Chapter 4: A Midsummer's Night Festival
Selene didn't leave her quarters much over the next couple days. When they neared King's Cove was the first time Elias had gotten more than a glimpse of her since the fight.
She looked awful. She hadn't bothered to even comb her hair, so it was a wild mess, even being so short. Her eyes had dark circles around them, and were bloodshot, not like she'd been crying, but like she'd not slept in days.
The rest of the crew, while their mood had lightened, still acted as if a shroud covered the ship, dampening any of the lively spirit they had before the attack.
She leaned against the railings as stared at the port they were nearing. Elias watched as Merlin walked up to her.
"Once we get there," he said, "you're going to go take a hot bath, and then a nap. By that time, it'll be nap time for some of the littles, so they'll be happy Aunt Lena is back and able to snuggle. Sound good?"
Selene nodded, not saying a word. She hadn't said a word since she first retreated to her room less than a week ago. Merlin sighed and gave her a one-armed hug before returning to getting the ship ready to dock.
Elias was led, Katalina pulling him along by the hand, to a fairly large house. The rest of the crew surrounded them, except for Selene, and Philyra, who had gone with Selene to a bathhouse. Merlin opened the door and walked right in without even knocking, very comfortable with his surroundings.
Elias tried to take in everything. This place certainly didn't look like a pirate monarch's home. It looked far less fancy than the average noble's home, even. Sure, there were pictures on the walls and nice furniture, but nothing looked priceless or stolen. In fact, he saw a things that screamed "little children were here"—there was a wall in a room they passed entirely covered in scribbles and drawings clearly made by children. He saw a few toys hiding in corners, and a baby blanket on a chair. He didn't see any children, though.
Merlin entered a room and Elias saw the first people who had actually been in the house. A bunch of men were gathered around a large table that had a huge map on it. They were all conversing in a language Elias wasn't familiar with. Elias did a quick headcount. Eight men. Six clearly brothers, and he guessed they were Merlin's, since they definitely looked like they could be related to him. The other two looked nothing like the rest, or each other.
Merlin cleared his throat and the men all paused, looking up. Then most of them broke into grins.
"Well look who's back. Hopefully not with his tail between his legs?" One of them laughed. Many of them came over and either hugged Merlin or smacked him on the back.
"Who's that lad? And the lass, too. Haven't seen them before, though I must say he looks a bit familiar." Another asked.
Merlin beckoned to Elias and Katalina, "This is Katalina. She's the healer of the Elementress. Newest member of the crew, picked her up not long after our last visit. And this is Elias. We pulled him from the ocean abouttwo weeks ago. We're taking him home, eventually."
"Elias? Is he related to…" one began. But he was cut off when a man who radiated a calm authority stepped forward.
"No matter who he is. If he's here, it means Selene's trusting him. And we all trust Selene, now don't we." He crouched in front of him and Katalina. "Nice to meet you two. I'm Johnathan. May I be the first to say, welcome to King's Cove."
Katalina's hand tightened around Elias', and he realized she was nervous. He squeezed back. So was he. This was the Pirate King that was before them.
"Th-thank you. It's nice to meet you as well." Elias did his best to reply without sounding completely panicked, as he was on the inside.
The man smiled, standing up. "Speaking of the silly Silver Flame, where is Selene? She'd normally be here long before her crew, having run to say hello."
"She went to the bathhouse. She's had a rough couple of days." Serge said.
The Pirate King raised a brow, "How so?"
"Garrick made his third attack a handful of days ago." Luca said. All of the men who had originally been in the room tensed.
"Oh no." said the man who wasn't related to Merlin. He had dirty blond hair a bit darker than Elias' and vibrant green eyes, even more vivid than Luca's. "The poor poppet," he said, sighing, "She's a downright mess, isn't she?" The man's accent made him realize that this man was from Angloland, which was an island country not to far north of Gedonelune.
"Mi pobre cereza…" the other man sighed. This one had curly brown hair, tanned olive skin, and dark green eyes. His accent said he was a man from Espana, a country south of Gedonelune. "She hates having to kill."
"She'll be fine." one of Merlin's bothers said. He was a man that didn't seem entirely there, and had an air of distance about him. "She's got a plan for something and it'll cheer her up. It might also help that there's a festival tonight."
Merlin smiled, "Inan's right. She does have a plan. She hasn't told any of us what it is, either. And I can't believe I forgot about the Midsummer's festival!"
Luca looked over at Elias and Katalina, "There's always a festival for Midsummer in King's Cove. It starts at dusk and ends at dawn. It involves lots of dancing, food, drink, and fun. The crew of the Elementress hasn't been able to go to it the past two years, so the timing for our visit works quite nicely."
"We'll do our upmost to cheer our little sister up!" the Pirate King declared. "Won't we, men?"
"Aye!"
Selene came back from the bathhouse in a clean shirt and breeches, feeling better than she had in days. Philyra walked along beside her in silence as they walked towards the main house, where Jonny and his family lived, and where Selene and most of her crew stayed when they visited. They weren't at King's Cove enough to buy a house. Yukiya, however, stayed with his family when he was here (as did Philyra, most times, as Mrs. Reizen loved the girl), and Merlin tended to stay at his brother Eric's house, which was a few houses down from Jonny's.
People recognized her and she heard a constant stream of greetings and welcomes, to which she replied with a small smile. Her spirits were lighter than they had been since…the duel, and they were getting lighter all the time. She realized as she saw people setting up booths and decorating everywhere that it was Midsummer's Eve. The festival was tonight, and that made her smile grow. She hadn't been to one in a long time, and she was now looking forward to it. They had enough time to participate. The ball in Gedonelune wasn't for about two weeks yet, and it only took a week and a half by average ship (and just under a week if the Elementress was by herself and going at full speed, which wouldn't be the case, but still). They had a little time to celebrate and relax.
And she knew she needed it.
Elias watched as Katalina was led off by a few woman—one of whom was Yukiya's mother, who cheerfully introduced herself. The somewhat heavy woman was the exact opposite of Yukiya personality-wise, being loud and very talkative.
Elias stood awkwardly, feeling really out-of-place among the conversing men. He knew most of their names now, by listening in as he stood unnoticed in a corner. Luca was talking with a man named Wade. Yukiya stood conversing quietly with Inan. Serge chatted with two men, named Matthias and Matthew—what mother would name two sons such similar names? Merlin was talking to the Pirate King, as well as a very large man named Eric.
Well, Elias was almost unnoticed. Until the Espanan man popped into his vision.
"Hola, mi amigo. I'm Antonio." The man, Antonio, stuck out his hand, a stupidly cheerfully smile on his face. For some odd reason, Elias noticed as he shook the man's hand that there was a tomato embroidered onto the front of his shirt, on the pocket. A tomato with a turtle—of all things—on top of it.
"Elias." He replied. He'd be warned before they docked that it'd be best if he didn't tell anyone his surname. It was bad enough he looked like his brother, according to Merlin, but he didn't need to go around advertising it. There would be plenty who'd kill him on the spot, despite the strict killing ban in King's Cove.
"So you've joined mi cereza's crew, then?" Antonio asked.
"Of course he didn't, you bloody fool!" The Anglish man came up behind Antonio. "Since you probably weren't listenin' earlier, they pulled the lad out a' the ocean and are takin' him home." He shoved the espanan man out of the way. "'Ello. I'm Arthur Kirkland. Feel free to ignore that tosser,"—he jerked his thumb in Antonio's direction—"or he might lower your intelligence."
"Said the gruñón." Antonio replied cheerfully. The two men proceeded to bicker. Elias wasn't sure what to do—should he try and stop them, or just carefully slip away?
"Oi! If you're going to duel again, take it outside! Cynthia'll kill me if you get blood on something!" The Pirate King scolded, coming over and grabbing them both by the shoulders and throwing them out of the room. He returned, coming over to Elias, "Sorry about that. Those two are constantly at each other's throats. They've got a rivalry something like Selene's and your brothers, only a little more annoying to the rest of us." He smiled, "Why don't we have Merlin show you to the room you'll be staying in? You should probably try and take a nap before tonight." He beckoned to Merlin, who excused himself and came over.
"Com'mon Elias. Let's get you settled in. You look like you need the sleep."
"You bloody tosser! I'll get you this time!"
"Come at me, idiota!"
Selene paused, then put a fist to her mouth, trying not to outright laugh. Philyra sighed, knowing too well who was ahead.
Selene handed her things to Philyra and hurried ahead to find two men, one Anglish, the other Espanan. They were coming at each other, swords pulled and swinging. Selene cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "I get back and the first thing I find is you two going at it again?"
The two men paused, swords locked. They turned their heads and saw her, quickly backing away from each other and sheathing their swords. Antonio came running and pulled Selene into a hug, swinging her around, "Mi cereza! You're here!"
"Yes, Toni, we can all see that. I'm glad to see you, too, but please, put me down." Selene laughed. The man stopped spinning and released her, grinning as much as was humanly possible. Maybe even more so than was possible for the average human. You could never tell with Antonio.
"'Ello, love. How've you been?" Arthur, a little more reserved than his rival, came up.
Selene wasn't having any of it. She gave him a quick hug. "I've been better, Artie, but I've been a whole heck of a lot worse. Being home is definitely helping."
He ruffled her hair, "That's good to hear. Your brothers are inside waiting for you."
"I'll take Philyra! Mrs. Reizen said to send her over when she came. They're dressin' up Katalina and you for tonight." Antonio said cheerfully, gesturing for Philyra to follow him.
"I swear. And people say I'm hopelessly positive." Selene snickered, "I'm nothing compared to Toni!"
"With him it's unnatural, though." Arthur snorted, "He's just odd, and not in a good way."
"Well, I might need cooperation from both of you in the near future, so I hope you'll be willing to help me." Selene said, a mischievous look in her eyes, "I've got a big plan, one that will be a good deal of fun."
"Sounds interesting, love." Arthur laughed, already excited for what was to come. He recognized that glint in Selene's eyes.
Elias had fallen asleep more quickly than he had expected to. The bed in the room he was given to use was large and comfortable. He found he far preferred a landlocked bed than one that rocked with the waves. The stillness was soothing.
By the time he woke it was already nearing dusk. He needed that sleep, apparently.
He rubbed his eyes as he climbed out of the bed, making it up, out sheer habit. While at home, maids made his bed. But at school he didn't have maids, and therefore, did it himself.
He washed his face with the water in a washbasin in the room, and was drying it when someone knocked on the door. It opened and Merlin poked his head in.
"Oh, good. You're up." he said, "We found some clothes that will fit you a bit better than Yukiya's. My family is necessarily large, and we've got so many odds and ends of all sorts that no one knows who they belong to—so we just take what we need as we need it." He opened the door more fully, revealing a pile of clothes in one arm. "Find something to change to and we'll get you something to eat before heading to the festival. Most of what's sold there isn't really meal food, but snacks and sweets." He set the clothes on the bed.
"Thank you." Elias said.
"No problem. Just don't take forever." Just then, there was a large crashing sound downstairs, causing Elias to jump. Merlin sighed. "Don't worry. There's nothing too breakable in the house, at least things that aren't locked away out of reach. Too many kids in and out for that to happen. My six nephews, plus a few other kids, are here, waiting to leave for the festival. I think they're playing Pirates and Navy with Selene."
Elias knew that game. It was often played back at school by the other boys. He never found much interest in roughhousing, though, so he never joined in. But he could easily picture Selene playing it with a bunch of kids. What was odd was that it didn't matter who the kids were—street kids, noble sons, the children of pirates—they all played the same games. It was interesting to think about. Children in and of themselves weren't all that different, and didn't care who they played with. It was their parents who put the ideas in their minds that they shouldn't play with certain other children. Something about that seemed sort of wrong to him.
Merlin left and Elias went through the pile, putting together an outfit fairly quick. He changed and went over to the little vanity. His hair was a tangled mess. He'd lost any and all caring about his appearance since he woke up on Selene's ship, but he felt that he should at least make an effort to look half-decent—it was a festival, after all.
After running his hands through his hair a couple times, he went out of the room and down a set of stairs. At the bottom, he found lots of people. Adults were mostly gathered in the room to the right, but there were kids running around everywhere else.
"The pirates are overtaking me! Request for backup! Request for backup!" cried a voice. Was that...Selene? Huh. Elias would've thought she'd be the pirate, seeing as she's literally a pirate captain. He was nearly knocked over by Selene as she ran past. "Sorry!" she called, hurrying on. The next person did crash into him, knocking them both over. A bunch of kids followed, streaming around them. When they were gone, the boy who'd slammed into him stood up, dusting himself off. He held out a hand.
"Sorry about that, dude. Didn't mean to run into you." He held out his hand for Elias to take. Elias took it and pulled himself up. The boy was about his age, maybe a year older, but was a few inches taller. He had dark blue eyes and messy blond hair, along with a big smile. "I can't see to good without my glasses, and I can't really wear 'em while I'm runnin' around. I'm Alfred. Who are you?"
"Elias." He replied as Alfred shook his hand.
"Nice to meet ya, dude." Alfred said, "But I've got to go before Admiral Selene gets away! Feel free to join, but my brother is in the other room, if you want to go talk to him. He's not a fan of these kinds of things. See ya!" With that, the odd boy ran off in the direction of the noise. He heard Selene shout for backup again and shook his head. Should they play this outside?
He went into the room where the rest of the people were, deciding it'd be better to move before he got ran over again. No one paused to look at him, as everyone was immersed in their own conversation. He went and sat on a couch.
"Hello."
Elias jumped and looked over. How in heck did he not see the other boy on the couch? This one looked a lot like Alfred, only purple eyes, and this boy's hair was longer, wavy, and brushing his shoulders, and a little lighter than Alfred's, with this odd single curl that stuck up. This must be Alfred's brother. He was holding this off-white teddy bear.
"Oh, hello. Sorry, I didn't see you there." Elias said apologetically, "Are you the brother Alfred mentioned a second ago?"
The boy sighed, "That's alright. Most people don't. I'm used to it. I'm just glad you don't think I'm Alfred. I'm Matthieu, Alfred's twin. The older one, despite what most people assume." He had a sort of accent, but it was faint enough that Elias was having a hard time placing it. French, maybe? "Most people call me Matt or Mattie, though."
"Hate being compared? I can relate."
He tilted his head, "Do you have a brother, too?"
"Two of them. Both older. I don't really get compared to Percy, the oldest, but I get compared to Klaus all the time. He and I both look really similar to our father, and thus, each other. Only difference is he's perfect at everything, from sports to academics to social skills, and I'm nowhere close. It comes easy to him, not me."
"That sounds awful," Mattie agreed. "Alfred's kind of the same way. He's really smart and learns things really easy. He learns languages in months and can do all sorts of complex math in his head. But he's also really outgoing and everyone likes him, even if he can get really annoying. Most people tend to forget about me. It's funny, you know, that I'm the older brother. I'm just not good with people…"
"Tell me about it!" Elias sighed, "Most people say I act like I'm all stuck up and cold, but I just don't have a clue how to act around most people. Seriously, why is so difficult?"
"I know, right?"
Elias and Mattie continued to talk, and Elias found that he really liked this boy. He was soft spoken, but he was really nice. They both liked reading over running around outside, they both lived in the shadows of their brothers, and they found plenty of other topics other than those. Elias felt so much more comfortable talking to this boy than any of the children of his parents' friends or his schoolmates..
But their conversation was interrupted by a loud cry.
"Ack! I'm dead!" Followed by a big thump and a lots of little thumps.
"Okay, kids, let's get off of Aunt Lena before she really ends up dead." A laughing woman, who'd been talking to the Pirate King, went over to the doorway and left, assumably to pull them off of Selene.
Elias snickered, "Was she really the Navy? You'd think she'd be the Pirate, seeing as she's the Silver Flame, a pirate legend and one of the only infamous female captains, as well as the unchallenged pirate princess, among other things."
"You'd think," Mattie laughed. "But she finds fun in mimicking your brother. A dramatised version, of course." Mattie knew Klaus was the Admiral who was Selene's big rival, and he didn't really care. Same way the Elias didn't think it was weird that Mattie carried around the teddy bear—a polar bear named Kumajiro—that his mother made him before she passed.
Honestly, Elias admired how attached to it. He didn't have any physical items he could be that fond of.
Elias shook his head, "She's something else, I swear."
"Yup." Mattie agreed.
Selene walked into the room, hair a mess and clothes rumpled. But she was smiling and laughing. She looked far happier than she had even earlier that day. She came over to Elias and Mattie. "Hey, Eli, Mattie."
Mattie stood up and gave her a hug. "Hi, Selene."
She wrapped her arms around him, "How are you and Kuma' doing? I didn't get to talk to you earlier before all the littles, plus Al, dragged me into the game. I saw Arthur earlier, but I haven't seen Francis yet. How's he?"
Elias had learned that Mattie and Alfred were being raised by their older brothers, Arthur and Francis. Those two were, in actuality, step brothers, while the twins were their younger half-brothers. Francis' father had married Arthur's mother, but both had been killed in an earthquake about four years ago. So the twins had been taken to King's cove were raised by their older brothers, Francis—who lived in King's Cove and cared for them most of the time—and Arthur, who sailed around being a pirate and plundering the Navy, earning them money. Arthur was apparently one of the good pirates, who had morals, despite his odd rivalry with the Espanan pirate Antonio.
"He's doing good. You should be able to see him sometime tonight. He's helping Jeanne with the stall her shop is running." Mattie told her.
"When's the wedding, by the way? I'll have to make sure to be here for it."
"I don't remember. Ask them."
"Ah, okay." She looked over at Eli, letting Mattie go. "Have you seen Katalina yet?"
"No…"
She smirked. "Well, I can't wait until you do. She'll be here soon. Speaking of soon," She looked around, "I really should go get changed myself. See y'all in a bit." She scampered off, weaving in and out of the crowd of people.
"What was that about?" Elias asked.
"Beats me." Mattie said.
Selene made it back just in time to see Katalina and Philyra entering the house, followed by several woman. The two girls had been put in pretty dresses and had their hair done up so it wouldn't get in the way while dancing. Selene herself had run a brush through her hair to somewhat neaten the short locks, and had changed into a simple dress—in general, she wore breeches and trousers, but she liked wearing a simple shirt for festivals and such. It was fun, while you danced, to have a skirt that swished around. Selene watched as Elias noticed Katalina and had to bite her cheek to keep from outright laughing—Mattie, on the other hand, who was still next to him, couldn't hold back a few giggles. Elias' eyes had widened and his face turned bright red, all the way to his ears. She totally shipped those two. Talk about adorable puppy love!
They entire group—Selene didn't even bother counting how many were in the group leaving Jonny's house—made their way to the main square, where they separated into smaller groups. Mostly families and couples, but Selene saw Elias, Katalina, Mattie, and Alfred go off into their own group. Arthur had given his brothers pocket change, and Selene had given some to Katalina and Elias (despite Elias' protests). She smiled. She was glad they were having fun.
She went straight to the stage that had been set up for the musicians—she'd seen an old friend. "June!" The singer/pirate captain looked over and smiled.
"Selene. It is wonderful to see you again."
Selene grinned, "Always so formal, Siren."
"Always so informal, Silver Flame." She retorted.
Both women laughed.
"So you're singing for the night? Can I count on a couple of my favorite songs to dance to being slipped in?" Selene asked.
"For you, certainly. I heard Garrick used his third chance, so I think you'll need a few of those dances." June replied, "Now, is it true that you've got a plan for your next attack on the Navy?"
Selene's smile shifted to a look of gleeful anticipation, "Oh do I. It's going to my best yet."
June smirked, "Mind if I make an announcement of it?"
"Sure. Go ahead." Selene said, "Are you starting?"
"In a bit. We'll start with opening announcements in a few minutes, but the actual dancing starts in just over an hour."
"Ah. Okay." Selene nodded, "Good luck, June."
"Don't need it." She replied simply.
"Sure, sure." Selene laughed, hopping off the stage, "See you later!"
A sharp whistle sounded through the main square. The people's noise quieted and everyone turned their attention to the stage.
"Hello, people of King's Cove and beyond." June's voice carried easily, "You are welcomed to the Midsummer's festival. We hope everyone here manages to have a wonderful time." She waited while people murmured amongst themselves before quieting. "But before the festival officially starts, there are a few announcements. May we all congratulate Captain Kirkland and his crew for their daring attack, and successful raid, on the beta fleet of the Oriental Navy, and Captain Carriedo and his crew's capture of two mega-cargo ships carrying not cargo, as the official governments may claim, but humans who were taken from their home and who are now recovering in Queen's Waif, before being prepared to be taken back to their homes."
A thunderous mix of clapping and stomping filled the main square of King's Cove and beyond. When it quieted again, June continued. "And, we must welcome back a very special member of our King's family, the legendary female captain who is one of the greatest sources of the Navy's misery. One who has not been able to come home for almost two years due to her adventures. Everyone, welcome home the Pirate Princess...Selene Celeste Fonix!"
Selene skipped up to the stage as the roar of the crowd exceeded that of its previous applause, grinning widely. When the noise quelled, Selene spoke. "It's wonderful to be home, but I must say it is not for long. You see, I've got another one of my absolutely dastardly plans. It should not take more than a few weeks before I am home again, thankfully. But this will be one of my greatest feats yet, and the Navy won't stand a chance. I'll be able to one-up a certain Admiral in such a manner he'll never manage to catch up!" She shook two fists in the air, a devilishly mischievous smirk upon her lips. The crowd laughed and made enough noise to shake the stand.
The people of King's Cove, and it's visitors, danced away the night until sunrise, drinking and eating and making merry. Elias and Katalina had stuck by each other the entire time, as both were, despite the fun they were having, overwhelmed by the crowds. Selene danced with so many people—young, old, male, female, practically everyone. A couple hours in, a local woman replaced Captain June, and while her music wasn't at the same level, it was more than enough for the half-drunk crowd. When the sun finally came over the horizon, most people stumbled back to their homes, or to an inn, and fell into bed to sleep the morning away.
But not all went to sleep.
Selene and a few of her brothers, including Jonny, as well as Arthur and Antonio, gathered about the map of the world.
"You see, the way this is going to work we'll need as few ships as possible, speed prioritized over power. It needs to be a trademark Silver Flame attack." Selene said, "I'll need to split my crew up a bit, meaning I'll need one or two other men on my ship. First, there will be a couple side missions. I'm sending Luca with the Goldstein lad on you ship, Arthur, because you're more familiar with the waters over in this part." She pointed to Gedonelune, to the town of Aprea. "That's where the Goldstein city house is. You're not to attack. This is merely for Luca to be able to slip ashore with Elias, and return him home. He is an innocent, even if the men in his family aren't. I'm sending Luca specifically because I heard a certain warrioress will be stationed with the family, which is currently in morning." A few chuckles could be heard—everyone knew about Luca's strange love of Warrioress Marelda Krammer.
"Now," Selene continued, "I'm leaving this up to Inan and company. I need you to spread rumors that there is to be a larger attack on Espana. You'll be taking Jonny, Matthew, Antonio, and their men to put this rumor into action. But not actually attack. This is to be a confusion tactic, diverting attention from Gedonlune, or more specifically, the West Base. You see, they're going to soon be having a ball, one they have every five years. It's a big, grand affair, lots of pomp and circumstance. The rest of my crew, as well as those of Eric's crew that he feels can pull it off, are going to get aaaaaall dressed up." Selene grinned, "They'll be so dazzled by our light they won't realize we've taken their shiny things. I've also got a special job for myself."
Merlin raised a brow, "You're going to somehow, as you put it last night, 'one-up' Admiral Goldstein?"
"You betcha, brother of mine," Selene winked. "He'll never see it coming, and he'll never truly recover. This will be something that drives him nuts the rest of his days."
The brothers all felt goosebumps as Selene giggled in a slightly disturbing manner. They almost felt bad for Klaus Goldstein. Almost.