Day 2, Nano 2015
“We can't trust them. I don't care how powerful those crimson bastards are, we're better off facing them alone than with the lord's vipers at our side.” Logain hisses, glaring daggers at their escorts back.
“Logain, don't be an idiot. In what way is dead ‘better off’?” Evie shakes her head at him, her pale locks bouncing in rhythm with her mount’s gait.
“We're likely to be dead either way.” Logain grumbles. “We need them, but do they need us? This whole peace treaty is a farce. We'll be lying in a ditch alongside the road by sunset, mark my words.”
“Do you always have to be so dramatic?” Evie sighs.
Logain's grumbling follows them all the way up the narrow path between the bay and the dark castle's ramparts, but at the sight of the imposing gate framed by twin serpents he falls silent. Despite the long standing conflict between the lord of the castle and their motley fleet, this is the first time either of them have seen the gate up close.
“Those are jade. She has serpents carved out of jade. As gateposts.”
“Yes,” Evie replies dryly, “Clearly we haven't been harrying her enough.”
They're both in a foul mood by the time their escort has led them to the inner courtyard. A tall, dark haired man is waiting there for them. He motions for them to dismount and sends one of their escort in to inform the lord of their arrival but makes no move to invite them in. Curios courtiers in their long kimonos hover at the edges of the courtyard watching the small band of fighters in their midst.
“Not good enough to invite inside, but good enough to use as bait for the reds…” Evie spits on the ground, drawing glares from their escort and shocked gasps from the genteel.
“We might be contagious. Free will is a dangerous concept to a woman like lord Teagan.” The disdain drips from his voice. The dark man looks him in the eye for the first time at his words.
“One would be a fool to invite a thief into one's home.”
“This treaty was as much your lord's idea as mine. Does she think we are so desperate that we would overlook any slight against us?” Evie asks, voice low with the barely disguised threat.
“One cannot dishonor those without honor.” Logain's hand flies to his sword hilt, but Evie’s is faster. She catches hold of Logain's forearm, halting him. He shrugs it off but acknowledges her warning and subsides into a mere glare. The dark haired man watches them with a mild look, not so much as flinch during their exchange.
“You are. Desperate.” A cold voice is their only warning of the old lord's arrival. Her back is bowed with age, her thin white hair receding and her hands resting upon her elegant walking stick are as gnarled as a maple tree, but her silent arrival and the terrifying alertness in her eyes is a firm reminder of why this Woman is still very much in charge. “The ‘reds’ are far more a threat to you than they are to me. At most they'll disrupt my shipments and inconvenience my activities. But they will chase you from the seas or turn it red with your blood. I have no need for a treaty with you.” The courtyard swarms with dark cloaked figures as she speaks, courtiers diapering into buildings as weapons are drawn. Logain and Evie draw close to their small band, hands gripping hilts with white knuckles.
“Then why invite us here? Why not let them dispose of us?” Her voice is steady, but Logain can see by the hunch of her shoulders how frightened she is, how frightened they all are.
“Ah, but you see, I still have use for you.” She lifts a single gnarled hand and the dark tide converging on them reverses, whispering footsteps carry their owners back across the roofs and out of sight once more until once again it is just them, their escort, the lord, and her viper. “You think yourself my nemesis, but you are merely rats scurrying about and soiling my goods. But the threat of you in these waters is enough to keep other vermin at bay. In this way you are of use to me. The ‘reds’ could just as easily fill this niche, but they are too ambitious. They think too highly of themselves. That will not do.”
“You offered them this treaty before us, didn't you? Tell us. Did they turn you down, or did you find you couldn't stomach their genocide?”
“They have a blind faith in their Warlord. They are beyond reason.”
Logain and Evie exchange a look. They turned her down.
“Hmm. Enough of this idle chat. You have something I want, and in return you avoid your deaths. It is simple enough. Do not think to betray me or I will find a new pack of rats to do my bidding.” She turns to address the dark haired man beside her. “Take who you need. The Red Tide must be eradicated. Do not fail me.”
With that, she turns her back to them and hobbles back inside, looking for all the world like a feeble old woman.
They all stand silently for a good minute. But just as Logain opens his mouth to ask if they're done here, the dark haired commander speaks again.
“Valentine. Tessa. Roksana. Tam. Yuuto.” With each name, a cloaked figure drops down from the roof above and falls into line behind him. When the last one lands, he pauses then names three more, each name summoning a small squad to the courtyard. “Poisoned Wind. Falling Mist. Tarnished Leaf. Roving Flame” The dark commander looks over his troops quickly, each figure carries a light pack, as though they knew they were going to be called on. The rumble of wagon wheels sounds outside the courtyard walls. With a terse nod, the commander walks out, 29 men and women following in his wake leaving the small band of pirates with no further choice but follow as their earlier escort vanishes into the castle around them.