Thornby captained a ship known as the Blue Breeze II, an aging ship that sat humbly in Rackvidd’s port beside a three masted leviathan it had to escort. While it was an older make and had been repaired more times than men could count, the Blue Breeze II had something few other Vassish craft had: a hardened keel. In the era before cannons, the most important means of destroying one’s enemy was ramming–preferably by air speed. Naturally, the aim was to drive the strong keel wood into the vulnerable sides of the other vessel, but the shock still returned back. Neither ship would come out unscathed, often forcing the use of enormously heavy prows as defense against self-inflicted harm. The Blue Breeze II had all the strength with no special weight at all, thanks to the tending of a certain monk several centuries prior.

Of course, the rest of the ship had to be regularly replaced, but it made for an impressively nimble water strider.

It simply didn’t stack up to the ship it guarded. Gold glittered from the railings and ley cannons stuck out like wings from either side. It was a three decked, three masted monster of a vessel, whose shipwrights didn’t want to admit they had been too greedy with. She was top heavy and slow, dragged in the waves, and her only redeeming feature–aside from visuals–was her hauling capacity.

“I must say,” Aisha said as she stepped up beside Thornby on the docks, for both of them had nothing to do but wait. “I’m not sure I understand what the investors are thinking with this… very impressive ship.”

“Colonizing,” he said as he unbuttoned the cuffs of his coat and peeled the fabric up around his forearms. “Not the islands, not yet. That’s probably the source of your confusion. They’re going to colonize Aliston first. That’s how merchants are–they want to set up a base of operations first, a place to put scribes and bean counters. They’re going to set up shop somewhere they can put a manager, and it takes a great deal of capital to do that and not look like scam artists.”

Aisha shook her head. “My father was a merchant, but a Giordanan one. Compared to these people, he was a mere shepherd.”

“Desert caravan?”

“As well as river barges, depending on the season.”

“Important work, but the land of Giordana is poor compared to Vassermark. There’s less wealth to accrue.”

She lifted her chin. “We make up for it in culture.”

Thornby bowed an apology. “Of course.”

Their conversation was soon interrupted by another captain, one who was no stranger to either of them. Lupin came bustling through the crowds of porters, stroking his beard and shouting, “I thought that was you, Miss Canta!”

She spun, taking a step away from Thornby as though she suddenly found his presence problematic–and indeed it was. She was not blind to his attentions, she simply wasn’t moved by them and neither was she in a position to deny his aid. The man had been put in charge of the fleet chartered by the SIG and insulting him would endanger the entire agreement. She had come to agreements with Golden about occupying the man’s time and slowly pulling him away from her, but the divine beast was still recovering from a prodigious hangover and refused to leave his cabin. She was on her own. “Captain Lupin, you’ve returned.”

The older man grabbed hold of his lapel and stuck out his chest as he looked at Thornby and said, “Indeed I have. You know, I really did spend too long down in Aliston, as far as my obligations went. Half a dozen towns were expecting me to stop by with my goods. I only had the time to spare for three of them and had to pass the rest off to a friend of mind. Only today I came back to take up my case with Lord Raymi once more.”

“Well, that is unfortunate timing,” Aisha said, and gestured at the ships. “Lucius sent me here to work with Lord Raymi as well, and he even sweetened the deal. As such, I believe we’ve acquired all the resources of men we will need.”

Lupin frowned and nodded. He looked Thornby over, as well as the adjacent ships. “You’re going to war, then. Is that right? I’m quite familiar with Captain Thornby’s… history.”

The other captain smirked. “Aren’t we always at war? Peace is only a question of how wide your horizon is.”

Lupin nodded and turned back to Aisha. “A moment?” he asked, with a gesture to a more desolate area of the docks.

She glanced at Thornby, and agreed. “What is it?”

Dropping his voice, Lupin said, “I went north for more than just trade, Miss Canta. I went to pray. I’ve been deeply troubled since leaving Aliston, you see. That boy, Solhart, he has a way about him. He certainly does. A conviction and a certainty that can drag others along with him. Just talking with him he was able to fill my mind with gold and eke promises out of me that I should never have considered. He has no fear in him, neither of death nor of defeat. I should have known that it was nothing more than the reckless abandon of youth, and yet he sucked me in.”

She crossed her arms. “Lucius has that kind of confidence because he has that kind of skill. He can lead an army to war, insult a prince, and fight monsters. I’ve seen him do all three and I have not yet seen any limits. If he thinks he can do something, I have no reason to doubt him.”

“Perhaps you simply haven’t known him long enough. Solhart wasn’t always a successful lad, you know. He was rather unimpressive, and prone to gambling. I’m afraid all you’re seeing now is a fool deluded by his own success.”

“Do not call him a fool.”

Lupin’s cheeks colored, but he didn’t raise his voice. “Miss Canta, I went north to a private temple, where I could spend time attempting to commune with the gods. I sought clarity of mind and I got it. That boy has started a war of paradigms. He has pitted his world view against another and the uneasy part is that he seems to be winning.”

There is an old adage about asking a fish if it is wet. Of course, until a fish had been pulled out of the water by the fisherman, it hardly has any idea what water is. In a similar manner, Aisha had for so long been stuck fast to his side that she had been unable to perceive the effects he had. Her time in Rackvidd had been slow, and yet still momentous by her associations because of him. The revelation was in the difference perceived.

But, she wasn’t going to besmirch him.

“Isn’t that all of war? Pitting one way of life against another? A clash of morals or ethics or simply greed? I fail to see how Lucius is doing anything different and even if he is, what would be the problem?”

Lupin sighed. “Did you know there is a temple on the outskirts of Aliston? One reclaimed by nature and abandoned by its priesthood? The locals don’t even go there, nor will they tear it down. They fear its curse, but they also crave its blessings.”

“To which god?”

“I cannot say, and I suspect the locals do not know either. They do not enter it except in the most dire of circumstances. The legend I was told was of a mother with a sick child. She brought it to the temple to beg for healing, and she got it.”

“The emissaries have been known to do much the same. It is not so strange.”

He hesitated and leaned closer to her. “Only the child returned. That is why they fear the temple and yet will not tear it down. But, from what I could see of the boy, he will burn that place without a second thought. He won’t lose sleep over it, in fact I doubt he would even remember doing it some years from now. That is a temperament which I fear… and yet I cannot shy away from him. I cannot deny that his opportunities are the best. I will still work to arrange shipments to and from the Misty Isles because I know my actions will change nothing about him or his goals. The only thing that would change is whether I make the profit, or somebody else does.”

She shook her head. “Is that all you wanted to say?”

With that, he bowed and stepped away. “Respectfully, and should you ever need help getting away, you may come to me, Miss Canta.”

Thornby swept up beside her as he left, and took her by the arm. With his gaze fixed upon Lupin, he asked, “Is everything alright?”

She felt faint, for while Lupin had not laid a finger on her he had assaulted her with fear and doubt. Thornby’s grasp took far more of her weight than she would have liked, until she picked her words. “Actually, he told me something very interesting. I think if I can report that to Lucius I won’t have to come back to Rackvidd afterwards.”

“That’s a good thing, yes?”

“A very good thing indeed.”

“Hopefully it is still relevant in two weeks when we arrive.”

She blinked. “I’m sorry? How long?”

Captain Thornby grimaced. “The more ships which must tag along, the slower we go. We can’t even speed ahead, because the Blue Breeze II is one of the defenders. Think of it as an opportunity to relax.”

Aisha shook her head. “Now I understand why Sera went book shopping.”

Thornby laughed. “I will do my best to entertain you at dinner, and I think that black haired fellow you brought will be a source of fun as well.”

“Oh dear,” she said, staring at the ship. “I’m going to be stuck on this ship with him… maybe I should ask that he be moved over to the big ship…”