Riz

When we left the lair, there were two routes to consider. The longer, safer route would have essentially meant circling back south and around the world. The shorter, more dangerous route was east by northeast, past Endica. We had to think: Endican waters were a hotbed of activity around that time. If it were me alone? Short and dangerous. No question. But I had a short and dangerous person to think about.

So, I asked her what she preferred.

"Short and dangerous," she said. "Obviously."

Obviously.

As you should know, Ever was a stellar elementalist and, as it turned out, an above average Nav. But by the time we skirted Endican waters, she was running out of steam, and if something were to happen, if we ran into Palisade, we needed her strong. That meant I had to start napping again, and I'd taken to sleeping at night above deck while she played lookout. It was the only time we had together since she had to hide inside during the day.

But to be perfectly honest, I wasn't doing much sleeping and she wasn't doing much looking out, both of us sprawled on the deck on our backs that night. She held her hat close to her chest. If she wasn't wearing it, she carried it with her everywhere.

"Say a thing or do a thing," I said.

"Say a thing."

"What was it really like living with Sebastian Vonsinfonie for twenty years?"

"Well, Sebastian found a way to make every day special. 'What are we celebrating today, gloom-flower,' he'd say. And I'd have to come up with an answer before midnight. It could be that I was feeling a little less sick that day, or that the flowers in the promenade looked more purple. Sometimes, I wish we could do it all over again."

"So, what are we celebrating today, gloom-flower?" I asked.

"The stars are nice tonight." She pointed upward. "Especially that one."

"Yeah, that's a solid star." I nodded against the deck. "So, uh—you and Sebastian—"

"First of all, you already asked your question. Second of all, gross. That's my father. He's extremely gay, and we've—I've never even, you know."

"Never, never?" I asked.

"No. Have you."

"Are you making that your question?"

"I guess."

"Then yeah," I said after a second. "Lots."

"Oh."

"But not like that," I explained quickly. "It's why I defected."

"What do you mean."

I turned over on my side, and so did she.

"Well, I already told you I was bred, and that was because they wanted to make an even better Nav than my parents were by creating me. I'm not even sure it works that way."

Ever shrugged her shoulder.

"Anyway, whether or not it works that way, I did end up being a top tier Nav, and let's be real, I'm not ugly. So, around five years ago when I was eighteen, Councilwoman Oranen started using me for breeding purposes. The women I was paired with were mostly older Partisans—not like you older, just… generally over thirty."

"What a bitch."

"Yeah."

"Do you have a shit ton of kids."

"Five."

"That's dark."

"Yeah. So, I didn't enjoy it, any of it. That's why I left. I chose Delphia because the weather and the water, and it wasn't long after that Vinc—Sebastian took me in."

Ever just stared for a while, expressionless and looking at me through those gigantic silver eyes. "Do you want me to kill her."

It was hard to tell at times, but I'm pretty sure she was being serious. I couldn't help but laugh, though. Not in like an, 'oh, you're so cute for thinking you could do that,' kind of way, because she probably could kill Councilwoman Oranen. I laughed in a, 'this woman is unhinged and I love it,' kind of way. "How about, let's leave dealing with the Assembly to Rhian and Drei. Because us? We're the sidekicks, and the sidekicks get to have all the fun."

"Are you."

"Am I having fun?"

"Aye."

"This is the most fun I've had in a long time. Maybe ever, Ever."

"Why."

"I don't know. You're easy to talk to, the weather's been good, there's been no pressure. I'm not even worried if we get attacked, there isn't much the two of us couldn't take."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Again, she just stared at me for a while. I smiled so she knew I didn't think it was weird.

"Are you tired yet," she asked.

"A bit."

"Do you want me to play you to sleep."

"Yeah."

"Okay." The corner of her lip twitched, and she sat up and reached for her violin case.

I was starting to really like the sound the latches made when they opened.

Before leaving Amalia, I promised Markus I'd keep an eye out for any Palisade embarks carrying Endican Consulates and Partisan kids. The plan was to take care of the Nav if they were Palisade loyal, and tether the embark back to the lair.

Rhydian's operation had been working with Councilwoman Hall for the past few years, but because Palisade Navs are always Celestian, the Consulates working for our side had to feel it out through empathy, see how likely the Celestian would be to defect. If it was too risky—if that Celestian was a wild card or likely to be too much trouble for the lair—the kids got taken to Palisade per usual. Best case, they turned someone for the cause and the kids were delivered to the lair instead.

Anyway, we didn't run into any Palisade embarks, but we did run into an embark from the lair. It was past noon, and Ever was below deck. I waved the familiar Nav over and she glided in beside us. If she had any passengers, they were hidden. Unless you're me, then they were five irregular shapes of pulsing heat from the cabin. The door was open.

"What's the what?" I asked.

The Nav glanced toward the open cabin door. She wasn't smiling. "Fair winds and a safe haul, for once."

It was a sunny day, so I shielded my eyes while I tried to get a read on her. Strange answer. I knew that Nav well enough. She usually wasn't so formal, and there was nothing she loved more than pulling kids from Palisade. Why wasn't she more excited? Where was the confidence, and why did she seem so nervous?

"Coast is clear home," I said. "The western grotto's waterlogged though, you won't be able to drive through. You'll have to use the grotto to the south."

"Thanks for the tip," the Nav said.

And then I knew for sure something wasn't right. There was no grotto to the south. But then again, she knew I knew she should know that, so why would she say it? Unless she wanted me to know something was wrong, or if someone were thinking for her—

I looked to the cabin door. Two smaller pulses, three average adult pulses.

"Do you want a tail?" I asked. "I'm not headed anywhere in particular, I could spare the detour."

"Coast was clear, right?"

"Yeah."

It took everything to keep my eyes from bugging out of my head and giving her away when Ever appeared behind the Nav.

She lifted a finger to her lips and then she disappeared.

There were now six pulses of heat below deck.

The two smaller ones emerged first, their legs pumping behind them on the way up the stairs. I waited for the others, but—

A sharp, piercing scream wailed from the opening and then silence.

The Nav brought her hand to her chest and started crying. The two Endican children clutched at her hips. Ever appeared in front of the cabin door, standing in the shade of it.

"Sorry," she said, directing her apology to the other Celestian. "I tried to do it quietly."

"Thank you," the Nav replied. "Whoever you are."

Ever performed a deep bow and disappeared from the cabin doorway.

"What's down there?"

"Delphi loyalists, they were going to re-route me to Palisade. They all three had me in their clutches. One, I could fend, two… maybe. I can't believe how close it came to—".

"Hey, yeah, you're okay now, though. You good to get home?"

The Nav nodded.

"Wait," I said. "Let's trade. You three aboard this one, we'll take the—that one. And deal with the, uh—yeah."

The Nav breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. We slid up alongside one another until it was safe enough for the three of them to climb over to our side. Once the Nav and the kids had swapped over, I made sure to gather all of our belongings from our embark, and crossed over to theirs. I felt a gentle brush against my hand.

She was with me.

Yeah, was she ever with me.

I waved the Nav off, and when we were far enough away from the other embark, Ever helped me dump three bodies into the sea.

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