Day 16 of Midwinter, Sunrise

At Sea, Straits of Segais

Annwn

I wouldn’t say that I’m totally conscious when I’m tied into the weave through a trance, but I’m also not incapacitated. In the past, when danger presented itself while I was in the flow, I was able to break away in time to defend myself.

There was that time with the Redcaps in the ruins of Dún na Fola that I almost got served as the main dish to the goblin king before I snapped out of my trance… But the point is, I did eventually wake up, and I made the “Fortress of Blood” live up to its name.

Even compared to that night, my trance aboard Hullraiser was strange. First, I could tell, even while I was in the midst of my rest and healing, that the trance was going long. That happens sometimes when I’m particularly tired or injured. But second, I felt the weave change near the end of my trance. This usually means that something or someone with a great connection to the magic of Annwn has come into close proximity to me.

When I came to, I had my girls out and ready to do some slicing. I was mostly clean and refreshed. Salka was in my room looking more grim than usual.

“Let me guess,” I said. “We have company.” Salka nodded, and I hopped to my feet. “How many and did they come from Gorias?”

“You are going to have to see this for yourself,” she said, and motioned for me to come with her. Together, we exited my quarters. And ascended the first few stairs to the main deck. “Stop there,” she said when only my head poked into the sea air. “At sunrise, the mist began to burn away. We found ourselves in the middle of this…”

I turned and saw masts bearing the blue banners of the Murias navy on every side. We were completely surrounded. Looking around more, I was careful not to go fully on deck, which was what Salka had been trying to prevent when we first emerged from below.

“There,” I said, pointing at the Murias flagship. “We will be boarded by someone from that vessel.”

She nodded, clearly having not been through something like this before. “We are flying the flaming arrow of Gorias. For the moment, we have nothing to fear.”

“Until they see me on board.” I reminded her.

“If they have been notified about your exodus from Gorias, we are farthed anyway.”

“Why is that?” I asked.

“Because I’m afraid there is only one ship named Hullraiser in the Crosswaters.”

“Chet,” I said, while I processed our options. I thought back to the feeling I had while coming out of my trance. “One of the Tuatha is on board the flagship.”

“That makes sense. She’s called the ‘Seodra Nuada’.”

“Jewel of Nuada,” I repeated. “Figures… but Nuada would likely be back in Falias or en route to Falias to assemble his grand army.”

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“I’m less interested in WHO will be coming on board,” said the stoic woman. “What’s our play here?”

“I’m still thinking!” I barked at her. “I barely got my sea legs back, and I’m supposed to be a master pirate all of a sudden.”

She didn’t say anything, but I could see the gears turning in her placid mind. “That’s genius!” she said suddenly.

“It is?” I asked, sincerely not knowing what she was talking about.

“Neither party has done anything hostile, yet you are wanted by those loyal to the Overking.”

“King.”

“What?” she asked, still processing my grand scheme.

“Don’t call him the Overking. It makes me ill.”

“Are you ever serious?”

“I try to avoid it,” I said, without missing a beat. “Please continue explaining my genius plan.”

“We can’t just hand you over to them, and they will not allow us to leave without bloodshed.”

“I’m guessing you are against bloodshed?”

She just looked at me. “Does it look like I mind bloodshed?” I was going to comment on her scars, but she cut me off. “We are outnumbered nearly fifty to one. We simply cannot cut our way out.”

“Usually when I’m backed in a corner- I fight,” I said. “What else you got?”

“We need to think like pirates here.”

“Enlighten me.” I snapped back.

“We are going to smuggle you aboard the Jewel.”

I wanted to say that my ideas were getting confused in the transfer process between my brain and her mouth, but the more I thought about it, the more I actually liked the idea. The largest port in the Straits was at Port Ildatbach. If the navy were heading there, their path would put me directly above Fern’s reddeshorate. It was devious… hitching a ride with the very people who were looking for me.

“That really is the only way to go undetected,” I said, as the plan came together in my mind.

“That’s right. They will search the entirety of the ship, and will likely take anything dangerous or valuable back to their own ship.”

We looked at each other and ran back below deck. Salka led me to the hold, where there were boxes of armaments and food stores.

“It just so happens, we have a few containers that will fit the bill,” she said, dumping out a fairly large crate of weapons. Reaching inside, she felt around the base and depressed two hidden buttons on each side that released a hidden compartment. Inside, there were a few gems and several other items that I would have guessed were magical.

“How am I going to fit into that thing?” I asked, peering down into the bottom of the crate. “It’s long enough, but I’ll have to lie completely flat.”

“Do you have a bigger crate with a false bottom that you aren’t telling me about?”

“Huh…” I remarked, looking back at her. “Morias is right. Sarcasm is incredibly annoying.” Then I hopped down into the crate and waited for her to close the specialized trap door. I just hoped I could figure out how to open it from inside when the time was right.

Just before she shut the lid, I asked, “What will you tell them?”

Without missing a beat, I replied, “That the annoying fairy we were forced to take on a joy ride must have jumped overboard when she saw them coming.”

The lid closed then, and I could hear items being piled on top of the false bottom of the chest. Salka was working as quickly as she could to make it seem like we weren’t trying to smuggle a person off of our ship.

“If you can break away,” I yelled through the wood pressing into my face. “Wait for me above the deepest part of the bay.” There was no answer.

I thought back to Salka’s last statement. She seemed all too genuine when she was relating what she would tell the commander of the Murias fleet. “Annoying fairy” seemed like a stretch. “Joy ride” definitely was. Despite all of the sarcasm and the snide comments, I liked Salka. She seemed like the kind of salty sea wench that I could have a lot of fun with… unless she betrayed me. Then, I would cut her from the northern cheek to the southern cheek.

For the time being, however, I would trust in Commander Scolt, Salka, and their crew. If the commander wasn’t at “liberty” to discuss who gave him the orders to escort me across the Crosswaters, that means it came from one of the two remaining lords of Gorias. They were the only people who outranked me in the commander’s eyes. And if Aengus or The Dagda trusted them, then I would, too.

That trust prompted me to lie there, flat as a board and in total darkness, waiting for the greed and suspicion of the Murias sailors to deliver me into their midst. Once delivered, I would escape undetected, slide into the sea, and make my way to Fern’s reddeshorate.

If only I didn’t have to pee.