Chapter 89: Uncharted Skies
…
Link did not make it. All of his work putting the technoworks back together and restoring the Sky Lines had taken up more time than Link had expected. He returned to the clinic fifteen minutes after their scheduled meeting and was informed by the nurse watching Layna that Leynne and Lilly would be returning at their second planned time later in the afternoon. In the meantime, they had left behind a basket of food for Link and Layna. Although Link appreciated it, he wished Leynne had chosen something more appropriate to the diet provided by their usual rations. He took out some of the stuff they could not eat and let the staff have it in thanks for what they had done for them.
Layna woke up in time to join Link for lunch. They spent part of the time watching each other. Link had seen Layna fight with a nurse last night about feeding herself despite her injuries. The fight had ended when Layna had taken hold of the nurse's neck, which had prompted Link to step in. Now, she was a lot calmer about the situation. Actually, Link found that she was actually quite cautious. Every bite was small and planned after a few seconds' contemplation of whatever was in her hands. It was as if she was looking for the right angle to take her next bite from. She chewed slowly and deliberately, something he had not quite expected from someone who had eaten so little in the past two days. She would swallow. And then she would stare at him with that emotionless glare she wore whenever things got serious. Link wondered if her meticulous method was the result of her being in pain. He was eating fairly slowly himself, trying to keep his movement minimal due to the throbbing in his right shoulder.
"Wow," Irleen moaned after twenty minutes of watching this silent meal. "Worst dinner conversation ever, Link."
"S-sorry," Link said, looking up to find her circling overhead. "I wasn't trying to ignore you or anything…"
"Not me, you dope," she replied. "C'mon, you're one-on-one with one of your crew. Shouldn't you… I don't know, talk work or something?"
Link glanced at Layna, who had stopped eating in response to their conversation. "What's the point?" Link asked Irleen. "She doesn't speak Hylian."
"So what? She's still got ears. At least say something to her. Get her talking."
"We—… What should I say to her?"
"You're kidding, right? You took out a bunch of Lizalfos together. You saved her from bleeding to death. I'm sure you can find some topic of conversation in there somewhere."
Link glanced at Layna again. "It's gonna be awkward passing your gem back and forth."
"Who's telling you to do that? There's no romance in it."
"R-Romance!?"
Irleen stopped and bounced in place for a moment. Then she zipped toward the door. "If you need me," she said in a bright voice, "I'll just be in the other room not overhearing a thing~!"
"Irleen!" Link called after her. He rose to follow, but then he decided against it and sat back on the edge of his bed. Chasing after her would only aggravate some of his wounds anyway. After sharing an awkward look with Layna (who had not changed her expression), Link returned to eating the bread in his hands.
But Irleen's words repeated themselves in his head, and he started to find the quiet between them a little frustrating. No one else was in the ward except the nurse on duty, and she had turned her attention to some paperwork while snacking on a piece of fruit Link had given away. The rest of the beds were empty; the corpse had been removed the previous morning, and no one had come to the clinic and needed to stay for very long. Link could not focus on the food in his hands. Even as he stared at his half-eaten loaf of bread, his attention was on the fact that he and Layna were sitting across from each other over a basket of food.
"So, uh…" he found himself speaking to Layna without any sort of conversation planned out. He gave a nervous laugh, prompting her to look up from her food again. "The… The technoworks were kinda… sc-scaly… huh…" She just stared, and he started scratching the back of his head. "You-you know? The Lizalfos and… and their… scales… They're… scaly?" Layna continued to stare, making Link feel all the more awkward. "Uh…"
He shifted, and it caused him to wince at the pain caused by the wound in his thigh. This caused Layna to react, eyes widening in surprise, and she set her food in the basket. "No!" Link immediately said, raising a hand to stop her as she attempted to stand. "It's-it's okay. That was my fault, that was just me." Layna, although not really understanding, sat back down. "You know, it-it just—It kinda hurts to move." Quickly catching what he had just said, he sighed. "What am I talking about? You've got more bullet holes than me. It's a wonder how you're sitting up.
"Or maybe not, I guess. I've known you for a month and… well, I just realized that I don't know a thing about you. You know, other than you being a trained killer. That's-that's actually kinda scary. I… I have to admit that, well… I'm a little worried you might kill someone. Uh… you know… on… accident… misunderstanding, something like that. I guess… I'm kinda afraid that you might kill me or something." He punctuated the statement with another nervous laugh, but Layna did not react. "Uh… yeah, you, uh… you don't smile.
"Well… no, I take that back. You don't smile a lot. When you gave me that smile after you woke up… it felt so good to see it. You've got a nice smile. You know that? I mean, well… it's nothing like Dholit. You know, when she smiles, it's… you just… you just get this feeling something weird is gonna happen. It's creepy. And she says some of the strangest things when she's talking to the rest of us. I can only imagine what she sounds like in Geltoan. The others, they usually smile after I give them orders. I've never really seen that before. I mean, I know sometimes I used to smile when I got an order from Captain Alfonzo, but… I don't know. It's weird. Maybe it was just because I was doing something. Whenever I wasn't, I had to deal with… with Line…" Link stopped talking as the memory of his best friend surfaced.
Yet again, he felt bothered by his inability to locate Line. He remembered the mass grave under the surface of the island, but he began to doubt if Line had actually been among them. He knew Line had brought Cunimincus' crew into the kingdom, but he had never known Line to hang around when trouble was starting, especially if he had not started it. Line might have been responsible for sending the crates to remote locations in the first place since Cunimincus' crew had taken so long to shut down the Sky Lines. After that… He realized that his original belief that the Royal Family had arranged things after Line had gotten word to them was completely wrong. There had been no way for him to warn the king or queen. He thought back for a moment and remembered that, at one point, Line had mentioned to him that the king and queen had left Castle Island. So was it possible that Line was tracking them down, too?
"'Inu…" Link snapped out of his thoughts when Layna spoke up. It was a bit of a surprise, but even more so than that when he saw that her neutral façade had broken. "'Ak halcix 'inu 'agoylwantya sanimyayl… 'imayn tacibin yiniguthak tab 'imayn 'iyfas nayx boytokw 'inoy. 'Inu mibiylnya'ak nwaki kanifya tab 'inu nayx taynol fathim balw. 'Itab suxhayndha… na', suxhayndhu, 'inu midhiyblya'ak zamthiys 'idu maddux. 'Inu nayx mitaynalak za'atax 'imayn 'iyfas.
"Taf waba, 'imayn kyabtin, nayx nadyigoylwiynak 'imayn 'iyfas. 'Inu tiynoltya'ak, 'itab 'imayn kyabtin, waba yijodhaysya'ak. 'Imayn kyabtin yisaltya'ak… na', 'imayn kyabtin yizhajxya'ak 'inoy. 'Inu ya'lu nadmaythosak. Nwaki lwiyckin? 'Imayn kyabtin nayx nadyilwaycikak 'inoy. 'Imayn kyabtin yijoydhiysak Giltiyn Dholit zalwciyk 'inoy. 'Imayn kyabtin…
"Kwal 'imayn kyabtin yi'atnya'ak 'inoy zacsiyb wabnik?" Link thought he could see her blushing, but her dark skin color made it hard to tell. She touched her fingers to her lips, and Link felt his heart give a noticeable thump against his breastbone when he recalled her kissing him. Was that what she was thinking of? "'Imayn xusruk nadmimaythasak… 'Imayn kyabtin… waba…"
Link only had a moment to recognize the tired look in her eyes before she started falling to her left. "Layna!" he shouted as he lunged forward. He knocked the basket off the crate with his knee in the process of standing. One hand took hold of her shoulder. This, unfortunately, was his right hand, and her weight suddenly wrenched pain from his wound. He cried out but did not release her, and he fell to the floor in front of her.
"Link!" Irleen cried out as she shot back into the room.
"What's going on!?" the nurse demanded. She was standing at their feet in a heartbeat. "What happened!?"
"I don't know," Link replied through his teeth, trying not to scream. "She just…"
"Larry, we need a hand in here!" the nurse called as she kicked the basket aside. She held a hand out to Link. "C'mon, we'll get ya up first."
Link grasped her hand, and she slowly pulled him up until he could sit back on the bed. A large orderly came in a moment later and picked Layna off the floor. He laid her on her bed, and the nurse checked her pulse.
Then Link saw the nurse sigh with relief. "It's okay," she told him. "She probably just exhausted herself. She's lost so much blood that it's a wonder she was able to sit up and eat."
"Will she be okay to travel?" Link asked.
"After a bit of rest," the nurse replied with a nod. "We'll have an ambulance take her to the port for you."
Link nodded, although he had already made arrangements earlier. "Thank you."
The nurse nodded again and slapped the orderly on the shoulder. "Thanks, Larry."
"No problem," the orderly replied before leaving.
Irleen watched the nurse return to her desk. Then she commented, "I wonder what she was saying. It sounded really deep."
Link sighed and shook his head. Then he looked up at her. "I thought you weren't gonna overhear anything."
"Big deal, Link," she replied. "I couldn't understand what either of you were saying."
"Yeah, I bet," Link told her.
…
A little over two hours later, Leynne and Lilly returned to the clinic. From there, Link put Layna's gear (consisting mostly of different kinds of blades) in a spare bag and walked with them to the northern docks. The Island Symphony sat on the same dock where he had last seen it, on the end of the western side. It might have been his imagination, but it appeared to him that the ship looked as tired as he felt. Leynne explained that he wanted to check a few things on board, so he and Lilly went ahead while Link waited for the ambulance to show up.
He was a little surprised when the surgeon stepped out of the ambulance after it had shown up. "Doc?" he asked as the man approached him.
"You look surprised, Captain," joked the middle-aged surgeon, waving to the ambulance drivers. In response, they stepped down from the front and moved into the back of the ambulance. "Try not to be," he continued. "I told my staff to let me know when you made arrangements to ship out."
He turned and watched with Link as the drivers stepped back out with Layna on a litter between them. As they walked past, Link told them, "Tell my second-in-command that she needs to be placed in her own quarters."
"Got it," one of the drivers responded. Link followed them with his eyes as they started up the gangplank.
"I still wish you'd let her remain so she can heal properly," the surgeon told Link, attracting his attention again. "Any sort of jostling or sharp motion could open her injuries, and I assume you don't have a surgeon on board."
"No, we don't," Link admitted as he sat the bag he had been carrying on the ground next to him. "And I wish I could leave her here with you, too. But… the Skyriders, they nearly caught us by kidnapping someone we know. And I… I don't want to leave any of my crew behind. Layna is probably the worst to leave behind. I… I can't live with it. It would be better if she was with us."
"She could die on the journey," the surgeon pointed out.
"She will die if the Skyriders find her. I haven't known her for very long… and I know I'll probably never be able to understand her, but I do know she would either kill herself to avoid capture or kill herself fighting back."
"She's lucky she can move as she is," the surgeon commented. "Make sure you don't work her very hard. Even some of the smallest movements can cause problems."
Link nodded. "I don't plan on making her work until she's seen and okayed by another surgeon."
The surgeon pulled an envelope from his trouser pocket and offered it to Link. "This is a detailed account of her wounds and subsequent surgery as well as yours," he explained after Link took it. "Give this to the surgeon you find before you're looked at so that we can avoid a mistake. Your companion, Layna, her injuries are too sensitive to leave to the bare eye alone."
"Thank you," Link said as he pocketed the envelope. Then he took a folded piece of paper from his opposite trouser pocket and offered it to the surgeon. "I, uh… At first, I wasn't sure who I should hand this to. While we were in the technoworks this morning," he explained as the surgeon took and opened it, "we found a number of… of bones that belong to the monsters' victims. While I know most of them probably can't be identified anymore, they could at least get buried properly. These are directions to their remains. Would you…?"
"I'll find some volunteers to retrieve them," the surgeon said for Link. "You do realize, though, that I'll have to explain where these directions came from, right?"
Link nodded and picked up the bag containing Layna's gear. "I know. And maybe that decoy we left will come in handy after all. Just… please be careful, Doc."
The surgeon tapped his left temple. "They don't give you a medical certificate for being stupid, Captain. And the name's Albert. Al, if you prefer."
Link looked astonished for a moment. Was it just irony that he had met a second man bearing the same name as his deceased airman? Or was the universe trying to tell him something? He shook the thoughts out of his head and clasped hands with the surgeon. "Thanks, Doctor Albert."
They parted, and Link passed the ambulance drivers before walking up the gangplank onto the Island Symphony's weather deck. All of the Gelto were above the deck, inspecting some of the elements of the rigging on different masts while Dholit watched them from below. Gold and Harley were also wandering the deck, Gold using a mop Link had never seen before to swab the deck while Harley swept the deck down with a broom of similar, mysterious origins. Link could understand why this was needed; a definite layer of dirt had fallen on the weather deck, likely the result of the earthquake caused when the Sky Lines were put back into place. As if to confirm his thoughts, Link looked beyond the aftcastle toward the open air. Near-invisible as it was, Link could still make out the glowing blue line against the afternoon sky in the distance. In fact, this was up-lifting. He might have been mistaken, but he was sure that the Sky Lines on this side of Might Island led to all three of the major islands on the northern edge of the kingdom.
"Cap'n on deck!" Gold suddenly shouted. Link glanced back across the deck to see Gold standing at attention while Harley gave the seasoned sailor a look of utter bewilderment. Then Link caught Dholit's eye.
And the gleeful evil that crossed her visage just before she called up to the other Gelto, "'Inamyayn Kyabtin yitajilwya'ak!"
In the span of a second, the Gelto were upon him. He did not know how. In one moment, they were turning in response to Dholit's call. Then they simply fell to the deck. Link was certain that Dubbl and Twali should have been hurt somewhere in descending from the tops of the main masts while Biluf and Lwamm dropped off the booms of the mizzen-masts. He dropped Layna's gear on the deck in surprise, and, for a moment, he thought that they would tackle him overboard.
"Kyabtin!" Twali, the first to reach him, nearly shouted in his face. "Waba xwicikak max!?"
"Dhol thukwfya'ak!?" Biluf asked almost immediately after, giving no chance for Dubbl to translate.
Not that she was going to because she asked after Biluf, "Layna nayx taynolak max!?"
"Layna!? Taynol!?" Biluf nearly screamed. "Zhidi nadlwaytaynilak!"
"Kyabtin, waba yaxwkya'ak Layna max!?" Lwamm asked.
"'Aydhom!" Dubbl snapped at her.
"L-ladies, please…" Link tried to say.
"Kyabtin, waba 'adhmya'ak Layna max!?" Lwamm repeated as she pressed her face closer to his.
"Giyroxwan!" Twali snapped at Lwamm. "Nadnaygothan maddux 'agorxwi!"
"Kyabtin, naygothan Layna nayx nadtaynol!" Biluf pleaded.
"Lohakwan, Twali!" Lwamm snapped back.
"Waba lohakwan!" Twali shouted.
"'Iduki waba lohakwan!" Dubbl screamed.
"Stop it!" Link suddenly shouted. His voice and raising his arms caught them by surprise, cowing them into backing away from him. He held up a finger and said, "One at a time." He pointed it past them at Dholit, who had been standing behind them the whole time. "Dholit. What do they want?"
"They want to know what has become of ouh deah little killah, My Captain," she replied, her face calm as she spoke. "Afteh all, it does not bode well to be cahried aboahd."
Link glanced past her as Gold and Harley approached the group. "Layna will be fine," Link said. "She's injured, but fine."
"Layna soymushak, 'itab soysalwobak," Dholit translated. Link immediately saw relief on the Gelto's faces.
"Dhol thukwfya'ak?" Biluf asked.
"She wants to know what happened," Dholit said.
Link sighed. "We were fighting more monsters. Layna was shot numerous times, so, for the time being, she needs to rest."
"Zhayf sayilya'ak zhoggixun 'agosji 'igz," Dholit told them. "Layna golwaynya'ak jiysolwtya zhidi mudhjya zatniyl 'ulwis. 'Idh Layna nayx caynolak zaxwuck."
The Gelto looked awed as they glanced between her and Link. Link was not sure how to take this reaction, so he asked, "They're not worried, are they?"
Dholit giggled. "Oh, My Captain. You ah the only one to mistake admiration foh wohry."
He gave her an annoyed look before addressing Dubbl, "Dubbl, is the ship ready to sail?"
"Ah—yes, Kyabtin!" she replied.
He nodded. "Okay. Dholit, you know the regular duties on deck, right?"
"Oh, of couhse, My Captain," Dholit said.
"Good. I need you to fill in for Layna while she's below. Uh… also… I'd like one or two of you to help keep an eye on Layna. Bring her food, maybe help her to the head…"
"I'm suah we can come to an ahrangement," Dholit said.
"That's fine. Whatever you can work out. In the meantime, if you're not on duty, go grab what sleep you can."
Dholit had moved to the front of the group, almost pressing her bust into Link's face. She saluted with her left hand, and the Gelto followed suit. "Aye aye, My Captain," she said with a grin.
"Ay ay, May Kyabtin!" the other Gelto chimed in unison, their Geltoan accents varying in degrees of awful.
Link blinked at them in total surprise. He was not aware that Dholit knew that particular terminology, but he could remember teaching her how to salute. She must have been instructing the other Gelto while they were in hiding. He returned the salute and told them, "Dismissed."
Dholit turned and told the others, "'Inan sifunidh zatriys."
As they dispersed, Link saw Leynne approaching him. He picked up Layna's gear, but Leynne had already stopped in front of him. So Link asked, "Did you get everything?"
"Moh oh less," Leynne said.
Link frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I ran into a few hitches securing provisions foh the Gorons," he admitted.
"Really?" Link asked. "You couldn't find a mining company or anything?"
Leynne shook his head. "No, no, I found a couple of local quahries."
"So what was the problem?"
He put on a slight grimace. "I called the fihst fohman I met an uncultuhed, self-centehed, immoral slob with teeth growing from every orifice in his body." He shrugged. "He told me to get my pasty, snot-nosed, hohsefaced ass out while my undehgahments wehn't strung to a flagpole."
Link raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I-I thought you were good with negotiating."
"Yes, but with fohtune, ouh 'negotiation' broke down when I began questioning the logic behind the refusal of sale of non-fuel materials to an aihship. He insulted my motheh, I insulted his… gentleman pahts."
"Wait, he wouldn't sell us rocks?" Link asked.
"It is a company policy which he staunchly adhehed to. And, apparently, people up heh believe the Goron race to be a myth. But. Theh is no need to be concehned because I did find anotheh company willing to supply us the material the Gorons requih."
Link nodded. "You had me a little worried there, Leynne."
"I'd hoped to ask about this piece of cultural idiocy, actually."
"Oh." Link took a moment to think. "Well, some of these companies hire their own airships for transporting materials to other islands. I think that's how they guarantee that they receive part of the profits from sale outside of Might Island."
"Aaah," Leynne said. "Othehwise, a less-than-honest captain and crew might sell to anotheh location foh a higheh price. Granted, it isn't a faih deal, but it's still business. Once the ship has bought the goods, it should be theihs to do with as they please."
Link shrugged. "That's about as much as I can guess. I think my first captain had a similar problem… eh, but I was too young to care. I don't remember much of the problem."
"I suppose I undehstand it, but he should be demoted foh pooh taste."
Link nodded. "What about the map of the Sky Lines I asked you to pick up?"
"About as easy, really," Leynne admitted. "Most of the local cahtographehs had already disposed of theih maps of the Sky Lines just because the Sky Lines weh gone, but I managed to find a small shop on the otheh side of the poht that sold me one. Although, he was about as enthusiastic about selling it to me. Gave me a considerable discount, actually. I expect he regretted it when the whole island shook."
"I wouldn't be surprised," Link said. He started walking toward his cabin, and Leynne fell into step behind him. "How about a course?"
"I have one laid out, but theh was something I wanted to bring to youh attention befoh we set sail."
Link stopped and turned his head to him. "Yeah?"
Leynne pointed as he explained, "The Symphony has been hiding undeh the west side of the island. Afteh youh injuries weh fihst brought to ouh attention, I decided that the ship might be betteh hiding away from the centeh so as not to incuh any damage once the Sky Lines weh restohed."
"Okay…" Link said with a slow nod, unsure where the subject was leading.
"They witnessed the restoration of the Sky Lines from theh. Cale told me about a Sky Line that seems to go south quite close to the edge of the island and then cuhve towahd the east."
"You think we should take that to the next island?"
Leynne shrugged. "I can't be suh. I checked the map numerous times, but that pahticulah Sky Line isn't on it." Link just blinked at him. He was not sure of the relevance of a Sky Line that did not appear on a map, particularly because he knew that there were times when maps would not print right and would be sold on the cheap instead of being corrected.
Then Irleen popped out of his hat against Link's belief that she had been sleeping. "Wait, a new Sky Line appeared?" she asked Leynne.
"That was my assumption," Leynne said.
Link glanced up at her. "Is that important?"
"It could be," she said. "It probably means that another island somewhere nearby floated into range of Might Island when the Sky Lines were turned back on."
"An uncharted island…" Link commented. He shrugged. "It'd be interesting, a bit of an adventure."
"Pehhaps we should finish this adventuh fihst," Leynne said.
"But if there is a new island nearby," Irleen said, "it could be a good hiding spot if we get into too much trouble."
"As opposed to the trouble we'h in now?" Leynne asked.
"It's something to think about," Link said. "But, for now, we should focus on our objective. West Iron Island."
"I know it's not chahted," Leynne said, "but I wanted to suggest taking this new Sky Line. I happen to believe that it will bring us closeh to West Ihn Island considering Cale's description of what he had seen."
Link glanced out toward the west. Although he liked the prospect of losing pursuing vessels in an unknown Sky Line, he was not entirely sure he should be taking that sort of risk in light of their goals. He was about to tell Leynne to plot a course using the Sky Line to the north, which he felt certain would take them directly to West Iron Island. Then he remembered what Captain North's letter had said, that he had sent other Skyrider ships out to the closest islands in case he tried to run. That could include West Iron Island, in which case arriving by a different Sky Line would give any waiting vessels little notice of their arrival, especially since they probably could not monitor every Sky Line near the island.
"Okay," he said to Leynne. "Let's give it a try. But if we start moving in the wrong direction, we'll stop and return here. How are our supplies?"
"By my estimates," Leynne replied, "we have enough to last a month if necessary. The only problem I fohsee is a spontaneous lack of fuel foh the engine on account of ouh designated enemy of sobriety."
"Well, what do you expect him to do?" Irleen asked.
"Considering that he likes to hide his couch, pretty much anything. I'm thinking of nailing it to the deck."
"Just as long as it doesn't cause any problems," Link said. Then he noticed someone approaching from the corner of his eye and glanced over to see that it was Dholit. "Is something wrong?" he asked her.
"The othehs wanted me to heah the rest of the story," she explained with a smile. "It's tohtuah to deny a Gelto of a story of battle. When you have time, of couhse."
"Of course," Link agreed with a nod.
"Excuse me," Leynne said to Dholit, his tone sounding offended. "Wheh did you get that clothing?"
It was not until Leynne had said something that Link realized that Dholit had changed her outfit again. Her trousers looked to be a pair of black slacks with the legs cut off and replaced by red fabric that was much wider below the knees and then secured to her ankles. Her shirt was a crimson waistcoat maybe a size too large for her, exposing more of her collarbones, while the sleeves were made of the familiar, pink, transparent material that he regularly saw the Gelto wearing, which had been sewn into the waistcoat.
Dholit, seemingly in delight of Leynne's recognition, spun in place. "I expected My Captain to notice it fihst, but at least it was a man who spoke up," she said. "Do you like it?"
"Ah those my new shihts?" Leynne asked, pointing at her trousers.
"Hmmm… yes," she said with a teasing smile. "I found the material to be quite comfohtable."
"You destroyed my new shihts to make youhself a paih of trousehs," Leynne said. "Ah. You. Kidding."
"I only took a few select items," she told him. "They weh in the open, so I decided to liberate just a few of them."
"And the thread?"
Dholit took hold of the shoulder of her shirt and, leaning forward, held out the seam for him to see the white stitching. "Spah repaih materials foh the sails. Dubbl felt we could use them to mend and make ouh clothing. Afteh all, we cannot remain in the same clothing fohevah, Leynne. It's ratheh unfaih that we do not receive new clothing as well."
"I hadn't even the time to try those!" Leynne snapped. "What the hell is wrong with you!?"
"Whoa, whoa, hold it," Link said, stepping between them. "Before you guys start fighting. Dholit, no more stealing from Leynne. The pillow and whatever you have now is the last of it."
"Will My Captain punish me if I do it again?" she asked.
"I'll lock you in a room with Sello."
Dholit's face blanked, probably the only reaction he had ever gotten out of her which she could not pervert in her usual way. "Oh. My, you really do mean to punish me."
"I do, Dholit. So no more."
She sighed. "Oh, well. At least I got some decent clothing out of my crime."
"Not so fast," Link said as she made to turn. "In the event that we do manage to get out of this situation, you owe him some new shirts, to his liking, the same number of shirts you stole from him."
She blinked at him several times, looking particularly dumbfounded. "O-okay."
"Return to your duties."
"Aye aye, My… Captain." Dholit appeared a little haunted, and she looked uncomfortable as she walked away.
"Wow," Irleen commented. "Am I the only one who heard the whip snap?"
"That… did seem ratheh easy," Leynne said. "She seemed especially compliant when you mentioned locking heh in a room with Sello."
"You know," Link said, turning back to Leynne. "I have to admit… that felt kinda nice."
"I wouldn't get used to it, though," Leynne said in a lower voice. "It's only a matteh of time befoh she finds a way to abuse that kind of attitude."
Link sighed. "Yeah, I know." He nodded toward the bow. "Get ready to take us out."
Leynne made a small show of a salute with his left hand, not waiting for Link to dismiss it as he replied, "Aye, sih."