Caleb made his way laboriously up the larboard-side steps to the quarterdeck. His leg only bothered him a little bit, but he wanted to ensure that Harper O’Breen’s work on his leg didn’t go to waste. Even in a world with primitive antiseptics, an open wound was an invitation to disaster.

The steps were new, and smelled of wood and resin. The railing was slightly tacky to the touch, having been recently coated with some sort of finish to protect it against the damp. Donal looked to him as soon as he’d made it all the way up.

“Heading north and west at the best possible speed, Captain,” Donal said brightly. “Any further orders?”

Caleb’s mind flashed back to what Danu had said to him. “None. Wait, if you see a gathering of sharks anywhere out there, knock on my cabin door. Otherwise, I need to be undisturbed for a while.”

“Prayer’s up, I’ll be sure to…wait, did you say to keep a lookout for sharks?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later.”

“Aye, that’s a tale that I’ll be looking forward to hear over a mullet pie and a mug of ale.”

Caleb limped to the door to his great cabin and pushed his way inside. As always, the faint but unmistakable smell of freshly cracked coconut greeted him. He carefully closed the door behind and made his way across the room.

Golden sunlight streamed in through the triple windows set into the stern. He went to sit on his bed. Caleb spotted the belt holding his pistol holsters and scabbard on a nearby shelf. He set the kerchief with the gold object next to it.

Next, he took the time to look about the room. His eyes roamed over the high-sided bookshelves on the larboard wall and the watertight case that doubled as Tavia’s reading desk. He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

Motes of dust danced in the beams of sunlight. The only sounds were the usual background susurrus of wind and wave. The creaks of wooden planks, perhaps the barely-there footfalls of the crewmen on the afterdeck.

Movement above caught his eye. A calico-furred feline sat comfortably in the crook of one of the support beams. Breena paused in her cleaning of one delicate paw and looked back at him with her shamrock-green eyes. She let out a curious miaow.

“Hey there, pretty splashcat,” Caleb said. “Any chance you’ve seen anything unusual hanging around the ship? Or my cabin, to narrow it down?”

He was only speaking aloud to voice his thoughts. But to his surprise, Breena stopped in mid-lick and appeared to consider his request. She let out another delicate miaow.

Caleb chuckled. “Would that meow be an Aye? Or more of a Na’ae?”

The feline didn’t reply. She turned away to look up into the rafters on the far side of the room. Then she yawned and jumped down from her perch to land effortlessly on the bed. She accepted a few scratches under the chin and then claimed her usual spot on one of Caleb’s tassel-ended pillows.

He pursed his lips. Perhaps it was just chance, but Breena’s glance had seemed purposeful. Cats’ eyes were better than humans at spotting movement, especially movement in dim light. It was certainly better than nothing.

Caleb got up and walked to the center of the room. He crossed his arms as he looked up into the dark corner. He still didn’t see anything, but he put a slightly firm tone into his voice as he spoke.

“All right, Daffodil. You’ve had your fun. Come on out.”

At first, nothing happened. For a few moments, Caleb felt a little foolish talking into thin air.

Then the shadow of one of the support beams seemed to split, growing a tiny arm and the edge of a furled wing. He saw the outline of a horn, then a pair of bright blue eyes winked on against the darkness.

A little girl’s voice timidly asked, “Are you really, really mad at me, Captain Ledger?”

He let out a sigh. “No, or course not. I’m a little annoyed, maybe. You did stow away on board my ship, eat some of my treasure, and you almost got my crew to turn on each other. But there’s no way I could stay mad at you.”

“You couldn’t? Why not?”

“Because…hell, because you’re too cute, okay?”

The little dragon’s sunflower-yellow form burst into radiance. She slid down one of the room’s vertical beams. Her tiny claws made a little skree against the wood as she did so.

“Hooray! You do still like me! Yay, yay!”

Daffodil had barely touched the floor before she made a big leap. Caleb barely had time to uncross his arms as the little dragon landed in them. She snuggled into him with a happy sound of contentment.

And with that, the little reptile extended her long tongue and drew a slimy, backwards S-shaped kiss across Caleb’s face.

“Lir’s beard!” he gagged, as he balanced her in one arm, while trying to wipe away the stickiness with his free hand. “All right, I still like you! Just stop…liking me back!”

She obligingly jumped back down. But the little dragon gazed up at him adoringly and waggled her long tail in sheer delight. From her perch on the bed, Breena made a disdainful sniff and buried herself deeper into her pillow before closing her eyes.

Before Caleb could say anything else, two new screens popped up in his Quest Window.

New Bonus Level Mini-Quest Quest: Acquire a second rare or semi-magical animal companion. XP Value of the next quest completed shall be increased by 15%. STATUS: COMPLETE. New Adventurer’s-Level Quest: Now that the mystery of what caused the crew disturbance has been revealed, determine the best way to prevent any new outbreak of unrest. XP Value of the next quest completed shall be increased by 10% if this can be done without Charisma Enhancement or Threat of Physical Punishment. STATUS: ONGOING.

“I’m so happy!” she burbled. “I was so afraid you’d angry enough to make me walk the plank!”

Caleb blinked. “What? No, why would you think that?”

“Your crew’s a bunch of pirates, aren’t they? You’re their captain, aren’t you? Don't you execute people?”

“Yeah, but we’re not that kind of pirate. We don't do stuff like that.” Caleb’s mind flashed back to his execution of Komtur Ozul. “Okay, we mostly don’t do stuff like that."

“You wouldn’t maroon me on a desert island?”

“No, we wouldn’t.”

“Keel-haul me?”

“No!”

“Tie me to an anchor and toss me overboard?”

“No!”

“Feed me to Grimshaw?”

Caleb coughed. “Yeah, that one might still be on the table if he gets hungry.”

Daffodil’s eyes went wide as she went on.

“What if King Nevin brought a whole fleet to get me back? Would you send it down to Lir’s Blue Cellar, and send your crew to fight them with pistol and cutlass?”

“If we had to, I guess.”

“I knew you were a bunch of real pirates!”

“Look, Daffodil, I think you’ve been reading too many fantastic stories. Where did you get this idea that we’re like that?”

She gave him a look that said: Are you kidding me?

“Oh, I don’t’ know. Maybe it’s the fact that things have been blowing up around here an awful lot lately. There was some spellcraft that made me feel all scared inside, and later on I heard a massive swordfight taking place on deck…”

“All right,” Caleb admitted. “Point taken. But let’s just put a pin in that for now, okay? I know that with your talent for…let’s call it ‘blending in’ for now, you escaped from Gilarska and got on board my ship. But why? Shipboard life isn’t something I think would appeal to dragon or any kind.”

“Any kind of life would be more fun than staying where I was! All King Nevin cared about was that I did my job.”

Caleb glanced over to where the lump of gold lay gleaming in the kerchief.

All right, what is her job? Why did it seem that King Nevin was just as worried about getting this dragon back as his own daughter?

“Daffodil,” he said, “Your job wouldn’t be to eat silver coins, would it?”

“No,” she replied. “Pretty much any silver would do. I like all metal, but silver’s the tastiest by far.”

“And let me guess…the Gilarskans would collect up your, uh, leavings?”

“Leavings? Oh, you mean my fewmets! I left one by the bunk of one of your crewmen. I liked him, he’s funny. I learned all these new words and phrases by listening to him, even if I don’t really understand them all. What does ‘tugging the slug’ and ‘playing the hand shandy’ mean, anyway?”

“I’ll tell you later.” Caleb thought furiously for a moment. “I’m going to have to ask you to fade into the background for a little longer, okay?”

“Okay.” She cocked her head at him. “What are you planning to do, Caleb? I mean, Captain Ledger.”

“Well, I’m going to have to introduce you to my officers. But first, I’m going to see if I can nip all the trouble you’ve caused me in the bud.”

Caleb got up and headed out the door to the quarterdeck.