One Too Many

Adanita slammed the door of her cabin open. The clanging sounds of Lilac stumbling to weakly pick up his sword made her roll her eyes. What a pathetic sight. The man calmed down seeing it was only her and laid back down, barely any less pale than last night.

Teo closed the door behind him in a more reasonable manner. She sat down at her table while he slowly limped after her.

"So-"
"Pour me a drink first. Then we can talk."
He sighed and went to get them some glasses and some proper booze.
"I trust it went well?" Lilac weakly asked from her bed.
"You be quiet. Everybody hates you right now," she replied.
"So, it was all pinned on me?"
"Who else?" she asked. She downed the glass and shooed Teo off to help the man. He helped him sit up and gave him medicine of his own making, paired with tea and a light meal. Some color returned to his face after he started eating.

"Talk to me, Teo. What's the situation?" she asked.
"Deteriorated while I was gone," he said. "Not beyond repair, but we need to start working on it. That little stunt from Lilac last night certainly didn't help."
"I didn't-"
His objections were silenced with Teo giving him a slice of orange. "The people in the city are worried, Nita. If you don't address it, you will have a proper opposition forming. It could easily get out of hand again, and I don't think even Lord Governor would be able to help. You are a Baroness now, you practically allied yourself with Bretonia. You own this city in every way. People will get antsy if you don't show them you're still one of them. I know our long term plans, but we need to think about now before we can get to them."
"You've been talking to Lord Secretary," she said.
"Leica is a knowledgeable man. It is a shame he keeps to the Governor's shadow. At least his talents aren't wasted, I suppose."
"Can you handle this?"
"Of course I can," he said. "However, this time words won't be enough to pacify the people. I need some things from you, Nita."

She leaned back in her seat, encouraging him to continue.
"You will need to hold a few speeches. Remind the people what you're doing. And you aren't like the nobility, so I want you to mingle with the people as much as you can when you aren't working. Involve the people. Listen to their troubles. Look for solutions together. That's the first thing," he said. "Secondly... there has been a rush of people moving in. With the factory you're opening, other pirates starting businesses, newcomers are here looking for work. I spoke to your lover, too. The infrastructure we have needs to be finished. The bare minimum is sewers running through every home. After that, we need water pipes. The shacks need to be torn down, people accommodated while proper houses are built. I can't keep on top of this myself anymore. I am running out of men. We are running out of space. We will have an outbreak of some disease sooner or later if we don't get to this now. And the third thing." He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it back out of his face. "The third... The people of the city need to be represented in the Captains' Court."

Adanita pinched the bridge of her nose.

"So you need skilled workers," she started. "We can buy or trade for materials. I believe we should hire a few engineers for your projects, Rosamund would probably have some recommendations, and the rest of them should be our own people."
"I don't see an issue with that. We should have a few of our own engineers, too. Somewhere among the people who came in. I'll look for them first, and then you can ask him."
"Alright. And the disease? Is that what got you to suggest the Church getting involved without a forewarning?"
"Ah. Sorry about that," he said. "Aye. That and, well. The devil issue. It's after him. As is the Duchess. I suppose if we really must host him, we better have some proper safeguards. I can't win against a devil, Nita. Only priests and Saints can. It didn't even kill anyone, and look at the chaos it caused. Imagine the destruction it could bring about if it comes again."
"Hah. What were you even trying to do with that thing?" she asked Lilac.

He set his cup down and carefully straightened out in her bed. Nobleman to the core, as eccentric as he was. "I was trying to run some experiments on it. I wanted to see if it could be hurt or even killed."
"And how did that go for you?"
"...poorly. It caught up to me before my preparations were fully complete. Although, considering what happened to me, I don't think I'd ever have been properly prepared."
"So you two expected something like this might happen?"
"There were some hints..." he said. "Rose mentioned it was spying on me, too. He saw some of its traces on me a few times even before it showed itself the first time. I wasn't sure it would come for me, of course, but I combined preparations to protect myself with studying your situation in general. I thought I could handle it. I was wrong. I knew it could come, and I allowed you to accommodate me in the middle of your city. I was arrogant." He clenched his fists, angrily looking away.

Adanita supposed this was the closest they would get to an apology.

"And? Did you get anything out of it?" she asked.
"A hypothesis," he said.
"Right. What is it?"
"I can't say."
"I suppose tying a rope to your ankle and throwing you overboard til you speak would be poor form."
"Give it a try. See what happens," he snarled.
"Rosamund would be sad," she said. "And that is the only reason why I'll let you be."
"Ah, yes. The two of you are lovers now."
"Aye, we are. Got a problem with that?"
"Only with his lack of standards. Should I challenge you to a duel now, or after you hurt him?"
"I always say if a man can lift his sword, he can fight me on the spot. Wanna have a go?"
"Might as well," he said, reaching for his zweihander. "You called him your love, and he flinched. What did you do to him?" His face was breaking out in red spots in anger. She supposed that was a way to return some color to him, too. She poured herself another drink, reaching deep for at least a smidge of patience for dealing with this prick.

"Want a demonstration?" she asked.

The man let out a primordial scream, jumping out of bed with his sword in hand. He got halfway across the room before his energy ran out. He fell to his knees, barely grabbing onto her table to not drop on the floor. Adanita downed her glass. Both brothers, she decided, were incredible idiots. Lilac was still tightly holding his sword, using it for additional support, but she was hardly frightened of an injured man who couldn't even walk. She got up, went around her table, and knelt to meet his eyes on the same level.

"Yer readin' too much into things, Alchemist," she quietly said. "He's frightened and unwell, any little thing could've set 'im off. Who knows wha's goin' on in tha' head of his. Yer pathetic, an' if I were you, I'd be wonderin' why is it my brother confessed feelings to a woman the same night he sent me away. Bet it has nothin' to do wi' th' way yer actin' right now."

His eyes widened and his face went pale again. Issue resolved, then. She waved to Teo and went to take her seat again. "Get him back to bed, Teo. Where were we?"
"He refused to tell his hypothesis," he helpfully reminded her, pulling him up on his feet.
"Ah, right. What is the hypothesis, Honorable?"
"I can't say," he repeated. "I don't share speculation."
"Fine. How do we confirm it, then?"
"I... do not know." He winced in pain when Teo put him back in her bed. "It's not something I can freely say without any proof. And I do not know what the proof is. I need to speak to Rose."
"Sure. I'll leave the orb by your bed before I leave."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome," she said. "Teo, did he injure himself?"
"Not as far as I can see."
"Good."

Back to the previous issue, then. She just needed a few more moments to think. Teo tending to Lilac all over again provided her the opportunity. She stared at the empty glass in her hand, pondering her options and the future. Her future... Rosamund...

Why did you flinch?

Was he afraid of her all along after all? Was it the familiarity around other people that bothered him? The devil shook him up deeply, but was there more to it? Or was it just something unrelated... She was overthinking again. She shouldn't allow dark thoughts to return. Rosamund would be sad. They will talk when she returns and it will all be alright again. She will kiss him and he will chase away the clouds in her mind.

"Where do you propose we find priests who wouldn't start a literal witch hunt in my city?" she asked.
"Ah. Not Bretonia. Or Franacs... actually, nowhere where the Church has its claws. There are lands that worship the sleeping gods without being fanatical about it."
"We don't have contacts in those countries, Teo. Unless you want to try and find the few sane priests among those at the Church. I suppose those two Rosamund found in Hipparcos are alright..."
"I will look into it. I'll find someone. We have a few dozen mages in the city, there has to be at least one Saint somewhere in here, too."
"Alright. I'll allow it if you manage to talk it out without them tying you to a stake."
"But you'll save me if they tie me to a stake, right?" he asked with a smile.
She didn't bother to respond to that, ignoring his attempt to lighten the mood.

"Why do you think the citizens need representation? Most of the people here associate themselves with one of the crews," she said.
"Aye," he agreed. "But they don't actively serve 'em. Or vote for the Captains. You're setting yourself up to fail. They're traders and criminals, and both. They're all interested in gaining full independence, but once the common goal is achieved, they'll split off and only look out for themselves. As long as the city has docks and craftsmen, they won't give a damn about anything else. Some might. But that's too few."
"Hah." She could see the merit to his suggestion. "It would require two-thirds of the people agreeing to this. How many people representing the city would you have?"
He shrugged. "As many as there are Captains. It would make things fair."
Ah, so his head was all up in the clouds. And he told her she was insane when they were starting this. "We'll need a way to stop people from voting both for a Captain and for a citizen," she said. "Perhaps a new census. Whoever aligns with a Captain will participate in voting for the Captain. Unaligned get to pick their own representatives in the court."
"That works. Think you can make it happen?"
"No, but I will try. We'll see what can be done."
"Good enough. We need to take our time with this, Nita. It might take us months to get to where I want us to be. I don't think we should leave for other lands before the first of our men finish their quick course education."

Months...

Adanita stared out her window, looking at the ships in her harbor. Months, cooped up in here, trying to fight the tides of people and opinions. Push things in the right direction, work day and night without a moment to spare for herself. Adriana will need months to return with all those ingredients, too. And she needed to start looking for other things the Earl requested.

She felt as if her time was running out rapidly, while the world was turning ever so slowly. Stuck in place with the future inevitably coming for her.

Who knew when she'd get to see Rosamund again?


"Aye," she quietly agreed.