Volume 2, Part XXII: Inconvenient Moral Conjectures

Abelor puffed gently on his pipe and then he offered it to Torio. "Jacob. Yes. It seems most right since the good Drakken was so keen on thwarting your escape and terminating your life that you should have a say as to his escape and his life aboard the Lusty Luskan. We can wait for your master or you can decide yourself, if he chooses not to join us." He leaned casually on the rails, eyeing the horizons. He lowered his voice to a low growl. "Though I prefer your company without your betrothed." Abelor turned and grinned at her, saying only half-jokingly, "Betrothals don't mean you're joined yet..." He raised an eyebrow suggestively.

Torio arched a brow at Abelor wryly. "Well, I must say I admire your persistence, Captain." She chuckled, then shook her head, glancing back towards the chow hall door. "I think, for me at least, I am fairly and most irretrievably joined already." She watched the smoke rings puff from his pipe before taking it from his proffered hand and drawing on it for a long moment; the smoke tasted sweet and slightly bitter on the back of her tongue as she drew it into her lungs, and she coughed inexpertly as she blew it back out again, feeling light-headed. She handed it back to him, and pulled her collar up against the wind, leaning back against the rail of the ship, musing. "I dislike the thought of leaving him alive, personally; but I suppose we should take into account your ability to worm your way back into Luskan's dubious good graces." And making it more difficult for you to return to Luskan is going to make our debt to you even deeper. Her eyes flicked towards the dining hall once again; she used to be able to make snap decisions in a heartbeat, decisions that cost people their lives or decided their future. Now, she was hesitating...

"Unless the decision is pressing, we can wait for him." She shrugged absently, trying to make her voice nonchalant. "He might have a perspective on it we're not considering." Difficult, ha! He had no idea what difficult was. He couldn't even being to imagine...

She thought over the last few days they had spent in Luskan. Hmmm. Maybe he could...

Abelor chuckled as he took the pipe back from Torio. "Don't swallow the smoke! Keep it in your mouth." He took another puff and then offered her the pipe for another try. "You cannot blame a lonely seafaring man for trying. The crew is all men - some superstition or other about womenfolk being bad luck aboard a ship." He gave her a big grin. "But supposedly the woman can counter that bad luck by being naked. No word of a lie from this Captain. So best keep that in mind if you wish for a speedy voyage home." He put his head dramatically over his heart and winked at her.

Torio snorted, taking the pipe again. "Forgoing clothes might give away my disguise, Abelor. Although it seems to happen to me often enough that I should beware, regardless." She sucked on the pipe absently, glancing at Abelor wryly and merely holding the smoke in her mouth...Gods, but who could ever enjoy such a thing constantly is beyond me...and blowing it out, watching it curl up into the night air and disappear in the breeze.

He inhaled deeply, the sea air biting and fresh. "The wizard is fortunate then, to have such loyalties from you of all people, Torio Claven. He must have paid a high price indeed for your company!" He chuckled. "And to think where you both met. The gods surely have their follies with our hearts."

Abelor drummed his fingers absent-mindedly on the railing. "The further out we go, the harder it will be for Drakken to make his way home." He shrugged before saying, "Coin and power moves Luskan. If Drakken is killed it will take some time to re-establish myself in their harbors but all it will take is one ambitious Luskanite. Luskan has a short memory when it suits her. But we will wait for your elf."

"I suppose he has paid a high price," she said, after a moment. "We both have, in a way...but he's used to much calmer seas than the ones we're currently on." She handed the pipe back to him, just as Sand's voice floated over the deck.

It was somewhere after the 2nd verse of a rowdy song ("When we're dead, there be no ale / So drink me hearties until you drop pale...") that Sand finally managed to slip away, stumbling slightly either because of the rum (which he seemed to have had enough of) or the swaying ship - or both, traces of the voices following him out the small galley.

...When we're dead, there be no sex

So find a bonny lass and let's do that next...

He went back to the Captain's Suite to look for Torio but it was dark and empty. Sand climbed the stairs up to the deck and spotted Torio and Abelor, standing side by side, leaning over the railing. He approached them. "Captain. Jacob."

Torio turned around, watching Sand approach unsteadily. His face looked strikingly sculpted in the rising moonlight, and she felt her heart give a little twitch inside her chest. What was it with elves and moonlight? When he was close to them, she murmured, "Just discussing what's to be done with dear Harbor Master Drakken. We'll have to decide soon, I suppose; else we'll be too far out to do anything but dispose of him permanently."

Sand stood next to Torio, slipping his arm around her waist the way a man might his betrothed, but also because he was still swaying dangerously. But Sand, if you had your way, you'd do that publicly anyway...

Sand stared up at the stars twinkling overhead, closing his eyes into the breeze of the fast moving ship. The air was lovely after spending so much time in the cramped quarters below deck. "What are the risks and benefits to both, Captain? Dear girl?"

Abelor took the pipe back, striking a match and relighting it. "Killing him is the most straightforward option. We can only assume Luskan believes him dead by now. It is safe but with very few gains for us. Or me, in any case. Returning to Luskan will be very difficult. It puts me and the Shadow Thieves at a disadvantage that will have to be made right by someone." Abelor gave them both a meaningful look before fussing with his pipe again. He took a few puffs of the pipe, the smoldering fire in the bowl lighting up brightly for a few moments. "Or we can offer him quarters - mercy - in exchange for forgetting this whole incidence and letting me dock again at their harbors. Of course, we could let him go and he could return with a full fleet to pursue us. We aren't in Neverwinter's territories yet and begging your pardon and allegiances, but I suspect Nasher will not send a retaliatory fleet to defend us."

Torio shifted her hips, nestling slightly against Sand's body almost out of habit...I wonder what any of the crew would think, seeing the wizard nuzzling his apprentice in the presence of the captain. The mental image filled her with amusement, and she glanced over their shoulders at the closed dining hall door, the light peeking out from its numerous cracks and the noise pouring throughout the ship like a muffled storm. They'll be at it for a while...

"As far as I'm concerned, killing him is the easiest method to get out of this," she said quietly. "But yes, it'll make it extremely difficult for you to return to Luskan." She glanced over at Sand's profile, etched in moonlight, before turning to look fully at Abelor. "If we turn him loose, how much time would it take for him to float back to Luskan, amass an armada, and sail after us in a fine rage? Do you think we could outrun him?"

Sand watched Abelor consider Torio's question carefully before the sailor responded, "You're assuming they don't already have a fleet coming after us. Luskan does not take defeat lightly, especially on the seas. They do not know who we are, to whom we owe our loyalties and so they must catch us before we disappear from them forever. Our heads would make a lovely addition to their walls."

He twirled the pipe between his fingers before taking another puff. "I give him half a day before he is picked up by a ship. The waters along the coast are busy. We still have a full day, day and a half with a good wind before we reach Neverwinter."

Sand looked at him in alarm. "So they could be coming right at this moment? Can we go faster?"

Abelor chuckled, taking the pipe and offering it to him. "You worry about things you cannot affect, wizard. Our speed depends on the winds but I'll have you know that with the wind in our sails, the Lusty Luskan be the faster ship any day. If the wind is against us or in no wind - well, that will be trouble to start."

Sand took the pipe and inhaled, holding the smoke between cheeks before exhaling and returning the tobacco to the Captain. He looked down at the cold dark waters below them, the white frothy foam from the ship cutting through the waves, standing out like clouds on a dark night. The water was almost darker than the skies and Sand shuddered at the thought of being abandoned in the waves. The whole night had a strange calm feeling; it was slightly chilling and Sand pressed himself against Torio's body, seeking her warmth and comfort. "We have to decide soon."

He looked at his pale hands, folded neatly over the railing and thought back to washing the blood from Torio's hands. "I think I have had enough of bloodshed for one evening. Red just isn't my color, I hope you understand."

Torio glanced at Sand, and sighed almost imperceptibly. Crippled with inconvenient moral conjectures, they had called him.

He's too good for you.

"All right," She said. "Then I suppose we should get him tied up and down into the water as soon as possible."

Abelor grinned at them. "Easily enough done. Wait here." He walked across the deck, a trail of smoke following in his wake as he reached out and slammed his fist against the chow hall door. "Oy, ye louts! All hands on deck! Chancey and Kilbur, get His Lordship the Harbor Master up from below decks!"

Torio touched Sand's hand briefly before discreetly sidling away from him; bodies poured from the chow hall, shouting voices floating through the previously still night air. Two of the sailors disappeared as the others spread out, placing a wide, flat plank against the rail and making a slapdash ramp. A huge, burly sailor approached both Sand and Torio, and slid an arm around each of their shoulders. "Names Robbie, mates. Come on, yer both responsible fer this scallywag bein' on the boat...ye should both get front row seats!" He muscled them up in front of the growing crowd, just as the hatch leading below decks was kicked open, and an incredibly filthy, tied, and gagged Harbor Master Drakken was pulled up onto the deck.

Abelor watched, smiling faintly, as a barrel was rolled forward into the clear space made by the semi-circled bodies of the hooting, jeering sailors. Drakken's eyes were furious; and as one of his "escorts" yanked the gag from his mouth, he nearly snarled, "You'll pay for this, all of you. Luskan will carve it out of your hides!"

Abelor held his hand steady on his blade. "Master Drakken, you're not in a position to make threats, are you? But I am feeling a touch generous this evening - in exchange for your life, what says you to a mutually beneficial agreement?"

Drakken suddenly calmed completely, "You have my attention, sailor." His eyes held an intelligent glint as he surveyed the scene around him. Sand felt the Harbor Master's gaze settle on him a moment before moving on.

Abelor continued puffing absent-mindedly on his pipe. "In exchange for your life, you let us continue to dock in Luskan, no problems. We'll change the ship's colors to make it easier. A simple request, very little effort on your part, is it not?"

Drakken was nodding vigorously, "Of course, of course. That all can be easily arranged. Consider it done."

Sand flicked an eye to Torio. She was watching the proceedings with a schooled calm, but before he could send her a mental message, the sailors were retying the Harbor Master with a frightening efficiency and ease to a barrel. Sand had to wonder how often they did this. His hands were bound tightly to the wooden cask but his legs were untied.

Abelor nodded to Drakken, "Then it is done. You can jump, good sir. Or we can throw you. Your choice."

Drakken slowly made his way up the plank, his back straight, his eyes proud. "Captain, I would reconsider the wisdom of consorting with criminals such as them." He jerked his head in Sand's direction even as the group of sailors roared in laughter.

"...oy! the kettle be callin' the pot black..."

"...fancy words fer a Luskanite, eh!"

The men began singing and Sand realized they probably had a song for every event aboard the ship. He wondered briefly if there was a song for emptying the chamber pots in the morning and then decided he really didn't want to know.

Billy caught the Cap'n girl

Thought he'd give her bed a whirl

But when the Cap found this out

Over rail went the lout

Heave ho, jolly good man

You can fall or you can stand

Hold your lover nice and tight

The sea be cold on this night

Billy sank and then he swam

Poor boy went on the lam

Back to Mama did he run

All for a little nightly fun!

Drakken gave them all a cool look, turned and faced the dark waters before stepping off the ramp. A moment later, a loud splash was heard.

A cheer went up as the splashed echoed across the deck. Bodies swarmed towards the rail, hooting and whistling as the small, bobbing shape of Drakken began receding towards the horizon.

"'Ere, lad, git yerself a good look!" Torio nearly yelped as a pair of hands gripped her under her arms, and then she was hoisted up onto a wide, broad shoulder; she shot a mildly horrified look back down at Sand before her benefactor pushed towards the rail, holding her up above the heads of the much taller sailors so she could see.

Drakken was spluttering and kicking rather determinedly, his uniform making a bright splash of white and gray in the white-washed moonlight against the utter blackness of the sea. She watched silently, feeling hands pat and tug on her ankles in the small throng below her.

"'ow do ye like that, Jacob me lad? Ha!! 'Is fancy uniform won't e'er survive that!"

"Watch yer step, Harbor Master! 'Tis a good twenty leagues down if ye slip off yon barrel!"

"Ye think the sharks'll get 'im before the ships do?"

"I'll take that bet! I've seen the beasties in this stretch o' sea before!"

"Oy, let me in on that!"

As Drakken's shape began to disappear on the horizon, the sailors began dispersing, laughing uproariously. Torio was deposited unceremoniously back on her feet, stumbling slightly as Robbie slapped her back. "Good lad! Enjoy the quiet while ye can, you and yer Master." He grinned at them, gold teeth glinting. "Once the fleet catches up wit' us ye'll be busy enough." There was an ominous undertone to the man's voice, but he whistled cheerfully enough as he strode to the helm and lashed the tiller in place for the night.

A few of the crew scattered across the ship, taking posts as night watch, while the rest milled around and tumbled towards their bunks, or back towards the galley. Torio made her way to Sand's side, her face drawn. A thick heavy calm had settled across the sea, and she kept glancing towards the horizon, imagining she could already see sails.