“And it’s anchored in each corner?” Macha asked, dangerously sticking half his body out of the balcony railing.

“Anchors and chains to big boulder rocks. Yes.” Marie answered from inside, glued to the chair of the administrator of a kingdom without a king. She hadn’t stood since morning, and Lim hadn’t seen her walk since the night before, when they met them on arrival at the Rigg.

Macha got down and went back inside, sitting on the big couch, next to Lim. “It’s amazing how such an enormous structure with so much metal can float.” he said, filling another glass of tea with lemon.

Marie put down her pen and took his eyes off the paperwork for the first time in hours. “The principle of buoyancy is lesson number one in diving, Monlad. You should reread your books.”

‘Data input, subject[Marie]: Nagging. Scolding.’ Lim tried to get better data from the woman's reaction. If there was anyone in the world that she couldn't read clearly, that person was Marie. She was, apart from calculating, methodical and hard-working to sick ends, very experienced in dealing with people, and she had learned perfectly how to hide, twist and use her body language at will. “He is not learning to dive. Just sail.” Lim said. “Em plans to leave the bell and Rob here with Ivy when we get back from Srivijaya.”

Marie returned to her notes.” That’s fantastic. The bell will do us very well here. I hear you went wreck hunting for a princess ship. Did I hear wrong?”

“I did. It was really scary, Mrs. Marie. I won’t do it again.” Macha returned to the balcony, this time to watch the rangers’ gliders swinging like seagulls around the platform. “I never imagined men could fly. That’s even more amazing than this Rigg. That one is doing a flip, look!”

For Marie to look up from work twice in less than a minute was a sign that she was exhausted or, more likely, finishing. The small smile on her face surprised Lim. “That must be Ivy. She’s not as scared of falling from that height as the others.” Marie said, as she picked up a corroded pocket watch suspended on a small chain. “Look Lim. This was sold to me a few months ago from that supposed sunken ship.”

There was only one reason that Marie would have shown any interest in something like that, a reason that could only be ascertained if there was a small mark on the back that Lim couldn’t see from that distance. “Does it have an engraving behind?”

“It does. But it is not my niece’s. The mark is my brother’s.”

Lim’s jaw dropped. The odds of such a small watch being found in the sea's bottom were slim. That it was one of the few Villiers du Eve ever made was impossible. “I… I… I don’t know what to say.” Lim mumbled.

Marie’s eyes widened. “Wow. That’s new.”

The watchmaker of Mestra was a person erased from her memories. A man who somehow held great importance in her past. She tried to remember, but her brain pushed away, terrified that she might unearth some horrible memory by doing so. Her thoughts tried to drag her to the safety of the dream island, but she resisted and, thanks to Em’s voice, remained in the room with them.

“If you delay it, the engine blows!” Ced said. “Not even Marie is that stubborn!” A pencil shot out from the desk, which Ced dodged gracefully.

“I’m not.” Em replied. “I’m just saying, couldn’t it be better to pay Charles with what I earn from Srivijaya? You need all the money now for the plantations.”

“If we sail to Ujan Temasek from here, we may arrive before Ivy’s day of birth. We haven’t set foot on that island for years. She’d like it,” Lim said.

“All right. All right. We will sail to Temasek and do the Srivijaya route after that. But we will have to depart tomorrow.”

Ced, with his arms opened and legs crossed, flopped down on the couch with satisfaction. “I’ve been all morning trying to convince this man, and you did it in a second. You always amaze me, Lim,” he said, unfolding a devilishly perfect smile. Ced, even having passed his forties long ago, still maintained his youth attractiveness. Both in his enviable physique and charming attitude.

”You don’t worry about the money for the slaves, Em. I‘ll pay Charles with something else.”

“What?” Said Macha, who stopped dead on his way to the sofa.

“Oh, Francois. You are always so clumsy with your words,“ Marie groaned. “The money my stupid husband is talking about is to buy freedom, not people.”

“Of course! Sorry Mon’lad Macha, that came out wrong. Have a seat with us!” Ced said. “What do you think of my platform? Do you like it?”

“It's great Sir. I find it hard to believe how this stays afloat.”

“Well, The Rigg and the water villages are well protected by the reefs. Have you seen the new floor upstairs? I made quarters from my rangers, and I installed four nines on each side!”

“Pretty useless when u cannot move like a ship does,” Em grumbled.

“This is a fortress, not a ship.” Ced replied, with his usual cheerfulness and a touch of annoyance that always surfaced when he talked to the captain.

“A fortress without stone walls,” mumbled Em, almost whispering.

Marie sighed, ready to scold, but it was Macha who intervened. “I’m fascinated with the winged rangers, Sir. Never imagined people could fly.”

“Oh, yes. I designed that. But it was Marie’s idea.” Ced looked askance to his wife, waiting for a reaction she never gave back. “When I joke I get pencils, when I compliment, see Monlad? Nothing.”

“Em, we’ll need more sulfur from the Nor’Wes. You didn’t bring enough this time.“ Marie said.

The captain cleared his throat. “I needed some coin to buy the coal.” Her humming made him move uncomfortably. Few people were able to make him as nervous as she did.

“See?” Ced whispered to Macha. “She is never happy!”

In the way Macha looked at Ced, there was the crude admiration that the inexperienced find in pompous greatness. A greatness Ced had, as much as pomposity. “I will buy some from Tampra, not a problem.” The Rigg engineer said. “This year, Em brought great merchandise and made a good profit. I think this trip I can save over ten people from the plantations.”

“Five.” said Marie. “We need a new ship for Rima and his boys.”

“What is more important? People or ships?”

Marie’s face reddened. Lim needed little skill to know where this conversation was heading. Their fights always started the same way and for the same reasons. Ced was a dreamer with plenty of great ideas, but as he was the heart of the Blue Kingdom, Marie was the brain. The person behind the hard decisions and complicated choices. “The water south village has doubled in size in just a year, and the east one has grown as well.” She said, trying to stop the impending fight.

Ced turned visibly excited. “Isn’t that fantastic? People are fleeing from Hanan as the Golden prepares for another revolution. We filled five new islands and got three merchant ships with experienced crew. Next year I will leave my route to someone else and we will sail Nor’Wes. It’s been a while!”

“I have a lot of work. We cannot leave.”

Ced snapped his teeth. “They will manage without us for a few months. The Kingdom was here before us, Marie.”

“And it was complete chaos!”

“It wasn’t that bad, just a little messy, on-“

“As much as I want to see Donna, I cannot leave this. These days the supply lines are too slow. We can barely feed the villages. There are fourteen islands that do not want to receive more migrants, seventeen with serious supply problems, and the nomads have begun to pillage the south. And you call this amazing?”

“Em brought the blueprint of a Telos river ship. With some retouching I’ll build some and improve speed of our provision routes-“

“And that will take you how long? And how much money do you think we have for that? And do you have enough wood for these ‘few ships’ to fill our hundred routes around the Blue? Do you know how expensive timber is?”

“If you don’t want to go, just say it.”

The chair hit the floor with a loud thud as Marie stormed out. Ced sank to his spot, sipping from a glass slowly. “We had a black flag encounter on the way to Hieng. Pirate runners.” Em said, bringing Ced’s enthusiasm back as a little toddler forgets a tantrum with a candy.

“Oh, about that. Soon the Fist will be a hand with only two fingers. Mamma’Thumbs is deadly ill and the daughters are cat-fighting for the crown.”

“That explains why there were free booters in the North West.” Lim said.

“Aye,” Em added. “The Stingray has no leash on his dogs. They will soon sail everywhere on my route. Even Ue-Jin may take over if none of the sisters is strong enough.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, old man.” Ced said. Lim could see the muscles of Em’s jaw pressing. She knew how much he hated to be called ‘old’ by Ced. “The sisters are just playing their cards with alliances and betrayals.“ Ced continued. “As soon as the Harpy feeds the fish, which is said to be soon, one will take the throne and we will go back to normal. ‘Pinky’ Ue won’t dare to step west and ‘Stinky’ Ray will take his doggies back.”

“I hope you are right,” Lim said. “Any clue of which sister has more chances to be the new Harpy?”

Ced scratched his chin. “Uhm, Marie had reports. The oldest is the first choice. We only know she is cruel like her mother and that makes her the Harpy’s favorite. If we are lucky, she may keep her mother’s promise. The Lady of cards is taming great power, but she is inexperienced. If she succeeds, I leave it to Em.”

Em hummed, and Lim knew why. The Lady was an old friend indeed, but she was a person extremely difficult to deal with.

“From the other five, only three have a slight chance and I have good terms with two of them. We are almost covered.”

“Until then, I may need some upgrades on my ship. I was thinking of a swivel at each bow.”

“That’s actually quite a good idea. I’ll get you two when you return. What is it, Mon’lad? You seem self-absorbed.”

“You talk about the kings of piracy like you know them.” Macha said.

“That’s because we do.” Answered Ced. “Your Cap here even met the two deceased ones. Did that two hate you as much as Ue-Jin does, old man?”

“The Wokou hate you much more, if I reckon correctly.”

Ced chuckled. “See Mon’lad, the people of Jō-Dan are proud to use a strange two handed saber. Crazy sword! short blade with no guard, but I have to admit, most of them use it with great skill. swordsmen from there are always a challenge, but I have won all my duels. All Except the ones against the Ue-Jin. I had three encounters with that devil, always ending in draws.”

Em blew from his nose. “There’s a name for men that stumble on purpose over the same stone twice.”

“Unlike others, I’m not afraid to sail the Jō-Dan waters. If they find me and want trouble, I won’t look away.”

“Unlike others, I consider prudence a virtue.”

Macha followed the duel of words expectantly, not knowing which one of the two he liked the most. Lim knew that would happen. Ced had that gift of being instantly loved by everyone and Em, who on the contrary had no people skills, had won over the boy his own way.

“Have you dueled the Stingray?” Macha said, completely captivated by Ced’s talking.

“Nay. ‘Stinky’ Raymond doesn’t use a sword. Just pistols and a long spear. Such a coward and a trickster, that one. Never trust him or any of his associates.”

Ivy entered the room, panting and moving her arms excitedly. “Macha, do you want to try the ranger’s wings?”

Macha stood suddenly. “Seriously? Can I join?” Ivy answered with a nod and a signal to follow her. As soon after the two left the quarters, Ced stood ready to leave as well. “I think I should go too. I need to apologize to my wife.”

“If he calls me old man one more time, I will smash his empty coconut against Marie’s desk.”

For those who didn’t know them, Em’s words could be taken seriously, but Lim found them amusing. Captain and engineer could spend the day tormenting each other, but at the end, the respect and admiration they had for each other was not equaled by anyone else.

Em remained silent for a while, playing with his empty glass. “Worried about the Pirate Lord’s inner war?” Lim asked.

“I worry about many things. But not exactly. We may need to be careful for a while, but if Ced says it will be better soon, it will be.”

“What is it then?”

“This Rigg is just a metal frame covered in a wooden shell. And he brings cannons? Damn. Ced knows how to build anything, but does not know war. He should protect the entrance of the Kingdom bringing rocks and sand to the NorthEast bank. And built a real fortress there, with big tough walls made of stone. Then patrol the problematic borders of the south and east with ships of the line flanked by smaller but faster vessels that can catch the sneaky pirates. And the- “

“Stop it.” She said. “Fortress and armies. The Blue is supposed to be a peaceful country.”

“It is a peaceful country! But we need to protect our people from the rest.”

“Weapons mean power, and power is like sweet liquor. A shot is not enough. In the end, it intoxicates you in such a way that you forget what really matters.”

“Ced and Marie are good people. They’ll never forget about their values, no matter how much power they have.” He said. They had this conversation before, and like other times, Em began to speak with annoyance.

“You all are good people. But we won’t be here forever. One day someone with fewer ‘values’ will rise and step over the rest.”

“And what are we supposed to do?” He shouted, calming his tone right after, knowing that otherwise they’d end up arguing. “We just do the best we can with the little time we have. Humans are not perfect, Lim. And the same goes for the countries they rule. We just try to create the best place to live for everyone. That’s all.”

She understood his point of view. It was part of human nature to be imperfect. Lim had tried hundreds of times to calculate the best outcome for a society to flourish in peace and harmony, and she always had variables that made it fail. Nothing was perfect, not even the world itself. It never was, it would never be. “Therein lies the true beauty of perfection: the impossibility of obtaining it.” Her words brought a deep sadness.

Em gave her a gentle touch over the arm. “Well, we don’t need to aim for ‘the perfect’, just ‘the better’. Maintime we’ll try to avoid the rain and enjoy sunshine as much as possible.”

“Sorry to bring up this topic again. I didn’t want to upset you.” she said.

“No, no. I’m the one that needs to apologize. Shouldn’t have raised the voice.”

Lim rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Her mind, for the first time in so long, was quiet. Calm.

“Sorry to interrupt.” Marie said. She dragged herself in, yawning and stretching her arms. “Em, you may want to go to your ship. My husband is planning to do some improvements. He said, and I quote ‘What the hell has that old man been doing to my beautiful ship’”.

“That’s not his ship anymore!” Em shouted from the stairs as Marie took his seat, leaning her head over Lim’s lap.

Lim played with her hair, like many times she did before. When Marie was a young woman, she was beautiful, cheerful and smart. Now she was even smarter, and age hadn’t been able to erase her beauty. A little black under the eyes and a little gray in the hair were the only effects that governing a country had shown over the years. A burden that, yes, managed to take all her cheerfulness away.

“Did your husband apologize?” Asked Lim softly.

“We both did. Like usual. We cannot stay close for long without a fight. We cannot stay far from each other either.” Marie gave a long sigh. “ I’m tired, Lim. Tired of being the villain of this story. The one everyone hates.”

“Dear. You are not the villain. You are the one that makes our dream come true. The Blue would not be as it is without you. You lead our people, only you. And leaders sometimes are hated, because they have to make choices no one else would.”

“I’m no leader. The Kingdom without a King, remember? Sometimes I wish I was more like my brother. He was passionate and cheerful, always loved by all his staff. He was a proper leader, not me.”

Lim combed her hair with her fingers. “I was considering staying as well when we return. Em has Macha and we can help you manage all this. Give you some time for yourself, even time to visit Donna.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad.”

That woman falling asleep over the blanket that covered Lim’s messed legs was not a villain. Just a person who was holding an entire country on her shoulders. Just an imperfect human being doing the best she could with the little time she had. The Blue was possibly a kingdom without a King, but it definitely had a Queen.