Chapter One
Pirates.
Winter dawned on the horizon. The ring of metal filled the air, heavy with sorrow as a funeral procession marched through the streets of Lumiere. Black was layered on every human within miles, creating a sea of mourners that bowed as the flower-inlaid coffin passed with the flag of royalty draped solemnly on the wood. Commoners, nobles, merchants, they all mournfully and respectfully looked towards the coffin of a once great king. He had died in battle with only a daughter to claim the crown.
There was unrest, for a woman could not fight, and fight she must. Of course, Lumierians would rather build their kingdom with treaties and battles of words, not swords and fire. They would rather sit in a corner and suck their thumbs.
It was an annoyingly heart shaped kingdom, a realm of light, happiness, and it was the perfect… boring… utopia.
Reine, however, was not one of Lumiere’s happy, peace loving, nature hugging hippies. For the moment, as the lithe figure moved through the crowd, she simply looked like one. Her golden eyes watched the procession with a criticizing glint as her hands fished out various “items” from the pockets of those standing near her. At five foot four it was easy to blend in with the crowd.
Black kohl protected her eyes and added even more intensity to those already unexplainable pupils. She wore a black cloak, just another mourner in the endless ocean of tears, and pretended to be just another weeping maid… except…well, she wasn’t. She wasn’t even truly crying, before running out into the crowd Reine had just dabbed water at the corners of her eyelids, careful not to smear the dark paint beneath her eyes.
Reine wasn’t a thief, but then again… she wasn’t a law abiding citizen either. The pick-pocketing woman of seventeen years was a pirate. Not a pirate of the sea, but of the world. After all, she did dislike fish.
Her black boots that stood on the cobblestone path easily adapted to thieving as well as being a rogue on both land and sea. It was true she stole, but she would feel utterly insulted if anyone dared to call her a thief. Pirates were different from thieves. To mistake one for another meant a quick death, or a mortal injury, because they were rather vain things, pirates. Reine, being the Queen of Pirates, was supposed to be the vainest of them all.
And even though she was against pecking orders, the Lumierian king had been fairer than most, which was why she was pick pocketing instead of causing chaos and disrupting the dead. Well, at least until a rather fat man caught her “accidentally” sliding a long fingered hand into his pocket.
“HEY! THIEF!”
Until the screech from the overweight man Reine had been absentmindedly minding her own business, but the instant the echoes reached her ears was shocked into reality. Surely even the half-deaf guards of Lumiere would hear the man’s piteous scream. Right on cue, she spotted the guards rushing towards her and the still screeching men. With a snarl, her hands grabbed the man’s tunic, twisting it so that he was pulled towards her. The motion stopped his disemboweling yells.
“I am no thief darling, but I am afraid I will not get a chance to beat that into your empty skull today,” she paused, eying the on rushing royal guards “Oh my, looks like we have company,” she whispered into his ear, her nose wrinkled in dislike as the sharp scents of sweat reached her strongly built nose.
The voice that echoed forth was a storyteller’s voice, filled with emotion and a dramatic twinge of a maiden in distress, but from the easy way she moved into the suddenly rushing crowd it was obvious the pirate was far from worried. Later, on lookers would claim that she skipped through the crowds.
“HALT IN THE NAME OF THE CROWN,” yelled an armor covered soldier.
With her eyes rolling in an exaggerated agitation, she moved with the current of people, throwing aside the black cloak to reveal a midnight colored, loose, hugely-sleeved shirt tucked into a pair of black billowing pants which were in turn tucked into a pair of black flap-top boots. Without the weight of the cloak stopping her it was easy to pick up her speed.
Through the crowd she sped. In order to keep a safe distance between her and the guards she left a few nasty things in her trail, like an overturned cart of animal parts from a butcher’s stall or a sea of apples from the farmer’s cart. Never mind that they would go home without money, her life was on the line.
If she kept running, sooner or later they would corner her. She knew that, so Reine took a detour and ducked into a rather shady looking alleyway.
Reine’s breaths came out in pants as she clutched her burning side and leaned against the brick wall, keeping an amused smile on her almost too thin lips. Sweat dampened her brunette hair, streaked with sun, and the amusement in her eyes suggested that she had seen the chase between her and the guards as a game, not a life and death situation. In their heavy metal armor and with their lazy steeds she was a cheetah to their walrus.
At least she thought so until one hit her on the head while her back was turned to the street. It was a sharp pain that sent her sprawling. Thankfully, Reine was not unconscious, merely stunned.
Scrambling to get up as muttered curses fell from her lips, Reine turned to be ready for an attack only to be stopped with an inhuman hiss. It erupted from what she had believed to be a pile of old rags on top a beggar. It rose; shedding the smelly pieces of cloth, showing exactly how far off Reine had been in her guess. Unlucky enough to somehow be downwind, the rotting smell made her eyes squint as she stared forward. Fathomless, red eyes blinked on the face of the pale, almost white skinned man.
“W-who are you?” The soldier who had stunned the sprawled Reine stumbled over his words, the fear rolling on his tongue and the stuttering a clear sign of defeat.
“I am Ty the Terrible, God of the Rotting Dead, and slave to Abrafo.” The man’s words were touched with a snake like hiss, and the coldness in them sent the man running out of the alleyway, screaming with sounds that were more disturbing than the figure, which instantly started cracking up with laughter.
Reine stood, rubbing her head slightly and snarling at the man, a bit awed at what face paints could do. The man walked forward, wiping off the white oils from his face and letting those red eyes change to a muddy brown. It was an almost useless talent, and the only magic her first mate had been born with, but it came in use once in awhile. It was better than having no magic at all, which fully described Reine’s magical abilities. The ability to change one’s eye color could complete even the worst disguise.
Ty snickered slightly and bowed, his finger touching his forehead in a salute. He was a burly man, heavy set, with a protruding gut that could only be blamed on his love for alcohol. His bald head was sparkling under the morning sun, and the sparkle carried into his laughing eyes. Wrinkles, laugh lines, and crow’s feet were deeply dug into his face. He was dressed in his usual brown tunic and breeches, tucked into black flap top boots. Once Ty had been a handsome man, but he was far beyond his prime now and was content to be part of Reine’s dreaded pirate crew.
“I do believe you owe me now lass.” The voice was different from before, kind and gentle. It was the voice of a common man, a man who had everything he wanted in the world.
“I’m your queen, it is your duty to protect me,” Reine replied in a formal tone. “Besides, Ty the Terrible is a horrible name. I think the man only went running away because of the smell.”
Reine squinted slightly, scrutinizing the now smiling man before her, attempting to take on an air of dignity. She succeeded for a few seconds, than whatever respect that had been gained was lost as a smile drifted on her face. The smile was lost to a look of puzzlement as Ty began to drift forward and she reached out her hands with long fingers, wrapped in cloth to keep them from being burnt by rope, to stop him. Too far away to be stopped by her thin arms, he landed with a thump on the ground and Reine rushed forward to help him, only to be startled by a man more different than any she had ever seen before.
Like most abruptly appearing men he did so in a manner of rudeness, causing the pirate to bristle like a cat.
Power radiated from his bleached skin, mostly hidden beneath a black trench coat unusual even for these parts. It dusted the alleyway beneath the man’s black boots which hid the end of black, fitting pants. An ebony hued shirt covered his upper chest, but what intrigued Reine the most was that stony face of silence, so pale it was as if the man was dead. Towering above Reine, the man stopped forward but was stopped by a hand clenched Reine who placed a palm on his chest to keep him from coming closer to her.
“Now boyo, that wasn’t very nice,” she said with the tone of voice a mother often uses on her children after they have done something extremely horrible.
For all her confidence in those few, unnecessary words, the Pirate Queen was scared and every bone in her body was tense in fear. She removed her hand from his chest and crossed her arms over her chest. A rather unhappy look flirted on her face, and it was met by a not too kind smile from the intruder.
“Rest easy queenling, your friend is fine.”
The man’s voice came out emotionless, filled with deadness that caused dread to flash like a rabbit through Reine’s mind. Red, merciless eyes surveyed the golden eyed woman. Thin, black painted lips pursed in an ugly thin line of forbiddance, and the dark rings around his soulless eyes and black lips were stark against that snow white skin. At seven feet tall, yet surprisingly thin, Reine had to crane her head up to meet his face. As their eyes met, Reine felt something touch her mind. Startled Reine slipped out of her thoughts and came back to the situation at hand, shutting the barriers and forcing the presence out. Fear flickered through her eyes, the first she had let be seen today, and the man did not let it pass his blistering attention. He smirked at her fear, ridiculed it
“Now darling, you aren’t scared, are you?”
“You know, it is impolite to start a conversation and not introduce yourself.”
“Ah yes, how impolite of me, but I don’t really care.”
Reine snarled, her temper rising to the surface. The sound was inhuman, more reptilian than anything as it sliced through the air, startling the snow white man. Though she had been making mutters and curses all morning, this was different
The stranger blinked, and with that blink he simply disappeared than reappeared only centimeters from Reine. His face was inches away from hers, obviously his size had shrunk. Confused into stillness, she let her chin be grasped by the long fingers of the morbid male that forced her to stare into his face, with his eyes that seemed to search her soul.
“You aren’t who you pretend to be,” he whispered, that voice tinged with bemusement and at the same time betraying the fact that he was puzzled by her.
“Neither are you boyo. Then again, not many of us are now and days,” she whispered back with open disgruntlement.
She pulled away from him, allowing her eyes to become unfocused, and opening her mind to the world around her. The song of the earth hit her like an ocean wave crashing into sharp black cliffs. Around him, the song was different. “You’re a God?” She asked, focusing once more on him, hiding the shaking of her hands by keeping them crossed tightly over her chest.
“Perhaps, and what are you?” The god asked the question as Reine came forward, moving with a delicate balance that bordered an almost hunting stance. “You were not made by us, my brothers and my sisters.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about boyo.”
“Do you really?”
“You’re a God, aren’t you? You can tell if someone is lying or not.”
The man chuckled, throwing his arms up in a retreating gesture. “It is true, I am a God. Do you not fear me? Do you not fear death?”
Reine smirked, moving to a mocking bow. “I do not fear Death, Abrafo, not when there are scarier things in this world.”
Abrafo nodded in agreement. “That is wise, or foolish depending on which side you are looking at it from. But I wonder…”
The God of Death disappeared, causing a confused Reine to tilt backwards against the wall. She paused, looking around, but he was nowhere to be found. Ty, crumpled on the ground before her… the guard’s hat, and a black rose. Those golden eyes lasted on the rose for but a second before they rolled into the back of her head and the young woman crumpled in a heap onto the dusty alleyway, a mangled mess of demon, predator, and girl. Her golden eyes were closed, and she looked merely asleep, but the way her body had sprawled was obviously not a comfortable sleeping position.
The cold laughter of a god filled the street, echoing off the cobblestone. It was a cruel and heartless laugh, yet fear echoed from within the laugh’s soul, toying with minds and hearts. For all the darkness, for all the laughter, no one could mistake the laugh’s own fear.
“Lass, can you hear me?”
Ty’s voice rang through the darkness that clouded over her mind and Reine opened her eyes to a familiar worried face. A rich wood ceiling lay above her, and a soft mattress of goose down feathers below her. The gentle tip of the sea as it playfully tossed what Reine recognized as her ship, the Golden Beast, had a calming affect on her jittery nerves as she fought to remember where and when she was.
Outside the huge wall-sized window the sun was low in the sky, sending rays into her eyes. Seeing her squint, a few of her crew over by the window blocked it with cloth. She nodded in thanks, wincing slightly as she felt the knot on her head begin a steady thump.
“A bump on the head won’t make me deaf boyo. It may make me a bit cackle headed, but it won’t cause too much damage.”
“Not any more damage than what has already been caused,” whispered a boy to her right, his hairless face, slightly chubby, glittering with mischief. For his insolence he received only a glare from his Queen, she felt too wobbly to smack his face as she should. A smile erupted from the childish face and Reine glared a bit more. With a small wave Mikon tip toed out of the way so the other members of her court and crew could see for themselves no harm was done to their Queen.
“We feared the God of Death had you in his hands milady.”
At the mention of the morbid man who had left her in this state, her eyes narrowed slightly and searched the faces of the crowd. Some eyes met hers, some didn’t. Reine let the thoughts go in one ear and out the other and within moments that seriousness was gone from her eyes.
“What happened?” she questioned.
“We were hopin’ ya could tell us lass,” replied Ty.
“Well, if I knew I wouldn’t have asked,” muttered Reine.
“Now, now, don’t get all hissy like a cat taking a bath.”
“I like baths,” she hinted. “A bath would be wondrous.”
Her first mate shook his head sadly and began to usher people out of the door. They left in packs, each to their own, some simply acknowledging others. Even those who were strangers to one another, or who would be enemies anywhere else, united beneath her sign. As they left some nodded to the now sitting up Reine, who gave them a slight nod in return. Others met her eyes, and a few, the newer ones, did not look at her at all. Each and every sailor and person beneath the pirate banner had gone through the stage of extreme shyness, some because it was their natures, others because of the rumors. Reine and the pirates had heard every single one of those high flying tales that sang the sweetest song and stories of a bloody thirsty golden eyed woman with no heart and a demon instead of a soul. It was those tales that were used to scare little children into being obedient. What happened to the good old dumpling maker threat?
Once everyone had cleared out, leaving only Reine to sit in her bed, she had time to think. It wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
With a moan she swung her legs out of bed, half wishing that someone had gotten the hint and might make a bath magically appear on the forsaken ship. She knew the likelihood of that was zero to none. Here, among her pirates, it was always business.
Much like an old lady Reine shuffled across the Captain’s Cabin to a small wooden dresser and took out an outfit identical to the one she was wearing, only not covered with grime. It took only a few moments for her to ease into her new clothes, and then she crossed the room once more to open the door. Ty stood there, ready as always. Behind him flocked a medium sized group of people, who Reine allowed to enter with a smile
She led them to the middle of her room, than sat in the large, throne-like chair behind her black-wood desk. Ty nodded to a woman who stood by the door and she closed the door, closed the group that remained off from the world.
“Ty?” the pirate queen asked, confused.
“Everyone is assembled.”
For a moment Reine wondered what this all was for, then remembered her orders from earlier today, orders to summon certain members of her court. It had come together after a recent revelation, and this one actually made sense. Of course, this would be certainly easier to deal with if she hadn’t suddenly returned from conscious after being knocked unconscious by-
Reine opened her eyes, not realizing that she had closed them in the first place. Anger too quickly took over one’s thoughts.
There were few left in the room. Like all the other pirates, they were her kids (even though all were older than her), her doves, her puppies. The troop varied as greatly as Decalage itself, with magic users and magic fearers, women and men, and all species.
When people came to her, asking to join her leagues of pirates, this Queen didn’t interrogate. When the potential pirate came forward, they knew the tales, a blood thirsty woman who had no conscious, and her soul eaten by a demon. It was amazing how many knew these rumors, yet none even knew what the queen looked like.
The image worked well. Only the brave came forward, only the true of heart and soul, devoted to the cause, swore themselves to her. They did not realize that their queen was mortal until later though, as the dark circles beneath her eyes became caters and the lines of her face trenches. Her life was fast paced, barely enough time for sleep.
Look at her now, freshly out of bed with a headache that could kill and ready to go murder some deities. She was puzzled, Reine had to admit, as to why Abrafo the God of Death wished to meet her in the first place if that was what he had been doing there. The legends and tales did not describe the God of Death liking to take afternoon strolls in the mortal realm. In fact, they rarely ever mentioned his name.
It was not time to let her mind wander, however, but she would think of it later after dealing with the business on hand. She had spent the whole morning in the dreaded procession to check on the talk and the city of Lumiere. No news she heard was good. It was with somber eyes that she turned to her group, but she let a crooked smile remain on those lips.
“Decalage is dying my kids, falling into the nothingness from which it was born. These few months you have seen little of me, have you not? I have been traveling far and wide. No matter where I went, who I encountered, it was everywhere. Death, dying, hatred, pain, fear, sorrow. I asked myself, does no one else see this, the darkness towering over us and blanketing our minds?”
Those who remained in the room were quiet, some stood and some sat. They were the most trusted of all her people, her messengers, her first mate, arms masters, and of course a group whose sole commander was Reine, the hunters. The messengers were commonly referred to as the Doves, the Arms masters the Dogs, and her group the Aeridsae.
Eight people surrounded her. They watched as their Queen stood, shakily, but did not offer their help. She managed to make her way over to the window, her back to the group. With tenderness, and a love that went far deeper than simple like, Reine’s long fingers ran over the deep oak of the ship as her eyes looked into the crystal clear waters. As the silence stretched, tension filled the room. Finally Ty spoke, stepping forward slightly but not too close to his lady. The crooked smile was not on her face anymore.
“My lady,” said her first mate,” If Decalage falls, what will happen to the pirates… what will happen to those we open our hearts enough to love dearly?”
His eyes that shifted from color to color with his emotions were steady and not in the least unnerved. He watched the black shirt that covered the back of his queen as if pleading with her to turn around and to assure them that there was hope. She didn’t turn around, instead choosing to watch a seagull dip into the cool ocean, diving into the crest of a wave stroking the shore.
“I don’t know. What I know may never become, what I knew never was. I must go somewhere, but there is nowhere to go…” she paused and tilted her head to the sky, the light from the sun filtering through the window and causing a halo of dust to encircle her head. “Mari, my dove.”
“Yes my lady?” A young woman, pretty and petite, shook out her long legs after she stood from the chest she had been sitting on, and came forward, even with Ty.
“I want a rumor started. The Queen of Pirates has been murdered, found dead in an alley way this afternoon after leaving her ship. No burial will be made, no memorial, the body was mutilated beyond belief. Make sure people believe it, do whatever you need to.”
Mari gave a questioning look that Reine did not answer. Her back was still towards her people. Mari turned to go, and nodded as the others as she left. At the door she turned and bowed to the lady. The door shut softly behind her.
“Jaque, my puppy, and Jamia, my dog, get ready my swords and daggers, burry them in the ground, preferably in my grave. Then find two swords and daggers, no embellishments, and daggers as well. I will need those.”
“Yes milady,” chorused the twins, once slaves, now loyal only to Reine. They had entered as a pair, and then they left as a pair.
All that remained were her dragons, her Aerisaed, Ty was included in their ranks. Each of them had, tattooed somewhere on their body, the same tattoo Reine had on the small of her lower back. They were seamen, thieves, and all had a unique talent invaluable and rarer than gold. Ty had his eyes, ragged looks, and intelligence. Little Tara was elfin, had the speed of the snake in her mind and in body. Mathias, referred to as Teddy, could speak with animals like Mari, and had a tail. He was as small as a child and often mistaken as one. Nathaniel was the oldest of them all, a middle aged man with scarred foreboding features, and was as deadly without a weapon as he was with one. There were eight more of them wandering the lands, a telepathic fairy, a vampire, a faun who spoke with the Earth, a shifter who was also a witch, a wind mage, a wolf, and two bards.
When they came back to the coop, they would hear from the others the events that took place tonight and today. Until her poor little demons would believe the rumors.
“Well my dears, you must be wandering what kind of drug your queenling is on,” she turned and let her own golden eyes survey the group. They were glowing pools, her eyes, and the way they shed light somehow made everything else look black and white. “I am not, however, on any drug, drink, nor am I an idiot. I need freedom when traveling, and if they presume I am dead then they won’t be looking for me, will they?”
“Buts milady,” said Matthew, “What bout th’ Gods? Abrafo won be too happy bout this.”
“Leave it to me Matthew my kit, Gods and Goddesses, they make more mistakes and are far stupider than mortals. Meddle in my affairs, poor chaps, and they’ll have headaches for weeks.”
The eyes of some of the people in the room dropped, obviously uneasy with the slums their Queen was making towards the Gods and Goddesses.
Quarrel upon quarrel had been building like a wall between species, minds, and hearts. Eris, for all the enchantments put on her to insure that she could do no harm, had been growing stronger in power for years. Douleur had somehow managed to infiltrate Moyen itself. Abrafo… well the God of death was going to have a field day during the war. With a sigh, Reine walked around the room, touching each Aerisaed gently on their shoulder. She moved slowly, more out of fear of fainting then in respect for her kits’ emotions. When she had touched each of them, she once again sat behind her rocking desk.
“Do not worry my dears, you will not be stricken with illness or hit by lightning because of my words. I promise you. But just to be safe- you know how to reach me, now go… and do not worry your pretty little faces with the fate of an old woman like me.”
“You’re not that old milady,” said Ty, coming forward to gently grab her head and kiss her on a forehead, a blessing from man who held the fatherly position in the pirate queen’s world. He left the room, the rest of the pack following him out with nods and bows to their queen.
Throughout the meeting, she had felt nauseous, sick, and weak, but she couldn’t show it to her people… not now and not ever. They were loyal to her, but to think that their Queen was weak or unready for this journey would deal horribly upon the pirates’ self-confidence and the power they were starting to gain.
Beneath her the ship rocked, as if willing her to sleep, and above her the wind whistled as if singing a lullaby to send her into slumber. Breathing heavily her eyes fell and she let her breathing slow before opening her mind to what surrounded her. The sea song instantly began the gentle thrum in her bones, calming and healing the ripped soul inside her. For months Reine had traveled Decalage and seen the poverty. Each bone like structure that was once a child shot a hole through her soul, each empty eye that turned on her when she passed out money and coin caused her to weep. More sorrow had entered her heart those long six months that in her lifetime before that.
“You soulless tyrants, why do you allow the world to be like this? You can feel it as much as me, the earth weeping, the sun shattering… idiots, that is what you are, idiots who do not fear… and do not admit fear even if they feel it.”
“You know my dear, we don’t take kindly to a mortal insulting us.”
With a start Reine let her eyes open, but when she saw the woman who sat before her she sighed and closed them again. Disrespect and disregard outlined every bone in her tired body. It only took a glimpse to let Reine know who she was dealing with, and although she would not call Eris, Goddess of Chaos, her friend… they may be called acquaintances.
Eris was beautiful, it was one thing she kept it whatever form she felt like taking. Her skin was pale as snow, her lips as red as roses, and her hair seemed darker than midnight. What she wore had the same effect as shadows, and beneath the cloth certain features, such as her perfect curves, were more than distinguishable. While other mortals may quake in fear, or bow to the woman before them with her deadly red eyes like her brother, Reine sat still breathing softly.
“I haven’t been stuck down yet. Besides, it is your own fault for giving us mortals’ free will. Then again,” Reine’s voice was nothing but a whisper now,” according to your brother I am no mortal.”
Eris sat up with a dangerous look of pure loath on her face, but quickly hid it behind a bored mask. Reine was too busy thinking, and her eyes were closed, so that the Goddess’s lapse of composure was not known to her.
“I’m sure he was just in one of his moods my dear. Now, tell me, what are your plans? Are you running again?” Eris laughed, a shrill sound that left goose bumps on Reine’s neck.
She gained her composure before she opened her eyes, the anger burning through the dim veil that usually was in place so that less attention was placed on her eyes. “I do not run Eris, I do not flee. Unlike you, I do not fear what I do not understand.
Eris looked taken back, and the laugh disappeared from her face. “You dare to call me coward?”
“Actually-“ Reine paused, searching for the right words. “I meant to call you a child. Grow up.”
Reine held back the chuckle at the look on the Goddess of Chaos’s face. Her jaw dropped in shock, her arms clawed the table in front of her in disbelief.
“HOW DARE YOU!” she shrieked.
The sound caused the pirate queen’s head to thump jubilantly, and in the pain she winced. “Could you not do that? I have a headache.”
Eris, as a Goddess of Chaos, was not one to take such insults without letting her fatal temper reign. The air around her cackled with power and suddenly, what shadow lay in the room, twisted out of their obedient shells and sprang to life. Eris pointed at the still closed eyed young woman before her as if urging them on and daring them to attack the one who dared to dismiss her.
She was Eris, she was chaos, she was everything and a mere mortal had no right at all to even ignore her. Although this mortal deserved it, Eris would not kill her, not yet. Her screams though, her screams would bring Eris pleasure. The Goddess tilted her head back, her long black hair like the shadow wraiths themselves, and laughed as she awaited the scream, but that laugh stopped as suddenly as it came.
Eris snapped her head down and stared at two golden fires before her, and felt them burning into her soul like she had meant the shadow wraiths to do to the pirate queen. With a gasp she clutched her chest, and watched as Reine stood, the picture of chaos itself with her hair whipping around her face, and the shadow wraiths circling her, but not attacking her.
“How?” Eris croaked.
“When I said go, I meant it. Go now, before I decide that I would like to show you what it feels like to be burned by nothingness.”
“My wraiths…”
“These? These are not yours, these are made of shadows, not chaos, and they owe no alliance to you… now go.”
With a snarl Eris snatched at Reine’s standing form, hoping for any chance as resurrecting herself. Reine simply stood there, her golden eyes lit with anger and rage far stronger than any mortal should even be in sight of. What was this thing, Eris wondered… what was this thing that she had thought to make a pet out of but now the pet had become the owner. No, this woman could not live; with one last snarl Eris disappeared with fear in her eyes and loathing in her soul.
Reine let the shadows slide back into their original places, then stood from her chair looking around her room with sadness in her eyes. Gently, carefully, she disarrayed her collection of items, insuring that which was important was safely hidden in places that no one would dare look. How many weeks, how many months, how many years would it be until she saw this cabin again? Would she ever walk the floors of her ship, beneath the skies, and with no deities to worry about again? Or would every day now on be like this one, with hunters out for blood.
She was suddenly so tired, and only a few minutes after was she realizing what had passed. What had happened? Why hadn’t the shadows ripped her to shreds? It made her unsure, and uncertain. She knew not what to do. Death… how easy it would be to die. It had been so long since she had rested, but no, she had no time for dying.
With eyes saddened she once again turned towards the sea, feeling the storm on the edge of the horizon, beyond what you could see with mortal eyes. Was it a storm of wars, or was it simply rain? The world would know in time. The world would know when it looked into the blood red sea or when it became forced to bury loved ones and enemies alike. Then they would sing the song that all those who suffer sing, a song of sadness, and the same song that Reine could feel on the tip of her tongue. With a sigh, she opened her mouth and let the sound slide forth from her mind, a chilling sound surrounded by a haunting tune.
“I look forward to the next adventure
Of rest from battles
Peace from swords
The lovers that were parted
Will be united
The families torn apart
Will be mended
But those who never sleep
Shall never live
And those who never live
Shall never sleep.”
A poem, an old one originally sung in Authinian, but now it was said in this rough tongue of all, which had no name. It was a language that could break teeth, and it was as beautiful as a pile of dung. The words did not flow, they were meaningless… and what could Reine do about this? Nothing… but there was something she could be doing, something she should be doing, and it wasn’t sitting around waiting for it to hit her in the head.
“Her name of old is flyer
Nothing is her blood
Bonded to another
Her song is one last sung.
Destined to be fire
Singer of old songs
Player of the music
Teller of the throng.
Hold her in your mind
And speak in essence,
Not in fear
One to feed the hungry
Harken
Rebirth is here.”
Reine’s voice died to a sigh, and with a small smile she realized what she had just done.
She had to be always changing, always on her guard or people like Eris would realize and piece together what she knew about the golden eyed pirate queen to learn everything about Reine before Reine herself knew it. That is why she was leaving right now. When you were visited twice in one day by two different deities wherever you were was not safe.
With a sigh Reine turned to leave, reaching forward with her foot only to feel something small and furry catch hold of her leg and cause her to, for the third time that day, fall to the ground with a crash.
Surprise flickered across her eyes as Reine scrambled into a fighting position, only to stare in awe as a black and white cat crawled from beneath the pirate’s desk. With a small grin of amusement Reine reached out and pulled the black and white kitten into her lap, and the kitten instantly started to purr. She couldn’t help but feel the mood in the back of her buzzing mind lighten as the kitten began furiously rubbing against her.
“You silly little thing, don’t tell me you have been here the whole time.”
“Meow.”
“Well if you have, you know I am going away for awhile Kit,” said Reine reaching for a pack conveniently located close to where she had fallen. Reine hadn’t found the time to name the cat, so she referred to it as Kit.
“Meow,” sounded the little animal at the sight of the pack. With a small hiss she scrambled out of Reine’s arms and into the opening on the leather bag, sticking her head out.
“Thank you… now let us be off before the rumors begin. We don’t want my ghost to be seen around town now, do we?”
With fluidity she climbed out of her quarters and onto the deck of Redemption, the ship of the pirate queen. The deck was empty, and as Reine slung a cloak around her shoulders.
A white mare stood on the land, waiting for her rider, and with one last look at the great ship, Reine turned on her heels, jumped easily onto the mare’s back, grabbing onto a rope with Kit safely in her pack, to make the distance. She sent a word of command. They were gone in an eye blink, and as they rode out, the lookout swore he saw the ghost of a monster behind the ghosts of a Queen and horse.
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