Chapter 79: The Plot Deepens…

Wynnie crossed her arms, surveying the scene. She was covered in blood. It had ruined her old brown frock, smearing over the rough-textured fiber. Served her right for giving me such a big hug and refusing to let go.

Meanwhile, Lady Talia couldn't stop pacing. I was halfway afraid she'd wear grooves into the floor. If she had a Fitbit, she would've been set for days.

She whirled around. "And just why, after you used your charm, did you decide to attack?"

"I didn't! He did!" Shivai looked panicked. She glanced at me. "I mean, not Drew. The pirate did. He just... shrugged off my suggestion."

"You're telling me that a pirate resisted a charm effect that I couldn't?" Lady Talia looked both furious and embarrassed. "And you're saying it only works on weak-willed people?"

Shivai looked at me for help, shrinking back visibly. "It's not an exact science! And charming multiple people is harder than just charming one. Especially if they don’t have the same motivations!"

The constable took little solace in her explanation. She paced harder, shaking her head in disbelief. Yet for all her seething, I could make out a few of the words she thought she was muttering under her breath. I caught snippets of, so embarrassing, and humiliated by a rival in a fair fight, and my parents can never know.

That last one hit me hard, for some reason. We still hadn’t talked about her parents, though I suspected that was very much by choice. Her strict demeanor was starting to strike me as more nurture than nature.

She polished a shining spot on her silver bracer. "Oh yeah? So what did you suggest to the orc that seemed so unreasonable?"

"I don't know! It was something totally normal!" Shivai still cringed, like a puppy afraid of getting her nose rubbed in piddle.

"It really was,” I said. “She just told them to put their swords away so we could get a drink. I guess only one of them wanted a drink.”

A light rapping sound came from the hallway door. We kept it closed during service and after hours, but it wasn’t locked. Maybe whoever knocked was just being polite.

The door cracked open, and a brilliant blue greeted us. “Hey, did someone say they wanted a drink?”

Freya stepped in quietly, padding on the balls of her feet. She closed the door carefully behind her, taking extra care not to slam it or let the latch click too loud. She glanced over her shoulder as she tiptoed to us.

“Just being polite? Got a light sleeper in your bunk?” I asked.

“This is a secret meeting, right? Figured I should keep it hush-hush.” Freya looked around at us, suddenly concerned. “Speaking of, that was pretty rude of me, barging in uninvited. And… all this blood!”

She felt the still-damp fabric of my tunic sleeve. A concerned frown tugged at the corners of her mouth. Whatever she was going to say next died in her throat. A tense quiet settled over the candlelit room.

Wynnie looked down at her ruined brown tunic, brows tenting in concern as though this were the first time she’d noticed the stains. 

“It’s not exactly hush-hush,” I said, breaking the silence. “But we weren’t really starting the afterparty now, either.”

She nodded in slow understanding. “My apologies. I, um, sometimes come on a bit strong. All that time at sea, and I completely forget my manners.”

I arched a brow. “I thought it was the princess thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, maybe princesses are used to getting what they want, so they don’t beat around the bush and ask for it. You’re very, um, direct,” I explained, trying not to suggest that she’d come off as a bit aggressive. Maybe even uncouth. “People born into wealth and status tend to expect others to do whatever they’re asked.”

The mermaid barked a laugh, but it sounded almost sorrowful. “No. I don’t think it’s that. I… maybe I can tell you a bit more about merfolk society sometime.” She shook her head, letting her long hair shimmer with a deep teal in the lamplight. “It’s more that I don’t have much practice socializing.”

“Don’t you have a crew?” asked Shivai.

“Sure do. But you can’t expect a bunch of sailors on a fishing boat to develop good manners.” She grimaced, clearly unsure how much she should share. “We’re crammed in together below the hold for weeks sometimes. I can recognize the others by their farts.”

Wynnie giggled, then clamped a hand over her mouth. Lady Talia’s lip curled in disgust.

“Sound or smell?” Shivai asked.

“Both,” Freya said, laughing despite herself. “And we spend more time in the shallows than we do on land. We’re rough around the edges even for merfolk. When it comes to making a good impression on you topsiders? Yikes.”

I shook my head, trying to focus. Freya had enough self awareness to realize she was doing it again: bending the room around her. Whether she liked it or not, she had gravity. Presence. Aura.

Maybe she was telling the truth, and it wasn’t a princess thing. The specifics didn’t matter, though. We’d just encountered Black Ship Raiders, killed them, looted them, and disposed of the evidence. Our next step needed to stem from that.

In fact, it was an immediate need. And yet somehow we were diving into the mermaid’s home life because she wanted a nightcap.

“We weren’t planning to drink anything right now,” I said, indicating the drying carnage. “But you’re a guest—an honored guest—and I can see if we have something.”

“I might want to drink to forget. Seriously, what’s with all this blood?”

Her usually brash demeanor had shifted over the course of the conversation. Now, instead of roguish swagger, she looked concerned. Her gaze surveyed the scene, taking in every detail.

As Shivai and I fumbled over each other to explain, the mermaid drifted over to the table where we’d put the raiders’ loot. Her hand traced delicately over the baubles and weapons. Blue fingertips played at the dangerous edge of well-used blades. And then, just as Shivai and I were getting our story straight, Freya’s curiosity paused.

“What’s this?” She picked up the pirate’s teal-flecked pendant. “Where did you find this?”

“On one of the Black Ship Raiders.” I took a deep breath, preparing to launch into the whole story. “You see—”

“Do you know what this is?” She took a step closer.

I did, actually. “Yeah. Deep metal, right?”

“Forged in the heat of underwater volcanoes with mineral content from the world’s core,” she explained, rushing through it as though it were the most mundane thing. “But this shape. This symbol. That’s what’s interesting.”

I could argue about that. But I didn’t. “What about it? It looks like a weird water sun.”

“Close enough. It’s the symbol of the abyssal star.” She was all serious and intense now. “It’s how the sun looks when you’re coming up from the deeps. It’s how you know you’re close to the surface.”

The girls and I all looked at each other. Wynnie and Lady Talia looked completely lost. Shivai, who’d identified the material, just shrugged.

So, this was all news to us. And judging by the sudden tense mood, it didn’t sound like good news.

Freya continued. “This is the crest of a long-lost noble house of merfolk.”

I couldn’t help it. “So, that knowledge is a princess thing, right?”

“Not exactly, but a little.” She didn’t take the bait—if it even was bait. “There were three houses. They ruled with, well,” she furrowed her brow and looked up at me. “I won’t bore you with the details. This house attempted to overthrow the others for complete dominance of the seas. They were struck down.”

“So, a pirate probably found it washed ashore, right?” Lady Talia offered the same explanation I thought of first. 

Freya shook her head. “Their relics were destroyed. Seeing the fall of the Tidebringers was the last joint effort between the remaining houses. After that, things simply fell apart, quickly at first, then forgotten over generations. Nobody has seen much of this symbol in lifetimes.”

“But you recognize it,” I pointed out.

“Because in the last few years, it’s been showing up. Everywhere.” Her voice hit a grave note, and ice ran through my veins. “And no, I don’t think the raiders simply pirated it. This… this is evidence. Perhaps the last bit of evidence our people would need.”

I was about to ask her more, but then I realized she was doing it again. Somehow, despite us being covered in blood and our livelihoods being at risk, we were getting drawn into a world of underwater political intrigue.

One of the lanterns flickered, then puffed out. A dim curl of smoke coughed up from the top of the lantern.

Perfectly ominous.

“Freya, I’d love to hear more. But if you don’t mind, can we maybe hear about your problems after we solve ours? The pirates who had this pendant are actively looking for me,” I reminded her. “And they’re burning the town down until they find me.”

“Right. Sorry.” She bit a deep teal lip. “Can I, maybe, take this?”

“Sure.”

“And, if it’s still on offer… a drink?”

“How about a rum Old Fashioned?” I asked. Then, I looked at the girls. “I could use one, too. Anyone else?”

***

Ten minutes later, Old Fashioned in hand and one pendant lighter, I resumed the strategy session with Lady Talia, Wynnie, and Shivai. A new candle struggled in the lantern as fresh wax attempted to drown the wick. I closed my eyes and savored a sip of rich baking spices and caramelized sugar.

“Now, where were we?” I asked.

“We were all done! We’d completely finished our conversation, and I was just steering the conversation towards Lady Talia’s swimming lessons with you,” Shivai said, somewhere between anxiety and mischief.

But the dragonkin shook her head. “Nope. You were going to explain why your charm worked on me but not on some ‘weak willed’ pirates.”

“Maybe I tuckered myself out on you?”

“Maybe,” Lady Talia grumbled, sniffing her drink and then smelling it. Her features visibly relaxed on her second inhale. “Bet it’s something weirder, though.”

“Orcs are pretty sturdy,” Wynnie offered.

“Nah. Weirder.”

"There is one possible explanation," Shivai offered. "He identified me as a succubus pretty quickly. There are a lot of ports across the seas where succubi either take advantage of sailors with their charms, or..."

Lady Talia arched an accusatory brow. "Or?"

"Or sailors pay to have succubi charm them in bed. You might be surprised to learn how many big, domineering men want to be dominated in the bedroom. Getting bossed around by a succubus with a charm spell? That's about as good as it gets."

The four of us remained silent for several seconds, taking in the possibility. Lady Talia appeared to be searching for a reason to argue, but coming up blank. Wynnie seemed to have already accepted it.

And for me? Well, I always thought of myself as a bit adventurous. I could certainly see the appeal. And suddenly, despite her generally submissive nature, I was starting to think of some things that Shivai and I might try together.

Later, of course.

"So basically, our best guess is that this guy resisted the spell because he's been around succubi before. Likely as paid companions?" I phrased it as charitably as I could.

"He probably likes a tail in his ass." Shivai shrugged. "That's a pretty popular request, I'm told."

Suddenly, I was feeling a bit less adventurous than I was a few seconds ago.

Lady Talia continued pacing once more. Her brow was furrowed, her jaw tight and working, probably grinding her molars into sharp nubs.

Yet to my surprise, she didn’t look angry—just troubled. That had to bode well for Shivai. If the town constable wanted our little thief gone, I had to assume she would’ve said something to that effect by now. No, instead she looked like a jaded detective on a mystery show, finally stirring to life once more after the return of a serial killer from the town’s past.

Or something like that. I used to watch a lot of TV.

"This is complicated. Very complicated." I couldn't tell if she was muttering to herself or hoping one of us would jump in. "It definitely changes things."

"How so?" Wynnie asked.

“You’re talking about the merfolk thing, right?” It was my best guess. “The Tideborn or whatever?”

“Tidebringer,” Shivai corrected me. “Cool name though.”

“I’m worried it makes this problem too big for us,” Lady Talia said, expanding the path of her pacing. “Who knows how deep this goes!”

The other girls and I looked at each other. Had she intended the pun?

“So, what? We send word up to Northridge?” Again, my best guess. My last one seemed good enough.

“Northridge? Hah! As if they had the power or authority to do anything meaningful here,” Lady Talia barked, sounding like a conspiracy theorist launching into a rant. “We need the capital! The Crown! Nothing less will do.”

Carefully, I intercepted the raving dragonkin. Her shoulders were tense, and she flinched when I settled my calming hands on her.

“We have more immediate troubles than, um, whatever you’re worried about,” I reminded her. “There’s a brute squad in town led by the Dreaded Pirate Robertson.”

“Oh. Yeah. That.”

“It’s only a matter of time before they realize that two of their group have gone missing.”

Sanity returned to her eyes, and her breathing returned to normal. “And the raiders wouldn’t think those two simply deserted. Right. Our only advantage is that the rest of the brute squad doesn’t know they’ve lost a couple of enforcers.”

For several seconds, a grim quiet took over the room. The interior, all subtle off-white walls and unfinished wood, no longer felt like a comfortable, generic Millennial-run vacation rental. The sterile, strategically bland finishes felt harsh and impersonal. 

This was a war room, not a gathering place. The spoils of war adorned a table. Blood dripped on the floor, smudging into the wood, staining it fresh and grim as my conscience.

We were all thinking the same thing. At least, I think we were.

“We have to go out and find them,” I said. “I mean, right? Press the advantage.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Lady Talia agreed.

“Yep,” added Shivai. She smiled in relief, no doubt happy to be on the same page as the constable.

“Oh! I was just thinking we should probably have another drink. Calm our nerves. Give us bravery, and all that.” Wynnie blushed, twiddling her thumbs and eyeing the wall of liquor. “I mean, it couldn’t hurt, right?”

It could, actually. But team bonding sounded important. Besides, I didn’t want to be sober enough to figure out whether we were still outnumbered. The worst thing I could know were our odds.

“Maybe one more,” I allowed. “But do you guys think we actually stand a change?

The constable looked at me like I was an idiot. Suddenly, I worried that I was.

Were we already doing math? Had I forgotten to carry a one somewhere?

"I can handle myself. My deputies aren’t completely useless. We also have a succubus with a charm spell and knives, an ice mage, and a Reborn hero who's already slain three Raiders.” The dragonkin struck a confident, almost regal pose. “I’d say they messed with the wrong backwater keep.”

A swell of pride and terror rose in my chest. Being counted as one of the town's protective assets was an honor. Unfortunately, it was also a grim reminder.

I just hoped it wouldn't be a promise—of death, of killing, of what my future would look like if I continued down this road.

A low howl came from outside. At first, I thought it must be a wolf. Then, as it continued, low and haunting, I was certain it was a ghost. Yet finally I heard it for what it really was—something far less common.

A breeze.

Wynnie shuddered, unsettled by the awful moan. We'd been keeping the windows open for whatever draft we could get. Now that we had one, I almost wished we didn't. It was an ominous sound that filled my bones with dread.

Instinctively, the four of us huddled closer together. But only for a second, until the moment passed. Were we afraid of the wind?

No! We were brave. Strong. Unassailable! We—

"Hey, do you guys smell that?" Shivai’s nose hunted the air.

I caught it, too. A familiar scent wafted in on the breeze.

Lady Talia nodded grimly. "Smoke."