“We only get one cabin?” Korinn said, making a face as she poked her head into the room.

Myles nudged her. “It’s a big cabin,” he whispered.

Korinn rolled her eyes, dropping her horn bell-first to lean against it. The deck shuddered beneath us. “I mean, yeah, but we’ve got the whole ship, don’t we? The only other people here are seahunters and the envoys, and there are only two of them.”

Kevin leaned his head into the cabin, glancing to the nine hammock-bunks set into the walls. Nella crowed, sticking her head in for a peek, too. “I think we’ll be fine. There are plenty of beds for us.

“And there’s a curtain to split it up,” I said, pulling it to demonstrate. “See? It’s not so bad.”

Myles chuckled softly. “Better than going to Deldynne.”

“Oh, quiet. You’re not even supposed to be talking yet,” Korinn said, batting at his arm. “I don’t want to hear anything from you.”

“I don’t think Avira really wants us bunking down alone, is more the thing,” I said softly. I hated to say it, but someone had to. Sure enough, the amused glee started to fade from Korinn’s eyes as she looked to me. I sighed. “Just in case. You know. With everything.”

“But there’s no one else here,” Korinn said. “And we’re out of Aradhen, even. Surely-”

“I know,” I said, spreading my hands. “But she’s just being extra-careful. Sorry, Korinn.”

“I mean, it’s fine,” she said, smiling again—rather more sheepish, this time. “I was just having some fun. We’ll already be swimming in a cabin like this.”

“I don’t know about swimming,” Kevin mumbled, making a face at the narrow room. “But we’ll all fit fine.”

“Yeah.” I trudged in, dropping my bag alongside one bunk. They were stacked in threes, with two walls occupied, so…well, only one of us would have to deal with a bunkmate. Myles was still recovering, and Korinn was a girl and would probably want a bit more privacy, so…”Kevin, you want top or bottom?”

Kevin snorted, covering his mouth with a hand hurriedly, but gave the bunks an appraising look, pursing his lips. “I’ll-”

“You know what, I’ll take top bunk,” I mumbled. The thought of the gangly man trying to wriggle in and out of the tall hammock…well, I’d like to make it through the trip with my head un-kicked.

He just chuckled, shrugging. “Y-Yeah. Probably best.”

I took a deep breath, glancing around. That was our things settled, and our berth found. Only one thing left to do before we could kick back and relax for the next month.

Rubbing my hands together, I glanced to Korinn and Myles. “Then…Shall we?”

They nodded, their good humor fading to blank professionalism.

A screech cut across the quiet. I looked over, in time to see Nella leap from Kevin’s shoulder. She hit me hard, bashing her head against mine.

“I should stay here anyway,” Kevin said. He gestured to his bag, then shrugged. “I need to make sure my crate makes it down here, and then…I’ve got a lot of legwork to do before we get to Talmarn. Everything needs to be set up perfectly so that I can hit the ground running.”

“I appreciate it,” I echoed, the words falling flat. “Really. I…I know this is a lot, but-”

“I’m responsible for us being in this position in the first place,” Kevin said, shaking his head. “I owe it to everyone to do my part in getting us out of it.”

Fair enough. I nodded, reaching up to rub at Nella’s head. “Don’t worry,” I said, looking down. “We’ll..We’ll figure this out. It’s not your fault any more than it’s hers.”

“Yeah,” Kevin said. “Right.” He didn’t sound convinced, and I couldn’t quite blame him. I wasn’t quite convinced either.

But this was the only way forward, so I couldn’t waste time moping about what-ifs. With one last nod to the researcher, I turned for the door. “Let’s go find those envoys.”

The interior of the ship was as dark and narrow as I remembered. Deck prisms poked through at the corners, casting a pale glow into the claustrophobic corridors, but even still…I grimaced, a bit uncomfortable in the too-tight darkness. It was bad enough being away from the land, cut off from all the sensations I was used to my treant blood giving me. Now, I couldn’t even have sunlight to go with it.

Nella nuzzled my cheek, nipping at my ear. Her anxiety swelled, burgeoning in response to mine. I shook my head, trying to banish the dark thoughts. “Sorry,” I murmured, pulling her off my shoulder and into my arms. “I’m fine, sweetling.”

“Something wrong?” Kevin said.

“Trellin’s a plant boy,” Korinn said, with what sounded suspiciously like a snicker. “He gets antsy over open water.”

“Hey,” I mumbled, chuckling. I’d told her as much on the trip home from Deldynne, but that didn’t mean I wanted it used as ammunition against me.

“It’s true,” she said, dancing ahead of me as we rounded a corner. The galley opened before us, but…it was empty. She groaned. “Not here.”

I ground my teeth together. I had way, way better things to do than go looking for the Talmarnan pair. But…it wasn’t that big a ship. They couldn’t find that many places to hide.

“Supper ain’t for another bell!” I heard one of the cooks holler from the kitchen, leaning over the bar to glare at us. “Myra’s tits, we just set sail. You can’t possibly be-”

“Were the diplomats here?” I said, cutting him off before he could get too wound up. I remembered the last ship’s cook all too clearly. I wouldn’t say no to some friendly bickering, but it…would probably be best for me to play things a little nicer, this time. “The Talmarnan pair. We’re looking for them.”

“Up on deck,” was the response, with a finger thrust toward the stairs out. The shutters snapped shut on the kitchen before the words had so much as faded. Nella hissed, rattling her scales.

I wrinkled my nose, giving the wooden boards a hard look—and the greasy man they hid. “So rude,” I mumbled. “And I bet he can’t even-”

“Come on,” Korinn said, snagging my elbow and dragging me out. “Pick a fight with the cooks later.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“I wasn’t going to fight,” I protested, but…yeah. I couldn’t really make it sound convincing. Myles just snorted, shaking his head as he trudged up the stairs.

I breathed a sigh of relief as we came out into the open air, spotting a pair of figures by the prow. The envoys. Their heads were pressed together, and both leaned half-out over the railing, kicking at the wooden deck. If it’d been Avira, I’d have kept my distance, knowing what she was doing, but…both of the Talmarnans seemed entirely comfortable with the gentle rolling of the ship.

Interesting. I held my tongue, settling for giving the pair a long, speculative look. Avira had said Talmarn was rocky. I hadn’t really expected any level of seamanship out of the two of them.

As we approached, I readied myself to offer a greeting, but they must have heard the clunking of our boots against the deck. They turned, their more-casual expressions vanishing behind polite masks. It wasn’t perfect, though. Just for a moment, I saw both of them flinch as Nella lifted her head.

Their recovery was just as quick, though. “Good evening,” the man said, bowing—Aron, I remembered from the meeting that felt like half a lifetime ago. His name was Aron. “Are you the ones in charge of this expedition?”

“Uh,” I began, glancing to the others. The ones in charge? An expedition? I mean, it was an expedition, technically, but the way he put it…my gut twisted. Something told me there had been a misunderstanding.

“I worried something had gone amiss, with the ship so quiet,” the woman alongside Aron said. She smiled faintly, brushing back a strand of pitch-black hair from her face. “I did not realize your hunters are trained as sailors, as well.”

“Uh,” I said, licking my lips. “Well, this is a guild ship. The sailors are seahunters. It’s…It’s kind of like-”

“Aradhen can be a dangerous place, ma’am,” Korinn said, bowing to the pair. “And fiends are likely to spawn in the water just as much as on land. The seahunters keep our trade routes safe, and assist in transporting urgent missions. Like this one.”

“And they will be joining us when we reach Talmarn?” Aron said, his brow furrowing gently.

I swallowed. There it was again—that hollow feeling, the sensation that something very, very important had been missed.

“The seahunters will take us to Talmarn, but they’ll stay with the ship,” I said. Both pairs of eyes shifted back to me. “And- I’m sorry, ma’am, I don’t believe I caught your-”

“Oh,” the woman said, her eyes widening. She bowed to me, her hair flying. “Ysandre of Morlath, Master Hunter.”

“I-It’s just Trellin,” I said, my cheeks flushing instantly. I was not a ‘master’ of anything. “Trellin is fine. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mistress Ysandre.” I took a deep breath, glancing to my companions. Myles’ face was entirely unreadable, but from the quick look he gave me, I could tell he could see where this conversation was going, too.

“My companions and I have been dispatched by Guildmaster Avira to handle your fiend problem,” I said, gesturing to the others. “This is Myles, and Korinn. We’ll be the team taking the, uh. Well, it’s not a contract, but-”

“Just the three of you?” Aron said, straightening. His tawny skin blanched. “And you’re barely even adults, at that. You cannot possibly expect us to-”

“It’s very normal for hunters to operate in small numbers, and all of us are at least mid-ranked tags,” I said, giving him a faint smile. “Hunter Myles is a silver, even. We’ll be perfectly capable of handling it, Master Aron.”

“But-”

“Trellin is Guildmaster Avira’s own shadow,” Myles said, raising his voice as best he could. I winced. There was still a gravelly strain to it that sounded…painful. He locked eyes with the envoy, though, refusing to budge. “She is not taking this matter lightly, let us assure you.”

Aron stared at Myles for a moment, his jaw tensing and untensing. He glanced to Ysandre. They didn’t say a word, but I could feel the unspoken messages passing between the two.

And then he turned back to me. “I apologize for my rudeness,” Aron said, again inclining his torso. “I am hardly in a position to complain over the help we’re given. I just..worry.”

“I understand,” I said. Hells, in his position, I’d be worried too. “But, we’ll get this handled. Trust us.” I gestured toward the sails crackling overhead. “We’ll be at Talmarn in no time. You’ve done all you can for your people. Let us handle it, now.” Inwardly, I cringed back from the firm words, but…I might as well make the most of things, and leave a good impression for the Hunter’s Guild. Avira was trusting me to not make a farce of this.

“Your ship is impressive, I’ll give you that,” Aron said. He actually cracked a smile, too. “The merchant ship was like a great fat whale, wallowing through the waves.”

“I thought we might never arrive,” Ysandre mumbled, wrinkling her nose. “And the smell.”

I snorted, looking away. “Well, I think we can do better than that.” Ah, the diplomat mask was starting to slip, ever so slightly. Good. If I had to spend the next month with these people—not to mention whatever time the hunt took—then I’d like for them to actually be people during it, not stiff government figures.

It did raise some questions for me, though. Something…didn’t sit quite right about all of this. The pair had been skittish from the moment I met them. When we’d first met in the palace, they’d almost seemed afraid. It was a natural reaction, surely, but…I’d expect a diplomat to be a little more composed. And now, with just a few minutes’ talking, they were starting to relax into decidedly non-diplomatic personalities. It just…didn’t feel quite right.

Of course, it was probably nothing, I told myself. Talmarn seemed like a small country. They couldn’t muster up the funds to place a contract on their fiends, and if Avira’s comments on its rockiness were true, the nation as a whole might simply be more rugged than Aradhen. Their culture might simply place different value on strict politeness, which frankly seemed like a good thing to me.

Even still, it just felt…off.

I quashed the feeling. It didn’t matter if the two were the image of diplomacy or not. We were hunters, not hand-shakers, and the only thing we needed to worry about was killing their fiends. The rest was just noise.

So I folded my arms, trying to look capable, and glanced between the pair. “The journey will still take some time,” I said. “So settle in. We’ll need to hear everything you know about these monsters that have begun appearing, but that doesn’t need to be tonight.” I glanced up to the darkening sky overhead, then out over the water. If I strained, I could still make out the faintest shadow on the horizon, the pale glow from Linead’s lights. We could still see home, but only for a little while longer.

“For now, rest,” I said, turning back to them—and shot a meaningful look to Myles as well. He looked away. “We…can talk tomorrow.”

“I suppose,” Aron said. He still didn’t look happy with the prospect of his ‘army’ being three lone hunters. Nella chirped at him, and he jumped.

“She wants you to scratch her ridges,” I said, fighting to keep a smile from my face as the infant krytir stretched her head out, screeching more loudly.

I saw Aron swallow hard, his gaze darting between her claws and her teeth. “Ah…will she-”

“She won’t hurt you,” I said.

So the envoy reached out, his hand twitching as if about to pull it back at any moment. Nella headbutted it, leaning hard into the man’s touch. Slowly, a smile spread across his face.

“I see,” Aron whispered, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “She’s a beautiful creature, Hunter Trellin.”

“It’s just Trellin,” I said, chuckling. “Hunters don’t stand on formality.”

Korinn snorted. “Says you,” I heard her mutter. “You aren’t shadowed to Sabbas.”

With one last stroke, Aron pulled away, folding his hands in front of him again. Nella chirped mournfully, but settled around my neck with a huff.

“Thank you, Trellin,” Aron said. “We will retire, then. Ysandre?”

She bowed too, rather more hurriedly. “Thank you, hunters,” I heard her mumble. When Aron strode away, his cloak crackling out behind him, she trotted after him.

I watched them go, shaking my head. “This should be interesting.”

“They’re strange,” Myles whispered. His eyes were tight, his lips pressed together. “I don’t like it.”

So he felt it too, then. I nodded, taking a deep breath. “I know,” I murmured. “I don’t quite know what to make of it.”

“It’s not our job to play diplomats,” Korinn pointed out, swinging around to complete our circle. “All we have to do is stand by the deal the guild made, and not make fools of ourselves. There’s no sense worrying over the rest.”

I nodded, ducking my head, but Myles didn’t look so convinced. Slowly, my thoughts heavy, I trudged to the railing, leaning heavily on it. “We’ll be fine,” I said. “Nothing to worry about.”

Myles made a noncommittal noise. Korinn just sighed, flopping down to jam her legs through the bars of the railing.

We fell silent, then, watching the last lights of Linead fade into the horizon.

And we thought.