Out in the distance, the high walls of Rapra Castle stretched over the horizon and greeted the return of its fleet. As soon as he saw the familiar roof of the beacon room that capped the castle, Corco's stern face finally eased. All the tension and pressure pressure left his body and mind as if they had never existed. Finally, he was back home.

Despite his worries, the way back from Rasacopa had been smooth for the Homeward and the remaining ships. Ever since their first, suicidal battle with the colored kings, the arcavian ships around the Green Island had retreated much farther away.

Just like Corco's side had hoped, the enemy coalition of Arcavians and Yaku had become more cautious, not least because they didn't want to be surprised by another desperate attack like that. Unlike last time they had moved out, the king didn't want to invite another ambush. Thus, Corco and his men left the harbor unannounced, before noon while everyone important in the palace got ready for a key court session, the first after rumors of Tayali's death had spread.

No matter how many spies may be in Rasacopa, the sudden departure didn't leave them enough time to inform their masters. Thus, they had managed to make their way into the open waters without a hitch.

From there, the rest of the way had been smooth sailing, since they had taken a longer route, expressly to avoid any shallows or cliffs that could hide enemy ships. Out in the open, the Verdant Folk were no threat to them, and the Arcavians didn't have enough ships close by to threaten them.

After all, Saniya's fleet had left with most of their ships, a full fourteen vessels, armed to the teeth with cannons. They had only left behind the two damaged cahlian galleons they had captured in the previous battle, and only because they couldn't be considered seaworthy with their shot hulls. For their return to Rasacopa, Corco planned to bring some of his craftsmen to repair the ships, and to modify them to add modern conveniences like a ship's wheel and a gundeck.

After a while, Corco's eyes left the distant castle and returned to the main deck, where Atau's men were doing their work with routine ease. Despite their fleet having a similar composition than during their first journey a few days earlier, the ship didn't feel cramped this time.

After all, Corco had left behind Paec and his army in Rasacopa. They hadn't played a big role in the previous battle, but the goal had always been to station them on the Green Island as a deterrent for Sumaci's enemies, as well as a first line of defense during an invasion.

He didn't want to leave his wife all to her own devices, not with the selfish local warriors around her. With Paec's men under her command, she would be able to begin the cleanup of the palace and the local troops, while Corco prepared additional support back home. At the same time, he would have to catch up on his regular work in the castle. Though of course, all of this was easier said than done, and he couldn't get Sumaci's precarious position out of his head, even more so when he remembered the shameless and clever advisor Phuyu who had played them before.

While a mix of plans and worries swirled around in his head, the ship entered into the city limits through the Mayura delta. Eventually, they steered into the military harbor tucked away inside a small inlet on Chukru island, a position protected from both spies and the elements. In fact, the image of the military harbor was a bit unusual within the cityscape.

Most of Saniya no longer had functional walls. Of course the castle was an exception, but even when it came to Corco's own seat of power, Rapra was more protected by guards along the major bridges across the river than it was by its walls.

Every day, many locals would enter the castle on business. Even the previously impressive outer city wall had long lost its purpose, as the city had swelled in size and grown far beyond its old limits. Only here, in the military harbor, did walls still play an important role.

Two layers protected one of the most important and most secretive places in the entire kingdom from prying eyes and eager hands. The first layer of walls enclosed the military harbor, where Saniya's fleet had just arrived. After they had docked along the many piers, Corco came ashore with steady steps.

By now, even he had gotten used to life at sea. Without much fanfare, he was greeted by Fadelio and a handful of officials. He wasn't big on these grand greetings anyways, so he was happy that no one had wasted time and money on a useless parade or somesuch.

“Welcome back,” Fadelio said while his eyes searched the space behind Corco for something. “Where'd you leave our wise queen?”

“Maci's stayed behind. Things didn't go smoothly, so there's still lots to do over there. For now, you can assume that we're in open war again, not fun. This time it's the colored kings, both Arcavian kingdoms and... undetermined. Probably one of my fellow kings, or both. I might have to soon leave again as well. I don't want to leave Maci to fend for herself for too long, not with those greedy subordinates she has around her in that place. Once I get some work done here, I'll go back right away.”

“I'm sure she's eagerly awaiting you already, thinking of nothing else.” Fadelio showed a dry smile.

“I might be a narcissist, but not that much, am I?”

He expected an answer from his subordinate, but somehow only received a strange look.

Fine, guess I steered him right into that one.

Rather than wait for a reply that would never come, he tried to change the topic.

“It looks like Maci's not the only one waiting for someone,” he said with a smile, and looked towards Tamaya who was waiting some ways behind her brother. When the king turned around, he saw that Atau was only just leaving the ship, but his face was already pale.

“Laqhis, I think it's best if I stay on board for now, just in case we need to move out all of a sudden,” he said, but Fadelio didn't look amused.

“What do you mean by that, you useless bastard? In know what you did, you can't hide. In the streets, the word has already spread of what you've done to Tama, and that you proposed. Why would I not hear a single word of that beforehand? Are you just playing with my sister? Are you trying to ruin her?”

Bemused, Corco realized that Tamaya seemed to be spreading rumors again, this time to put pressure on Atau. However, the experienced playboy did his best to deflect.

“What do you know, you ice block!?” Atau shouted. “Don't get involved in things you don't understand.”

“Stop,” Corco held up his hands and stepped between them. As funny as this was, he didn't want to see his friends get into a fist fight over a misunderstanding.

“Let them handle it themselves,” Corco said to Fadelio. “There's no reason for us to get involved when they haven't even cleared things up between them. They're both responsible adults, they can handle it. And you,” he turned to Atau. “Don't be a bitch and go talk to her. Seriously, even if it all was a mistake, the least you could do is talk it out, right? You're not getting back on any ships until this is cleared up, do you understand?”

“Fine. Let's get this over with.” After a defeated sigh, Atau trudged towards Tamaya, who had stood there the whole time, grinning from ear to ear.

“They grow up so fast.” Corco laughed, before he turned to Fadelio again. “Now, let's get to work.”

At first, Fadelio still stared at the awkward Atau standing in front of his sister, but soon his face firmed up and he returned to his usual, workaholic self.

“Back to the palace?” he asked.

“No, since we're already at the military harbor, we may as well get some work done here. Let's visit the military shipyard.”

Together, Corco and Fadelio walked over to the second set of walls within the military harbor. Hidden behind a wall inside a wall, Saniya's military shipyard was even more secretive than the harbor. Here, all of Saniya's new ships were being designed and built.

In total, there were eight drydocks and dozens of smaller work stations, all of which were occupied up by various projects at the moment. Ever since the appearance of arcavian galleons in the Verduic Sea, the shipyard had received additional funds and was now at full capacity around the clock.

“So how far along are we with our next batch of ships?” Corco asked as they walked past the various docks and watched the workers bend planks and plane wood.

This batch of galleons under construction right now would be the first proper battleships designed and built in Saniya itself. Their current fleet only consisted of their old ships from Arcavia, as well as the civilian vessels they had built here.

All this time, they had spent untold time and effort to get their shipwrights and apprentices to this point, where they could mass-produce modern battleships. However, Fadelio's stiff face told Corco that he would still have to wait a bit longer for his freshly minted galleons.

“You know that we've had to spend some time to rework the brigantines of the traders and fishermen so we could use them in combat. And then you took some of the half-finished ships and requisitioned them for your suicide plan. All that has pushed back the timetable for our first group of galleons. The first four will take considerably longer to finish up now. Master Aloysius says it'll be at least another four months until they are ready. But if we have an early and harsh winter, the entire work could be delayed until early next year.”

“Time is what we have the least of right now,” Corco commented with a frown. “We need to get some more ships into the Verduic Sea, and soon. On this trip, we managed a small win against the Arcavians, somehow. With that we've won some time, since they'll be more careful for now. But sooner or later, when their greed wins out, they'll get bold again. At that point, they'll realize that they actually outnumber us, by a lot. So by then, we'll need enough ships to match them, or we'll be in real trouble.”

“I don't know what to tell you,” Fadelio replied. “According to the experts, that's how long the ships will take, and I don't think we can speed up the timetable any more.”

“Then how about transforming some more civilian brigantines? How's that looking?”

Months earlier, they had offered ownership of new ships to civilians if they allowed their ships to become part of the war effort, including the sailors being part of the crew. Even after the first ten ships had joined their cause, the offer still stood. However, from Fadelio's cramped expression, it didn't seem like there were too many takers these days.

“Not so good,” he said. “After the first ten crews, no one else has been eager to join us.”

“Getting their entire ships paid off is not enough for them?”

“No. Rather, many of the merchants lack the funds. Even if they don't have to buy the ship, organizing an expedition is expensive, and many are not willing to spend that much. While they could buy and work ships as a group like the fishing villages are doing, they're reluctant, since most don't know each other well enough.”

For a moment, Fadelio seemed to weigh his words before he continued.

“This is only my opinion, but I think a lot of them also don't believe our word on this. As lords, we could just change our minds after the war. At least from their perspective, that is entirely believable, and something a Medalan noble would absolutely do. For others, they think that they already own the ship. If they don't want to pay us, they can just move to a different country and never come back. That goes especially for many of the merchants. Even worse, if their ship fights in a war, there's a chance it'll sink, so they're even less eager to risk their lives for dubious gains. For most of them, there's little reason to fight our war for us.”

“Well fuck. Have they never heard of blind patriotism?”

“They're merchants.”

“Damn merchants should just do as they're told,” the merchant king complained.

“You can't force them to give up their own ships, can you?” Fadelio asked with worry. “I don't think forced levy is a good idea, that'll only drive more of them away. And it sets a dangerous precedent.”

“No worries. We're not Arcavians, and I'm not a dictator... I mean, technically I'm a dictator, but I'm not that kind of dictator. No, if we want to make them fight for us, we need to offer them either guarantees, or fewer constraints.”

“If they don't believe our offer, they won't believe the guarantees either.”

“Option B then. Since they don't want to fight for me, I'll allow them to fight for themselves.”

“And how would that work?”

“I'll write them a little letter, let's call it a commission of war. That commission will allow them to privately fight on our behalf. That means they get to play pirate in the Verduic Sea, without being considered outlaws here in Saniya. So long as they only attack the ships of our enemies, they get to come back here as upstanding citizens. They even get to keep the loot they rob, minus a percentage we keep for their protection. Though this way, they can also pay off the loans for their ships themselves, without our help. If they do a good enough job, they can even get rich off it, just what the merchants would want.”

“Wouldn't that become a problem after the war?” Fadelio asked. “At that point, we'll have many armed, independent forces sailing up and down our western coast, with no enemies to point them to, and no way to control them.”

“We'll deal with those problems when, and if, we get there. By then, we'll hopefully have started to mass-produce ships and have complete naval dominance in the Verduic Sea.”

However, controlling the privateers was an issue for a later time. At least for now, it seemed like the great age of pirates was upon the Verdant Isles.