August, Imperial Year 794

August 1st, Imperial Year 794.
Sorry I didn't write yesterday, I just didn't have anything to say. Or rather I didn't know how to say what I had in mind to tell you. It was a lot, and wonderful, and I have forgiven Ferron for his unusual behavior the night before. To be honest I couldn't really be angry, I was distracted, he didn't know I was there, and he tasted as he smelled. Alcohol. 
He was overly apologetic, he surprised me with breakfast, and after breakfast, and took me for an amazing lunch, and well...
He treats me as if I am porcelain. Every touch so soft and deliberate, worrying about me, fussing over every breath. I never want it to stop! I want to be by his side forever. Though I knew this a long time ago this only enforces it more. I don't want him to let me go. I don't want to go. And I shared his bed last night. Not just to lay beside him, but to be with him. I want to learn every beautiful flaw of his being. Not just the scar that nearly claimed his life, but every insignificant detail. 

As for today, Eleana is so obviously with child I fear she may burst. I only wish she would not become so angry when it is mentioned. I heard her speaking to Damien, and I know I should have walked away, but I was so intreagued I simply couldn't. She was saying how she was concerned for the child, that it would never have the life a child deserved. She worried that the child would be like her.

I realized that I know almost nothing about any of the people I have chosen as my company. To learn that Lana is an escaped slave, and Birdy a lady of a status higher than my father. What little I know of Ghost, or rather Chenoa... And I know nothing of Ferron, the Captians, or Eleana. Though I can't imagine I could ever feel any disdain  towards any one of them I should still see what I can learn.

I know Eleana has a temper, one most violent. This was proven the night she fired that man, Jiro I believe, from the Baccarat crew. I should be interested to know what the true identity of these people are, and come to think of it I should like to know what they do for Father.



August 5th, Imperial Year 794.
I found it. I found Bernadette Daughtry.
She was amazing, an actress and model, the very definition of beauty. She set the standard that all other woman strive to achieve. And all at sixteen. She was known as "Anette Lovett" on stage and even made recordings. Her voice was a gem in and of it's self. She is what Lydia always dreamed of becoming.

How I didn't see it in her I don't know, now that I have realized it I can't ignore the obvious parallel. Bernadette Daughtry is Anette Lovett. This is also a surprise as five years ago the papers publicly mourned the loss of Miss Lovett to tuberculosis. It was said she had suffered from it and her love of music, stage, and lights had stayed with her to the last days.
Anette Lovett never died, she was never sick, and she never loved the fame. She ran away with the one thing she did love and became a sailor!
If anyone were to know this the entirety of society would turn on its head! And what's more Birdy is actually nearly the same in age as Eleana!

I suddenly feel that the reason they have been coddling me so isn't that I was useless, sheltered, and spoiled, but because they see me as a baby. If Eleana is, as I suspect from her actions, near thirty, and Birdy is actually twenty five. How old would Lana be? And Ghost?

How old is Ferron?

And here I am only eighteen. Perhaps I am a baby.




August 6th, Imperial Year 794.
My thoughts yesterday were still on my mind as of this morning. I suppose it showed on my face, as Ferron teased me that if I were to think any deeper I might drown. I admitted that I still didn't know anything about him. I knew he was from a country outside of the empire, and that he was well educated, and I assumed the name I knew was his true name, but aside from the few comments that Ghost had made he was a mystery. That what little I had been able to find only caused more questions.

He sighed that it was too early for such a dark subject. I remarked that I could wait till the sun set if he would prefer.
He was shocked. I suppose I had never made such a jest before, and to be honest it never would have come to mind if I hadn't spent so much time in his company. I admit I quite enjoyed the look on his face when I used his own brand of humor against him.
He shook his head mumbling something about being a bad example.
I was serious about answers though. I needed to know at least how old he was.

He agreed to answer any questions with honesty if I would agree to bring breakfast up, as he couldn't stand under the burden I was placing on him. Then he grinned and said that I didn't look convinced so he would confess to being lazy and maybe slightly hungover.

I agreed to the terms and headed down to see Quinn. 

Quinn asked me how I was being so attentive, if perhaps I had lost a wager. I wasn't sure of the meaning but he only laughed handing my the plate and saying that if I was the one to be spoiling Ferron then I had best be the one to get the greatest reward. I took the plates stating that I was indeed getting the best end of this deal. He stood in a confused, and possibly concerned silence as I made my way back up to the room.

Eleana was making her way to the stairs as I reached our door. She looked at me for a minutes before whispering that I had best be sure I wanted to fully experience the darkness before I sut out the last light.

I have heard that pregnancy can have unusual effects on a woman. I had no idea they could be so extreme.

I set the plates on the table and sat on the edge of the bed, in truth I wasn't really hungry, and I just wanted to sleep longer. My mind has been far to active to rest.

He started to pick at his food, though he hardly seemed any more interested than I felt.

Finally he sighed and explained that he was born in the Imperial year 774, as the second son in his family. He has an older brother by the name of Collin, and that he spent a deal of his childhood with his mothers sister, as he was deemed to be far to imaginative and undisciplined for the courts. His father, it was seem, was a man of military rank in the northern kingdom of Glasvan. He spent the first nine years living in Belladu Keep before being sent to Kandrel. He said that he spent four years under the watchful eye of his aunt and was returned to Belladu keep to begin training to follow in his father and brothers footsteps. He said that just before his sixteenth birthday he and Ghost fled Glasvan over a certain incident and that is how he came to the baccarat crew.

He threw it at me very fast, and in a way that I couldn't interrupt with any questions. I suppose he sent me down to decide the best way to keep me from prying. Still, after the story Ghost told, and his reluctance I feel as if he is still hiding something huge.

Perhaps I will find another way to ask him tomorrow.

On that note I an interested to know where Eleana and the Captains are from as well.


August 7th, Imperial Year 794.
I woke this morning with a grand plan in mind. I lay wrapped in Ferrons arms and waited in the warmth for him to stir. As soon as he seemed to be coherent I asked him why he would leave the court and a career for a life of danger and uncertainty. I knew he wound need to get up, as he does every morning, but I pressed against him, pinning him to the bed. After he attempted several times to break free he finally sighed and lay back on the pillow.
"It's not fare, you know." he said, his accent so beautifully thick it sent chills down my spine.
"If I tell you will you let me piss?"
"Or you could stop drinking and never have this issue again." I snapped back, rolling to face him, but taking care to keep him trapped.
"Fine. Let my up and I'll tell you." He begged, struggling again.
"Tell me first, please." I begged, running my fingers along the scar.
"Damnit, Genna, please?" he groaned.
"I'll go with you." I threatened letting him up.

He wrapped the sheet around himself and bolted to the door. "No need, Genna. It's as simple as they were a******s."

As soon as he was on the stairs Lana appeared in the door, a mischievous grin cutting across her face twisting her into a demon of beauty. I rolled over and pulled the blankets over my head, not wanting to know what dark thoughts she was concocting. She laughed and muttered something about sideshows as she walked away.

I spent the rest of the day trying to corner him. After what Ghost said the night I learned her secret, and before, about seeing a friend die, about running from a darkness and guilt, I need to know. I know I have a long time to find the answers, but I want to know now. I am tired of being given the run around, and I know asking Ghost is mute. She will simply insist that Farron must tell in his own time. I suppose I should take a break in pressing him for answers. Maybe he will finally let his guard down.



August 15th Imperial Year 794.
Rosalie showed up at the Crow today, she has sold the Sparrows nest to an older couple from Ganderu who say they wish to retire to a simple life. She said she is concerned that they lied to her, and hates the idea that someone might pervert the home she and Alder had built, but she said that that was a risk she had to take. Rosalie is leaving the island the next time the crew set out. They have promised her safe passage to Brunnen. Rosalie was my first true friend, and the one who helped me free of my prison. How am I to keep sane without her? I know she promises to wright, but I cannot do this. I cannot. Why can't she stay here and build a new live here in Eaux Reves? Or in Ganderu? Why does she have to leave the island?

She promises to write, and I shall go and track her if she doesn't. I am so broken hearted, by her leaving, and by the light that has been gone from her face since the accident. I suppose I can only wish her well.



August 20th Imperial Year, 794.
The Baccarat crew, with only a skeleton crew, left port this morning, Rosalie, Ferron, and Birdy on board.  I wanted to stay in my room. Why would I face a world where the only ones in it were as devastated as I? Eleana, lost in the fury that she couldn't leave shore. Lana broken by the fact she is now a cripple, and me. Me lost to wallow in my loathsome self pity. I may be silent for a while, as I have nothing to say. 



August 28th, Imperial Year 794.
Father came to speak with the Baccarat Captains today, and I could tell he was furious they were not here. I could hear his voice in a low growl as he spoke to Eleana. They had retreated to the back room of The Crow and with the doors closed I knew there was only one way I could hear. I slipped into the kitchen to ask Quin if I could assist him with cleaning the dishes from the morning crowd, he eyed me suspiciously, but nodded. From the back corned I could hear their voices well enough to make out the subject. Father was threatening to terminate their contract. I paused, memorizing every word. What was being said sent chills down my spine.

"I am giving you one month to turn up the results or the contract is over, and with it my protection." Father was saying.
"Your protection?" Eleana's voice was cool and dangerous. She reminded me of the first time I had seen fer, mysterious and dangerous, as if a wild and exotic predator waiting to strike. She was like the large cats and the Menagerie in the Imperial city, only this time there was no cage or trainer to keep her fury at bay. "As I recall you came to us for protection, and we gladly agreed, and at a rate lower then our usual fee because all you requested was an escort. And that is what we have done, sir, escort."
"You have betray my loyalty. I know that you sent a ship to Brunnen. And I am offering you to double your reward if you can bring me confirmation that the issue has been resolved." Father sounded furious and desperate. 
"Then perhaps you would like to know the nature of our journey to Brunnen? And doubling our price isn't enough. Last time we crossed with him we lost many of our finest, and one of our ships. If we are to do as you are requesting we will need to recruit more, we will need a second schooner, and we will need to boost our crew morale. I don't imagine that the Captains or the survivors are going to be interested an burying or maiming any more of our own." She sounded so cold as if the loss of life, as if Lana's future, were just another business transaction. "And besides, we were the ones betray. Someone ratted us out, informed him of our location, that we were under your flag, and how many of us there were. They had details that were impossible to know, details only you and our own crew had. You payed us to be a diversion that day, and we paid a hefty price."
Father muttered something low enough I couldn't hear. but it drew a dangerous chuckle from Eleana. "Master Oryn, you seem uncomfortable by this topic, could it be that you were attempting to weaken us? Or mayby you had a certain target in mind. I can continue to name the reasons we should not trust you if you like."
"And it is far fewer then the reasons I have not to trust you!" Father spat.
"I'm afraid you are mistaken, sir. You have but one reason not to trust us, and that is because we can be bought. You knew as soon as you directed your coachman to this place who we were. You found our references to be most satisfied with our work, and you know from our history that we never terminate a contract. In our business reputation is everything. And should you turn on us, like the viper I suspect you are, it is you who will lose face."
"Then explain how the trip to Brunnen is not in breach of contract!" Father roared. Never had I heard him shout like this. I nearly dropped the dish I was holding.
"Because, Master Oryn, we require supplies not available in Ganderu. We require recruitment, and Brunnen is a major port, one where many fresh young faces gather looking for adventure. And finally sir, we care for our own, so when Alders widow asked for passage to a safer haven, far from her nightmares, we were happy to grant it, or did you fail to realize Alder was one of ours that you stole away?"
"Alder was what?" Father must have been standing because I could hear the chair groan as he fell back into it. "I hired him years ago, he was the cooks nephew. A bit of a problem child, but a good boy, not scum like-"
"Do you truly wish to finish that statement?" Eleana interrupted. My heart was racing, did Rosalie know this as well? Had Fran lied to help him to gain employ under my father?"

"Allow me to make this as simple as possible. Our crew work for us for various reasons, and with various conditions. Some for passage, some for sanctuary, and some for money. Alder needed sanctuary, and we offered it. He had one request from us and was willing to trade a years wage for it. He wanted to deliver a letter to his mothers cousin. Unfortunately landing here we lost not one, but three of our best. Alder was talked into taking the job at your estate and Quin found that this port was small enough he could peruse his brokerage service without competition. The third was stolen by your own wife and whisked away to Ganderu. I suppose I should thank you for being such a blind, abrasive, and ignorant a*s. Because if you had payed any attention to your daughter, and the promising your vice captain, we would have lost a fourth to this island as well."

I lost the conversation at this point. Vice Captain? I had never given any thought to what the members of the baccarat crew did. I had focused so much on their pasts I had given no thought to their present. To who they were, what roles they filled. I had asked what the Baccarats did as a whole, but had rendered no result, so I had given up. But that Quin and Alder were also members of the crew, I suppose it was obvious.

I thanked Quin, who just smiled and said that nest time I wanted to eves drop I needed to be a little more convening with my cover, and ran up here to write everything I heard.



August 30th, Imperial Year 794.
I spent yesterday listening carefully to the whispers in The Crow, but found no useful information. I have read over the record I made of fathers meeting time and again, but I still feel that there is a vital peace of the puzzle missing. What conclusion I have drawn is that With two ships there are two captains, two vice captains. It would also stand to reason that there were two shipwrights and two doctors, so who filled what role? I suppose Quin was the information and intelligence, thus making him a spy. And then Eleana is the quartermaster? I have acquired a book on sailing and naval ships and I am trying to learn the ranks. Lana has been drinking to unconsciousness ever sense the departure of the crew, so I am going to do a little espionage of my own and see how loose her drunken lips can become.


August 30th 
Yin Crew
Captain - Adrien
Vice Captain (Vice Captain) - Ferron
Doctor - Ghost
Shipwright(Boatswain, she called it) - Xiran (He is an odd fellow. He is almost always sitting outside in the alley smoking a long narrow pipe and staring at the sky in wonder)
Sailing master (navigation officer) - Kyara (another woman on the crew. I have never spoken to her as she seems to dislike everyone and I have never heard her speak the common tongue once)
Master Gunner (in charge of the weapons and ammunition) - Frog (Again I assume he has a real name)
Riggers - Lana, Birdy, and Brently
Cook - Kaku (I think I spelled it, thought I have no idea)


Yang Crew
Captain - Damien
First Mate - Sheppard (I suppose that Lana doesn't know his real name, as I assume he is not truly named Sheppard)
Doctor - Yaccob (he was one who did not survive the loss of the Yin)
Shipwright  - Alder
Sailing Master - Sammuel
Master Gunner (in charge of the weapons and ammunition) - Yhudar
Riggers(seems to be in charge of the ropes and sails) - Guson, Jiro, and Frodrich
Cook - Blind Bett (I hope that is a pet name, as he is a very large man with glasses)

There are about ten more crew on each ship who serve various purposes. but she has passed out, so I will not learn their positions or duties.

They also have an information officer in Eaux Reves, Brunnen, and Imperial City, though she didn't know any of them but Quin.
And Eleana is the Quartermaster for both ships.

August 30th, late evening.
I spoke with Lana as she started to lose her senses. I half carried her up the steps to her room, and brought her two more drinks that I rationed out. I didn't want her to sleep before I had spoken to her.
What I learned through all the incoherent muttering is that Birdy is a fantastic lover. That she holds great disdain for male genitalia, and that she was an extremely good climber before her leg was ruined so she was one of the 'riggers'.

I finally decided to put aside my round about way and try asking her outright. The list is that which I have written above.
I had known that the Baccarat's ran a crew of about fourty total, but had never given thought to what all is required to run a ship, much less operate two of them in perfect unison. Lana also said that they had a system of communicating between ships, though the couldn't, or wouldn't tell me what it was.

It is my hope that the Yang will be back soon. I may make my self mad with loneliness and boredom. 

Reviews

[GennaNation]

XD MY NAME IS GENNA LOVE IT
Fave part "D****t genna." XD totally me be an A**

[R Smith]

Thank you Kitalia for bringing this story back here although I may not be here soon so I am hoping to pick up your wonderful tale on Facebook, hope to read more there soon my friend :)