We reached Lisaeli after a week of sailing, during which I ended up taking more than one shift on the oars. I'd done the first one to indulge Erid's caprice, but ship life made it difficult to do my morning PT. Dal Salim joined me for those, despite his newfound status as a freeman.

I'd half expected Erid to refuse when I offered to pay off his debt, but she got a glint in her eye and took the coin without further questions. It was ambiguous what conclusions she was drawing from my behavior, but I couldn't help but remember Val's advice to pretend I had a pirate fetish. The irony in her voice when she assigned him to my cabin had me suspicious.

For his part, at least, Dal Salim hadn't shown any interest in me. The aging pirate carried himself no differently for having his debt erased, assuming a constant place behind my shoulder like he'd always been there. It took a couple days for the back of my neck to stop prickling. By the time we reached Lisaeli, I'd more or less gotten over the feeling like I needed to be ready to stab him at any time.

The port of Lisaeli received the Fool's Errand with honor. Erid and several of her officers were escorted to the headquarters of the Trade Fleet with a full honor guard. I didn't ask to come and Erid didn't offer. We both tacitly understood that there was no question of me entering the city.

I found myself hanging out with Dal Salim on the deck, watching the activity in the harbor. I sat on the railing of the deck, legs dangling out over the ocean. I wasn't wearing a walker; if I fell in, I'd be swimming in harbor water. Let me tell you, the lack of modern pollutants hadn't stopped the Estheni from doing their best to foul it up.

The harbor was a construction of considerable scale. The city walls extended out into the ocean, capped on either side of the harbor with towers boasting anti-naval siege weapons. The harbor itself was massive, with a two-to-one split between military dry docks and the trade docks, where we were moored. The trade docks themselves were multi-storied. I'd initially thought this was to accommodate different ship builds, but then an hour ago a big ship had lurched in and started unloading cargo from two entrances.

"This city is like a forge," Dal Salim said.

"Yeah?" I idly kicked my legs against the railing.

"They feed it to make it burn," he said. "Then out come weapons of war."

"Sure," I said glibly. "That’s definitely how forges work."

Dal Salim frowned playfully at me as I turned to smirk at him.

"It’s a metaphor," he insisted. "Some thoughts are for living and others for looking. You have to sit with it."

"Alright, alright," I said. "I’m sitting with the thoughts."

Wait for it… wait for it…

"The city’s not burning either."

"You’d eat a goat that offered you gold," Dal Salim groused.

"He should’ve had it on hand if he didn’t want to get eaten," I said primly.

Dal Salim chuckled.

"There they are," I said. "Looks like Erid has a new friend."

"H̵̭͖͎̎͝a̴̳̘̫͑͘͠w̶̡̠̠͓͒ǩ̵͖̈́-̵͕́̿̎̎e̴̬͙̳͗̃̚͜͠y̴̪̹͐͗ȇ̴̙s̶͉̙̟̈́̉," Dal Salim said. I winced at the pun-induced comm feedback.

"What did you just call me?"

"Danou," he said. "Your name, it’s similar to a Parmedi phrase. In Estheni, it I think is ‘eyes like a hawk.’ Oh, to have young eyes again."

Young eyes, right. He had no idea—technically speaking, my eyes were only few weeks old. From a certain point of view, that meant the truth of my eyes was not the truth of his eyes.

Man, deployment was great, but I missed puns. I obviously couldn’t tell Dal Salim about that one, and my team… Actually, hold on, none of the words in that joke carried multiple meanings, so it shouldn’t trigger comm feedback.

"Hey Val," I subvocalized.

"No."

"Fine. I won’t tell you. I hope not knowing will torture you for the rest of your days."

"Don’t threaten torture when the alternative is worse torture. Highly unpersuasive."

"Erid’s friend," Dal Salim said, oblivious to the byplay taking place over etheric channels. "She bodes ill for the future."

"Yeah?" I said, zooming in on her.

The lady carried herself with the kind of confidence I’d come to associate with the graced. She was dressed like one too, but her clothing and hairstyle were deceptively practical. Her shawl was tailored to give the impression of wideness without actually sweeping a foot and a half off each shoulder like some of the nobles we’d seen. She wore a heavy weather-resistant skirt, and her hair was looped into a bun.

All of the indications of nobility, while not comprising practicality. Seemed good to me.

"It is so," Dal Salim answered. "The colors on her shawl—gray and red. Sword colors. The Trade Fleet is going to war."

"There you go," I said. "I told you they were going to tame the wind."

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Swords can’t even tame men," Dal Salim replied. "What hope do they have against the lord of the sea?"

I shot him a wry smile. "The swords aren’t for him."

Erid’s party made their way through the docks, engaged in conversation. I didn’t know how to read lips, but my comm did—the mouth movements are tied to the words, so conduit theory applies. The newcomer's side of the conversation was hidden, but Erid's words were enough.

—didn't tell you during the meeting, Erid was saying. You're going to meet a girl onboard. She's trouble. Don't encourage her if she starts talking about pirates.

I frowned. Poisoning the well already, Erid?

I can't, Erid said. Grandmother's sticking her fingers in.

'Grandmother' meant Kives, most likely. Varasites called her that sometimes, reflecting the Estheni belief that Kives was mother to Varas.

I'll tell you once we're underway. She's going to want to get in pissing contests with you.

Seriously?

Yes, really. She doesn't care. Trust me, Pellonine.

A question.

I promise you, there's nothing we can do. It's not worth the risk. Just let me handle her.

A response.

You try that, you'll get someone killed.

Erid shook her head.

I told you, once we're underway. I just need you to trust me.

I hmmed softly, processing the new information. Erid was… afraid of me? Maybe this whole Calamity thing was more useful than I'd thought at first.

"Markus," I subvocalized. "You get all that?"

"Sure did," he said. "I'm guessing this is your counterpart from the Trade Fleet."

"It's a good guess." I considered the approaching party. "Suggestions on my approach?"

"Erid hasn't been spreading the Calamity news around. She's planning to tell this liason once they're onboard."

"How do you know?"

"The questions she was responding to. Erid doesn't think you can be contained."

"I cannot," I declared. "I am uncontainable."

"Pellonine does. She wouldn't think so if she'd been told who you are. But Erid has to tell her in case she pisses you off somehow. As soon as she does, Pellonine runs right back to the Trade Fleet command and makes her report. So she's waiting until that's not an option."

"So if I act like I'm not dangerous, I make Erid look dumb."

"Why would you want to do that?"

"So she doesn't make me look bad."

"What does that accomplish?"

"It… makes me feel better? I guess that's not a mission objective."

Markus laughed. "Not really, no. Pellonine's primary utility to you is her ability to influence the Luchenko process. If it were me, I'd figure out what she thinks about the operation, then figure out how to give her ideas she can carry back to the main fleet. Mind you, they'll probably come up with the right kind of ideas on their own, but it's a good chance to practice."

"Dang. This is considerably lower stakes than my last insertion."

"That was low-stakes too," Markus said. "You just didn't see it that way."

"Hmph."

Something about that was troubling. Maybe because it was Markus saying it. I'd built a whole family during that insertion. I'd saved them from destruction. That had mattered. I could see Val with his cynicism dismissing all of it as worthless, but Markus was the one who cared.

Or so I'd thought.

I lashed out. "And Cades? He was low-stakes too?"

Markus was silent for a while.

"It's not wrong to care, Lilith," he said. "You should care deeply. Maybe a more Velean person would disagree with me. But you should care because people are important. Not just the ones you're building relationships with. All of them."

"Uh huh," I said skeptically.

"Those are the stakes," Markus said. "We can't be there for all of them. All we can do is kill the predator eating them."

I was out of time to reply. Erid and her delegation were approaching. I thought for a moment, then assumed a parade rest, Dal Salim behind my shoulder. I made my decision: no personas this time. I was a warrior of Veles, and I was here to see the mission done. Pellonine seemed practical; maybe she would respond well to that.

"Godsmile, Erid," I said, nodding to her.

Erid grunted.

Etiquette now demanded Erid introduce us, and I waited until it was clear she wasn't going to. "And good to meet you, Pellonine. You can call me Danou."

Pellonine looked between the two of us, getting a feel for the dynamic.

"How do you know my name?"

I looked consideringly at Erid, figuring out how much to disclose. I decided to stay mysterious.

I gave Pellonine a polite half-smile. "I have my sources."

"Lovely," Pellonine sighed. "I am not interested in playing games, Danou. This is a matter of considerable impact. What is your role here?"

"I'm an advisor," I said.

Pellonine scoffed. "The captain openly snubbed you. Who's listening to your advice?"

"Pellonine," Erid said warningly. "Come on."

"She listens," I said, meeting Erid's eyes. "Even if she pretends not to. It's all part of the game."

"And who do you represent?" Pellonine asked. "You're not Estheni. Your uniform matches nothing I recognize. What are you doing on Varas's flagship?"

"Giving advice," I said with a smirk.

"I am Dal Salim," said the bulky presence behind me. "By your reasoning, I have been snubbed by all three of you. It is forgiven. I thought you should know."

We all paused. I tilted my head to give him a perplexed stare.

"What a tight ship you run," Pellonine said to Erid.

"Muzzle your dog," Erid snapped at me, turning to walk away.

"Or what?" I said quietly.

Erid stopped. There it was—something on her face as she considered the situation. Just like when I'd threatened to kill everyone on the ship if she tried to have me chained up.

Shit, she really was scared of me.

"Forgive me," I said, trying to walk it back. "I got heated. Discipline is important on a ship."

Erid scoffed. "Don't pretend you know what discipline looks like, Idiot." But her shoulders relaxed a little.

Pellonine looked sourly at me. "You are in breach of decorum, Danou. On Trade Fleet ships, Trade Fleet rules apply."

"I believe the captain gave you some advice about me," I said.

Pellonine's eyes widened. "How—"

"I have my sources." I smiled innocently. Erid scoffed. "Come on, Dal Salim. We mustn't distract the captain."

I walked across the deck, my personal pirate in tow.

"Well, Markus?" I subvocalized. "How'd I do?"

"You definitely won that encounter," he said noncommittally. "Val would be proud."

As a Velean, I heard the unspoken judgment. "You're not."

"What did you win, exactly?"

"Respect."

"Did you? Or did you start a pissing contest, exactly the way Erid predicted you would?"

I blinked. "They were both attacking me! I didn't start it!"

"But you finished it."

"Well—yes!"

"Instead of deflecting, or de-escalating, or ignoring it. Like your pirate friend did, at the cost of his own social standing."

Oh. That's what that was. "He's not my friend. He's an operational objective."

"You freed him from debt bondage. That connection goes a little deeper than 'operational objective.'"

"Okay, but it's not like Cades!"

"I didn't say anything about Cades."

That one caught me flatfooted. "No, like—argh, I meant like—"

"Lilith. It's okay to make mistakes, alright? You're here to learn. You've been doing great. Things are rocky with Erid, but that was always going to be the case. Just take your time and experiment. Pay attention to the results. You'll figure it out."

I sighed. "Thanks, Markus."

Dal Salim, not being privy to the subvocalized conversation, was able to hear the sigh. "Knives out with you two, eh?"

"Yeah," I said. "Dumb of me."

"Maybe," he said. "The wind blows."

I rolled my eyes and leaned against the railing.

Low stakes, they said. You'll figure it out, they said.

I sighed again.