Pirate's Honor, page 19
Why is she prolonging this by asking him for a recommendation? Celeste stifled a protest, her smothered words coming out as a snort. Tetok's eyes snapped to hers, then slowly descended until he was staring at her chest, though his face remained impassive. Celeste squirmed under his regard, and he finally looked back to Vreva.
"I can give you several recommendations, Miss Jhafae. My ship will be back in Sothis within a week. If you and your sister would do me the pleasure of calling on me, I will personally assist you."
"Oh, that would be lovely, Captain! Thank you." Vreva smiled and curtsied, and once again Celeste saw the captain's eyes stray, but only for a moment.
"It would give me joy to assist two such beautiful ladies," he said, giving her a short bow. He turned toward Celeste, his eyes lingering on her as he bowed once again, more slowly this time. She tried to smile and felt her cheeks grow hot. She felt ready to explode before he finally said, "Now, Captain Akhiri, your ship's papers?"
"This way, if you please, sir." Torius waved the officer and his guards down the corridor. Grasping the handle, he winked at Celeste before pulling the door closed.
Celeste released her breath in a relieved gust as she stood. "Why did he keep staring at me? Did I do something wrong?"
Vreva leaned against the door with a strained smile and said, "You did fine, my dear. Men are supposed to look at you." Then she walked a slow circle around Celeste, squinting while she looked her up and down.
Celeste smoothed her dress, uncomfortable under the woman's scrutiny. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing really," Vreva said, her tone unconvincing. "I just thought you were a bit more skilled with your spell, and would manage something a little closer to my shape, that's all."
"This is your shape," Celeste protested. "But the dress is fitted to my own form."
"That is not my shape!" Vreva scoffed. "Your ...backside is too large and you're nearly popping out of the neckline."
"I copied your shape precisely, Vreva." Celeste looked down at the plump breasts that strained the fabric of her bodice. "I can't help it if my dress makes you look fat."
∗ ∗ ∗
"Be careful with that!" Torius snapped as two of his sailors bumped one of Vreva's trunks against the side of the narrow corridor. "If you scratch that wood, you'll have no grog for the next two weeks."
"How kind of you to worry about my luggage, Captain," Vreva said as she exited her cabin.
Torius scowled at her. "I'm worried about my bulkheads, Vreva, not your trunks."
He heard his cabin door open and turned, surprised to see Celeste walk out in human form, dressed and made up like a courtesan. She said nothing to him, but approached Vreva. Torius tensed.
"Vreva," Celeste said hesitantly, "I'd like to thank you for your help. I feel ...more able to carry out my role with what you've taught me. This does not mean that I like you. I appreciate your teachings, but if you betray us again, I will bite you."
"Well." Vreva's eyebrows arched in surprise. "I consider myself duly warned. Good luck with Ekhan, Celeste. Keep practicing—you're not quite ready for the real world yet."
Torius breathed a sigh of relief when the two women parted without incident, then followed Vreva outside. The three-hour sail up the Crimson Canal from the River Sphinx had left the captain's nerves on edge, and their assigned dockage put several locked gates between his ship and the open sea, which left him feeling trapped. Thillion had debarked as soon as they hit the dock to find someplace suitable for Vreva to stay, and the first mate was now back at the ship organizing the sale of their cargo and the purchase of another. Torius wanted to get Vreva settled and leave as quickly as possible.
The coach ride to her new living quarters was quiet, Torius and Vreva seated opposite one another in the carriage. Grogul and several sailors rode on the outside, ready to haul the courtesan's trunks into her new apartment. His eyes caught a splash of green as they passed one of the city's many oases: a grove of date palms towered above verdant shrubs dotted with vibrantly hued flowers, all surrounding an ancient stone well from which women drew water to fill the earthenware jars that they carried on their heads. It was a cool, green refuge from the city's oppressive heat, tucked amid a maze of monochromatic edifices constructed of sandstone and mud bricks. He glanced at Vreva, but she continued to stare out the carriage window, ignoring him completely. Finally they pulled up to a tall building pitted with small windows, discernible from similar buildings around it only by the distinguishing crest over the lintel. They were escorted to a fourth-floor apartment by an obsequious manager who scuttled around like a beetle, eager to accommodate the beautiful lady.
"This will do, don't you think?" Torius asked as he walked around the comfortable little apartment. "It's got windows on two sides for a nice cross breeze and a view of the Black Dome."
"It's small and dreary," Vreva complained, eyeing the sturdy furnishings around the common room with distaste. She dropped her cat, and the animal scampered off to explore, its tail thrashing the air. "I'll have to buy all new furniture, not to mention drapes, rugs, and wall hangings." She walked past him to the window and glanced out. "And the Black Dome is a giant bug—not exactly the most settling sight first thing in the morning. The neighborhood's not bad, but it's hardly upscale."
Torius disregarded her complaints, but eyed her curiously. Vreva wasn't acting like herself at all, and hadn't since their encounter with the Osirian galley. Though she still dressed in her courtesan's garb, she had stopped the seductive mannerisms—the flashes of leg or cleavage, standing too close when she spoke to him, and the constant teasing. Her attitude in the carriage had been downright demure. She was acting almost like a normal woman.
"I'll give you some money to spruce the place up," he offered. He was feeling flush with the news that Thillion had brought back from his venture into the city. "Though with the reward Nhil is offering for the return of the Star of Thumen, I'm tempted to dump our plan, sail right back to Katapesh to pick up the necklace, and bring it back myself!"
"Don't you dare, Torius!" She turned on him with a scowl. "You dragged me away from my home to this ...place to neutralize the threat of Benrahi Ekhan. If you back out of the plan now, there's nothing to stop him from destroying me. You can sail off into the sunset! I can't!"
"All right, all right." He raised his hands in surrender. "It was just a thought. But if we can't find Twilp Farfan, or if he refuses to help, we may have to take the money and run."
"If Farfan refuses, then convince him," she said, still scowling. "You're good at convincing people to help you, even when they don't want to. I'm here, aren't I?"
"That you are." As he stepped past her to look out the window, she walked to the other side of the room. Nothing in her movements would have alerted a casual observer, but Torius had fended off her advances too many times to not notice that she was keeping her distance. He pointed down the street. "I'm leaving four men here. They'll stay in an apartment about a block away—a less expensive one than this—close enough in case you need protection or someone to run errands."
"And to make sure I don't run off," she countered with a sigh. "I know you don't trust me, Torius. You don't have to pretend."
"I'm not pretending," he said. "I don't trust you. But Ekhan seems to have people all over, and if one of them recognizes you, four pirates could come in handy." The four you know about, anyway, he thought.
"I gave you good information for years, Torius, and you trusted me. Now you treat me like I'm evil incarnate." She waved a hand dismissively. "It doesn't matter. Why don't you just run along to your ship?"
Torius wrinkled his brow. He'd never known the courtesan to be so ...emotional. "Is something wrong, Vreva? You seem distracted."
"Distracted? Of course I'm distracted!" She sat down on the arm of a chair, then stood again with a disgusted sniff, brushing nonexistent dust from her dress. "This plan you've cooked up is complicated, Torius. Any one of a thousand things could go wrong, and I'd be sitting here gloriously unaware as Ekhan himself sails into Sothis to carry out his promise to destroy me."
"I understand that, Vreva, but you might consider the circumstances. I've never betrayed you before, and I don't intend to now. Though the way you're acting isn't easing my worries."
"Really?" She cocked an eyebrow at him as if he'd insulted her. "And how am I acting?"
"Different. You haven't tried to seduce me once since we left the ship."
Vreva rolled her eyes. "You complain when I do try to seduce you, and now you complain when I don't. Well, I'm not trying to seduce you, Captain Vin, because it no longer amuses me to do so. After meeting Celeste, and quite frankly coming to like her a little bit, teasing you just isn't the same. Though I do still envy her your attentions."
"You like her?" Torius was taken aback. He'd been amazed that Celeste had tolerated Vreva's tutoring so well, but had assumed that the courtesan's actions were just an act. He found Vreva's claim hard to believe. "I thought you abhorred snakes."
"I do, but Celeste is not a snake." She looked at him as if he were a dimwitted child. "She might not be human, but she's a woman, even if she doesn't think of herself as one."
"I'm surprised you realized that, Vreva," he admitted, fighting to control his confusion. Vreva Jhafae as a compassionate human being was a concept he wasn't sure he could wrap his mind around.
"I'm full of surprises, Torius. Now go away and let me get to work."
"As you wish." He went to the door and looked back at her one more time. Out of her element, she seemed ...fragile. He shook his head. "We'll be back in six or seven weeks. I'll contact you if anything changes. When we return, I expect you to have the commander of the Eyes of Sothis eating out of your hand."
"Fine, Torius." She made a shooing motion. "Bye-bye, now."
Torius left the apartment and descended the steps to the street, bewildered by the changes in Vreva and Celeste. He tried to dismiss the distraction from his mind; he still had to find a halfling thief, scam a merchant prince, make some money, and keep his people alive while doing it. Right now, however, those plans seemed less complicated than trying to understand two women.
paizo.com #2495541, Ronald Hartman
Chapter Fifteen
Honor Among Thieves
Gods, I hate the Chelish Navy." Torius scanned the Ostenso waterfront, crowded with warships bearing the red-and-black flags of Cheliax. He'd had more than one run-in with the Corentyn armada and had endeavored to stay well away from their warships—and from Cheliax—ever since. He felt confident that their disguises would hold up under casual scrutiny from the Chelish Navy, but there were a few Corentyn captains who knew him personally.
Let's just pray that there aren't any Corentyn ships stationed here, he thought.
"You hate all navies, Captain!" Snick chirped. "And I'm sure that pirates aren't at the top of their favorite-people list. All's fair in love and war, you know!"
"Thank Gozreh we're not at war with that," Torius countered, gesturing to a line of huge war galleons, their lofty sterncastles bristling with siege engines. "Sometimes I wonder why the devils don't rule the whole Inner Sea."
"Just be happy the notion hasn't crossed their narrow little minds yet," Snick said.
Torius squinted at the confusion of piers, docks, and buildings perched on pilings over the murky harbor water. It formed a maze even a rat would get lost in.
"Think we can find him?"
Snick sighed. "What have I been telling you during our entire crossing from Sothis, Captain?"
"Piece of cake."
"Yup!" she agreed. "Piece of cake."
"Watch yourself in there," he said gravely. "You know how they feel about slips around here."
"Slips are halflings, Captain," she scoffed. "I'm a gnome. The hair's a dead giveaway." She waggled her fluorescent blue head under his nose.
"These people worship Asmodeus, Snick. Do you think your hair will stop them from making a slave out of you?"
The gnome's smirk fell. "I get your point." They watched in silence for the few moments it took Snick to regain her sense of humor. "Hell of a place for a slip thief to make a living," she said, chuckling at her own joke.
"There's an adel coming out to greet us, Captain," Thillion said as he mounted the steps to the quarterdeck. He pointed to the Chelish flag fluttering from the forepost of the approaching barge. "Looks official."
"Heave to, Thillion," Torius ordered, straightening his fez and rehearsing his lines in his mind. "Boarding ladder on the port side."
"Aye, sir! Heave to! Helm to windward!"
Stargazer—Torius had difficulty thinking of his beloved vessel as Sea Serpent—turned slowly into the wind, jibs and staysails cross-sheeted so the ship balanced between wind and water, as still as a stone. At least it's the harbormaster's barge, and not the navy, he thought.
"Time to turn on the charm," Torius muttered as the adel came alongside and the rowers shipped their oars. The woman standing in the bow had coloring akin to Vreva's, typically Chelish with dark hair and a pale complexion, but that was where any similarity to the courtesan ended. She looked to be as tall as Torius, but with broader shoulders, and she wore a bastard sword at her hip that he doubted he could wield. Her hard features were set in a look of authoritative conviction. This woman meant business.
"Watch it, Captain," Snick whispered. "Women like her don't appreciate charm. And she doesn't look like she's got a sense of humor, so I'd better make myself scarce."
"Good idea, and thanks for the advice." He straightened his jacket and descended to the mid-deck. Probably just a quick check of cargo, he assured himself. He smiled broadly as he welcomed the official and her entourage aboard.
"Abidi Ben Akhiri, Captain of the Sea Serpent, at your service, ma'am," he said in his practiced Thuvian accent, bowing low as she stepped onto the deck flanked by two heavily armed guards.
Looking hard at him, she came right to the point. "Your purpose in Ostenso?"
"Trade, ma'am. Our last port was Sothis, where we acquired a cargo of fine spices. My brother Fadiri said that such wonderful spices would sell at a very high price in your glorious nation."
"Spices ..." she said in a bored tone. "I suppose I should have a look. Open your main hold."
"This way, please!" He waved a hand to the main hatch. "I'm sure you will find everything in order."
Leaning over the main hatchway coaming, she peered down into the hold. "How much spice are you hauling?"
"Eighty tons of the finest cinnamon, sage, and rosemary the world has ever seen, ma'am. Some smaller amounts of saffron and various dried peppers." He thanked the gods that the cargo was legitimate, bought with the proceeds from selling their load of iron in Sothis. "Would you like me to open a crate or two for you to inspect?"
"No." She held out her hand. "Ship's papers."
"Ahh, they're in my cabin." He cursed himself for not having them on hand. He'd been too distracted by the fleet of Chelish warships docked at the piers to think of it. "Let me send someone to fetch—"
"It'll be quicker if I just come aft." She started walking. Her strides were longer than his, and he was forced to stretch his legs to get ahead of her.
He felt a fine sheen of sweat break out on his brow, and his hand trembled as he reached for the latch to the door. Not now! he thought, suppressing the urge to clench his hands. He was taking only enough venom to keep his shakes under control, but stress often brought out his symptoms. And now was not the time for him to look like he was uncomfortable or hiding something.
"Of course, ma'am. Right this way." He opened the sterncastle door for her, relieved to see that her escort didn't follow as he led her aft; his cabin would be crowded enough with the two of them ...and Celeste.
"You'll pardon me, but I keep my cabin locked to protect my personal items from the greedy hands of my crew," he explained as he fumbled with keys, rattling them in the lock to warn Celeste and praying that she took the hint.
The harbormaster just looked at him and didn't say a word.
"Here you are." He opened the door and swept an arm for her to enter. The cabin looked empty, but he knew Celeste was there somewhere. Stepping cautiously, he went to the navigation table to get the forged papers.
While she waited, the woman's eyes roamed around the cabin. Her gaze lingered on the nest of pillows and rugs in the corner opposite his bunk, and her brow furrowed with curiosity. "What's that for?"
"That?" He feigned embarrassment and bowed. "My apologies, ma'am. I don't wish to offend, but I often entertain ...friends in my cabin."
"Friends? I don't—" Her eyes flicked from the pillows to his narrow bunk, then back. She slowly looked him up and down—then, to his horror, smiled. "I see."
He returned her smile, trying not to look too uncomfortable.
"Is this your first trip to Ostenso, Captain? I know most ships that frequent my city, and I don't remember ever seeing yours." She strolled over to the nest of pillows and prodded one of the plush cushions with her heavy boot, as if testing its resiliency. She looked back at him. "And I would have remembered you."
"This is my first trip to your fair city, ma'am," he said, swallowing and clenching his hands behind his back to keep his trembling hidden.
"My name is Lothera Cothos."
"I'm honored to meet you, Mistress Cothos." He gave her a careful bow.
"Ostenso can be a difficult place to do business, Captain." Her voice was no longer imperious or bored; instead, it hand transformed into something like the purr of a big cat. "I know every merchant in the city, and I can help you become more ...intimately familiar with the ins and outs of doing business here."
Oh, holy Gozreh be merciful, he thought, trying not to cringe at her blunt innuendo. If this woman kisses me, Celeste is going to bite her head right off! "I'd welcome any help, of course, Mistress Cothos."
"Come to my villa this evening for dinner." She gave him another smile, though her words were more command than invitation. "We can discuss ...business. I'll send a carriage for you at sunset."
