Chapter 20: Greetings from a Prince
The Argonian was a damned fast walker.
By the time Castorius caught up to Jaree-Ra, he was already getting pretty badly winded. When did I get so out of shape?
But of course: any harder exercise he'd done for the past year had only been aimed at toning his muscles. The aerobic training that Aldis was so adamant his men did, that Castorius had found ways of avoiding a good while ago. Not the least of the reasons he was probably not the Guard Captain's favorite subordinate.
That and the fact he so despised being in the role of the subordinate in the first place.
"Hey, wait up!" he wheezed after Jaree-Ra.
The pirate stopped abruptly, and turned around in a flash. His eyes narrowed down to virulent slits. "What do you still want?" he snarled.
Castorius stopped in front of the spiteful reptile, steadied his breath. "Look, I know you don't much care for me." And I, for one, can hardly stand the sight of your guts. "But this is strictly business. Here."
He reached in his satchel and brought out the stone Sanguine had given him. He could see a very brief, but quite genuine, flash of greed in the Argonian's eyes. They immediately retained their default look of contemptuous disenchantment, however.
Still, the little flash was enough to give Castorius that first glow of triumph. "I, uh, found this at Captain Caro's cabin. Think it might be worth something?"
The Argonian offhandedly snatched the jewel from Castorius, regarded it with an unimpressed expression. He turned it round and round, lifted it against the moonlight, flicked it with his claw and pressed it close to his ear. Castorius was convinced it was all for show.
After a fracture of second of hesitation, the pirate tossed it back to him, said, "Hardly, I'm afraid."
"Oh," Castorius looked down at the blood-red jewel, feigning disappointment.
"Of course," said the Argonian slowly. "I could take it off your hands anyway. Stolen that it is, no one else is going to give you anything for it."
Castorius looked up, going for hopeful. "You would? How much would you be willing to pay?"
Jaree-Ra looked to think on it. "I am in a good mood today . . . " Would hate to see you on a bad day! "So I'll give you a hundred gold. And that's very generous."
It was hard going not to start coughing out of astonishment in the face of the man's insolence. A hundred gold! The thing was easily worth ten times as much! Probably a hundred times. The sheer audacity of these pirates was simply breathtaking. But then, this was what they did for their living.
Castorius pursed his lips, then nodded. "Alright, I'll take it."
Jaree-Ra smiled. "Of course you will."
The pirate reached inside one of the pouches afforded to him by Roggie, and paid Castorius his gold. As he'd gotten the jewel and shoved it in his satchel, he gave Castorius a quick look—contemptuous as ever—said, "And a good night to you," turned on his heel and left.
Castorius waited for a while, enjoying every bit of the relief from the Argonian's departure, contemplating the next course of action. He was just about to make his move, when Jaree-Ra turned to look over his shoulder. Castorius smiled, waved at the pirate, feeling like an utter moron.
The Argonian pirate likely shared that assessment; he simply walked on, looking to shake his head.
A few more heartbeats. Then, when the man did not look again, Castorius darted into the shrubs.
If it had been difficult to keep up with Jaree-Ra on the road, it was doubly so in the midst of trees. The ground was wet, and the insides of his raggedy leather boots were soaked in a matter of seconds. He kept almost slipping on the mossy roots of trees, and their branches kept smacking him across the face. The whole time he had a hard time keeping his sight on the Argonian, who was walking as fast as ever. He was getting out of breath, and a sharp pain had developed at a point in his chest, in the flesh between the ribs.
Then, finally, the pirate stopped. His saurian head snapped around, and Castorius dived into the undergrowth. He rolled over, and hid behind a tree.
After he'd gotten enough courage together to take a look, the Argonian had already turned away. Jaree-Ra was looking out toward the sea.
What is he doing now?
Then the answer came into view. A rowboat splashing towards the shore. Castorius frowned, then peered farther into the mist, from where the boat had come.
Aw, really?
There was another ship there, hulking at a safe distance off the shore. There was little doubt that this was the Blackblood's ship, and that Jaree-Ra was about to board it.
Then how in Oblivion was Castorius supposed to follow him? He was not much of a swimmer, even if he had not hated it in the first place. And that was some frigid looking water.
There's just no way! he thought in frustration. There was only so much trouble he was willing to go through for that over-sized monster from Beyond. Let him take care of his own mess!
Castorius made to leave, but as he turned his head, something poked him in the cheek. The pointy end of a blade. It took a while to focus his eyes off the sharp steel contacting his flesh, and into the ugly sneering face at the other end of it. But either way he viewed it, all of a sudden the situation was not looking too good. "Uh," he said.
"Well, what have we here," said the dirty, grinning man holding the sword.
"Uh, it's not what it looks like." Castorius didn't even want to think about how it must have looked.
"No?" replied the man. "Guess things seldom are." He thrust the blade lightly. "Up you get!"
With his hands lifted above his head, and the man's sword pressed against his back, Castorius marched out of the woods under the mirthful eyes of Jaree-Ra.
"Look what I found, boss," the man behind Castorius gloated.
"I see," the Argonian said. His green eyes regarded Castorius with all the sympathy you'd give a cockroach. "You're not very good at this, you know? I could've heard you rustling around in the bushes all the way from my ship. Why are you following me."
"I wasn't—"
"Don't lie to me!" Jaree-Ra snapped. "Lie to me again, and I'll cut your tongue out! You got that?"
Castors nodded dumbly.
"Good. Now, who sent you? Was it that Roggvir? It was him, wasn't it? Who is he working for, Malaney? I knew there was something fishy about that man. What does he want with me?"
Too many things at once, none of which Castorius had anything to say anything to. "I'm . . ." he fumbled for a good lie, "not working for anyone. My business is my own." Already he'd seemed to forget Jaree-Ra's threat.
Luckily, so had the Argonian. He cocked his head. "Really? Well that's very interesting." He waved an angry hand. "We'll take him along. I'll get the answers from you yet. Don't you doubt that for a second."
Castorius could do nothing but swallow the last bit of saliva left on his tongue.
Then he was waterborne once more, sitting in very unhappy slouch in the middle of the rowboat. The ugly man with the sword sat next to him, the sword resting in his lap like Castorius didn't pose any real threat. Which, of course, was spot on. One pirate sat at the front rowing the boat, and Jaree-Ra lounged sprawled at the back, arms on the railing, looking to take in the scenery. There was, of course, nothing to see out there save mist.
And onto the ship they climbed. It was certainly a much smaller, dingier vessel than Alessia's Trial, and even more so than Captain Malaney's Brinerunner had been. Castorius pondered passingly whether in the world of inter-pirate competition, it was the captain with the nicer boat who had the advantage, or did it perhaps come down to who had the most decrepit, run-down ship but could still somehow manage to keep it afloat.
What finer, more abstract thoughts there might have been in his head, however, were soon expelled as he was shoved towards the middle of the ship's deck. The few pirates that populated it—shirts on these ones, if raggedy ones at that—didn't give him any more than the most passing of looks. They had a somewhat emaciated look about them one and all.
"Let's get this thing moving, then!" Jaree-Ra barked.
"Aye, Cap!" replied a slightly better fed looking man, over his head a bandana soaked through with filth. "You heard him, lazy sods!" he roared at the other men, then looked at Castorius with his dull, watery eyes. "Who's this, then?"
"A special guest we're having over," Jaree-Ra said. "He and I are going to have a little heart-to-heart."
The man looked pensive. "I hope you're not planning on working all night again, boss. I'd like to be able to get some sleep."
"It'll take as long as it has to," the Argonian replied, looking Castorius up and down. "Though, I have a feeling this time it will be over quite soon."
Jaree-Ra then walked to the front of the ship to yell and curse at his underlings. They certainly seemed fond of that, these pirate-captains. Castorius was forced into a sitting position on the cold, wet deck, while the man holding the sword pulled a stool under himself right next to him. He gave Castorius a derisive sneer.
At least they had left his limbs untied, for which he was thankful. His skin was still a little chafed around the wrists from the previous round of ropes.
Not wanting to look at the rat-faced pirate looming over him, and not wanting to give the man the satisfaction of seeing his agitated state, Castorius cast his eyes down at the splintery boards between his legs. He breathed deeply and slowly, trying to clear his mind enough to be able to contemplate how he might get out of this situation.
As his mind cleared a bit, though, it only started to look more and more obvious there was no conceivable way out of this. He could spring up and toss himself over the side. More than likely they would be too slow to stop him. But what then? They'd undoubtedly be too lazy to go after him, but surely at least one of them was a competent enough a marksman to skewer him with an arrow while he was busy splashing about in the water like a disabled manatee. Or Jaree-Ra, being the water-savvy Argonian that he was—he would have no trouble coming after him. He'd probably cut to the chase and just slit Castorius' throat. Get it over with.
So that option was clearly off the table.
Not that torture was sounding like that much more of a good time. He'd tell the man anything he wanted to know, of course, but there were a couple problems with that too. First of all, it was the usual dilemma with confession given in too much haste. Those suffered from clear credibility issues. But even if he gave Jaree-Ra some time to start the procedure—a couple punches here, a few cuts there—before spewing his guts, it was his story itself that was the problem. Yes, the Daedric Prince of Debauchery put me up to it. He wants his pretty flower back. Who was going to believe that?
It hardly needed reiterating how torture was an utterly useless tool of interrogation. More often than not the whole thing only went on because the person doing it got a kick out of it. And to Castorius, Jaree-Ra seemed like he might just fit that bill.
To his utmost displeasure, then, Castorius noticed his legs had started to shake. He told himself it was because of the cold, but could only pretend that for a fraction of a second. He felt the brittle remains of the courage he might have had start to crumble. Oh, please, please. If you're there . . .
Who? Who was there to pray to? He'd never believed in the gods, might as well admit that. Who could blame him, though—he'd never seen one. He'd seen one of the supposed opposition, though—now. He'd seen a Daedric Prince, so maybe . . .
Bah! One look at one of those things, and already he was about to loose his life over it! And not likely in a too comfortable way, either. Not suffocating under a big old set of teats at all! And that giant red-and-black bastard was to blame.
No . . . Castorius sighed. Even at this moment, at the parading moment for self-pity, the little insistent voice in his head kept him from lulling himself into the sweet embrace of blamelessness. Was it not I who decided to come here, he though with resignation. Me and my endless greed. What good is it now? What use will prestige and gold be in . . .
Something halted his train of though in its tracks. He lifted up his head, frowning. It was like something was tickling at the back of his mind. Like a sound, only . . . not. At least not a physical one. Castorius looked at Jaree-Ra standing there, with his legs wide, pointing around wildly and dealing orders and insults to his men. Something about him just felt odd.
It took a few moments—Castorius examining the Argonian pirate, having nothing out of ordinary jump out at him—before he saw it. The satchel hanging at the pirate's left side, it had a faint but perceptible glow about it—a strange red-tinted, pulsating light, slowly but steadily increasing in brightness. Accompanying the light was something like a low-level hum, more a sense of pressure on the eardrum than an actual sound.
The jewel. Something was happening to it. Yet no one else seemed to take notice.
This could be important. I should do something! Then, before he'd any time to consider his actions, Castorius cupped a hand over his mouth, and yelled, "Jaree-Ra! I want to talk!" It felt like he was yelling against a loud noise for the eerie humming. How was nobody else picking up on it?
The Argonian's head whipped around. His lip curled. "Aw, you're coming clean already?" he said, and started walking towards him. "And I was so looking forward to our little chat."
"There is someone who sent me," Castorius said once the Argonian was close enough for him not to have to yell. The glow was definitely getting brighter, but it still appeared to escape Jaree-Ra's attention.
"Yes?" said the lizard, cocking his head. "I'm all ears."
Castorius put all his energy into a spiteful sneer, trying to ignore the glow and the humming. "Sam Guevenne sends his regards."
The Argonian's bearing tightened up, though he was obviously doing his best not let it show.
Castorius felt encouraged by this, and it gave him some wind. "I see you haven't forgotten about him," he mocked.
Jaree-Ra shrugged it off. "It was just a few days ago. An encounter of no importance."
"To you, maybe," replied Castorius, with all the spite at his command, "but I hear he still managed to make an impression on your sister. Am I correct?"
The pirate gave him look loaded with the most chilled hatred held behind a mask of overhanded contempt. He nodded. "True. Deeja should no doubt want to speak with him again." He paused, and dropped the note of his voice. "As would I."
"Well, it's just too bad he sent me, then."
Jaree-Ra's eyes narrowed. "Perhaps you will do."
Uh oh, wrong move. Castorius' act faltered. "You have something of his," he said, but it no longer contained the earlier conviction. His voice was starting to crack.
"Oh, do I, now?" Jaree-Ra's brow went up. He pulled a dagger off of his belt. "Well, I always pay my debt."
Castorius swallowed air.
He realized then the ship had started to turn. He squinted towards starboard. Or port-side? Left, anyway. There, at the shore, was a huge opening in the rock wherein the water flowed, large enough to fit a ship in.
This was their hideout, no doubt, and Castorius was running out of time.
The glow in Jaree-Ra's bag was even brighter now, enough so that it should have been clearly visible to all. The hum was really starting to hurt Castorius' ears, but no one else seemed bothered by it.
The Argonian reached down, grabbed Castorius by the throat and easily lifted him to his feet. The dagger was still in his other hand. He pushed Castorius against a mast, revealed his teeth. "So, then. How much are we talking about? I'd hate to be left in debt."
The noise and the brightening light were starting to cross the threshold of tolerable. Some heads were now turning to their direction. So they could see it, then.
I should play for some time! Giving it one more go, Castorius grinned. "You don't know Sam Guevenne, do you?"
Jaree-Ra frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"No," Castorius shook his head, "You don't know him. Not like I do." He gave a tepid laugh of pretend-defiance. "You have no idea who he is; what he is capable of."
"Maybe so," said Jaree-Ra slowly, pressing the dagger against Castorius' throat. "But I've a fairly good idea of what I am capable of."
"Uh, boss," said the pirate next to them.
"Not now!" snapped the Argonian.
"Seriously, Cap," the man insisted, "your satchel . . ." The glow was undeniable to anyone with eyesight intact. The pirate was pointing at it with a fearful look in his eyes. The expression looked out of place under that hard, callous brow.
"What about—" Jaree-Ra's biting words were cut short as he looked down. "Now what the—"
"The jewel," Castorius said, triumphantly. "He gave it to me."
Jaree-Ra reached in, and pulled the stone out. It was blazing so brilliantly it hurt Castorius' eyes to look upon it. The pain was an appropriate accompaniment to the one in his ears.
It didn't seem to disturb the Argonian, however, who stared at the thing with eyes incredulously wide. "What?" he breathed.
The ship was almost at the opening now. All the pirates on the ship were staring towards the ever intensifying red flare. Their expressions were increasingly disturbed. And who could blame them?
"Boss . . . " said the man beside them. "I think you better—"
"Throw it out!" someone else cried.
But Jaree-Ra was mesmerized in place. "What is this?" Even in the face of this deeply disconcerting phenomenon, mainly it was greed Castorius was seeing in the Argonian's expression.
Now! Mostly improvising, Castorius acted. He lurched forward and crashed into the pirate captain. Jaree-Ra went stumbling backwards, the blazing stone flying out of his hands and onto the floor. Around it, people jumped back like it was a piece of molten lava. Seemed like the wise course of action.
Castorius was still on his feet, and the next thing he did was focus on the other pirate close to him. The man's mouth hung open—there was obviously too much going on for him to find the time to react. Castorius used this to his benefit; he pulled back and threw as hard a punch he could muster. It landed square in the middle of the man's face, and Castorius felt the cartridge of the man's nose give in under his fist. The pirate then went sprawling on his back.
Castorius snapped around, prepared for a counter attack by Jaree-Ra. The Argonian, however, was too busy diving after the ever brighter jewel rolling on the floor. He jumped onto the stone, as evidently his right mind had already seen it best to bail out.
That didn't apply to the pirates around him, though. Some of them were trying to call out to their leader, to get him to give up his single-minded quest to keep the stone, to get rid of it. Others, however, seemed to have a better grasp on the reality of the situation, and were jumping off the side of the ship. The ship was right at the door of the cavern now.
It was likely the one smart move to make at this point, so Castorius decided to take the example of the pirates leaving the ship. Continuing with the trend of not considering his moves too closely, he ran at the sideboard, grabbed hold and flung himself over.
The fall was admittedly further than he'd expected. There was an unpleasant lurch in the pit of his stomach. Castorius was just about to cry out when he hit the water. Hard. He landed awkwardly, and mostly on his belly, too.
Damn it, but it hurt!
The wind knocked out of him, it took Castorius a while before he could struggle his way back to the surface. The water was damned cold, just like he'd suspected, but after a while he could hardly feel it. In fact, his whole body had gone largely numb.
The pirate ship was halfway inside the cavern, most of the pirates waterborne around it. There was no sign of Jaree-Ra. The boat was all aglow now, but the ghastly crimson light just kept getting stronger.
Then, finally, the hum that had plagued his ears without respite until then stopped. The light vanished too.
For a moment, it was totally silent. There wasn't even any wind, only the splashing of waves.
What was—
A crimson explosion of light forced Castorius' eyes shut. A powerful tremor shook his insides, and he instinctively put his hands over his ears, only to have his head sink under the surface. He drew water into his lungs.
Resurfacing, coughing out the salty water, he did his best not to drown. He was sure there would have been a certain amount of bitter irony in that.
Once he'd gotten over the worst, he was all but stunned to find the ship in one piece. In fact, nothing at all seemed to have changed. The boat stood there, stationary at the mouth of the cavern, half of it inside, and half out.
Then, before anyone could do anything, the mountain gave out a nauseating moan. A large piece of the rock, the top part of the entrance of the cavern, trembled and quaked, and then cracked off. The massive chunk of stone collapsed flat on the ship, and the ship cracked in two right at its middle.
The sound of it was like a hundred beams of wood snapped in unison by giant, godly fingers. The bottom half of the ship was first lifted up and then immediately tossed back down. Then it capsized. Its falling mast landed on a few of the pirates as it hit the water, and the sail buried underneath itself a couple more. Pieces of broken timber and metal were flung all around, and those people left bobbing in the water not taken out by the flying debris were tossed about by the massive waves resulting from impact.
Those people included Castorius. He was carried some feet further towards the sea, and clearly out of anybody's sight. Not that anyone likely had time to think about him anyway at the moment. So, after he'd regained his bearings and managed to come a little more into his senses, Castorius started to swim. He gave it all he got, propelling himself forward as fast as he could, flailing his arms wildly. He was distancing himself from the scene while simultaneously cutting an oblique path towards the shore.
There was another loud cracking sound. A second large chunk of the crag chipped off and came rolling down. The avalanche buried underneath it more of the remaining ship and, presumably, a couple more of the pirates.
Finally Castorius' feet touched the bottom, and he floundered onto the rocky bank. His clothes were soaked and heavy with cold water, and he was already starting to feel the cold—now that the worst of the excitement had passed and his body was slowly regaining its regular state. The right hand he'd punched the pirate with had started to ache something fierce. He looked back towards the commotion, but couldn't pick out too many details from the darkness and the mist. The pirate ship was still cut in half, mostly buried under stone. That's all he was sure of. All that he needed to know.
He took off running.
As he was clumsily huddling along towards civilization in his soaked-through clothes, he thought passingly about what might have possibly happened to Jaree-Ra, and about how the incident here might possibly affect their other business. He found those thoughts so disconcerting that he found it best to put the matter out of his mind.
For now.