Cassandra let go of Grey’s shining fist, and shrugged. “Oh well, I guess you’ll just be exiled for five years then.”

The tension in the room deflated like a stuck tire.

I blinked.

Bella’s eyebrow twitched, staring at her apparent former mentor with annoyance writ across her face. “That’s all? Ye came just to tell me somethin’ I already knew was goin’ ta happen?”

Cassandra walked over to Bella and pinched her cheek between her index and thumb, like she was a precocious child. She laughed when Bella swatted her arm away in irritation. “Well, I had to say goodbye, now didn’t I?”

Bella huffed. “I’d ask how ye even found out, but that’s a dumb question. Ye’ve got ears in every corner of this damn town.”

“You’re right, it is a dumb question,” Cassandra said in amusement, nodding.

Deactivating whatever skill or spell he was using on his fist, Grey sighed and reached up to massage his brow. “How very like you, Cassandra. I see time hasn’t dulled your twisted sense of humor.”

Cassandra looked over her shoulder at Grey. “Time has certainly dulled aspects about you, old friend.” She said pointedly.

Grey winced, but didn’t say anything in response. I get it. It was one thing for someone else to figure out Grey’s possible weakness, but it was something else entirely to confirm it.

While the strong people were bantering, the rest of us in the room were relaxing now that it was obvious a fight wasn’t going to happen. Venix released his hold on his blades and stepped back near the door, apparently indifferent to the pirate leader in the room now. I let out a sigh of relief myself, and took my hand away from my dagger. I jumped a little bit when Sylvia shimmered into view next to me, shedding an illusionary cloak. I hadn’t even noticed her disappearing. She gave me a slight smile at my startlement, before focusing back on the conversation.

Cassandra had dismissed Grey to continue talking to Bella. “It’s a good call, really. Getting out of town for a few years and building yourself back up should work just fine. You were going to be facing an uphill battle to rebuild yourself if you stayed, with all the sharks circling.” She paused for a moment, before laughing slightly. “Do you know, Longslip actually came to complain to me about how you damaged one of his warehouses? According to him, it was completely unprovoked.”

Both women laughed at that. Meanwhile, I winced slightly.

Bella shook her head and wiped a tear of mirth from her eye. “I ain’t surprised. Both that you already heard about that, and that the dog had the gall to try and lodge a complaint.”

“He smelled blood in the water, like the bottom feeder he is,” Cassandra shrugged. “But enough about that trash. You know I’m not one for sentimentality, girl, so I’ll say this. Return strong, or don’t return at all. These waters aren’t for the faint of heart or weak of arm. If you decide you can’t hack it anymore out in the Kingdom, just stay there. It’ll be better for the both of us. After all, I can’t have the reputation of Cassandra the Red be sullied by a weakling.”

Bella smiled mirthlessly and shook her head. “Ye haven’t changed, Cass.”

“Us old fogies don’t tend to do that, my dear,” Cassandra answered, unphased. “Once you get to a certain age, or even a certain level of power, you become set in your ways. At that point, it’s better for everyone if you step aside for the new blood. Isn’t that right, Whitegull?”

Grey snorted from his position near the map table. “Speak for yourself, harpy.”

Old fogie? I swear this woman didn’t look more than forty-five.

“That’s fine by me,” Bella said stubbornly, ignoring the byplay. Turning her back on her mentor, the Captain of the Thorny Reef strode for the door confidently. “Now if ye’ll excuse me, I’ve got a ship ta run.” She threw the door of her own room open with a crash and stalked out of it.

Grey walked over to stand next to Cassandra. She turned to face him with a wry smile. “Children, eh?”

Grey rolled his eyes at his apparent old friend. “It was a long time coming. It will do her good to get out of this town. I don’t believe she’s ever truly known freedom from underneath your wings. Not in this town.”

Cassandra hummed noncommittedly. Slowly, the smile fell off of her face until her face was an impassive mask. She met Grey’s eyes, unblinkingly. “If you get her killed, you and I are going to have a problem, Greycton,” She said bluntly.

“I assure you, I have no intention of placing her in the line of fire,” Grey said, unflinching under Cassandra’s hard stare. “However, at one point, you’ll have to accept that Isabella has become her own woman. Her own Captain.”

Cassandra inclined her head slightly at Grey, but didn’t say anything in response. From one moment to the next, the member of the Triumvirate disappeared. It was like she had teleported or something, soundlessly and with no indication whatsoever.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

With her gone, Grey turned to face the rest of us. He clapped his hands together, once. “Well! Now that that’s over with, it’s time for us to get settled. Sylvia, I’ve secured a cabin for our use. Azarus, Venix, Aurum and Nathan, I’m afraid you’ll have to bunk with the crew down in the hold. I’m sure you’ll get used to the rocking of the hammocks eventually.”

I blinked. Hammocks?

……………………………………..

Later that day, I was hunched over the railing of the ship and vomiting my guts out. I didn’t know this about myself, but apparently I was prone to seasickness.

Fucking yay.

I’d never been on a boat to figure this out before. What a great time to discover it. I groaned out loud, clutching my stomach. Oh shit.

I vomited over the side of the railing again. Afterward, I just hung over the railing, wishing that the rocking would stop.

Shortly after Cassandra had left, the ship had gotten underway. Grey had shown the four of us where we would be bunking down in the hold, while at the same time Bella was taking the Thorny Reef out of port. It turned out we were going to be sleeping in some tiny alcoves along the outer walls of the ship, where literal hammocks were slung between two wooden beams. I’d been dubious of them, but surely they couldn’t be worse than sleeping out in the wilds. Fade had taken one look at them, and promptly went and found Grey. He'd apparently whined enough at my mentor that he was willing to let the pup stay in their room on the trip.

Little traitor. You should suffer with your master.

That had been before the constant rocking had started to get to me. Now, I was dreading trying to sleep in a few hours. God, why couldn’t my stats help with this?

The next time I came up for air, I found a small portion of a light brown root being held in front of my face by a feminine hand. Following it, I found that the hand belonged to Bella, standing off to my side with an amused expression on her face.

I tried to ask her what she was doing, but all that emerged from my mouth was a miserable groan.

Bella snorted, and waved the root underneath my nose. Whatever it was, it smelled great honestly. Kind of citrusy. “Take this and chew on it, landlubber. It’ll help calm your stomach.”

I don’t care that it meant accepting a mysterious herb from a pirate. I’d take literally anything to stop the roiling of my stomach. I took it from her and started to desperately chew on it. At the very least, it was pleasant tasting.

Bella leaned on the railing next to me while I was chewing the root. It only took few minutes for whatever was in the root to start working. Thank God, my stomach started to settle down. I slumped over the railing, this time in relief. I glanced up at Bella to my left. “Thanks for that. I didn’t expect the rocking to get to me this much.” I paused for a moment. “Aren’t…you supposed to be at the helm?”

“It ain’t no problem,” Bella told me, gazing out at sea. “Common enough that we keep a bit of Riging root on board. Pretty tasty when tossed in the pot, too. And I got a helmsman watchin’ the wheel right now, so it ain’t a problem.”

Looking past her, I saw that she was right. A bandanna-clad crewman that I hadn’t met yet was peacefully minding the helm of the Reef. He must have noticed me looking his way because he nodded at me. I nodded weakly back.

Bella hummed, casting an eye down my way. “So, what’s yer story? No offense, but ye don’t strike me as strong enough to be sailing with Whitegull of all people.”

I shook my head. “I’m not. Not yet, anyway. I’m his apprentice. I…helped him out of a bind not long ago, and he took me on when I had nowhere else to go. In thanks, I suppose.”

“Apprentice, eh,” Bella said musingly. “That have anythin’ to do with those Bond Breaker’s o’ yers that I’ve never heard about?”

I straightened up and gave a noncommittal shrug. “Those are really more my thing than Grey’s.” I may have been thankful for the root, but I wasn’t going to be spilling all of my secrets to this woman.

Still, Bella didn’t seem like she believed me. “Yeah, sure,” She said disbelievingly, before tilting her head thoughtfully. “So, that’s where he was. Must have been branded by the stunties or somethin’.”

I gave her a bit of a side-eye. Pretty insightful for a pirate. I turned around and leaned backward on the railing of the ship. “What’s your story then? If I’m Grey’s apprentice, were you Cassandra’s?”

Turning to face me in surprise, Bella stifled a laugh. “Apprentice,” She snickered. “It wasn’t like that. But I don’t mind talkin’ about it. I was a foundling more than an apprentice. Cass found me hidin’ in a cupboard on a ship that she plundered.”

My eyebrows rose at that. “What were you doing on the ship? Were you with your parents? Did she…” I trailed off. I left it unsaid.

“I don’t rightly know,” Bella answered, unbothered. “And I can’t say I care much. I don’t have any memories from back then, what does it matter ta me if Cass killed me parents? I owe Cass more fer the woman I’ve become. After she took me in, I lived as a ship rat under her wings fer years. Once I was fully grown, I struck out on me own. Took a bit, but I had me own small fleet after a few years. And then I lost it all to a pack of damn monsters.” She finished bitterly.

Yeah that…sounded like it sucked. I didn’t get the impression she wanted platitudes from me though, so I didn’t say anything in response. I just made an acknowledging noise, and then let the sound of the rolling sea surrounding us fill the air.

We stood in silence for a moment, while Bella calmed down.

We were interrupted by the sound of the cabin door leading to the lower decks opening. Azarus stepped out of it, holding his hammer in his right hand. He scanned the deck and saw Bella and I next to the railing. Slinging his weapon over his shoulder, he approached us. “Oi, Nate,” He called out with a grin. “Did ya think that just because we’re on a boat ya were getting’ out of practice?”

“It’s called a ship, stuntie!” Bella called out before I could answer. “It ain’t some kinda pansy ass ittle bittie boat!”

Azarus snorted when he reached us, apparently unconcerned with being called what I thought was a dwarven slur. “Whatever ya say.”

“And I don’t care if’n ye want to practice, but don’t go bustin’ up me deck or we’ll have problems,” Bella said, her hands on her hips.

“Yeah, yeah,” Azarus said dismissively. “We’re just goin’ to be doin’ weapon practice. We won’t put a scratch on your ship.”

Bella snorted in response, but nodded at me in goodbye before stalking away back to the helm. I watched her go, but was knocked out of it when Azarus slugged me in the arm. I yelped like a struck dog and turned to stare at my dwarven friend. “The hell was that for?”

Azarus laughed at me. “C’mon, lover boy. Ya can moon after more women when we’re done.” He wandered away at that, in the direction of the upper deck.

I blinked at his retreating back. Lover boy? Where did that come from?

I shook my head, and followed Azarus to get my daily ass-kicking from the weapon master.