PreCursive

  “Alphonse, Ruben,” Grey the man and then the dwarf, before pausing for a moment. “Cassandra.”

  “Ugh,” The dwarf, apparently ‘Ruben’, grunted in disgust. He reached for a nearby goblet and chugged its tents, before smming it ba the table. “I’m not drunk enough for this shit.”

  “e now,” ‘Alphonse’ said, smiling insincerely. “The Headmaster is always a wele guest in our port.”

  Grey smiled calmly at the three apparent rulers of the town, ign the not-so-subtle digs. “Thank you for seeing me so promptly. I promise not to take too much of your valuable time.”

  The woman in the ter, ‘Cassandra’, leaned fuidly, resting her in her hand. “Let me guess,” She drawled. “You’d like our help intervening in your little war.”

  Grey shook his head and smiled at her disarmingly. “Not at all. I wouldn’t dream of asking Marrowmist to intervene in matters of state.”

  For some reason, that caused all four of them to let out a shh.

  Chug, Grey tinued. “No, I have no desire to i Marrowmist into the flict with the Loyalists. Instead, I’d like to charter the services of a Captain willing to provide a specific service.”

  “Oh?” Cassandra asked. “And what service would that be?”

  Grey met her eyes. “I need an experienced Captain willing to ferry myself and my panions to Caer Drarrow. There are…certain people that o be freed from those walls.”

  I unwittingly tensed in surprise, before f myself to rex. I couldn’t believe Grey had just ht told them the brunt of our pns. Fog ba the versation, I was unnerved when I saw that my slight movements hadn’t escaped the notice of Cassandra.

  Meanwhile, the dwarf had burst into ughter at Grey’s words. “That’s some ic fug irht there!” He hooted. “Breakin’ people out of the prison ya built with your own gods-be-damned hands!”

  “I assure you, I’m not blind to the ce,” Grey said with a strained smile. “heless, with the blockade in pce, I’m cut off from my own ship and ot Captain this rescue myself. Therefore, I find myself in need of Marrowmist’s assistance. I assure you, I’ve brought enough to pay for the service.”

  Alphonse and Cassandra exged gnces while Ruben tinued chortling to himself. Alphourned back to Grey with an overdone apologetic look on his painted features. He shook his head. “I’m afraid…that won’t be possible, Headmaster.”

  Grey’s smile faded, his eyes flig bad forth between the leaders of Marrowmist. “And why is that?”

  Rubens ughter died down. “Because we were paid a fuck ton of gold not to intervehat’s why.”

  “Specifically,” Cassandra interjected. “There was a requirement to not assist you.”

  “These Loyalists, it appears that they’re aware of your,” Alphonse paused for a moment, visibly searg for the words. “Historical ties to this town. Why, you’re practically a living reliarrowmist! A valuable antique, one might say.”

  Grey hummed to himself. “Is that so? My my, is that all they wanted from you, in my regard?” He said calmly.

  His unspoken implication hung in the air. Several of the rge Marrowmistian guards that had been lingering nearby tensed up, causing roup to react as well. Venix stepped forward to stand at Grey’s side, his huge frame an intimidation in and of itself. I tried to step a little bit more behind Grey, so my slow reach towards my dagger was obscured.

  Turns out, I have bothered.

  “Nah,” Ruben said, unphased. “They wanted us to try and take ya too, if ya showed up here. Bugger that, though.”

  “As strong as we are, we’re aware we would o get quite lucky indeed in order to overe your brutish might, Headmaster,” Alphonse simpered, hiding his mouth behind his hand.

  “We took the gold, of course,” Cassandra said bluntly. “But it’s just not worth the risk, so you and your little flunkies rex. Still, that doesn’t mean yoing to be getting a ship out of us.”

  The tension that had filled the air slowly dissipated. Through his robes, I was able to see as Grey’s batensed as well.

  “Hmm,” My mentor crossed his arms in though, drumming his fingers on them. “Quite a drum. I quite emphatically o reach that prison. You’re willing to forsake the Loyalist's desire to capture me, but not their want for you to deny me service?”

  “Turning ya away when ya e for business is ohing,” Ruben started.

  “But actively turning on one of our own is another,” Cassandra finished with a smirk.

  Alpho out a delicate-sounding snort at the others words, but didn’t tradict them.

  Grey bowed his head slightly. “…out of us.” I heard him mutter to himself. Raising his head, he smirked at the Triumvirate. “Out of pure intellectual curiosity, what would happen if I were to say, vine of the Captains in this fiablishment to accept my ission? Hypothetically speaking, of course.”

  Alphonse rolled his eyes and flopped ba his gilded throh a huff. Meanwhile, it was Cassandra and Ruben who exged smirks this time. Cassandra turned back to face Grey. “Hypothetically, that Captain would be directly defying one of our decrees, and would be in viotion of the Marrowmist charter. They would be immediately senteo a term of exile for han five years, and would owe signifit repeer that term if they warance again.”

  Grey sighed, reag up to massage his brow. “I see,” He said tiredly.

  Cassandra dropped all pretense. “It’s going to be a hard sell, Grey,” She said, not un-sympathetically. “We frankly hat gold, and ’t afford to offend ers like them when their pockets are so deep. There’s a lot of uainty going around right now, and not just because of the war. The seas have been rough tely.”

  Ruben impatiently waved a nearby server over and snatched anoblet of booze off their tray. “It’s like someone pissed it off or something,” He grumbled over his liquor.

  “You have free reign of the town, I won’t deny that to you as a signatory,” Cassandra said to Grey. “But that’s it.”

  “Very well,” Grey said, meeting her eyes. They exged nods. “I’ll leave you to your evening, then. Is my reserved room still open to my use?”

  “Of course it is,” Alphonse said irately. He shooed us away with one limp hand. “You may go.”

  “e along, my friends. Follow me,” Grey said to us, turning his ba the Triumvirate. With o g the rulers of this town, I did the same and followed Grey back the way we came.

  I couldn’t help but feel a pair of eyes on my back though. Risking a gnce over my shoulder, I met the intense gaze of Cassandra. She smiled slightly at me, before I hastily turned back around and caught up with the group.

  ……………………………………..

  We all followed Grey through the tavern to another set of stairs in a er. Climbing up it, I found that the third floor was much smaller than the first and sed. It seemed to just be a short hallway with a number of private rooms with embossed ptes set into them.

  Grey led us to one door, covered in dust, that had a faint image of a bird in flight engraved on it. He wiped a hand through the dust, revealing the bird more clearly to be a gull. Afterward, he set his palm on the gull fully, making it glow briefly in a blue light. The lo the door clicked open a moment ter, letting Grey open it easily. Ihe room reminded me of an old-timey smoking room, in surprisingly good dition sidering how ed the door had looked.

  Grey strode across the room while we were milling about to a small bar on the far wall. Taking down a bottle of a dark liquor, he uncorked it and took a swig. Azarus walked over to the bar as well and accepted the bottle of booze from Grey. He grabbed a gss down from the wall and poured himself a finger of the liquor, before shotgunning it in one go. He made an impressed the taste, and poured himself another. “Well,” Grey sighed, turning around to us. “I won’t quite say we’re screwed, but things have bee substantially more difficult.”

  Meanwhile, I flopped down onto one of the incredibly fortable looking couches in the room with a sigh. God that was nice, after over a week of either hard bench or hard ground. I looked up at Grey. “Yeah, things sound a bit more plicated than you thought they’d be. If I uood that versatiht, then yoing to have to bribe a Captain arouo potentially risk their entire livelihood for our sake?”

  Grey grimaced. “That is…” He sighed. “Essentially correct.”

  Sylvia sat down on one of the stools at the bar, while Venix stood by the door and crossed his arms. “What do we do now, Father?” She asked Grey.

  “I, am going to o ‘sze’” He said, making air quotes. “With the other Captains down on the sed floor. I o try and vine of them to risk the trip aain exile afterward. Perhaps if I offered a ission with a shipping pany I pull some strings at? Maybe a position as a…naval…instructor…at the Academy after the war?” Grey sighed again, massaging his brow. He looked over at his daughter. “Sylvia, something else worried me. Ruben said that the sea has been angry for some time. Could you perhaps scout the town, try and figure out what he’s speaking of?”

  Sylvia nodded, standing up. She paused before she left, and then turo kiss Grey on the cheek. “Good luck, Father.” She said with a smile, pulling away.

  Grey touched his cheek with a returning smile. “You as well, my dear.” At that, Sylvia left the room, nodding at me on the way out. Once she was gone, he turo me. “Meanwhile, I think it would be good if you and Azarus,” My dwarven friend looked up from his gss of liquor at the sound of his name. “Attempted to mih the crew on the first floor. Perhaps you’ll have some luck, and hear about a Captain fallen on hard enough times to accept our ission.”

  I stood up with a disappointed groan from having to leave my new best friend, the couch. Popping my back, I addressed Grey with a smirk. “Am I going to have to punch a guard to get up on the sed floor if we find anything?”

  Grey rolled his eyes. “No, that was just Skinflint being Skinflint. Simply inform the guards that you have an urgent message for Captain Whitegull and they’ll let you through.” Azarus set his drink down with a disappointed groan of his own, causing Grey to roll his eyes. “There will be plenty of alcohol for you to drown yourself in downstairs.”

  “Probably not as good though,” Azarus grumbled.

  ……………………………………..

  “YEAH!” Azarus roared, already sloshed after his fifth mug of what the locals only called ‘grog’. He waved his sixth mug around wildly from his p the crside of the bare-knuckle brawling pit, spilling booze everywhere. I don’t think he even knew which of the two heavily muscled human men fighting he was rooting for.

  After Grey’s expnation, we’d split up in the dire that he’d suggested. He had wandered down to the sed floor, with Venix trailing after him like a bodyguard. Meanwhile, Azarus and I had gone down to the first floor, and ordered some drinks.

  Things had degeed from that point.

  I took a sip of my drink, something I leasantly surprised tasted like a hard root beer from bae. I was trying to keep an eye on both the tavern floor and my friend at the same time. I wasn’t too ed about Azarus, though. I knew he could burn the booze off in seds if he was actually in trouble.

  Meanwhile, I couldn’t say I was having an easy time snooping on the booze hounds of the first floor. The few people I’d tried talking to had either told me to piss off, or ht threatened me. I’d resorted to eavesdropping in order to try and gather information frey.

  I couldly say that a bunch of bckout drunk pirates were the most riveting versationalists, however. In other words, I’d learned jad shit.

  I sighed into my mug. At least this stuff was good. I took another drink, allowing myself to enjoy the slight buzz I had going.

  My attention was stolen, however, when one of the doors on the far wall banged open. From what I’d seen, those were the game rooms, where people went to gamble away all their ill-gotten goods. Two human pirates marched out of the game room, dragging a third, Sculpted pirate behind them by his arms.

  I felt my blood run cold at what I saw around his neck.

  A sve colr.

  The world slowed down around me as I found my vision narrowing down at the ued sight. It had been over a month now since I’d see all, ever since we’d escaped Addersfield. In a distant er of my mind, I could feel a quiet voice tellihat I shouldn’t be surprised. Even though ht svery was outwed ial, these were pirates. Of course they’d be involved in illegal activities.

  The rest of my mind was hardening. I could feel something deep down inside of myself growing colder. It was as if a spark of purpose that I’d discovered since I’d freed myself was frosting over with a familiar hatred that I thought had died with Magnus.

  Sparing Azarus a single disied gnce, I saw that he was just fine. He was a big boy, he could take care of himself.

  That Sculpted couldn’t.

  I waited until the two pirates dragging the sve passed my table, and then stood up and dropped a few coppers on it. Discreetly, I followed behind the group, making sure to utilize every trick Sylvia had taught me to avoid dete.

  Out into the streets of Marrowmist.