Aidan yawned into his hand while he leaned back against the chair, causing it to rock back on two legs. He pushed against the table’s footrest to keep his balance then stretched out behind him. The remnants of his dinner, a sumptuous meal of grilled Ganeran beef medallions, buttered peas, roasted potatoes, and a cream soup, were only a few crumbs that he was half tempted to lick off the plate. His mug was still half full of lager but he wasn’t much of a drinker.

Riley, on the other hand, was already on his third mug and his face was as red as a sunset. But of course, he cleaned his plate. There wasn’t even a smidge of the mint sauce left and Aidan caught his brother licking it off his fingers a while back. Certainly uncivilised behaviour and the attendant, a young man in a tight suit, clearly thought so as well but he didn’t so much as wince when Riley did that. But it was rather clear to Aidan’s senses that the man thought poorly of the brothers from how his face tightened when he thought they weren’t looking.

Still, he was nothing but professional and promptly refilled Riley’s mug whenever he asked. As for Aidan, he’d like another serving of dessert, a tasty honey cake, but was told there was only enough for a single serving for each guest.

The mess hall was filled with the crew of the Ebon Horizon, the survivors anyway. Of the twenty-three officers and crew, only a bit more than half had survived and been whisked away from the disaster they’d found themselves in. Most of the deaths were from the ordinary sailors, but the ship’s cook and the steward died or were left behind too. Aidan didn’t know the exact circumstances since he had been with his cousin.

The other two ship’s marines, Jonir and Zoey, were alive by the simple fact that they were strong and tough enough to survive without the protection of the Ebon Horizon’s Sphere. Many of the casualties were when the engines failed and power ceased to be transmitted to both the carronades and the sphere. He’d heard about it from Aunt Layla, who had escaped the tragedy by the skin of her teeth. Christoph Sandmeier, the Second Runeer, hadn’t been so lucky. Oh, he survived, but his Animus channels and inlays had been burned and overloaded by the flood of both neutral Animus and ambient Chaos.

Burnt channels. Aidan winced in sympathy. Animus came from the core within the Anima, but in order to be used, it had to flow through the body. Inlays crossed the boundary between Anima and body, often carved on both. The path one’s Animus used to flow through the body and Anima were called channels and with each repeated use, they grew deeper and more set in their paths. That made it easier and faster for Animus to flow through them, but the reverse was also true. Wild ambient Chaos could flow back into those channels from the terminus points, and they corroded the banks.

For Sandmeier to use his channels again, he would have to wait for his Anima to heal, but that also meant that those channels could close, become blocked up, or diverted entirely. It would be like having to use different muscles to do the same movement, and it would never be as good or as efficient as the first time.

Dredging out blocked channels was a time consuming and expensive process. The smallest mistake could cause the channel to rupture and would also damage the Anima. Auxilius Vitae would be needed to aid in repairing the damage. Those potent medicines were expensive though, running at nearly a gold mark a dose, and extensive damage would require dozens, if not hundreds.

The door opened from the side wall and Christoph Sandmeier staggered into the mess hall. An attendant, also a ruggedly handsome young man in tight clothing, hurried to assist the Runeer to table. It was next to where Captain Lauretta Mitchell was seated, along with Aunt Layla and the First Mate, Marcus Sommel. The Bosun, Svitlanna Krapasius, didn’t make it. She remained behind, fighting against the combined Lignoculi, while the rest of the crew escaped the dying ship.

Bitter thoughts. Part of him wanted to blame his cousin, Yuriko, for this. The Ebon Horizon was a veteran ship. It had run its trade route for nearly a decade without fail. He had been its protector for nearly five of those years, and all the while, the trading, the voyage, had been steady. Profit may not be as fat as what the captain wished, but it was enough to warrant the Horizon’s continued existence. All ruined by monumental greed.

But this wasn’t Yuriko’s fault. It was important to know who to assign blame. It was the Xylarchy’s privateers that pressed them so hard that they were forced to escape through dangerous means several times. It was Belrath’s ships, and troops, that shed Imperial blood. So it was the Belrath Xylarchy that was to blame.

He could only console himself with the idea that their pursuers were dead. Ah, no. Only one of the original three ships had died here, the rest of them were from a different group.

Across the hall, the exiled prince of Isger Republic sat morosely while nursing a mug of beer. His remaining bodyguard and attendant looked equally depressed but there was a tinge of joy at surviving certain death. As with the rest of the Horizon’s crew, they drank and commemorated the dead.

“So what now?” Riley mumbled, barely loud enough for Aidan to hear.

Thump!

The impact from the chair’s legs was nearly loud enough to cut through the muted chatter. A few of the ordinary sailors glanced at him, while their table’s attendant continued to give him a disapproving look.

“What are you worried about?” Aidan snorted. “This is barely your first year. You’ve still got your pick of other Chaos ships.”

Riley shook his head, then drank deeply from his mug. He thumped it back on the table. “And on my record is a failed tour.”

“Extenuating circumstances,” Aidan began.

“But nothing,” Riley drunkenly growled. “A record’s a record. There’s no putting excuses in it. Mine will read that I’ve had a single tour and that it resulted in failure. Loss of life and of property. No one will take me on as a ship’s marine again.”

“Don’t say never, Riley. It isn’t. Give it a couple of years and people will forget. Or, you know, wait until the captain gets another command.”

“I doubt it,” Riley groused. “Aunt Layla said that the captain is likely to retire. After a large payout like this…”

“Then why don’t we take it easy for the next few years then? We’ve got a share in the bounty, too.”

“Yeah, but we didn’t bring cousin Yuriko to Realmheart. We were still rescued by this vessel.”

Aidan fell silent. He couldn’t dispute the logic but he was sure the captain would still fight for the full bounty. This was a Mishala clan ship after all, and it was unlikely that they would have found Yuriko on their own. As for how the Silver Tiger managed to rescue them in the nick of time, well, he had his suspicions.

Oh, who was he kidding? It was the Fateweaver Loom, of course. The moment they encountered their wayward cousin, the Loom probably had a reaction. And the Mishala Clan’s main duty was to monitor the Loom and watch for danger to the Empire, from within or outside. It was probably simple enough to set it to watch for Yuriko.

Still, the question of why they didn’t just send this ship directly to Bella gnawed at his mind. Ah, well, perhaps the Chaos storm that swept her away from Rumiga scrambled her traces. Who knew? Well, probably only the Mishalas know the particulars of that incredible artefact.

“Well, how about we take a look around this ship? It’s not everyday we get to see the insides of a state of the art luxury yacht.”

“I guess,” Riley grumbled. “He emptied his mug then staggered to his feet. He shook his head, then focused inwards, running the Recovery technique to remove some of the alcohol in his bloodstream. A minute later, the red on his face receded. “Let’s go.”

“Aye.”

Aidan nodded at the attendant who snorted even as he picked up after them.

Aidan shrugged to himself. What’s got that guy’s knickers in a twist? He nodded to Aunt Layla, who barely paid him any mind save for a careless wave. They walked up to the same door that Christoph entered from and Aidan palmed the Animus panel on right. He emitted a tiny bit of his Animus and the panel blinked a couple of colours before it projected a list on the door. The entire thing acted as a crystal screen, and Aidan could barely keep his jaw from dropping every time he thought about the expense.

He focused on the list and picked the training room. He could certainly use it to stretch out the kinks in his muscles.

The door slid open and Riley followed behind. The hallway they entered was short, maybe five paces long at most. As he walked the short distance, he could feel the air, and floor, and the walls twist. It was barely perceptible, but from the way Riley stiffened, he felt it, too.

They’d felt the same thing earlier when they left their quarters, and even before that when they were brought from the decontamination room to where they would stay for the rest of the journey. The hallway was always the same but the door opened to different places every time.

When he opened the door on the opposite side, he couldn’t help but stare, with his chin dropping to his chest. The training room…was huge. It was probably as big as the main hold of the Ebon Horizon but that couldn’t be right. He had a good look at the Chaos ship before they boarded and it was less than twice the length of the Horizon, and was just as wide. How could they afford to have a space just dedicated for training instead of cargo or supplies?

The training room was handsomely appointed. Long wooden planks covered the floor, and the walls had mirrors all throughout. Varied weight training tools such as heavy blades and uneven balls, were racked up along the sides. Gravity vests, ankle and wrist weights were on the opposite side. An obstacle course, a small one, admittedly, was set up on the far side.

Wooden poles that were barely an inch wide, monkey bars, parallel bars, and pull up bars were part of the set up, along with crawl spaces, and skipping points. The room wasn’t empty, by any means, someone was already working on their muscles in the corner, wearing a heavy vest while doing pushups.

Jonir glanced at the two when they entered, gave them an acknowledging nod, then focused on his training. There were others scattered about, some of the ship’s crew, Aidan supposed.

“This certainly beat the dingy room back in the Horizon,” Riley grunted. “Maybe we can find a berth here.” His mood seemed much improved, but Aidan noted his sarcastic undertone.

“That’s unlikely,” Aidan muttered. “This is an exclusive ship, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, want to train?”

Riley looked at the facilities with a critical eye, then jolted with surprise. “There’s a firing range.”

“Eh?”

Riley pointed at a far corner where they spotted Zoey using a training bow to shoot at something they couldn’t see from here.

“I guess I’ll work up a sweat here,” he decided.

“Aye.”

Before they could take more than a step though, the door behind them slid open and in walked an incredibly gorgeous woman, followed by Yuriko and another woman. Aidan’s eyes darted between the woman and his cousin and immediately noted the resemblance.

The woman, who he recognised as their saviour, had long golden hair that reached down to her mid back. Shorter than his cousin’s, whose golden locks went all the way to her shapely bottom. They both had blue eyes and the same delicate features. Well, the main difference was that Yuriko’s bosom was quite modest compared to the other’s. Ah, his eyes couldn’t help but be drawn there, for how they both wore dresses. Aidan tried to swallow, but his throat was suddenly as dry as a desert.

Tap, tap!

The odd sound had him glancing back. He saw the crewmembers all on one knee and their eyes blazed with fanatical fervor. Their gazes shifted from the woman to Yuriko and if anything, the light behind their eyes blazed even brighter.

“Well, here are your cousins,” the woman said, her voice a melodic thrum that made his entire body vibrate pleasantly.

“Thanks, Mum.” Yuriko’s voice had the same pleasant quality, of course, and his eyes snapped towards his cousin. She walked up to them then murmured, “Thank you.”

Aidan blinked. “For what?”

She smiled wanly. “For finding me, and for the passage home.”

“No worries; you’re family.”

Her smile widened, then she gave him a quick hug. The strength in her arms matched his easily, and he returned the hug. Afterwards, she hugged Riley, too, who stood stiff as a post while she had her arms around him.

“I’ll talk to you two later!” She waved then headed back out the door, followed by her mother and the other woman.

Once they were gone from the room, the crew members got back to their feet and resumed their training, but their curious murmurs now centred around the mother and daughter duo.

“Hey, Aidan,” Riley began, “I think we should probably stick around our cousin.”

“Oh, why?”

“She was trembling.”

Aidan felt his eyes widen. So she was. Maybe she had other troubles too. Well, they could help. It wasn’t as if they had anything better to do right now.