Chapter 14

FEATHERS

PART 2

“So Rhuban, any idea who I should drop you off with?”

Turning to her ‘guest’ with a hand on the helm, Mara eyed the brown-haired spy. It had been three days since their ‘explosive’ departure from the unnamed island, and now their destination was in sight, just a tiny lumpy dot in the distant horizon.

In that time, she’d talked with him about a myriad of subjects, but nothing in regards to his work or anything that would violate his secrecy. It all felt like a trap, but for the life of him, Rhuban couldn’t figure out her angle. Even now, she’d phrased her question to avoid pressuring him for information.

At any point she could have done as her prior captors did, not that they managed to capitalize upon their feat for long, but she seemed to be deliberately acting opposite. Since she had introduced him to the crew, he’d been given free roam of the ship and two hearty meals a day, enjoyed in good company, and they weren’t even eating rations but proper dishes made with fresh ingredients.

At this point, even if she were to tail him, he’d be half inclined to introduce her himself, but protocol was protocol for a reason. ‘Beware the sweets, for that’s how they eats.’

Thinking back to his training, countless days spent learning and reinforcing the knowledge and skills that would come to define his double life, an old Fae had cropped up in the midst of it. A saying his grandmother was fond of in her days of dusk, when her mind was slipping back to thoughts of childhood, but one that seemed all the more relevant as he looked upon the grey haired woman with emerald eyes, her youthfulness both deceiving and disarming- Her demeanor was that of a rogue prince, confident, carefree, and calculating. A troubling trifecta in the best of circumstances, but all the more concerning masked by such a timid facade.

As nice as she’d been to him, even going so far as to rescue and pamper him, Rhuban saw her for what she was- Someone who had a far too intimate knowledge of their organization to be wandering about unmonitored. In a certain light, she’d already kidnapped two of their members and head-quarters still had no idea what she was doing.

He’d read the report before taking on the task to re-infiltrate the pirate band, all they really had on her was what Anvi had written to them in his last note- The last message his strout ever delivered before it was retired in his absence.

They had her name, a rough description, and a claim of force that made absolutely no sense for anything but a dragon, yet none who’d read it could really believe someone like that existed- Or didn’t want to, and so they’d ruled Anvi a deserter in his absence.

Though, glancing back to the dwarf leaning against the banisters behind him, now it seemed he actually was one, and for all his own preconceptions, he had no choice but to acknowledge the truth in what Anvi had written to their superiors- This was woman was dangerous.

Trusting her seemed folly, but Rhuban could see how Anvi was playing this- A long con to keep an inside ear, one he’d be sure to commune to their higher-ups and clear his name. That is, if he could make it back to Limeren without a tail.

“Tinker Town. I’ve got a cousin who runs a shop on second and fifteen.”

Rhuban wasn’t sure if she had a truth totem, so he hadn’t lied, but he wasn’t about to tell her who he was actually planning to see- He’d just lay low there until he was confident they weren’t following him.

Nodding, Mara set her eyes on Aubroastrem, the slowly growing mass in the distance- One of the largest islands in the area, second only to Limeren, and also known as the Five Peninsulas, a namesake granted in respect to its particular geography and politics.

Rhuban’s destination was the second of the four peninsulas that reached out towards them like claws upon the sea, the first being The Isle of Coin, a hub of markets and homes crammed together to serve trade, both domestic and foreign.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

The third was the Mages Monastery, an isle of academia and faith, interwoven since its founding, but a leading source of many fine mages, independent and those loyal to the cloth.

The fourth isle was the only tendril they couldn’t visit- Not without invitation of course. Nekropolis- A district that could best be described as a utopic dictatorship, ruled over by a lich who treated his citizens to a life of ease and luxury, waited on hand and foot by undead servants till their final days- The only cost was undying loyalty, a price their lord Nekron ensured was paid posthumously.

The fifth peninsula formed a large portion of the land mass on the opposite side of the island, but most of it was untamed wilds past the large ice-capped mountain that served as the central spoke. Instead, the fifth district took root upon the fertile foothills that served as the hub that connected the other four isles- Known as Nature’s Garden, it was home to a wide variety of beast-folk who preferred the simple and slow life away from the hustle and bustle of the cities, and consequently, grew most of the food for the rest of island.

As they began to approach the island, and Mara found herself steering around other vessels coming and going amongst the isles, she shifted their trajectory towards the second isle- Tinker Town.

Not that dissimilar from its neighbor, this isle had a sprinkling of shops that sold a fair range of eclectic goods, but most of it was the home to the crazed crafters that fiddled with the fringes of what was known and what had yet to be uncovered.

Explosions and fires were not that uncommon here- A fact that was reinforced as one of the first buildings in sight was no more than a pile of ash and rubble. At one point, Mara had visited when the two isles were still intermixed, and back then, the fires tended to do a lot more harm than damage.

Sighting an open space along the sea-side docks, Mara looked up to call out to the elf perched above, but Kali was already swinging from ballast to ballast as she trimmed the sails to cull their speed just as they slid up to the pier.

“Thanks Kali!”

“Not a problem Cap’!”

Rappelling down from her perch as they exchanged pleasantries, Kali returned Mara’s grin before turning to their brown-haired captive.

“I suppose this is goodbye, huh?”

Glancing between Mara and Rhuban, Kali didn’t give either of them much room to answer the rhetorical question- She could read the room, but that didn’t mean they had to be rude.

“It was only a few days but I enjoyed your company- The other two aren’t the best conversationalists when it comes to food.”

Sparing a moment to shoot the unyielding gullet known as Anvi a particular look, Kali noticed their fourth wasn’t with them yet and turned back to Mara.

“I’m gunna go check on the raven, he’s probably still in his coop.”

Acknowledging her intentions and dismissing her with a nod, Mara watched as Kali headed off to wake Jackle before turning back to the ever-guarded Rhuban, their eyes meeting as they exchanged intentions without words, until the latter was the first to crack.

“You’re going to follow me regardless of what I do, aren’t you?”

Putting a finger to her lips in thought and looking off into the distance for a moment, Mara turned back to Rhuban with a somewhat dismissive nod.

“Mmhm. Unless you’d like to skip the hullabaloo and introduce me directly, I’m left without much of a choice. You’re leverage and I don’t intend to cut your strings until you play your role.”

Glancing towards his ‘retired’ predecessor, Rhuban could see any edge he had was nil with a feather in her own cap to shadow his every step.

Sighing, Rhuban turned back to Mara, his eyes full of hesitation, but rationally, he knew his only chance right now was the direct approach- If they had any chance of dealing with her, they needed to know she was coming, and cooperating might just buy him the head’s start they needed, but he couldn’t sell a complete one-eighty without some mock resistance to the idea on his part.

“Let’s say I do intend to meet with an associate, and you were to join me, what are you intentions?”

Unbuckling the waist-band holding her sheathed dagger, Mara held it up, then tossed it towards Anvi, who caught it without a word as she turned back to Rhuban.

“I don’t know about you, but I think I’m owed a reward of some kind, so let’s just say I’m pursuing compensation. I’m not here for your or yours, but let me ask you this- Doesn’t it strike you as strange that no one came looking for you?”

Striking a chord with her words, Rhuban stared at Mara- He had, in fact, had that very same thought already, spawning an ever-gnawing concern that was still eating at his gut like coal burning its way through his insides.

There was every chance that they’d been compromised- His capture wasn’t fault of his own, he’d played his role perfectly, yet one morning he’d been dragged from his bunk and strung up regardless. Perhaps it wasn’t a bad idea to bring company.

“Fine. Her name’s Lynn. She’s a professor of applied mana at the academy- But I’ll have to get a message to her so she can set up a meeting without raising suspicion.”

“Oh? Well isn’t that just a happy coincidence. I think I’ve got the perfect messenger bird in mind.”