Courier Quest 2: International, page 25
He felt her face move as she smiled against his chest. “The fey are too free-spirited to put up with a lot of stiff parties, even if their queen demanded it. Once or twice, maybe, but it doesn’t happen often,” she explained. “They’re often chaotic and strange. No two are alike. Not without decades passing between, at least. I’ve only gone to a few, but they’ve always defied expectations. The last one I attended had some especially strange music.”
“How strange are we talking?”
“The Queen of the Feywood had been introduced to… Oh, what was it,” she wondered aloud. “I don’t remember the full title of the genre of music, but I think I remember someone calling it EDM.”
Trevor nearly choked before barking out a laugh. “Someone introduced the Queen of the Feywood to electronic dance music? And she took to it?” he asked before shaking his head in amusement. “No, you said it happened at a ball. She was obviously taken with it. Wow.”
“Yes, she sent out a messenger to find someone who could DJ, as they called it, and managed to find a Summoned who could perform,” Adabelle continued, sharing his mirth. “I wasn’t as drawn in. The music certainly got the heart pumping, but I struggled to dance to it.”
“I find it hard to believe that you’d struggle dancing,” Trevor said.
The noblewoman shrugged. “It was simply not my thing.”
“Fair. Still, I would have paid good money to have seen you try,” he chuckled. “I’ve seen you at your best, it would be pretty funny to see you flailing to EDM.”
“Please, I was hardly flailing,” she argued, tapping his chest with her fist. “It was just different, that’s all.”
“I know, I’m just teasing you,” Trevor said, looking down at her. For a moment, he wished she didn’t have horns so he could kiss the top of her head, but it was only for that moment. It had been weird at first, but now he wouldn’t trade any part of her for the world. With a content sigh, he rested his head back down and looked up at the stars. “I hate to say it, but you should probably get going.”
“Wracors have perfectly good night vision, as do I,” she said immediately, her hand balling into a fist. “Plus, I still have all this energy from cuddling with you for so long. More than a few hours of riding will get rid of.”
Trevor grinned. “We could always head to the inn and finish what we started earlier,” he replied suggestively, his voice low. “Put Rashie to bed, let her cuddle Clay, and see what happens when we’re not worried about being caught.”
Adabelle’s tail tightened around his wrist. She buried her face in his chest and mumbled something.
“I’m sorry, lady, but I didn’t quite hear that,” he teased.
“You are a dangerous man, son of Ander,” she whispered.
“You are literally the only person on two planets who has ever thought that,” he laughed.
“If it weren’t so easy for you to tempt me, then I wouldn’t think you so dangerous.”
“Do you want me to stop, lady?” he asked as he ran his fingernails down her spine, passing the tattoo that marked her as a Summoned.
Adabelle shivered against him. He had learned long ago that she relished his touch as much as he did hers, she just hid it better. His fingers paused at the string of her bikini top, but then passed over without issue.
Lailah had been right; it really did drive him crazy to see her like this.
“No,” she admitted quietly, a trill of excitement in her voice. “But, also, yes. For now.”
Trevor stopped scratching and returned to stroking her hair. “A rain check, then, for when I get back,” he said.
The noblewoman was still for a moment before giving him the barest of nods. She slowly extricated herself from his arm, unwrapping her tail in the process, and sat up. Not only were her eyes as bright as the stars in the night sky, but the fire pointed out her flushed face. She was smiling, though.
“A rain check,” Adabelle quietly confirmed before standing. She adjusted her swimsuit and cleared her throat. Her voice was back to normal after that. “You rouse Rashie while I get changed. Once we’re ready, I’ll take you both to your inn before heading back to Tosa.”
Clay rolled off of Trevor’s stomach and bounded back to the wracor statue holding the umbrella, which had been pretty useless for a while now. The courier sat up and stretched as best he could with a shark girl wrapped around his leg.
“I’m going to miss you, Adabelle,” he said, reaching up for her.
“And I, you,” she replied, taking his hand in her own and giving it a gentle squeeze before heading back to the trees.
“Alright, Rashie,” Trevor sighed, looking down at the still sleeping girl. “This is going to be the difficult part.”
Chapter Thirty: The Power Through
Trevor yawned as he walked towards the docks early the next morning. Sitting on his shoulders with the heels of her feet gently tapping his chest was Rashie, who was looking around with wide eyes. Her tail thumped against his backpack as every little thing seemed to grab her attention. She hummed happily, though it was clear that she wanted to be back in the water.
Atop her shoulders was Clay. The earth elemental looked at the dockworkers, ships, and ocean with equal wonder. Trevor was fine with them being out and about this close to land, but his familiar had firm instructions to stay in his backpack or in someone’s arms once they were on the ship.
They were to stay there until they had gotten used to the speed they would be traveling at. He was worried about losing them to the water, even if the shark girl could probably reach them before they hit the bottom.
The courier did his best to stay out of people’s way as he tried to find the vessel that Thimbleden had told him about. He knew it was one of the larger cargo ships, but there were so many of those that it was hard to find. Though Trevor initially thought Isich was small, it was the port that serviced Eskretet as well as Tosa which made it busier than he anticipated.
“There it is!” Rashie excitedly exclaimed, grabbing his hair with one hand as she pointed with the other.
Trevor turned to look. It was one of the furthest ships out and he could barely make out the name on its side, but it was The Azure Ascension. He dodged many more people on the way there.
It was a large, wooden ship that looked sturdy and well-built. There were more workers here than any other ship, and Trevor noticed the multitude of crates they were taking aboard. He found a man in red finery barking orders as he worked on a ledger and approached.
“If you don’t work for me, I can’t help you,” the gruff man said, not bothering to look up.
Trevor blinked; he hadn’t even had the chance to open his mouth yet. Still, he put on his best customer service face. “Sorry, sir. We’re here on behalf of Thimbleden, of Tosa. We’re looking for passage to the Floating Isles and—”
“Ship’s full up,” the captain interrupted. “Got no room for anyone that isn’t my crew.”
The courier paused. “We’re really just one and a half people, sir. We don’t need a lot of space. I even have a letter from Thimbleden’s Sundries in Tosa that introduces us, if you want to see it.”
“Just told you that there’s no room.”
Trevor almost frowned, but maintained his composure. “We have the coin, too. We can pay for passage, just to the Floating Isles.”
The captain sighed and put down his pen. He turned to look at the totem of people in front of him, arching an eyebrow but not giving away more than that. “The Azure Ascension is booked full,” he said firmly. “No one who’s not paid for by my client is getting on my ship. I’ve got a lot of cargo to haul and you are currently standing in the way of the people loading it up.”
“Wow. Trevor, this guy is kind of mean,” Rashie huffed.
“Busy, ‘this guy’ is busy,” the captain corrected before returning to his ledger.
Trevor spoke before Rashie could continue. “Do you at least know of any other ships heading to the Floating Isles that you can point us to?”
“We were supposed to get on this one,” the shark girl complained.
“And the plan has changed,” Trevor replied gently before looking back at the captain. “We’ll stop bothering you after that.”
The captain released a long breath and shook his head before standing up straight. He scanned the docks to see which ships were present. Trevor said nothing, glad that the man was at least entertaining the thought of helping. While his attitude left a lot to be desired, there was no reason they had to be on this ship in particular other than Thimbleden had mentioned it.
“The Power Through,” the captain finally said, jutting his chin towards a vessel on one of the other docks. The courier caught a hint of disdain in his voice, but wasn’t sure if it was because of the question or the answer. “They’re rather mercenary and her captain’s been belly aching over not having a job lined up. You want to get someplace, she’ll do, and fast.”
Trevor followed his gesture and locked his eyes on a red, sailless ship with yellow and orange flames painted on the side, and immediately grimaced. It looked fine, but it was the most flamboyant vessel here.
“Yup, that’s the one,” he confirmed without even being asked. He waved them off and returned to work.
“That one’s so cool!” Rashie giggled, having caught sight of it, too. “It’s much better than this rickety old boat, let’s go see them!”
“Thanks,” Trevor said, not really meaning it but remaining polite as he left the Azure Ascension behind.
He wasn’t sure what kind of person would have a vessel with flames painted on the side, but he had an inkling of what they would be like. While Rashie seemed to be excited over the prospect of taking this ship, he was a little more reserved. Still, it wouldn’t do to judge a book by its cover so he kept an open mind.
Trevor’s suspicions only grew as they made it to the last dock in the harbor. He realized that many of the boats were moored in a way to give the Power Through ample space. So far, there was no sign as to why.
They made their way down the dock, which wasn’t nearly as busy as the others, and Trevor paid close attention to the vessel. It was about forty feet in length. Large, but still eclipsed by many of the cargo ships. The Power Through had either been taken care of very well or painted recently, because it was very bright. A few shades lighter than fire engine red.
“Yeah, this is awesome,” Rashie giggled as she admired the ship now that they were up close. She raised her hands and cupped them around her mouth. “Power Through person! We’ve come to go to the ocean!”
Trevor winced. “Not in my ear, Rashie,” he complained.
“Sorry,” she said, rubbing his head.
“What’s this?” a boisterous woman barked from somewhere inside the yacht. “You’re asking for passage to the ocean? Jump off the pier, then! It’s a short trip!”
“Okay!” Rashie replied, about to stand up on Trevor’s shoulders.
He grabbed her by the legs. “Now’s not the time to swim,” he told her. The shark girl groaned before placing both arms on his head and resting her own on it. Clay jumped down onto their master’s backpack.
Clearing his throat, Trevor called out next. “We need passage to the Floating Isles. We were sent your way by the captain of the Azure Ascension.”
“Customers!?” that same voice came. There was a loud crash as a person scrambled onto the deck.
“Oh boy,” Trevor muttered.
A halfling woman appeared, her black blouse’s buttons had been done up incorrectly in her haste. She wore a red tricorn hat, complete with long black feather, resting crooked on her head. The cutlass hanging from her belt without a sheath shined in the light, and her thick skirt hung low as she placed her foot on the railing and looked down at the duo with a grin.
“Welcome to the Power Through!” she announced, throwing out an arm. Her voice was as loud as her body was diminutive. “Premiere vessel of the high seas, able to get you anywhere you want to go in the seven days or less. Within reason.”
Trevor pursed his lips as Rashie giggled at the small woman. He might have tried a third vessel, but it was clear his companion enjoyed this one. “Well, we’re trying to go to the Floating Isles, so if you could get us there, we would appreciate it.”
“Now hold on right there,” the halfling said before leaping off of the ship. She landed in front of him, hands on her hips as she thrust her chest out, and looked up at the courier. “Mr.… human guy and small fish kid?”
Clay emerged from the backpack now that Rashie had calmed down. They scrambled up her back and onto her head.
“And…” the halfling paused, taking off her hat to scratch at a tangled mess of brown hair. “Some kind of… t-thing? Why’s its eyes sparkle like that?”
Trevor put on his customer service face again. “Good morning. I’m Trevor, the small child is Rashie, and on top of her head is Clay, my familiar.”
Her gaze shifted to the courier’s arm where his tattoo was on full display. “And a Summoned, to boot!” The courier could practically see the money signs in her eyes.
“We both are,” Rashie confirmed with a nod. “I like your ship!”
“Thanks, I do, too!” the halfling said with a grin. “But flattery don’t get this vessel sailing. It’ll cost you coin if you want to go anywhere. Where’d you say you were going?”
“The Floating Isles,” Trevor answered.
She hummed, stroking her chin. Without turning from them, the captain tilted her head over her shoulder. “Bert! We’re still good in the Floating Isles, right?”
“Yup, haven’t got on anyone’s bad side there,” came a much calmer, almost lethargic voice from inside the ship.
“Perfect! Two passengers and a weird thing. Most of these old wrecks would take a week and a half to get there, but we can do it in four days,” she said with a nod before holding her hand out expectantly. “That’ll be five platinum coins for the trip. You supply your own food and water, but you get two rooms.”
“That’s substantially faster than we anticipated,” Trevor noted, taking a look at the Power Through if only so he wouldn’t frown at the price. “How can you guarantee a four-day trip?”
The halfling grinned. “Magic!”
Trevor nodded. That answer made sense. Cutting down the time would be nice, but five platinum coins was very expensive. He had the feeling she was asking for that much simply because they were Summoned, and they tended to have money thanks to taking on dangerous quests.
But at that price, he wasn’t having any of it. “Thank you, but I think we’ll find another vessel.”
“Too steep for you, huh?” she asked quickly as he turned away. “Tell you what, I can go down to three platinum for the three of you kind folks.”
“Sorry, but that’s still far too much,” he replied, walking away. Thimbleden had given him four gold coins total for passage on the Azure Ascension, a piece each on the way there and the same coming back.
“W-wait, wait!” the woman almost yelled, moving in front of him and holding out both hands. “Two platinum, that’s as low as I can go.”
“Thank you for the offer, but we’re still going to pass,” Trevor said again, attempting to walk around the halfling.
She twirled to block him again, this time pulling out her cutlass and pointing it at him. He took a step back on reflex, and Clay was about to jump down to defend him. “Eight gold, you purchase the food and drink for the voyage, and we get you there in three and a half days. That’s the best offer I’ve got,” she said firmly. “Take it or leave it.”
Trevor stared at the woman incredulously, looking from her sword to her eyes. There was desperation in her gaze, conflicting with the thoughts of someone too proud to back down. It was then he started hearing the words of the workers and sailors on the dock.
“There she goes again,” one sighed.
“Can’t just be normal, that one,” another said.
“Take her far away!” a third shouted.
The halfling obviously heard them, too, because her face started turning red from embarrassment. “Will you all stop that!” she half-yelled, half-whined. “I’m trying to negotiate here.”
“You pulled a sword on us,” Trevor stated, crossing his arms.
“Yeah, even I know better than to do that,” Rashie added disapprovingly.
Even Clay shook their head.
“Eh?” the halfling squeaked, looking at her sword before quickly putting it away. She raised her hands to placate the courier as if it had all been some kind of misunderstanding. “I-I just didn’t want you to run off!”
“Hey, potential passengers!”
Trevor frowned as his attention was grabbed by the man still on the ship. He turned to see another halfling, this one with long blond hair. Yawning, he leaned over the railing. His clothes were simple, and he didn’t look anywhere near as untidy as the woman.
“How about six gold to get you from here to there, and half that if you need to come back. That’s paying for the speed we provide, which you won’t get on these other ships,” the newcomer, who the courier assumed was Bert, said before yawning. He glanced over at his loud companion and waved a finger up and down at her. “Your shirt’s all mussed, Cindy.”
“What?” she asked before looking down at her blouse. Her face somehow became even redder as she turned away and started fixing her buttons. Glaring back at Bert, she began yelling. “And you didn’t tell me before I came out here to deal with customers!?”
“Like you gave me the chance,” he retorted before turning back to Trevor. “How about it? We gotta eat, so that’s the actual lowest we can go. Sorry for her, by the way. She does mean well, just don’t deal with people often, which is a shame considering how we’re trying to make a living.”
“Don’t say that!” Cindy whined. “I’m doing my best!”
