as she passed. The Gallic Army apprehended the Wolfhound on the ground, and the government is intending to give the ship back to Albion as a gesture of goodwill. It seems our actions may have a ripple effect both at home and in Gaul."
Lawrence shook his head in disbelief.
"God, a knighthood. Never thought I'd see the day. 'Sir Walker'. Heh."
The man closed his eyes for a second, and for a moment Archer wondered if he'd fallen back asleep. He reopened them a second later however, looking less mirthful and more serious.
"No. We aren't stopping in Gaul. The rebels have no naval presence here, but there's plenty of dissidents and lowlives who'll try to take our prince if we stop. There'll be no honour for me in Gaul."
Archer shrugged.
"I'm fairly certain there will be. As soon as Talon is back home then you're almost certain to receive a knighthood from the royal family of Albion, but even if you didn't it wouldn't take long for stories of your actions to spread from Albion to Gaul. They'll know it was you and you'll be knighted by them as well. But that's all besides the point at the moment."
Lawrence nodded again.
"You said you heard this from a passing merchant ship? Were we in any danger?"
Archer shook his head.
"No danger, believe me. Our guns were tracking her the second she came into view until she passed into the distance once more. We weren't taking any chances."
The captain smiled.
"Good. That's good. Tell me, how go the repairs so far?"
Archer shrugged, puffing out an exhausted breath as he moved to sit at the side of Lawrence's bed in the mess, which had been converted into a makeshift hospital ever since Greyfax had gone down. Talon had been tending to the wounded and making damn good use of his skills, but he was only one man. Almost half of the crew had been wounded in some way, and around half of that consisted of major injuries. He'd been worked off his feet, as had the rest of the healthy, and the serving-boys and girls made up his nursing staff, but there was only so much they could do. Counting those killed in the battle, it seemed that the Sunbird would be returning to Albion with only around two-thirds of her crew alive.
As for Archer himself, well, he was doing everything he damn well could to patch the old bird up. He'd had help from deckhands and midshipmen when it came to the far less technical aspects of the job, such as patching up the various small bullet holes in the balloon or laying rigging out to make temporary walkways and passages where the actual walkways had been damaged or blown to scrap. The rest of it? Engine maintenance, air-pump checks, carronade repairs? All of that he'd needed to do himself. He was working overtime, but he could barely keep himself afloat amidst all the damage.
"I'm keeping our heads above water, but that's about all I can say. Still, whenever you're able to move around again I'm sure we can get it all done."
Lawrence grimaced and looked away a little, seeming to be almost ashamed.
"I wouldn't be so sure on that. I spoke to Talon earlier about my... injuries. I'll live, of course, but..."
"But what?"
Lawrence gestured towards what seemed to be an ornate walking stick of some sort.
"But I'll find it difficult to walk without that. As for heavy mechanical work?"
He huffed out a resigned breath.
"Never again. Doctor's orders. I'll have to resign myself to... well, I'm honestly not sure anymore. I don't wish to maintain the captaincy indefinitely, but without the ability to maintain the ship I'm not sure what other use I am around here. At the same time I do not wish to live on the ground, where everything stays where it is and there's no clouds at eye level. I don't know what I'm going to do, Archer."
Archer let himself slump a little in the chair. He'd never considered that Lawrence, someone who's whole life had been dedicated to the Sunbird, might have to leave her behind. He wasn't sure he'd ever heard someone who'd just won a spectacular victory sound so defeated.
"I'm afraid I haven't any answers for you, Lawrence. All I can tell you is that we're here for you, and wherever you go we'll be willing to follow and support you. That much I can offer you. You may not always think it, but you're a hero now. Wherever you go in Albion, you'll be lauded as a hero. Hell, if you ever wished to visit the estate I was raised on you'd be hosted as a guest of honour by the baronet. I can promise you that your life is not over simply because it has changed so much. You just need support to change with it."
Lawrence looked at him, a mixture of lingering defeat and cautious hope in his expression.
"Mayhaps. Thank you, Archer."
"Think nothing of it. If you're capable of moving back into your own quarters tonight then I think it would be nice if Talon and I could spend some time with you. Just a night where we can have a few casual drinks and play cards. Something simple like that might do you a lot of good. Talon could benefit from the break as well; he's done a spectacular job with everyone down here, but there's nothing he needs to personally oversee anymore. He's stitched everyone up, set broken bones, amputated where necessary and sealed shut the wounds. There's nothing that the boys and girls cant oversee anymore."
Lawrence nodded at him, a small smile almost appearing at the corners of his face.
"Very well then. Thank you once more, friend. I don't know what I'd have done without you."
You'd have bled out in the battle for a start, Archer thought, but of course he did not say that. It may have come across as cruel in Lawrence's current state of mind, and he had no intention of acting cruelly to a friend.
"I believe that I may be relegated to captaining the sunbird from a chair on deck in the coming days. I can't stay cooped up in the mess any longer."
"I can't say I blame you. I'd be going mad as well if I were in here for a week."
He looked around the room absent-mindedly, until his gaze landed on a small woman asleep in a chair next to someone's bedside.
"Is that-"
"Our resident gunnery maniac? Indeed. She's been chatting with me on and off throughout the day, but most of the time when she's off duty she's waiting by the bedside of her second in command. He took a bullet to the shoulder in the battle, but he's alive. Spends most of the day asleep though, since he was lying there for quite some time before anyone realised he was up on the forecastle."
Archer nodded.
"Who is he? Crail, right?"
Lawrence nodded.
"That's the one. He's a damn good shot as well. About the only reason he won't make it as a Gunnery Officer yet is that he's too valuable on the guns at the moment, but that'll come with time."
"Are the two of them..."
Lawrence laughed as Archer's voice trailed off, before he hissed and clutched at his injured side. Archer moved to help him in concern, but the man waved him off.
"Sorry, sorry. That happens when I laugh. Apparently the pain will go away of its own accord in time, but until then laughing is something I need to avoid. But no, Assistant Engineer. The two of them are good friends, but there's little more than close friendship between them. They're both too bad at keeping secrets to hide that sort of thing from anyone for long."
Archer snorted a laugh, still fondly looking over at the little gremlin of a woman splayed out on the chair. She might have been rather outgoing and certainly a little too bloodthirsty in the day to day, but he'd be damned if she wasn't one of the nicest people he'd ever had the bloody pleasure of meeting. Damn the man that overplayed his hand with her, though Archer was fairly certain she'd have managed to geld anyone being untoward with her before anyone else could intervene on her behalf. She'd be fine by herself, of that he was certain, but it was good to know that she had other trusted friends outside of the officer's corps of the Sunbird.
"So, we're to have a night of relaxation at my room then, as I understand it?"
Archer nodded.
"Yep. I'm afraid you don't get a say in this matter anymore. You said yes, I'm taking that to mean I can throw a full scale party and invite half the crew. How does that sound?"
Lawrence shook his head while smiling widely.
"I'd rather throw myself from the walkways."
Archer smiled innocently in response.
"For your sake the invites have only been sent to myself and Cooke. I don't think you want too many people intruding on your living space at the same time."
The captain nodded again, before gesturing with a motion of his head towards someone approaching from behind.
"Archer! How lovely to see you!"
Before he even had the chance to turn a pair of arms wrapped around his waist from behind, hugging him. He smiled as he spoke, not even needing to guess who this was.
"Talon. A pleasure to see you as well. Hey, how do you feel about the three of us relaxing at Lawrence's quarters tonight?"
The man loosened his arms and walked to Lawrence's bedside, the injured man waving at him slowly.
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"Well, that sounds lovely, but I'm afraid I'm quite busy tonight. Work doesn't end because the shift does."
Archer shook his head.
"You've done what you can, and you need to rest a little yourself. Terribly sorry to say this, but you don't get a choice. I'm forcing you to have fun tonight."
Talon giggled a little.
"All right, if you say so. Who am I to deny you a night of rest? Lawrence, how about you?"
"So long as it means I can leave this bed, I'm more than happy to host the two of you for a night. Besides, you were staying at my quarters anyway before the battle, so it should make little difference to me whether or not you sleep in my bed again."
There was a little amount of good-natured muttering from a few people nearby about that, but all of it was quickly quelled by a single level stare around the room courtesy of the captain. No-one wanted to test Lawrence at the moment, not with danger still all around even with this reprieve.
"That makes sense I guess. Sure, in that case I think it would be a lovely idea. I hope you have a pleasant rest of the day, and to see you both tonight. Sorry I can only chat for a little bit, I'm quite busy at the moment."
"No bother, I'm fairly certain I've been worked off my feet this last week as well. Even still, there's something to be said for having something to look forwards to at the end of a long day. Talon, try not to overwork yourself. Lawrence, try not to go stir-crazy with nothing to do."
Talon nodded, smiling pleasantly at him.
"Of course! Yourself as well, Archer!"
Lawrence spoke through gritted teeth, maybe a little annoyed at Archer's parting comment.
"Indeed. Yourself as well, Assistant Engineer."
Archer stuck his tongue out at the man as he walked away, the admittedly childish action gaining him some laughter from Cooke as the man walked off to carry on with his work.
Well, back to it I guess. At least tonight should be fun, even if it is just card games with three people.
----------------------------------------
"-and then I managed to get the goat out of the river and save the baronet's son from a complete rollicking. Given how annoying he turned out I sometimes wish I'd not only saved the goat but that I'd pushed him in myself."
Talon was doubled over with laughter by the end of his story, and Lawrence himself had a wide grin on his face.
"God above, that must have been a bloody sight. You, wading through a river with a goat slung over your shoulders like some sort of shepherd in the hills. Do you reckon the baronet's son remembers?"
Archer shrugged, still laughing at his own story.
"Damned if I know. He was sober at the time given that we couldn't have been fifteen years old back then, so he should remember, but quite understandably he's never brought it up since."
Lawrence shook his head in amusement.
"So that was a three mile hike to chase down a spooked prizewinning goat because the baronet's son wanted to play at hunting like his old man. Let me guess, he got off scot-free?"
Archer shook his head, and began laughing even harder. He held up a hand to stop Lawrence from saying anything else as he continued.
"No, no, it gets even better! So when we get back we see the goat off back to the pastures on the way, and he tries to sneak us both into the house. As soon as we walked into the foyer the lights came on and we realised that his parents were both waiting for us with stern expressions on their faces. His mother asks where we were, and then-"
He doubled over in laughter at the memory, taking a few seconds to calm himself as Talon began laughing again just at Archer's laughter.
"And then because I was stood there soaked through and he didn't want to mention the entire fiasco with the goat, he told his parents the first thing that came to mind and made sense as an excuse."
"And what was that?"
"He said he'd gotten annoyed at me and pushed me into the lake. God, the shade of red the baronet turned and the look of fury on his mother's face was probably the first moment he realised exactly what he'd said, but of course it was too late to back down or backtrack from his story now. Well, he could have backed down and told the truth, but I don't think it would have painted him in a much better light. Anyhow, he spent a solid week doing chores without assistance from any servants because of that. Doesn't sound too bad, but for someone who had never needed to clean his room or cook his own food before it was probably the closest thing he had to a wake-up call."
"Was he better after that?"
Archer nodded, smiling.
"He's still a bit of a dick from time to time, but you sort of know that he means well nowadays. If he takes something too far he'll at the very least apologise for what he's done now, so I'd say it all worked out for the best in the end."
Lawrence lazily raised a bottle of beer in a toast, and Archer mimicked the motion from across the room.
"How about you Talon? You're bound to have some stories of mischief from when you were younger, surely?"
The man stopped, thinking on Archer's prodding question a little.
"Hmm... there wasn't much fun to be had in the palace, truth be told. Well, tell a lie, there was one time..."
Archer poked him as he trailed off.
"Don't stop there! What happened?"
"Alright, alright! No need to prod me, mister! I was probably fourteen at the time this happened, and it was already a very confusing time in my life. Anyway, so there was some major council, a gathering of heads of state. This was just before the Great Revolution, so I think it was something to do with that. There was some sort of... I don't really know how to describe it, it was some sort of dinner party or gala with attendees from not only the high societies of half a dozen nations, but also members of their royal families. Given that most of those royal families had been vying for power against each other for centuries, you can imagine how friendly the room was at that moment. I'd been giving speeches in parliament on behalf of my parents for two years now, and again with private audiences in Hithin and Pictriu for three years, so my attendance was requested so that I could make a speech. I was so nervous about it, especially since these people were extremely powerful, and it wasn't the sort of atmosphere I felt comfortable in. Nonetheless, I gave as best a speech as I could. I hadn't had more than a day or two to prepare something, and it was more than difficult to pick out examples of cooperation between the nations attending, but I managed. I called for cooperation and unity, for standing together and working to rectify the issues that were causing the rise in radicalism. I didn't want a war, I wanted dialogue, and I made that much known. It didn't make me popular with some of the upper-classes in attendance, especially since more than one of them thought it might provide them the excuse to earn some 'glory' in war. Well, whilst my peaceableness was generally well-received, those in the minority were really quite unhappy that they'd been upstaged by a fourteen year old and weren't really able to do anything about it. Still, over the course of the night the room gradually splits into two groups, one who decided they despised me and one of level-headed and generally alright people."
Lawrence sipped from his drink, smirking. It seemed he knew where this was going.
"And do tell us, Talon Cooke, what exactly happened next."
Talon covered his face with his hands, seemingly a little embarrassed.
"It was towards the end of the night, there was a little bit of an altercation between an Earl from Pictriu and a Hithinian lord. Nothing major or truly bad, you understand. Just a little too much wine and some poorly chosen words. Either way, an argument began. It started as little more than just the two men talking slightly too loudly, but as they continued and tempers began to flare more and more people began taking sides. Eventually completely unrelated arguments were being brought up, grievances being aired in a rather unconstructive manner. In that chaos I might have taken to opportunity to... well, it was most unkind of me, but I saw one of the main instigators who had gainsaid my calls for unity. I managed to sneak my way across the room underneath tables and... well, I poured white wine all over the front of his trousers. No-one noticed a blind thing, save only my royal father. I managed to sneak my way back to the king's table, and he gave me a look that was equal parts impressed, exasperated, and amused. When the others noticed his predicament, he was laughed at breathlessly. No-one really thought he'd wet himself, not after he'd explained it away as spilled wine, but it was so amusing that the arguments generally died down after. Those who did gainsay me were far less vocal about it afterwards."
Archer chuckled heartily.
"Only you would manage to humiliate a man at an official gathering and somehow not only appear to be in the right, but also somehow manage to actually rectify a difficult and tense situation as a result of trying to be mischievous and break the rules. You'll survive politics yet, your most esteemed royal majesty."
He flourished with a mock bow as he made up the title on the spot, and judging from the giggle Talon gave as well as the snort from Lawrence the tone had come across as intended.
"Thank you, peon. This reprieve from your duties is most kind of me. Still, I'm raising taxes to ninety-percent anyway."
Archer placed a hand on his chest, as though he'd been wounded.
"My most esteemed liege, how can the people be expected to bear such a burden?"
"Oh, not everyone. Only you have to pay ninety-percent tax."
Archer stuck his tongue out at the man.
"Fuck you, viva la revolution."
"Now now, peasant," Talon continued through giggles, "such talk will alert my knight to your rebelliousness."
"Indeed it will, labourer. Tell me, do you find our king's laws to be unjust? Such talk is unbecoming from one with so little status such as yourself."
Archer feigned horror.
"Alas, 'tis Sir Walker! I fear I shall never see my nefarious schemes to fruition now!"
"Indeed, none may test the loyalty of my most fearsome warrior!"
Archer raised an eyebrow and looked at Lawrence.
"Hey, if you help me overthrow him I'll make you the new king."
"Fool, Sir Walker would never-"
"I'm game. Sorry your majesty, it's only business."
Cooke recoiled in mock pain.
"Oh, oh! Wounded am I! Struck down by my beloved second-in-command! What a true tragedy."
The man lolled his tongue out and flopped backwards onto what looked to be a makeshift on the floor.
"Bleh. I'm dead now."
Archer turned to Lawrence.
"And now, Sir Knight, the throne is yours!"
"Indeed it is, save only for one small detail."
"And what may that be?"
Lawrence mimed firing a rifle at him.
"No loose ends, I'm afraid. Goodbye, labourer."
Archer allowed himself to flop backwards just like Talon had, miming out his own death.
"And now there is no-one to stop my ascent! I am the master of all! Wait, what's this? Ah fuck, I've been poisoned."
There was a light thudding noise as Lawrence also fell backwards. When a few seconds had passed Archer sat up and spoke.
"See Talon, now it's a real tragedy. Everyone's dead at the end!"
The man snorted and sat up, Lawrence following swiftly behind him.
"I've had a lot of fun with you two, even with everything that's happened recently. Do you think..."
The man cut himself off, and he pulled a face as though he were wrestling with his own thoughts. Whatever he wanted to ask them seemed as though it might be important.
"Talon?"
"The two of you will stay with me when we reach Albion, right? You'll stay with me in the palace, won't you?"
Archer and Lawrence exchanged grimaces, which only served to make Cooke more worried.
"I mean, I know you don't have to if you don't want to, but if you do want to stay I promise I can give you positions where you'd only have to answer to me, not anyone else! I can get you as much or as little work as you'd like, I'm sure of it, if you'd just stay with me."
Archer made to speak, but Lawrence spoke first.
"Talon, please. I need to think about this. To be your advisor and servant is certainly an open path to me, and one that I may even grow to enjoy in time, but I would not be free down there. If I were in a palace, if I was on the ground, how could I be expected to spread my wings and take flight? I don't know where tomorrow will take me while I'm up here, and it's liberating; the freedom all birds not in a cage enjoy is mine so long as I remain upon the Sunbird's decks. I'd need time to consider this. I'll let you know before I leave the palace when you're home, okay? I promise, Talon, you'll know in advance if you're to see me again. I promise."
The man nodded choppily. He clearly wasn't exactly happy to hear what Lawrence had just said, but he understood that at the end of the day he couldn't make the decision for his friend, prince or not.
"I believe I will be staying with you, Talon. Like it or not, you're stuck with me I'm afraid."
Talon, still a little downtrodden by Lawrence's not completely unreasonable indecision, visibly perked up as Archer spoke.
"Really? Oh, thank you Archer. It means a lot to know I won't be alone like I was before. Thank you a hundred times!"
"Think nothing of it, Cooke. You've done more for me than you know. Besides," he turned to the man and gave him a cocky look, " the title 'Royal Advisor' will make the people back home really wonder what the fuck happened to me while I was gone."
Cooke laughed at that little comment. Archer didn't know what Lawrence would do, but that was the man's own decision to make. Even so, Archer hoped he would remain with the two of them rather than go back out into the world without them. Either way, Archer would be standing by the side of his prince and lord. That much was a fact, and would never be in doubt.