Frisk’s step was more like a leap performed at light speed. Marco saw the captain tensing for a moment before he cleared a good eighth of a mile of ocean water in a single blurred movement. He had been feeling tough lately after taking down so many pirates, but that all evaporated in a single instant as he came to realize what the captain had done was actually an attack, a single rapier thrust that had pierced across a chasm of air to a single, chosen pinpoint of space between the old woman and the open water.

More shocking, the old woman hadn’t even flinched. Marco refused to believe that anybody had that strong of a control of their reactions. She had seen it. Not just the tensing and not just the aftermath, but she had seen enough of the attack to at least figure out it wasn’t truly aimed at her.

“Flashy,” she said.

“I didn’t feel like waiting or getting my boots wet.” Frisk looked over at Marco as if the boy was a vase he proposed to buy and not a flesh and blood person. “Should we bring him for our talk?”

“Of course. And his friends, and two of my islanders. Let’s say him and him.” She pointed to two very surprised dockhands who transitioned from pretending they weren’t listening to visibly wishing very much that they hadn’t hung around as long as they did.

“Fine. That’s it?” Frisk asked.

“No. Two of your crew.”

“I’ll summon my first mate and…”

“You’ll summon a cabin boy and your cook.” She stared down the captain with the same iron she had used in their first talk at a distance. “Or we won’t talk at all.”

The captain turned ever so slightly red. Marco did not think it was from embarrassment. His nostrils flared as he took a slow, controlled breath and turned back to the water.

“Fine. Prepare your table. I’ll signal my ship and have the men sent over. It won’t take long,” Frisk finally said.

“Marco and crew, with me. You two, go ahead of us to the meeting room. The captain can find us when he’s done.”

Ten seconds later, they were well down the path in a direction Marco hadn’t gone before. Not much further ahead of them, a large but distinctly plain building loomed. The door was open, presumably left that way by the two dockhands who had run ahead of them.

“Here’s fine, for now.” The old woman shook her head. “I’m glad it hasn’t been a fight yet, but if he suspects we are escaping, it might be. Best to stay where we can be seen.”

“I don’t entirely understand what’s happening. Why did you refuse to have his first mate here? Safety?” Elisa asked, and Marco was quietly thankful she had taken that particular bullet for him. “The two of them are too much?”

“The one of him is too much. That’s a very, very strong man for these seas. If he wanted to, he could take Steed and all his pirates down in an afternoon from a rowboat. No, it’s because of the kind of witness he was trying to choose.”

“Someone loyal,” Riv said. “Someone he could trust to keep quiet. Or agree with him.”

“Or both. A cabin boy is a different thing. They aren’t typically even military. Someone that young still identifies more with an island like this and the people who live there than the ship he serves,” the old woman added.

“And the cook? They aren’t military either?”

“Actually, they generally are,” she said. “I just find cooks are bad at keeping secrets. You don’t get into that kind of job if you don’t like talking to people. Whatever he plans on doing, whatever he wants to say, I want everyone on his entire ship to know it.”

“Why?” Marco asked. “It’s not like they could stop him and the first mate if they were together on it, right?”

“Force isn’t the only way people can stop other people from doing things, Marco. You’ll see it yourself some day, but there are some people who experience shame entirely through other people’s eyes. They can only think something is wrong if other people do.” The woman sighed. “And a few special people who do what’s right even when someone else isn’t watching. Most people are somewhere in between.”

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

The captain wasn’t lying when he said it wouldn’t take very long to get his people ready. A minute or so later, he was stomping up the path with two very scared looking crew members in tow. Marco thought that everyone present was uncomfortable besides Frisk, the old woman, and Aethe, and he wouldn’t have put money on Aethe despite her looking as calm and collected as ever.

“All right. I’m ready. In here?” Frisk grumbled.

“Yes, captain.” The old woman moved into the room. “Just set up anywhere. I don’t believe this will take very long.’

The captain and his people sat down in one group, the islanders in another, and Marco and his friends in the third.

“All right. Why don’t you tell me what this is all about?” the woman asked.

“It’s about that boy.” Frisk pointed. “As you know. He’s a danger to our society, and he must be controlled. He had a chance to do this peacefully when he got his class, but broke out of prison and ran, which has meant that dozens, maybe hundreds of people have wasted their time trying to track them down.”

Marco felt a cold rage build up in his stomach. Here he was, an actual person. He had friends. He had family of a sort. He was even starting to try his hand at love, although he hadn’t had much time to really develop that part of things yet. And there was Frisk, talking about him like he was doing something wrong by not agreeing to forgo all that for a shady, suspicious proposal from the government. It boiled down to come with us and we at least won’t kill you, probably

. Like not taking it was monstrous.

Just before he had to make very difficult lunge over the table or don’t lunge over the table decisions, his protector pulled him out the fire.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I must have miscommunicated. I thought I said to tell me what this is all about and not a pile of obvious lies a baby could spot. I think this meeting is over.” The old woman stood up. “I trust you will be able to find the ocean.”

“Madam.” Frisk leaned over the table. “I thought you understood how serious this matter was. How much is at stake.”

“Oh, I certainly do. I also understand the only reason anything is at stake at all is you have your guns pointed at us. You certainly don’t intend to help us in any case. Our situation is entirety unchanged up until you either fire your guns at us or you take this boy away. After either of which things would get markedly worse.”

“Worse?” The cabin boy looked at Marco then back at the lady. “He’s evil. How could it get worse?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Because he’s the only thing keeping our people from getting murdered by pirates every time they leave. And he started doing this after a day or so here, out of the goodness of his heart.”

Marco silently noted that he had also done it to get just this kind of protection and representation, but he wasn’t about to correct her or to break her stride. She was ripping this demigod captain a new one, and he had a front-row seat for it.

“See, that’s part of our calculation. Here you are with however many levels it takes to command that ship, and no amount of asking can get you to help us.” The woman paused to give Frisk a withering stare. “And here’s this boy taking his life in his hands to protect us. Tends to affect the calculation. So yes, I’d like it very much if you’d tell us the true versions of things, because this boy isn’t a danger to anyone but pirates, no matter what his class is named.”

“I…” Frisk looked at Marco, like he was trying to figure out how much of what the old lady had said was true just by looking at his prey. Off to his right, the cook was wearing an unreadable expression that stood in stark contrast to the sheer, obvious doubt and confusion on the younger crewman’s face. “I have a mission.”

“Don’t we all,” the woman said. “Don’t we all. I’ll say some of what you can’t, then. You know this boy is harmless. You probably knew before you left. I’m guessing every single person on that island he’s from said so when asked. He’s an eager little helper type. People notice that.”

“What they said or didn’t say is irrelevant.” The captain reached down and produced a wanted poster from his pocket. Marco was oddly pleased to see that his reward had increased quite a bit since he had last seen the posters. Since Frisk had to get his before he left civilized places, it was probably even higher right now. “This matters. He’s wanted by the government.”

“Oh, don’t say that like you actually think it’s legitimate.” The old woman waved it off and looked at Frisk’s cook and cabin boy. “So you two know, he’s not wanted by the government for a single thing he did. I mean it. Just look at him. In a fair world, Frisk would be out here to reward him. Or to help him. Or both! But whatever this is, it’s not fair. It’s not right.”

“We aren’t getting anywhere here. Are you handing him over?” Frisk looked visibly frustrated.

“That depends. Are you making open war on a colony?” The woman stood up. “Because if you aren’t willing to go that far, then my answer is no. And it’s final.”

The crew of The Foolish Endeavor held their breath as the captain’s hand flexed a few times near the handle of his sword. If things really started, they’d be right in the thick of it from the get-go. Even so, none of them made the slightest move, offensive or otherwise. If there was even a small chance of avoiding conflict, they were willing to take the chance to make good on it.

“No,” Frisk said, finally. “I don’t think it’s come to that, yet.”

“Then you have my answer. Until the next time, I suppose.” The woman waved towards the door, dismissing Frisk like an unwanted petitioner. “Normal rules of departure after parlay apply, of course.”

“Of course.” Frisk nodded. “I’ll be seeing you soon.”