Chapter 21

Rhaseris and Anjatta sat at a small table in the captain’s cabin of the Sullen Mermaid. The table and three stools, two chests containing the personal belongings of Captain Durgon, and a bare wooden bunk were the cabin’s only furniture.

“I thought, the captain of such a big ship would have more luxurious living quarters,” Rhaseris remarked with a frown.

“The captain’s cabin on the Storm’s Bride was above deck, so it was more spacious and it had better furnishings,” Anjatta replied, looking around. “However, my mother, Luwani, resides in the captain’s cabin on the Storm’s Bride; a disadvantage a bit of luxury can’t compensate. Luckily I had my own cabin; sharing a room, I would have murdered her on the sea passage from Ibanee to Katerra.”

“It sounds like you’re as fond of your mother as I am of my father,” Rhaseris commented. “I don’t know if I hate my father – not really - but I hated his command for me to become an Alorian priestess.”

Anjatta sighed. “I wish I could hate my mother.”

“Why do you want to hate her?”

“I know my mother isn’t a nice woman. She has done many reprehensible ... horrible things. She said she did all for our family and homeland but in truth, driven by her hunger for power, she did those things for herself - no one else. Still, I cannot hate my mother. I know she loves my brother and me. How can you hate someone who loves you?” Anjatta explained. Then she looked into Rhaseris eyes and answered her question. “I wish I could hate her because I can’t save her and it’ll hurt so much when I lose her.”

Rhaseris smiled at the Ibanees princess. “Isn’t an oracle supposed to tell the truth?” She asked. “I heard you before, so I know you’re lying, Anjatta. You pledged your life to my god because you want to salvage everyone you love. You didn’t give up on your mother; you still want to save her.”

“What I want and what I will plead for doesn’t matter,” Anjatta replied. “The truth, Rhaseris? The truth is your god was born out of hate and despair; he isn’t a god of mercy.”

Rhaseris didn’t stop smiling. “Maybe he was born out of hate and despair but from Neesa he learned about love. He’s learning from all of us; we are teaching him about fury, desire, faith, hope, loyalty - why don’t you teach him about mercy?”

Finally, Anjatta returned Rhaseris’ smile.

The storm had moved on but the sky was still cloudy, so it was a pitch black night and the patch-men carried torches guarding the crew. Evanis, along with Jabbit, Kuwasi and the captain, watched as the last of the freed slaves left the ship. Then she turned toward the crew.

“Tomorrow we’ll set sail for Ibanee,” Evanis announced. “When we reach the harbor of Sanjaba, we’ll set you free, too, and return your ship to you ... to the survivors of the journey that is. I know some of you are just waiting for a chance to mutiny. I understand and even respect it. I want to give one of you the chance to do it now and that will be a fair warning for the rest of you.”

She paused and looked at the group of men, each and every one of them. “Who’s the biggest, meanest whore-son among you?”

The sailors all looked at a sailor in their midst. He was tall and broad with arms and thighs like tree-trunks.

“You?” Evanis asked, looking at the man.

The big sailor nodded hesitantly.

“It hardly seems fair, but that’s life,” Evanis noted.

The crew heard her and grinned like a pack of hyenas.

Then she continued. “Choose your weapon and two of your friends. If the three of you can kill me, then you’re all free; if I kill you, the three of you become my newest patch-men.”

The smiles on the faces of the crew died abruptly and the big sailor’s eyes widened when they heard the conditions.

Then the chosen champion composed himself. “My name is Korras and I’m not scared of anyone,” he declared and then spat out at her feet. “I’ll break you!”

Korass chose two men of the crew and the rest of the men hastily retreated behind the circle of patch-men, their burning torches illuminating the deck. The three fighters demanded their most familiar weapons. A patch-man handed each of them a cutlass and as soon as the men had their hands on the weapons, they attacked Evanis.

They were not fast enough to surprise her - not even close.

Three attacks; medium from the left, low from the right, and high from the midst. A body in blurring fast motion; spinning to the right, iron clashing on iron, a scream of pain, and a fighter dropped to the deck.

A pool of blood appeared below the dead sailor, quickly expanding as more and more blood gushed out of the wound in his neck. Korass screamed in rage and he and his remaining comrade attacked anew.

At the right; a cutlass held high above the head, aimed for a crushing blow. At the left; a cutlass swung for the midst of the body. In the center; a dagger, a falcata, whistling through the air, everywhere at once. Bodies in motion; reflections of orange light on iron blades - high, low, clashing, sparks, screams, and two bodies fell onto the deck planks.

Evanis crouched above Korass’ corpse and used his clothes to wipe the blood off her weapons. Finished, she stood up and walked to Jabbit, grabbed the collar of his new shirt and pulled his face down to her. It was a hissing sound as she whispered in his ear. Then she left. Silence and the gazes of the speechless crew followed Evanis as she went below deck.

When Evanis was gone, Jabbit was rubbing his ear and Kuwasi was gaping at him.

“Did she just bite you?”

“Her teeth didn’t hurt but her tongue wetted my ear,” Jabbit answered.

As Kuwasi knocked and entered the captain’s cabin on the Sullen Mermaid he was greeted by curious looks from the princesses Rhaseris and Anjatta.

“The last slave has left the ship,” he informed. “Durgon and his men are at the crew quarters now, guarded by the patch-men.”

“We heard some noises,” Rhaseris remarked. “It sounded like fighting.”

“That wasn’t a fight,” Kuwasi replied. “What you heard was a demonstration. Eva warned the crew to not mutiny.”

Rhaseris raised her brows. “And where are Evanis and Jabbit now?”

“You may not believe it but Eva is a very sensitive young woman,” he said with a straight face. “All the hassle of the last two days greatly disturbed her. Jabbit followed Eva into one of the cabins and is probably trying to comfort her in some way.”

The sound of something hitting the wall between the captain’s cabin and the one next to it at port side seemed to confirm Kuwasi’s assumption. The first bang was followed by a second, softer sounding collision, and then it became a rhythmic pounding noise.

“Are they fighting?” Anjatta asked, concerned.

“No; it only sounds like it but they aren’t fighting,” Rhaseris dryly remarked.

Kuwasi looked at Anjatta and nodded with a grin. “Don’t you worry, Jabbit knows how to best comfort Eva.”

Anjatta’s eyes widened as a muffled, female scream could be heard from the adjacent cabin.

“Oh, I think I understand,” she said and blushed.

Shortly after the scream had finished the first cycle, the pounding sound resumed. Apparently, a second round of comforting was needed.

Rhaseris rolled her eyes. “Come Anjatta, let’s take the other cabin and go to sleep,” she suggested. “This may take some time; I know Evanis is a deeply troubled woman and very demanding in her need for solace.”

“You’re just grouchy because you want to get comforted, too!” Kuwasi enjoyed himself.

“I’m his priestess; I don’t want to get comforted, I need to worship my god,” Rhaseris haughtily replied, then stuck out her tongue.

Kuwasi laughed and then wished the princesses a good night as they left the cabin.

The third cabin of the ship was a twin to the one Jabbit and Evanis momentarily occupied. Unlike the captain’s cabin, these were equipped not with one but with two bunks to accommodate two of the ship’s officers. Rhaseris and Anjatta left a sole candle burning on the small table of the cabin before they quietly undressed and then lay on the bunks to sleep.

“I didn’t know Jabbit and Evanis had this kind of relationship,” Anjatta finally broke the awkward silence; it had surrounded them since they had left the captain’s cabin.

“Even the gods don’t know what kind of relationship that is,” Rhaseris commented.

“You’re angry at them, aren’t you?”

“I’m a priestess, I can’t be angry at my god,” Rhaseris huffed.

Anjatta giggled. “Devotion can show itself in many forms.”

“I spent a night and day in a dungeon cell. The next day Jabbit was captured. Today I had to watch him on that horrible trial.” Rhaseris recaptured, her voice increasing in volume. “Then we finally find him in a tavern, relaxed and smiling, and before I know it Anseyla is all over him. Now he’s fucking that bitch, Evanis!”

“I was wondering about your adamant faith in Jabbit,” Anjatta remarked. “You didn’t seem to be worried about him.”

Rhaseris sniffed, fighting tears. “Worried? I’m not worried; I’m the forsaken priestess of a god who doesn’t remember I even exist.”

“I don’t want to embarrass you but ... do you have a similar relationship to Jabbit as Evanis?” Anjatta asked.

Rhaseris snorted through her tears. “Similar relationship? He’s fucking me too; that’s all the similarity.”

“Oh; sorry, I shouldn’t have asked,” Anjatta whispered.

Rhaseris wiped off her tears and looked across the small cabin at Anjatta, lying on her bunk and facing her, too. “I was a virgin when I started this journey, only a few weeks ago. You’re older than me but you’re still a virgin, right?”

Anjatta was happy about the dim lighting in the cabin; Rhaseris could not see her blushing as she answered. “I was born on the same day as Jabbit; I’m nineteen. I’m a princess of Ibanee. Aside from family members, I’m not allowed to be alone in male company. But that’s only a part of the truth. Everyone at home knows I’m crazy and they always avoided me.”

“Evanis once mocked I want to get mounted by the stable lad. She didn’t know how close to the truth that was. Until my tenth birthday, my best friend was the son of our equerry. We shared our first kiss two weeks before my father decided I had to become a priestess and the next Alorian Empress. I got a governess, and a priest and two priestesses as tutors. My friend had to leave the palace and I never saw him again. You see, our life’s story wasn’t too different in regards to male companionship.”