As the last few Druchii trickled into the doorway, Sinax stepped down to the same level as the leaders of his troops. The soldiers who had watched him slay their previous captain stood before him, along with two Assassins, their disguises lying upon the deck before them, and the four men who had met him when he came onboard. The sorceress stood off to one side, away from the stench of the Cold One knight who had placed himself front and center.

"Well," Sinax began, clapping his hands together after sliding his dagger into a belt loop, and smiling genuinely at those before him, "Let's start with names here. I don't want to be shouting 'hey you' when I need your attention."

A chuckle ran through the group as Sinax turned and pointed to the right-most soldier, "You start."

"Ken, Sir. Kenth Lightbane."

"Sinax pointed at the next, and he promptly said, "Raine Blane, Sir"

Before Sinax could point at the third Crossbowman, the man spoke, "I'm known as Coldtoe. Bridge 'Coldtoe' Shenk."

"I won't ask why," Sinax said with a laugh, pointing at the stinking Cold one Knight, who spoke up with a low groan, "Vellus Cain, my liege."

Sinax passed over the comment on the end, pointing at the Black Guard who leaned lazily on his halberd.

"Bana Karone, my lords' servant."

Sinax understood that he had been given as much deference as the man could give, and pointed to the front most Bolt Thrower crewman.

"Renth of Naggaroth, leader of your Reapers. Renth Naggaro, Sir."

Sinax turned to the pair of Corsairs who promptly spoke up, "Rov and Bov, Sir. We're the Vero Brothers."

The first Assassin spoke before Sinax could point, "I am Bloodgut, servant of Khaine."

"And I," the other said, "am Bladefist."

Sinax pointed at the Sorceress who immediately turned to him from where she had previously been looking out into the bay, "I am the sorceress Veila Ventruss."

Sinax finally came to the four guards he had met earlier. The soldier who had led him downwards stepped forwards again and spoke, "We are the night guard, sir. I am Master Bob Smith. This is Vick, Reck , and finally Noy."

"Good, good! Now everyone," Sinax said, once again clapping his hands together, his wide smile now rubbing off on most of the others on the deck, "I need an opinion. Where should we head? Our only goal is to bring back slaves and swag."

"The Empire, or somewhere in the Human realms," Vellus Cain said slowly, his voice moving as though the sense numbing elixir he used to protect himself from the Cold Ones had numbed his thinking.

"Orcs. They're fun to shoot, fun to kill, and fun to eat. Plus they're plentiful, "Coldtoe said, a savage grin on his face.

"Stopping in Lustria to get some lizards might be a good idea. They live forever, 'less you kill 'em, or so I've 'eard," Rov said, his odd accent skewing his words.

Sinax rubbed his chin thoughtfully, before slowly saying, "No to the lizards. Too difficult to get lots of them. Humans are the easiest and Orcs are in the same general area. We'll head east for a start."

"A good plan," Veila hissed softly.

"Good," SInax said, nodding, "Get some rest, all of you. You'll need it."

He turned, headed into the belly of the ship, marching past his soldiers, smiling and nodding at them, before reaching the captains' quarters. As he shut the door, he felt a blade press up against his throat, a soft voice speaking into his ear, "Hello, new lord. Do not struggle and I shall not slay you," the voice paused to see if Sinax would speak before continuing, "I saw you slay the old lord. What speed you have! I doubt that most assassins could move that fast, and we are trained to! So… I must know how you did it. How you struck him down oh so swiftly…"

Sinax stood stock still, hand on the hilt of his dagger, thinking for a second before saying, "You saw the dagger I used, yes?"

"Yes…"

"It's a Dagger of Hotek. One of the magical blades enchanted to allow the wielder to strike with unbelievable speed."

The blade pulled away from Sinax's throat, and Sinax turned to find an assassin kneeling before him.

"Magic. Then you could slay me now and I could not stop you," The assassin said.

"But I wouldn't. At least, not yet," Sinax said, leaning against the Iron door behind him, "Mostly because I want to know why you did this. Why threaten me, when you knew I had an advantage you did not understand?"

"I… I thought you might be an assassin, and it is against the rules of our order, for one trained as an assassin to take any other title permanently. If you were one, I'd have had to kill you."

"Ahh… If I had not given a satisfactory response, I assume I'd be dead right now?"

"Yes…" the assassin said, looking nervously away from Sinax's glare.

"What's your name?" Sinax asked, an eyebrow rising slowly.

"Family, or Assassin?" the Assassin asked, one of his own eyebrows rising.

"Heh, heh, heh," Sinax laughed, smiling once again, "Let's go with assassin name, as I'm quite sure there's a rule against you giving me your actual name."

"True," the assassin said, nodding slightly, "You may call me Rendfinger, Lord."

"Rendfinger. A pleasure to meet you. Now if you don't mind, it's been a long day, and I'd like to get some rest before tomorrow morning."

"Right," Rendfinger said, standing and stepping out the door past Sinax, and into the hall.

Sinax sighed, pulling the helmet off his head and dropping it heavily onto the marble table. Slowly he sank into a large padded chair, thinking about how fast he had moved up the ladder, and how far he still had to go. Slowly his eyes closed, and sleep claimed him.