Advent of Eternity - Chapter 13 (Patreon)

“What do you want?” Jasneh asked, not even bothering to shift her hat.

“A short trip,” Knell replied. “Ten gold for it. Three passengers.”

Jasneh nudged her hat back, revealing two stark green eyes and a short scar running from her nose to the left edge of her lip.

“That’s not a whole lot of coin. Where’s the location?”

Knell pulled the paper he’d taken from the Ruler’s mansion out and handed it to Jasneh. She let her feet fall from the table and leaned forward, grabbing the paper from him and scanning over it.

“Three days, there and back with the fastest route,” Jasneh said. “But that isn’t happening.”

“Why not?” Knell asked.

“The fastest route passes straight through merfolk territory. Skirting around them would take an extra five days, and I’m not doing an eight day trip for ten gold.”

Knell frowned and rubbed his chin. “Merfolk generally only attack people on the top of ships, don’t they? We could hide below deck for a little if they show up.”

Jasneh snorted. “Sure, if you want them to rip my ship apart because they didn’t get a sacrifice. My skipper would only attract one or two of the slimy bastards, but their claws are more than enough to tear the sails apart and cut up any ropes they can get to. They’ll keep at it until one of us goes up there and they claim their meal.”

“Only one or two?” Knell asked. “Then that’s no problem. I’ll handle them.”

“Cute. You going to offer yourself up to them as bait? You’re so small the merfolk might still be hungry after they finish eating you.”

“I’m serious,” Knell said. “If I deal with the merfolk, will you take us?”

Jasneh leaned forward, the humor sliding from her face. “Do you want to die, boy? How would you deal with the merfolk’s siren song? They’ve drowned more sailors than anyone could ever remember. The sea isn’t a playground for pampered fools.”

“What’s it matter to you?” Knell asked. “If they kill me, your ship will be fine because they’ll have had their meal. You can just turn around and sail away once they leave. You’ll have ten gold to clean the blood off your decks.”

Jasneh pressed her lips together and studied Knell’s face. “You really think you can deal with them? You got some fancy Path or something?”

“None of your concern,” Knell replied. “Either I deal with the merfolk and we make the trip or you get an easy ten gold. A fair deal, no?”

Jasneh grunted. “Let’s see that coin.”

A grin stretched across Knell’s lips and he pulled five gold from his bag, placing it on the table in front of the woman.

“This is only five.”

“You’ll get the other half once we set off,” Knell said. “When do we leave?”

“Tomorrow,” Jasneh replied. “My ship is the Foamrunner. It’s at the far side of the docks. Be there before sunrise or I’m taking your gold.”

Knell inclined his head and pushed himself out of the chair with his staff. He headed over to the bartender, rejoining Stix to buy a room for the night.

***

The following morning, Knell and Stix found themselves sitting on Jasneh’s skipper. The ship had clearly once been beautiful, but the ravages of time had taken their toll on it. Its paint was chipped and faded, and the wood had been almost completely bleached white.

Despite that, the ship’s structure seemed to be sound and the sails were well kept. The two of them climbed aboard and they were off before they could even get settled down.

Chrisford soon faded into the early morning horizon behind them, and the only sound was the creak of the wood under their feet and the lap of the calm ocean against their boat. Knell drew in a deep breath, enjoying the smell of the salty, fresh air.

“You’ve got good sea legs for a cripple,” Jasneh said from behind the wheel. “Were you a sailor?”

Knell grunted. He tapped his staff on the deck, then walked along the edge of the ship, testing the wood.

“At one point. Your manners tell me exactly what field you’re in, though,” Knell said, his lips curling up. “Smuggler, are you?”

“Of course not,” Jasneh replied smoothly. “What makes you think that?”

Knell hooked his staff under a floor board and pried it open. It swung smoothly, revealing a small empty space beneath the deck.

Jasneh narrowed her eyes and Knell pushed the floorboard back into position. It closed with a snap, blending in as if it had never been there.

“How’d you know?” Jasneh asked. She shifted so that Knell could get a better glance at the scimitar at her hip.

“Don’t worry, I couldn’t care less,” Knell said, raising a hand. “And it’s because the rest of this thing creaks like an old tavern maid making money on the side. This floorboard didn’t. You made your security too good, and that wrapped back around.”

Jasneh cocked an eyebrow. “Well aren’t you clever. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I think he just likes showing off,” Stix complained, peering over the edge of the ship and marveling at the ocean. “Don’t feed his ego or his head might pop.”

“This guy? Nah,” Jasneh said, shaking her head. “His head popped long ago, I think. The only thing left in him is ego.”

Knell laughed and sat down against the mast, bracing himself against the deck with his staff. “I can’t argue with that. Now where’s the food? I’m starving.”

Jasneh nodded at the stairs that led to the tight quarters below deck. Knell chewed his lower lip. “Never mind. I just sat down. I’m not that hungry.”

“I am,” Stix said, pushing away from the railing and sauntering down the hatch. It would have been considerably more impressive had she not nearly fallen over half a dozen times in the process.