Chapter Text
Kir grinned as she tracked the Imperial warships on the horizon through her telescope. Well. “Grinned” may not be the most accurate descriptor of her slightly curled mouth but that was the closest that the captain would ever get to a genuine smile.
“You could probably get a better view from the nest… Captain Karathia,” Whatever emotion her face displayed was wiped away with a snap which was echoed by the harsh sound of the telescope collapsing as she turned to face the scarred, eye patched, visage of the man addressing her.
“Captain Collanwode,” She responded, a well practiced edge to her tone, “I appreciate your naval… expertise. However it is unnecessary, as it is clear that everything is proceeding according to plan,”
“I was under the impression,” the officer started, carefully, his stocky build, covered with the blue jacket of the Imperial Navy tensing slightly, “that the plan was to signal the two ships to fall in with us; not to directly pursue The Hellspawn,”
Kir was tempted to answer him with a short rebuke. While officially a Naval post-captain still outranked her, serving as roughly the equivalent of a Colonel of the Army, the ability to bend the ear of their Imperial Majesties was usually enough to… convince other officers not to pull rank on her.
However, it was usually wise to not infuriate the Captain of a vessel which you were aboard, miles from any dry land.
So, biting her ego, Kir deigned to explain herself.
“They are not ‘pursuing’ the enemy, Captain, they are cutting West, then going to set up a blockade of the passage into the Outer Ocean, presumably where The Hellspawn intends to make its escape once our business is concluded,”
With that she turned, hoping to signal that the conversation was over, the other Captain on board was, apparently, unwilling to acquiesce so easily.
“Surely that is rather risky, the Princess-”
“Is being held hostage. Those holding her prisoner will not give up that bargaining chip unless they have no other option.” That at least was true, she had hoped to prevent Captain Collanwode receiving his orders to proceed to the rendezvous but it was highly unlikely that a simple missed meeting would spur the pirates to execute their captive.
Further, they needed to be more subtle. An order being ignored leading to the death of a member of the imperial family would require a court martial. The fewer eyes on this the better.
“Be that as it may-”
“How long would it take them to catch it if they were pursuing it?” Kir pondered, staring out to where she knew the ships would be.
“...Why?”
“For after the exchange,” the lie once more came easily “We can hardly allow such… ruthless criminals. to escape and it’s possible they might evade a blockade.” She was doing some calculations in her head, trying to gauge whether or not the sound of cannon would echo back to them with the distance, that may take some explaining, but she would be able to spin it, she was sure, there would be no direct evidence that her orders had led to the engagement.
“Well…” Collanwode hesitated and Kir drummed her fingers impatiently on the railing.
“They wouldn’t,”
“I’m sorry?” Kir’s fingers stilled.
“Well, obviously it’s quite impossible, given all the possible variables involved, to say but in all likelihood, The Hellspawn will outpace any ship pursuing her,”
“You’re saying that it is faster than any ship in the Imperial Navy?” Kir prodded, her tone pointed.
“She is,” Collanwode responded, as if it were obvious, “most of our ships were not built for speed and even interceptors were designed primarily for hunting down smugglers in the coastal waters, nothing can match a tea clipper when it comes to speed in the open ocean.”
“Well, please enlighten me, what makes it so fast?”
“Well, she is longer and more narrow hulled, her sails were made to be able to change more rapidly than conventional ships, which is why she has more, but smaller sails, so she can tack and jib more efficiently, that’s all standard for a tea clipper but when she was originally laid down, as The Heavensent, she was designed to be even faster, it was just when the south easterly straight had higher tariffs placed on it by the Barony of Scornia so it became more efficient to go around the Baronies-”
“I’m not asking for a lesson on contemporary geopolitics.” Kir was not one to roll her eyes but she was severely tempted. The whole war had started because of that trade dispute. Unofficially.
“Of course, well; the important thing is that it was designed with certain… uncommon features?”
“Such as?” Kir forced the impatience from her voice. As much as possible.
“A higher amount of fore-aft sails and the ability to turn the square rigged sails to a narrower angle, which drastically increases speed when not heading directly downwind, and, most significantly, a copper sheathed hull.”
Kir turned and raised an eyebrow, gesturing for the captain to continue.
“She has a copper plated hull…” He said, as if that explained anything, “that is, the underside of her hull has copper plates bolted over the wooden planks…”
“And that means?”
“Well, all ships face significant issues of fouling on the hulls with the growth of marine life such as barnacles and worms, typically the way to mitigate it is to coat the hull in a resin and then an extra layer of wood planks to bear the brunt of the rotting, however it is possible to instead use copper plates which are far better and more durable. It has not been adopted widely due to the price involved, about six times the cost of wood sheathing, but for clippers it is sometimes worth the investment given how long they are at sea,”
“And we don’t have any similarly outfitted ships?”
“Not unless we press other clippers into service, no; their Imperial majesties deemed the cost too exorbitant to outfit their ships in the same way.” A note of bitterness was present in the man’s voice.
“You sound critical.” It would be understandable, despite being a power heavily dependent on its naval capabilities; The Empire of Fallinel had allocated pitifully few resources to it in recent years.
“Of course not, not a whole lot of benefit in faster ships if we’re not at war with a naval power,” Collanwode backtracked and Kir’s small, sadistic smile returned
“Quite right,” Kir returned to gazing out at the sea, “though evidently some benefit,” instead of drumming her fingers, the captain’s hands were now clenched in fists
“Yes, Captain,”
“What do you know of its captain?”
“Figueroth Faeth. The Demon; very little to be quite frank she appeared a few years ago after she lead a mutiny against the captain while it had just left Solace,”
“Demon,” Kir scoffed, “How’d she get a name like that?” she asked, her voice disinterested, “Some particularly bloodthirsty characteristic?”
“No, according to stories she is a Tiefling, she actually has horns so it comes from that.”
“A Tiefling?” Her attention was fully on the naval captain once more, “and Solacian you say?”
“Yes… something the matter?”
“...Perhaps… How old is she?”
“Uhhhm, I really have no idea… I’d imagine she’d have to be younger than forty?”
“So she could be in her early twenties?”
Collanwode laughed awkwardly, “Yes, I suppose so but why-”
“Unimportant,” Kir lied, dismissively.
Collanwode didn’t say anything else but also hadn’t turned to leave, making Kir sigh.
“You have something else to say, Captain?”
“I was wondering if you’d favour me by answering a question of my own?”
Kir swallowed a cruel chuckle, despite his attempt at more flowery language, the naval officer’s lower birth was still evident.
While coming up from the ranks was difficult in any branch of the imperial military it was less uncommon in the navy, in fact officers who had made the jump often had some level of respect attached to them due to their background.
However to Kir they were no better than the ranks that they commanded.
“Go ahead, Captain,” She responded, drily, doing little to keep the contempt out of her voice.
“Why were there Imperial Guards with those ships, ready to take encoded messages?”
Surprisingly, the answer to that wasn’t especially clandestine. Had everything gone to plan there would have been no need for them, the Princess would have died in the attack on T.I.M.S. Naiad; Kir had been there to ensure that no prisoners remained after whichever pirates had taken the bait of a lightly armed vessel were caught.
The guards in the southern naval bases had been there to guarantee that Princess Aelwyn had actually followed her parents orders and headed to Scornia.
Of course admitting that, would invite questions as to why it was imperative for the Crown Princess to be an ocean away from home.
“There have been… whispers, that certain naval officers have been displaying hesitance about the prosecution of the war. Their Imperial Majesties have dispatched members of the guard to ensure loyalty.”
A barely veiled threat
“Is that why you’re here?” Collanwode responded, Kir wasn’t able to read his tone, mocking or nervous, “To keep an eye on me?”
“Do I need to?”
“No, Captain Karathia,”
“Good,” Kir turned and pushed past the officer, “I will be in my quarters, I do not wish to be disturbed.”
Kir ignored the agreement from behind her, her mind already on how to turn her quarry into a flaming wreck if it was able to out manoeuvre the two ships she had signalled to pursue it.
Even if they were unable to catch the Clipper they would at least be able to follow it and rendezvous with The Sachellas and, hopefully, the transport ship she had left to follow carrying the pay of the army currently engaged in what remained of the Barony of Scornia.
Ideally she’d not have to use it but she needed to make a show, and maybe an alternate deal could be arranged with the increasingly annoying Captain of the Hellspawn.
Fig let out a mad laugh which was immediately being whipped away by the wind that battered her ship, tossing it side to side in massive sways that had even her experienced grip on the rigging tested thoroughly.
But the thought of falling was far from her mind as she felt the rain begin to land on her, the distant sound of rolling thunder becoming louder and louder as The Hellspawn cut a steep angle to the wind, riding it like a bird.
The first forked flashes of lightning began to split the endless black clouds ahead of them. And Fig laughed louder, a deep, full expression of joy as she faced down an unimaginable titan, the manifestation of the rage of mother nature, her only defence against the cyclone she was diving into a tiny collection of wood and canvas which was already feeling the strain from just the outskirts of the storm.
“Fabian, Now!” She yelled down to her bosun, the wind picking up muting her slightly, but she could tell by the flurry of activity below her that she had been heard, the sails were quickly readjusted with an alacrity which would be the envy of any Naval officer who might observe it.
The square sails were unfurled again, as they had approached the storm the oncoming wind had begun flattening them and they had to be reefed for safety, relying on the triangular jibs until they were ready.
Now that most of the sails were back full the Hellspawn began groaning and creaking as the wind was caught in the wrong direction, the masts straining to keep up with the pressure, it was a risk unfurling before the turn but it was necessary, the longer they spent on the edge of the storm the more lightly their pursuers would spot them and guess their course.
Not that anyone else would be insane enough to sail into a building storm, but it really would be best if the two ships behind them ended up following the Sloop which, as Fig had predicted, had turned to head north. If only because it was funny imagining their confusion when they got in sight.
The Hellspawn began to turn, the masts tilting dangerously, but Fig wasn’t worried, she knew that her ship would be able to withstand this, that she’d not let her down.
The sails began to catch the wind once more, the strong gusts of the squall that signified the beginning of the storm proper, thrusting them onwards with a brutal lurch which almost had Fig lose her grip when combined with a sudden, harsh, sheet of rain which quickly soaked her.
With reluctance, Fig clambered down the rigging and landed lightly on the already drenched deck, striding through the bustling crew without concern.
“Batten down the hatches, ensure the gunports are sealed!” She barked out, keeping everyone focused and on task as much as possible.
“Fasten those cannons down unless you wanna be crushed!” She yelled as she passed by some scurrying crew members.
Leaping over the battened scuttle hatch to the other gangway Fig grabbed a loose rope and helped Katja wind it around the cascabel of one of the deck guns, attaching it to the gunnel as tightly as possible.
“Gorgug?” She called as she hopped up the narrow stairs to the quarterdeck, “Everything alright up here?”
“Yeah cap!” Her first mate bellowed over the rain, as he wrestled the ship's wheel.
“Can you hold her?”
“We’ll find out!”
“I’ll be back soon! Keep her right!” Even with standing close to her friend, Fig had to shout over the sound of the rain now.
“Aye aye!”
Fig patted Gorgug’s massive forearm and sped back down the steps, even with years of experience her balance was being massively tested with the violent, unrelenting onslaught of waves and wind.
Still, it was a short distance back to her cabin and she made it to her door without incident.
Really, she was being selfish, she could have ordered Gorgug below decks and taken the helm herself or at least stayed out to help but…
Well she was still a bit miffed about having to leave Adaine that morning so excuse her if she didn’t want to delay getting back.
She hesitated for a moment before pushing the door open; she couldn’t lie and say she wasn’t nervous that Adaine would have realised what a massive mistake she had made last night.
But she was finding it easier to ignore that self sabotaging part of her mind when it came to Adaine. At least partially.
What little guilt she had about returning to her quarters dissipated upon seeing Adaine, now sat on the edge of the bed, staring out a small, porthole as her hands held an open but ignored book.
She had donned a pair of loose fitting breeches and an oversized shirt, the casualness of the outfit made Fig smile, softly.
“Hey,” she greeted the princess, leaning awkwardly back against her door, despite the tension in the air she couldn’t help raking her eyes over Adaine, mentally comparing her to their first meeting, shorter hair framed a fuller face, the borrowed, loose fitting shirt seemed much more… her than the dress she’d been wearing then, despite hanging off of one shoulder. Which, admittedly may have been part of the appeal in Fig’s mind. That and the fact that it did little to cover the dark bite marks which sent shivers up Fig’s spine as she remembered leaving each one.
Clearing her throat slightly to cover why she had fallen silent for a suspicious amount of time, “I figured you’d come and see what all the noise was about.”
“I didn’t want to be in the way,” Adaine admitted, though Fig could tell there was something beneath her cool demeanor and immediately her subconscious went into overdrive, did Adaine regret what had happened? Did she hate her? Not that she cared if Adaine hated her. At all.
Ok, so given they just had sex maybe she should be past the point of lying to herself about not caring what the princess thought of her.
Still, she wasn’t past the point of being incapable of talking her problems out like a normal person. She was more than prepared to drop into ignoring the issue.
“Right, and I‘m sure it was nothing to do with me fucking you into oblivion so well that you were just too tired to get up,” She teased, raising an eyebrow suggestively.
Adaine laughed loudly at that, a genuine expression of mirth that made Fig’s insides twist.
“You really do have a high opinion of yourself don’t you?” putting down the book Adaine turned her attention to Fig.
“Overly high?”
Adaine blushed deeply, a shy smile crossing her face, “No…” she admitted quietly, “Not overly high,”
Fig couldn’t help but preen slightly at that.
“Though,” Adaine added, as if she could read Fig’s mind, “I would say that you seemed equally worn out this morning,”
“How would you know?” shot Fig, protesting, “You were asleep,”
“I went back to sleep after waking up with you still in bed,” Adaine shrugged with a grin.
“Wow, lazy,” Fig snorted, “Immediately falling back asleep?”
“I don’t have a lot to get up for at the minute,” Adaine remarked sardonically.
“Fair,” conceded Fig.
“And besides, I didn’t really want to leave… you’re very…” Adaine’s face twisted slightly as she mused her next words, before continuing with a certainty, “you’re beautiful when you sleep,”
Fig tried her best to pretend that didn’t make her stomach do somersaults.
“I’m not when I’m awake?” She managed in a somewhat believably teasing voice.
“More ruggedly handsome,” Adaine teased back before her smile became softer, “but yes, you are.”
Fig didn’t respond to that, instead clearing her throat. Damn. She really needed a better way of avoiding answering things.
She gave a stab at just changing the subject entirely.
“Are you alright? When I first came in; you… I thought maybe… that you’d…” Fig couldn’t bring herself to say it, scared that if she did it would cause it to be true, dropping her gaze, still leaning against the door, feeling the swell and fall of the ship becoming more and more pronounced.
“I don’t.” Fig’s eyes snapped back up, meeting Adaine’s determined ones as the other girl responded to the unasked question firmly. “I don’t regret it. Not even remotely”
Fig couldn’t help the grin that split her face at that.
“Good. I’m glad.” her smile died slightly, “So…?”
“I thought…” Adaine looked away this time, her expression a mixture of embarrassment and somberness, “I didn’t think you’d regret it, but…” She trailed off before laughing, ruefully,
“Have you noticed you have a slight tendency to be self destructive?”
“I’ve got all my digits, limbs and face, by pirate standards I’m remarkably well preserved.”
“Har har.” Adaine snarked, “Emotionally self destructive.”
Fig pulled a face.
“Maybe. Though one could put it with a bit more tact,”
Adaine laughed and held her hands up in mock surrender “I was worried that you’d be all… closed off again and acting like you have no feelings or whatever, which,” Adaine stood up, her hands open, “I get, believe me, I don’t expect you to be super emotionally honest with me or anything. I just… wasn’t looking forward to it… especially when… I was worried it might ruin a” she paused and blushed again, “a very pleasant memory,”
“Well… I’m glad I could give you a nice experience,” Fig smiled, softly.
“Don’t be smug!” Adaine rolled her eyes affectionately, making Fig laugh loudly.
“I’m sorry.” She added, “I know I can be…” Fig stepped away from the door and strode into the room a few paces, towards the side opposite Adaine.
“Shut off or whatever, but-”
“Hey,” a soft voice came from beside her, turning, Fig found that Adaine had crossed the room and was standing beside her, one hand hovering, tentatively by her face.
When Fig didn’t pull away Adaine gently placed her hand on her cheek.
“You don’t have to explain anything, alright?”
“I know. I want you to understand though. I have a goal.”
“I know,”
“It’s my mother,”
“What?”
“I told you… that first night… why I begged you to stay alive. That there’s a reason I ran away?”
“Your mother?”
“Yeah.”
“Like…?” Adaine said, awkwardly gesturing to her back.
“No. No, not like that.” Fig sighed. She didn’t have to explain this or make Adaine understand, but the words came without her command, “the day after my horns came in… she sent me off with this,” she pulled the gold medallion out from beneath her shirt for a second, “told me I was in danger. I have no idea what danger she meant. I have no clue why I had to leave my home but I know that to find out, and to beat whatever it is… I need money, and connections. Which takes more money.”
Fig sighed.
“I know you want more from me-”
“I do. But I don’t expect more.”
“But-”
“I know you find it difficult to believe but you’ve given me… you’ve given me a lot. More than basically anyone else I’ve known,”
Fig turned to face Adaine more, “well… you still deserve more,”
“Hmmm,” Adaine hummed, non-committedly, “Listen, like I said, I get you being all closed off, I don’t expect-”
Fig cut in, a hand resting on Adaine’s.
“I haven’t… I haven’t slept like… through the night in… for a long time.” She awkwardly shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
“I know I’m pretty closed off. And I do intend to stay like that because the more I… the closer I am to you the harder this is going to be. And this has to happen. Even if… hypothetically… I wished it didn’t. But if things weren’t as they are…” Fig groaned, she had no idea what she was trying to say or why on earth she was trying to say it in the first place, “I don’t fucking know.”
“If things were different. I might say that last night was something I’ll never forget, and that it wasn’t just sex… Even though that was pretty fucking great… and if things were different I might say that I’d like to… see where this,” she gestured between the two of them, “goes,”
“If things were different, I’d like that. A lot. I’d also say some things about last night if I wasn’t worried about your ego getting so large it explodes your brain.”
“Aww, you don’t want me dead!” Fig grinned, “You like me!”
“I think that was already established.” responded Adaine, dryly but with an affectionate mirth behind her tone which made Fig laugh.
A brief silence fell and Fig dropped her hand, Adaine doing the same.
“So, what is the noise about?” Adaine asked after a moment.
“A storm,”
Adaine rolled her eyes.
“I guessed that, I meant all the turning and that?”
“Hmm? Oh, right, so, we’re being pursued by your warships,”
“Mine?”
“Don’t be pedantic, Falinese warships, two coming from the east, headed directly for us,”
“What? Why?”
“Presumably,” Fig sucked air through her teeth, “they are unaware of the collateral we hold, that’s you,”
“I got that,”
“And are hoping to confine us to a watery grave, I would assume on the orders of…”
Adaine’s face twitched uncomfortably.
“Yeah… her… I think it’s safe to assume that she wants you dead,”
“So… what’s the plan? Toss me off the side and make a break for the outer ocean? You have the speed to get out there, surely?”
Fig tried to cover her reaction to Adaine’s cavalier attitude to her own death. Reminding herself that she would be handing her over to commit suicide didn’t help. Surprisingly.
“I think we can still get the money for you… sorry.”
Adaine shrugged, “comes to the same thing, doesn’t it?”
Fig chose to ignore that.
“Well, given that the Sachellas isn’t pursuing us, or making any attempt to keep pace, it’s fair to assume that the imperial navy itself doesn’t want you dead, so it’s probable that the other two ships are not aware that you’re onboard.”
“So?”
“So, as long as we get to the rendezvous point and deal with the captain of The Sachellas we should still be able to get the ransom.”
“Which means escaping the other two ships?”
“Exactly.”
“So, what does that have to do with the storm?”
“Easy to hide in a storm,”
“Is that because there’s no sane person who would sail into a storm?”
“Largely.” Fig grinned, “And we needed to get the best speed, hopefully the two ships will have lost sight of us now, then will head north and, again, hopefully follow another vessel we saw off to the west which broke off when we turned to it, and so we tack, that is to say we crisscrossed the wind to keep it at the best angle.”
“Wouldn’t the best angle just be…behind?”
“Not really, fastest you get like that is the speed of the wind, you get faster when you kinda…” Fig made a gesture with her hands but gave up halfway through, “ride the wind rather than trying to let it pull you… like birds! When they glide in the air without flapping, it’s kinda like that but… turned around a bit.”
“And you’re doing that because you’re trying to get into a storm… faster?”
Fig flashed the princess a devilish grin, “Are you scared?”
“Yes?” Adaine said, like it was obvious, “I know I might seem pretty keen on the whole death thing but this isn’t really the way I wanna go?”
“We’ll be fine!” As if to make her seem stupid a massive peel of thunder echoed around them, seeming to shake the walls of the cabin.
Adaine raised her eyebrow.
“Ok, so it might be a bit less than ideal,” allowed Fig.
“We’re balancing on a block of wood, with sticks… stuck to it, in the middle of a tempest!”
“Ok,” Fig held up her hands, “first off, not in the middle, second, don’t talk about my love that way,” Fig narrowed her eyes as she patted the side of the cabin, making Adaine snort slightly, “and third, where was all this when you climbed up to the crows nest?”
“Death by falling is a lot less scary than drowning in a storm,”
“Ehhh, fair enough, but again, you’re not gonna die… probably,”
“Reassuring,”
“Seriously,” Fig laughed, “how come you could climb up to the nest so easily?”
“I don’t know…” Adaine looked down at her feet, Fig catching a hint of a blush on her face.
“It doesn’t make sense because you are here but… I wasn’t scared because I was with you…”
Fig sighed, trying to shut down the warm feeling growing inside of her, one she knew she did not deserve.
“I can’t keep you safe all the time, highness,”
“I know. I don't expect you to. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t feel safer with you around,”
“You shouldn’t,” reminded Fig.
“I know.” Adaine responded, once more stepping into Fig’s space, “But I do.”
Fig allowed her hands to be taken by Adaine, who leant in and pressed a soft kiss to her mouth which caught the captain off guard for a moment.
But just a moment, Fig smiled against Adaine’s lips and leant in closer to her but Adaine pulled away and began laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“You’re soaking wet!” Adaine chuckled, gesturing to her shirt which had a damp patch on the front where Fig had pressed against her briefly.
“Well yeah, have you seen yourself?” Fig raised her eyebrows suggestively, “Can you blame me for being a bit turned o-”
Adaine flicked her nose.
“Hey!” Fig broke into laughter himself, “well, yeah, I was just out in the rain, what did you expect?”
“I just… I don’t know” Adaine responded between bursts of giggles. “I just didn’t think about it, ok? Maybe you should take those clothes off-”
Her eyes went wide as she realised what she had just said.
“Just like-”
“Oh, I know what you meant,” Fig winked and Adaine slapped her shoulder.
“OK, ok, I’m sorry,” she laughed, holding her hands up in surrender.
“Thought you’d be less easily flustered after… everything…”
“You underestimate me,”
“Clearly,”
“I wouldn’t-” Adaine started then blushed before starting again, “I wouldn’t be opposed if you wanted to take it that way though,”
Fig grinned widely and leant back into Adaine’s space, delighting in how the other girl’s blush deepened.
“Are you trying to seduce me, your highness?”
Despite her obvious unease with flirting, Adaine raised an eyebrow challengingly, “would that be a problem?”
“Not at all,” Fig grinned, then brought a hand up to Adaine’s face and pulled the other girl into another kiss, deeper than the last.
Eventually she found the strength to pull away.
“But unfortunately,” She sighed, “I have a lot of work to do still,”
“Did you get away from it just to see me?” smirked Adaine.
“Maybe,” Now it was Fig’s turn to blush, “Would that be a problem?”
“Not at all,” grinned Adaine, pulling Fig’s lips against hers.
She pulled away again after a second, “Go on, I won’t keep you,” she smiled but Fig could see the hint of disappointment behind the expression which… may have stroked her ego more than it should have.
Fig groaned, “You could, easily,” But still, she turned to the door to leave.
“Though,” she paused, turning back to Adaine, holding her hand out to her, “You could join me… then we’d both have a reason to get out of these clothes…”
Adaine immediately broke into a grin and darted forwards, taking Fig’s hand in hers.