The following morning Alayne said nothing of the previous night's performance. He claimed he remembered nothing after popping the cork off the first bottle of Bracadian White wine, like the name would mean anything to Raven. Until now his experience with wine was the odd cup he shared with his flock begrudgingly that was filled with whatever cask the Nest happened to have open.
Raven had poked Alayne for some show of grief over AJ's passing and he was ashamed to say he didn't know how to respond now it had happened. He allowed the bard's terrible lie of forgetfulness to go by unchallenged, as did Surrich and Captain Orc.
They'd expected to get to work hauling the merchant's cargo down to the city and aiding the Taurosi in feeding the people. Instead they'd awoke to find it done. The Taurosi were all tall and broad and had moved the goods and opened the gates without fear to begin breaking them back into some form of civilised people.
"There's nothing more you need of us?" Alayne had seemed almost saddened by the question as they'd gathered in the courtyard that was now free of the bodies Raven and Captain Orc had piled high.
"Songsmith you have your path and you have laid ours out before us. We thank you but we can take the correct steps from here"
Just like that their role in the White Knot was done.
Alayne seemed slightly lost for words which Raven was shocked to see.
"Then it is time we leave...How do we do that?"
"Ship lad, how else do you get off an island" Raven was afraid that was the answer, he hadn't been on dry land long enough to grow a fond nostalgia for travelling by sea.
"Is your ship coming back for us Captain?"
"Nah, be well on their way to the Flotilla to take all the glory for me capturing of the naval flagship"
"We'll take one from the harbour. Raven, leave the largest vessel for the Taurosi and take one of the others for us. Gather any supplies we should leave as soon as we are able" There was a tiredness to the man as if the conversation were tasking him, which was unlike any bard least of all Alayne Ducard.
As they turned to return to the manor house and take their leave Thuran'ar turned back to them from watching her people work.
"Good luck to you all. I hope you burn the empire to the ground"
"I hope you raise your Greenlands from the embers"
Alayne didn't miss a second when speaking the poetic response, despite his dark mood he couldn't bury his way with words.
There wasn't much to gather before they stood on the dock where the severed hand of the overly confident merchant guard still rested on the wooden planked floor. They were now presented with 2 options of ships before them, the third floating just out ahead of them gently rocking as the tide slowly pulled it out to sea. They had dragged one of the merchant captains with them, a woman by the name of Captain Liza Brennat, who was currently arguing with Alayne.
"You will take us to the mainland"
"I had a crew of 8 men to work my ship, I cannot sail without a crew"
"You have 3 of us, make do"
"I pay the bare minimum number of seamen..." Raven sighed as Captain Orc giggled.
"Really?" Raven cocked a frown to the Orc standing beside him
"It never stops been funny lad"
"It takes 8 to just barely get this thing from A to B. 3 isn't enough. Maybe if you hadn't set my crew adrift..."
"Why did you do that? We needed them"
"He told me too" Captain Orc was quick to put Raven in the firing line of the Bards misplaced anger
"What should we have done? Slept with 20 angry sailors watching over us"
Alayne ignored him and put his hands to his hips and looked out to sea at the smallest boat of the 3 that the Captain had crammed 3 crews into before setting adrift.
"Captain Orc, could you have sailed that ship with just the 3 of us as crew"
"Course lad, I can sail a turtle through a storm" Raven almost asked a follow up question but he was getting better at not feeding the Captains madness.
"Why didn't you keep that one docked then?"
"Didn't think this far ahead lad, I be the live in the moment type"
"What's that ship called" Alayne ignored, as he often did, the Captains response and pointed to the ship floating gently out amongst the waves
"The Yellow Belly" Liza had crossed her arms and was clearly frustrated with their group, there was no fear in her at all, not outwardly anyway.
"And yours?"
"The Salt Skate"
"Captain and...Captain get The Sale Skate ready to sail. Raven assist where you can" He began to trot up back towards the stairs as he put them to work.
"Where are you going" Raven called after him.
"Extra set of hands"
Alayne returned shortly after, with Captain Dorner of the Yellow Belly, the ship that had contained the Taurosi slaves in its underbelly. Where Liza had grown in confidence talking back to the group as they needed her help, Dorner had no such backbone. Without hesitation he removed his coat and rolled up his well pressed white sleeves and began working alongside the 3 to work the ship as Captain Brennat sailed them out to the mainland of the Empire whilst shouting how foolish this was.
It was hard work, and not the kind Raven and clearly Alayne were accustomed to. They both scurried about as best they could following orders from Captain Orc or Captain Brennat, pulling ropes and tying knots seemingly at random. He found himself copying the two working Captains who threw their boots off under the deck and ran around barefoot and shirtless. Raven had never seen Captain Orc without his tell-tale red coat and tricorn hat, it was an odd sight to see the muscle bound oaf charging around the deck and working with such efficiency, especially in comparison to Dorner and Alayne who were clearly unused to physical labour and were sweating and swearing constantly.
They were clearly tired by the end of the first day and Raven was aching everywhere after the 5th despite many chances for rest due to their luck with calm seas, and clear weather. Captain Orc was clearly at home though, never slowing, never stopping. If one of them fell or failed a role he was there picking them up and doing their work. If he'd had time Raven could have sat and watched him work for hours. It was like watching Alayne perform in a way, like you were experiencing someone doing exactly what they were born to do.
By the 12th day Raven had lost feeling in most of his body, he moved from post to post as he had every day before. His hands were torn from rope burns, his feet bloodied and filled with splinters from the rough wooden decking and his skin was burnt and peeling from the sun exposure they couldn't escape when they worked. He felt like he would drop dead at any moment but the moment never came and the work never stopped. They were far out to sea now and still a time from the mainland they hoped to arrive on, this meant (as he found out first hand) choppier waters which in turn meant more random rope pulling and more and tighter random knot tying. He really had no idea what he was doing even after so many days of it. Captain Orc still worked ceaselessly, sweat pouring from him at the same speed he drank buckets of water to keep himself going. It was he and Raven that kept things moving during most of the day, Alayne and Dorner had been moving at a literal crawl before been ordered to rest until things got more difficult. Captain Brennat occasionally allowed Captain Orc to man the helm when she needed rest, they had grown a quiet respect for each other as they'd worked to keep things moving.
Raven made a mistake on the 23rd day of their sea trip. He sat, just for a moment as the sun was setting over the sea and a gentle light rain was dampening the deck and cooling his aching body. He never got back up though, his legs just would not budge and his only movement was to slump off the crate he'd sat on and bounce onto the deck instead. He tried to pull himself up with his hands by gripping an overhead rope and the edge of a barrel but he may have well have been trying to lift the entire ship for all the good it did.
When he finally gave up and let go he heard a hearty laugh from the bow (he had been picking up nautical terms during this trip fairly well) of the ship.
"Ya did well lad, made it a long way before dropping, that cult must've trained you well"
He shouted across the ship to Raven, cigar as always hanging out of his mouth as he ran from foremast to mainsail and back.
Before Raven could respond, or attempt to, he found for the second time since meeting him that a conversation with Captain Orc had been ended by an explosion of wood around them.
"Where the bloody hell did that come from..." There was panic in Captains Brennats voice above them
"Main sails gone lass" Captain Orc and Raven could see the large mast that had sat in the middle of the ship and towered above them was shattered and slowly tipping towards the sea
"Cannons?"
"None. We run not fight, I'm a merchant not a pirate hunter" There was resignation in her voice, despite having nothing to offer aboard it still clearly hurt the captain to give up "Lower the sails and drop the anchor"
"HAHA lure em in and cut em down" Captain Orc stood beside Raven in a moment, fully dressed with black boots and red hat and coat with cutlass in hand. He placed Raven's sword belt atop the barrel he'd slumped against and offered the man a hand.
From the lower decks Alayne and Dorner, stumbled onto the main deck with bags under their eyes and a stiffness to their steps as Raven redressed himself.
"Is it too much to ask for one part of this journey to go smoothly? Really" Alayne moaned from the steps that led up to the rear of the ship where Liza was watching intently, through an eyeglass, the approaching vessel.,
"You moan too much Ducard lad, Best bit of sea travel is fighting at sea. The smell of salt mixing with blood, the screams mixing with the lapping of the waves and the total carnage. Argh ya can't beat it"
"Is-are-is he going to get us killed?" Alayne and Raven had ignored the Captains whimsical outburst but Dorner was not as used to his madness
"He's more likely than most things to get us killed I think"
"They'll be upon us any minute, let them take what they please and we may live!" the call came from above but the glint in Captain Orc's eye said he would do nothing of the sort.
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"I be sending as many as I can to - Does everyone else hear that?"
There was nothing for a moment as they all fell to silence, just the creaking of a ship as the waves knocked it this way and that, the soft patter of rain on the deck boards and flesh and the last groans as the mast slowly gave way above them. But then they heard it, almost all at once, a soft music but not as pitch perfect as Alaynes usually was. It was rough and out of tune and played on something Raven knew to be familiar but couldn't quite place.
Captain Orc jumped past them and moved to the higher deck, snatching the eyeglass from Captain Brennat
"Ah I be blind....wait sorry wrong eye... That be my ship! That be Shard playing! THOSE BASTARDS!"
Raven and Alayne visibly relaxed, they weren't sure why the Captain was so irate but at least they wouldn't have to fight with tired bodies today.
Captain Orc did not relax, quite the opposite as he waited for the ship to get within boarding distance. He perched himself on the corner of the aft of The Salt Skate, holding a rope that went up to the mizzenmast and staring out to sea, sword still drawn and cigar puffing out clouds of smoke into the darkening air.
As Raven and Alayne stood on the main deck, leaning over the railing and staring off at the approaching vessel, they were both able to pinpoint the exact moment that Captain Second Mate and his crew had realised who it was they were about to board. At first the ship, former lead of the Empires navy, had been tearing through the waves with the 3 masts decked out with full bulging sails rising in rows high above the ship itself.
Then they'd dropped, suddenly and hastily the sails had been pulled down at once and Raven felt he could feel the shaky hands tearing at the ropes in a panic. If it was possible for an entire ship to look sheepish in the gloom of a fast fading twilight then this was it. Raven had spent time with the Captain now, he could imagine how nervous the crew were about his impending boarding after they'd just hit his new ship with his own cannons.
"Mr Second Mate. What be the meaning of this?"
Captain Orc had shouted from his perch as his own ship finally came alongside them.
There was the expected scuttling of sailors up and down the deck as Raven got close enough to see, but one man stood in the centre, hands clasped behind his back in an ill fitting red coat that may have belonged to his former, now once again current, captain. He wore black rimmed glasses and had a recently shaved head and patchy half grown beard. Raven suspected he may have been trying to copy Captain Orc's own unique look, for some reason.
Whilst he stood firm Raven could tell he was nervous, he was holding his hands to stop them trembling he suspected, but he was unable to stop his legs and the rocking back and forth motion on his heels.
"Captain What-I mean"
Second Mate stepped up to the edge of Captain Orcs Boat and nervously called out as he waited for the crew to prepare the planks needed for boarding
"Did I not tell you to head to the Flotilla Mr Second Mate?"
"His name is Adahn, they only use their assigned names when Captain Orc is around" Alayne had leaned over and whispered.
"Er..No Captain you-"
Captain Orc had been making his way back towards the middle of the deck as Adahn spoke and now without a word of warning or a run up of any kind, he leaped from the rail Raven was resting on and landed with a thud in front of his substitute captain.
It was raining still, two large ships were creaking all around them with Sailors making calls and moving heavy planks in front of them. But still Captain Orc could be heard clear as day.
"Did I not be leaving ya a detailed note with pacific instructions on me desk?"
Unfortunately Adahns voice didn't travel nearly so well.
"What do you mean 'nonsense'? Can ya not read boy? Be no harm in it but ya should have told me"
"Can any pirate read?" Raven queried at Alayne.
"Most can actually, common misconception. Although Captain Orc can't"
"I don't understand are we in danger?" Dorner had been listening by their side since the ships had come together, he was still as anxious as he had been when they'd forced him aboard in the White knot but he was at least familiar with the two of them to ask questions.
"Honestly you can never say with certainty that you're safe when Captain Orc is leading on things, but you can choose to have hope, Dorner" The former captain of the Yellow Belly let out a deep sigh at Alaynes words.
With a thud and after what felt like forever waiting for the crew to put a walkway in place, Alayne led the 3 remaining crew and captain of the Salt Skate onto the deck of Captain Orcs New Boat. He recognised the faces of Cole the red haired 'royal' elf, Saraya who owed him a pair of pants and of course Shard who had stopped an attack with his terrible playing. There were others, although no gnome he could see, Treit the half footed large orc, Ferret the ship’s cook with his patchy grey beard, small dark eyes and Alayne assumed a complete lack of the sense of taste. There were more, colourful characters one and all and those atop the deck cheered when they saw Alayne no doubt knowing they were going to be upgraded from Shards performances for a time.
Despite the dark cloud of a mood he'd had hanging over him seeing all these familiar faces made him smile, he really was at his best when performing or building towards a performance. Too much time to think when he wasn't, and when the last large amount of days had been filled with repetitive manual labour, that where most definitely not his strong suit, then he'd lots of time to get lost in his thoughts. The whining of Dorner hadn't helped either, someone moaning about everything whenever you were permitted to rest didn't help to raise spirits.
He didn't jump down off the boarding plank when he reached the end, instead he skirted along the wooden railing it had been atop of and climbed a few rungs up the boarding net to look down at the crew. Even Captain Orc had stopped chastising Adahn to gaze up confused at the bard.
There were several little torches attached to the masts and doorway to the captains quarters, they gave enough light to make out who was around but nothing more, with a flick of his lute strings the fire burst high, almost too high as he noted the copious amounts of rope just above where he'd luckily stopped the flames. The light illuminated the full boat, he made them dance between the natural reds and oranges and then purple, green, blue.
"Good seamen and seawomen of this fair vessel have you missed the Master Bard Alayne Ducard?"
The flames raised higher and lower matching his inflection as he spoke. He lost himself in the wonder he saw amongst the crew and allowed the peace he felt to wash over him as they cheered in response to his question.
"Then do me the honour, the pleasure, the absolute privilege this night and every night we are at sea of being my audience. Allow me to dazzle..." and as the fires popped into showers of sparks the crew ran to the edge as one, as they watched the bard slip and fall into the icy waters between the ships.
"DUCARD"
"Get rope!"
"...and Amaze" his voice boomed and cut through the panic. He'd left it long enough to cause worry but not enough for action to be taken in saving the mirage. He stood now in the centre of the deck where he'd carefully climbed down from as they'd panicked. Only Raven stood watching him with a half smile before he'd announced himself to the rest.
The torches returned to a normal small burn and claps and cheers came from the shocked pirates as he was hastily grabbed by Captain Orc and thrown into his quarters where Raven, Adahn and Captain Brennat met them.
"Right, now why be you here Second Mate"
"Sorry but where's the First mate?" Alayne audibly sighed as Raven once again chose to raise a question that would get him nowhere
"I be the first mate"
"But you're the captain?"
"Aye, first on the ship thus Captain"
"But first m-"
"Let it go Raven...Adahn carry on"
Captain Orc looked confused over who Alayne was speaking to until 'Second Mate' started responding to the initial question
"Well, we erm..We couldn't read your note so we just kind of sailed around a bit. Taking down a few navy ships and shaking down merchants and then we found you"
"And now that you did, and crippled our ship-"
"My Ship!" Captain Brennat exclaimed from the corner standing next to a small end table, away from the rest of them who gathered around the desk in the centre of the room
"We could do with passage to Shansheer cove"
"What in all the known gods' personal hells do you want to go there for?" Alayne was surprised by the Captains outburst, it was a place of depraved thieves and rogues to converge. Perfect for the destructive pirate
"Well we can't land on an actual port now since this is one of most recognisable ships in the world and I believe or hope someone I was looking to recruit into our little Black Marked Band may sometimes resides there"
"Who?" Could nothing be a surprise anymore?
"Patience Captain"
"Braker?"
"No, I he died in the pits years back, stop guessing"
"Erm, Caitie?"
"Ha! Never again, she almost got me killed for a fake ruby, and stop guessing!"
"Brock?"
Alayne stopped.
"Brock? Brock eats people, Captain and he chews with his mouth open. It's horrific. No not Brock, never Brock"
"Ah, he's funny wee lad though, shame. Come on just tell us"
Alayne sighed and he knew he should give in. Apart from his own desire and subconscious need for suspense like every discussion was a performance there was no real need for secrecy after all.
"Sha'dar"
Adahn shuffled his feet and Captain Orc tilted his head slightly
"I'm sorry lad, Sha'dar be dead"
Alayne laughed
"Captain, I have known them for years. They are the greatest thief in the land. If you think they are dead then that is only because they want you to think that"
"No, no boy. Truly he be dead"
"Go on then, Captain, how did the most illusive man in the empire die?"
Captain Orc gave a side eyed look to Adahn who continued to shuffle and shift his weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably
"Well you know how he liked to brag that he could escape from any prison?"
Alayne nodded, with a smug smile on his face
"So, from what the boys pieced together when they be on land; old Sha'dar had got himself drunk one night in the one of those nasty little inns I be loving down on the docks of the capital. There he meets a fella who had spent most of his life locked in the capital's main dungeons. The Emperor's hole for the biggest criminals he be not wanting to hang outright. Sha'dar being the bastard he was, mocks the poor old codger for not escaping instead of waiting. The old man sez 'it be impossible' and Sha'dar said 'I'll prove it to ya' and dragged everyone outside."
For some reason Captain Orc had been doing voices for the old man and Sha'dar, he was no match for Alayne and his Sha'dar was high pitched like a young girl, which was odd because Sha'dar had a deep gruff voice much like Captain Orc but just not as loud.
"So they be gathered outside and Sha'dar proclaims 'I be getting arrested and thrown in the capital dungeon and I'll meet you all back here for drinks on me'. Those lads and lasses watch as the great drunken rogue runs over to the captain of the guard. Some big bugger with a square jaw and scars that could match my own. Sha'dar gets to him and slaps him as hard as he can in the face, right in front of his own men and laughs at him, holding out his hands to be dragged off to prison."
Alayne had a sinking feeling the Captain wasn't as mistaken as he thought
"So there be standing this small little drunken fool smiling at this well armoured soldier with a fresh handprint on his face and Sha'dar is thinking, I expect anyway, that this guy is gonna drag him off and lock him up. Instead the soldier smacks him with his own armoured hand, straight into the side of his head. Sha'dar cockles, slips and cracks his head on a decorative stone that had been sat outside the inn for customers to be sick over."
The room was silent as Alayne digested what he heard
"Sorry, not to confuse you. He be dead from that point on"
"Yes we got that Captain, I'm sorry Alayne where are you close?"
Alayne lifted his hat to scratch his head, he felt a bit lost.
"No, not really anyway, just bonded through our mutual distaste for the empire, and of course its own distaste for us"
"Yes yes it's very sad a thief died, but at what point am I addressed? What happens to me and my ship now"
"We'll have your ship towed behind us until we arrive in more populated waters, you and Dorner are welcome aboard until then" Alayne turned his back to the captain, considering the conversation done as she sniffed annoyedly behind him.
"Aye lass we'll take care of you, don't lose your he...bugger"
Captain Orc ran around them all as they watched and he opened the door a crack before shouting out
"Oi Halig! Get on that little boat and get me talking head from the crows nest" He slammed the door and made his way back behind the desk "Sorry almost forgot me head"
"I doubt he minds. Back to this drunken thief; what did we need him for?" Raven desperately tried to get things back on track.
"To get us into the-" he stopped when he realised how much they had already revealed to Captain Brennat, who was still stood watching them intently "-to get us somewhere we shouldn't"
Raven cocked his head but followed Alayne gaze to the merchant captain and nodded immediately. "Well there always be..." Captain Orc smiled that terrifying smile of his and Raven frowned.
"Who...No.NO. Not him. There must be someone else"
"Dare I ask?"
"Ya be needing someone dumb enough and loyal enough to die for ya and with a knack for breaking into places. There be noone else."
"Who?"
Alayne looked at the confused stoneoath and closed his eyes for a second before answering. Picturing a world where he could plan more than a day in advance and have those plans not ruined by masters of their craft getting themselves killed in drunken pissing contests.
"Rick-"
"RICKSTER BOGGSWORTH" Captain Orc roared with laughter as he cut Alayne off.
He was still laughing as Alayne left, it was not a good sign for his survivability if he had to rely on Rickster bloody Boggsworth to be competent.
Alayne cast if from his mind for the moment, right now they were still days from even seeing land, he had performances to give and an adoring crowd to impress.
This he could control,
This he could succeed in,
This was all he was good for.