“This seems way too easy.” Kay looked around the area, frowning. With the two supposed pirate captains chased off by Eleniah, the remaining “defenders” in the port were all pretty substandard combatants that had been fairly easily crushed beneath the proverbial feet of Avalon. All that was left was to clean up any stragglers and start getting the damn collars off of the folks that had been captured by the pirates.

“Sir?”

“I know you’ve been confident that we could take the port,” Kay gestured around them to indicate the slowly ending chaos of battle and the just starting chaos of dealing with the aftermath, “But this seems like it was…” He shrugged, “Too easy.”

Commander Mapsight nodded slowly, “I heard most of Lady Eleniah’s discussion with you about this, and she seemed to cover it pretty well, in my opinion. Is there any particular reason you’re bringing it back up?”

“Paranoia? I have this faint sense of something being wrong that’s tickling the back of my brain. The only thing that I can think of is that this hasn’t been difficult enough.”

“Hmmm.” Mapsight stared at Kay for a moment before shrugging. “Like Lady Eleniah said already, we’re dealing with pirates in a poor environment for them to fight us, and they’re not exactly the best combatants either. I’ll also add that we’re significantly more organized than they are, even if we aren’t yet at the level I’d like to see from my command. We also don’t worry about being betrayed by our own at any given moment.”

“Yeah, she said that last bit too.” Kay kept frowning as he scanned for any more enemies as they headed towards what a scout had reported was the main holding area for slaves in the port. “… Maybe it’s the vampyr getting involved…” He mused.

His military commander nodded thoughtfully, “An unseen complication popping up could certainly be a source of unquiet.”

“Well, we’re basically done with the fighting at this point, so I’ll stop bitching about it.” Kay stepped around the corner after a Blood Guard waved him forward and froze in place.

The setup in the small open area in between the half-demolished buildings was almost an assembly line of people passing from station to station. First, the slaves who were still tied up or shackled in any way had their limbs carefully freed, then they were taken a few feet away to where a mixed group of adventurers and soldiers very carefully removed the collars around their necks. Kay had learned later that his dramatic decision to rip the collars off of the slaves he’d freed all those months ago wasn’t the smartest thing he’d done. While spending extra to “pimp” out a slave collar with various ways to ensure it wasn’t removed wasn’t common, it also happened. The various people making sure the collars came off safely checked each one for traps, whether that happened to be spells that caused pain, tiny blades that jabbed out into the throat, or explosives, before removal.

After that, the now former slaves were taken off to an area where a majority of the medics, doctors, and healers Kay’s expedition had brought along checked over everyone and healed those needing it. There were also people handing out food and drinks, with an impromptu kitchen having sprung up at the entrance of a nearby alleyway. One particular resourceful water mage had scrounged up some sheeting and poles to make a quick shower for people to clean themselves off in as well as a small changing room where clean clothing was being passed out. Off to one side, the removed slave collars were being piled up and very publicly crushed, with several former slaves joining in enthusiastically.

“Well, everything else being said and done, this definitely makes the whole trip worth it,” Kay muttered as Mapsight nodded in agreement. They both watched as several people broke down crying, some clutching those near them, some quietly dropping to the ground as they sobbed.

Kay was about to head over to one of the later people when a small commotion drew his attention. One of the former slaves was very firmly ignoring, and in one case removing the hands of, the various Avalonians who were trying to get her to be seen by the healers. She marched over to Kay with her head up high and her back straight, a determined expression on her face.

“You in charge?” She half-asked, half-demanded of Kay as she came to a stop in front of him, almost standing at attention as she stared at him.

Kay did his best to keep a straight face. He wanted to grin at the woman’s attitude just because it was so damn inspiring. She was a few inches taller than Kay, and her black hair had been hacked short with a rough blade at some point fairly recently. The tip of one of her elven ears was slightly twisted; whether from earlier in her life or something that happened after she’d arrived here was impossible to tell. Even covered in dirt and other refuse, wearing clothing that could charitably be called rags, and covered in small cuts and bruises, the woman still had one of the most regal postures Kay had seen, and the fire in her dark blue eyes was almost a bonfire. He didn’t want her to think he was laughing at her, though, so he kept himself level as he replied. “Yes, I am.”

She nodded once, quite firmly. “My name is Lydia Icerose. Captain Lydia Icerose of the Crestrider, a Queen’s Trader out of the Seramist Isles. While I’m quite grateful for your rescue of myself, my crew, and everyone else here, I’d like to know what you intend to do with the ships and cargo that you’ve captured now that you control this port.”

Kay raised one eyebrow as he looked her over. That was certainly forward of her, but the various briefings and meetings that he’d attended before leaving gave him enough background to understand where she was coming from. Under what constituted for international law, which really boiled down to which large-scale treaties different nations agreed with or ignored, ships lost to piracy were considered the property of whoever managed to take the ship back from the pirates who’d stolen it. The same was true of any cargo that could be recovered. Inside many countries, things were slightly different, with some following the same practices and some, like the Seramist Isles, making it almost mandatory to return a lost ship to its original owners. Things usually weren’t as clear cut as that, according to Eleniah, but it definitely went that way when it came to the Queen’s Traders, nationally flagged ships that reported directly to the Seramist Isles government.

Legally speaking, Kay could take everything here back to Avalon as the spoils of the expedition. It would be a stone-cold bitch to transport all the cargo back home, and he didn’t have nearly enough people available to crew half the ships they’d just captured, let alone all of them, but he could get away with it with no consequences besides hurt feelings. But he had enough problems already, and the ships and goods he would end up keeping were going to be a fantastic profit without including the good feelings Avalon would get for returning people’s stuff.

“Any of the ships that we’ve managed to recapture will be returned to whoever remains from the crew and owners that are here, along with any cargo we can be reasonably sure belongs to the person or group we hand it over to.”

Captain Icerose’s shoulders dropped in relief.

“Of course, any currency and small valuables that were stolen have almost certainly been spread all over the town and onto various ships at this point,” Kay continued, laying out the plan that’s been decided on for this exact situation, “So we’ll be pooling all it that we can recover and splitting all of it as evenly as we can.”

She took a breath as if to respond partway through his explanation, then let it out as he continued. “That’s… quite fair actually, especially since any actual means of provenience are long gone at this point.” Her face screwed up for a moment as she looked at Kay hesitantly. “There’s… a specific piece that I know one of the captains kept on their person that was originally mine. Would it be possible for me to convince you that it is, in fact, mine? It’s of significant sentimental value to me.”

He thought it over for a moment. “I certainly won’t say no right now, but I won’t be saying yes immediately, either.”

“That’s better than many would offer. Thank you again for saving us.”

Kay grinned fiercely as he replied. “It was entirely my pleasure. Ridding the world of scum is always a rewarding job.”

She chuckled, then glanced longingly at the shower that the Avalonian adventurer was still running. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to get clean. I haven’t had an opportunity to bathe in months.”

Kay waved her on, “Please do. I’m not going to make anyone stand around listening to me when there are important things to do.”

She smiled gratefully as she strode off, keeping the same regal bearing as she headed for the showers, without the tension that had leaked out as Kay had told her his plans for her ship and cargo. She stared longingly at the showers as one of the doctors quite firmly stopped her and directed her over to the examination area, aided by a few other former slaves that Kay assumed were part of her crew based on their short interaction.

He spent the next little while talking to various people, whether they were other captains or ship’s officers that had similar questions as Captain Icerose, former slaves that just wanted to know what was happening in specific parts of the port or if they’d seen a specific person or Avalonian adventurers or soldiers that had more political problems come up that needed to be brought to him rather than Commander Mapsight.

The three instances of the last actually took most of his time since there were other people that could answer general questions. The first two problems had been fairly easily solved, with a small mob of former slaves needing to be kept from murdering someone they insisted had been collaborating with the pirates and eventually calmed down by Kay promising they’d bring anyone who was accused of things like that to trial along with the very small number of pirates who’d surrendered, followed only a few minutes later by him needing to be present to reassure an incredibly distraught couple that no one would be separating them or forcing them to go home. Apparently, in the northern country they originated from, it was a crime for the two of them to be together due to whatever caste system the nation they were from had. They finally stopped waving weapons around after Kay had personally promised them they were welcome to go wherever they liked, or even stay in Avalon if they wanted to, backed by an Oath to the System that ate one of his levels in Drawing. An annoying cost, but worth it.

The last incident that Kay had to deal with personally involved an incredibly fucking stupid noble from a certain nation to the southeast who would not shut up about “How dare you free my slaves!” and more drivel like that. It turned out that he was a passenger on the most recently captured ship, and the few days of being a slave himself hadn’t made him realize how fucking evil the practice was. It took Kay walking him over to one of the piles of pirate bodies they were planning to burn and asking if he wanted to be included for him to shut up. The sullen, contemptible, and conniving expression the man had on his face as he stalked away from the fetid pile of corpses had Kay stopping one of the adventurers that was overseeing the area.

“Keep an eye on that one. He’s going to do something stupid.”

The adventurer glanced at the noble, then back at Kay. “Do we care?”

“Honestly?” Kay sighed, “Not about him. I’m worried about him doing something that tips things over. I don’t want him scaring people into rioting against us or something else equally as problematic.”

The surprisingly short oni man grunted in reply. “I can see that. He starts some shit about how he still owns those poor people we just freed, all the others start to think we’re actually slavers or trying to trick them in some other way, and then we have a huge problem.” His gaze followed after the Nelamian noble, and his eyes glinted with disdain. “If he does start causing problems?”

“Don’t kill him if you can help it, but if it ends up with him dead, I’m not going to be that mad.” Kay looked around with a raised eyebrow, “It’s not like anyone here is going to head over to Nelam and tattle on us.”

The oni threw back his head and laughed heartily. “Great point. Well, I’ll get on with that.” He nodded respectfully at Kay. “My Lord.”

Kay was about to head back to where Commander Mapsight was set up when he heard his name being shouted. He turned around the find Eleniah sprinting over toward him. “Hey, you’re back! How did it go with those two captains? It sounded like they knew you.”

“Yes, I’ve fought them before, and they got away for the twelfth or thirteenth time. But that’s not important right now!” She held up her hand with a simple gold pendant hanging from a gold chain. In the center of the oval-shaped pendant was a dark blue stone with the shape of a ship in the middle of a storm engraved inside the gem itself. “This is something only a member of my family would have!” She shook with emotion as she held it up for Kay to see. “That fucking bitch taunted me with it when we were fighting and distracted me enough that they got away. I already tested it, and it’s real! One of my family is here, and they-”

Kay grabbed both of her shoulders and forced her back down to stand normally on her feet instead of bouncing on her toes. “I understand. I already met a Queen’s Trader Captain who asked me what we were going to do with her ship. Odds are if someone from your family really is here, she’ll know where they are.”

Eleniah seemed to vibrate out from under him as she took off in the direction he’d pointed. “Let’s go then!”

They hurried back to where Kay had met Captain Icerose as fast as they could through the twisting streets of the port, the members of the Blood Guard on bodyguard duty spreading out ahead and behind them. They slammed to a start at the edge of what was quickly growing into a proper aid area, and Kay began looking through the various people milling about, looking for the ship captain from the Isles.

“Aunt Eleniah?” He heard from off to the side, and his head snapped over to see Captain Icerose staring at Eleniah with wide eyes, a wrap of some kind halfway to her mouth.

“Lydia!” Kay’s elven teacher and companion disappeared from next to him in a rush of air, and in the next moment, the two elves were wrapped together as Eleniah smothered the other woman in a massive hug.

“Well,” Kay commented aloud as he started to slowly relax, “This is going to be interesting.” He watched as Eleniah started checking the captain, who was apparently her niece, over inch by inch. Then he shrugged. “Saving a princess is better than the other options. Even if it is going to be a bit of a scene.”