Little Talks

After they picked up all their items from the beach, Adanita confidently led the way onward.
Rosamund limped after her. She was leading them through the sparse palm trees towards the rocky hill in the middle of the island. She seemed to be familiar with this place, while he found it hard to keep his balance in the dark. Especially once they started climbing the solid rock. It was just steep and sharp enough to be inviting a twisted ankle.
Rosamund was exhausted from everything he had to go through today, but he didn't complain. He was too focused on not tripping on the ground. How big could this island even be? Where could she be leading them?

Into a cave, apparently.

She walked into an opening in the stone near the peak of the rock. He followed her inside with his hand trailing the stone wall of the cave. After a bit, the wall was no more, and he found himself inside what he presumed was a room. He carefully walked on. After a few steps he bumped into something wooden.

A table.

Perfect. He officially became a prisoner uncovered a pirate hideaway.

Adanita was also feeling around in the dark, presumably looking for a torch or some similar source of light, mumbling something to herself. He squinted his eyes in an attempt to make something out in the dark, and to his surprise, he was growing more and more accustomed to this darkness. There was a gentle glow coming from a small hole in the wall furthest away from him. Could the pirate not see it? No, she was still trudging around and bumping into various items laying around this frankly unkept place.
Magic, then?
Did they have a magical light source installed into this place? How many mages could a pirate fleet even have, to be able to afford something like that? He made his way to the source of the light, and it was a small rock with some sort of enchanted writing on it. Feeling around it with his fingers, he realized it could be moved around a magic circle that was carved into the wall.

This was advanced. What in the world was this place? It had an entire complex magical mechanism behind all this, and he struggled to see what would happen if he moved it into the centers of the two other circles it could be slid into. A source of light was one thing, he could easily tell that much for the first circle, but the second one was a complete mystery. The magic thread led straight into the ceiling where he couldn't see it anymore. Was this some form of a self-destruct mechanism? In a pirate hideout? They weren't secret agents, this was absurd. For now, he slid the rock into the circle that would light up the room.

Ah.

Adanita was feeling the wall a few steps away. She blinked a few times from the sudden light emanating from the ceiling and smiled. "You found it! Great." He moved away from her as she headed for the circle and slid the rock all the way to the other circle.
"What did you just do?" he asked.
"This is a lighthouse," she said. "I'm shining the beacon so people know we're here. Someone should come and look for me sooner or later."
"How did you know this place was here?"
"It belongs to me. My predecessor got it from the Franacs as a gift after a naval battle."
Did she mean they occupied the island? He couldn't tell. "I see."
"We don't need it in service all year round. We only light it up for navigation when we know we'll have visitors from the outside." She put her hands on her hips, looking around the room. It was in a pretty sorry state, with playing cards, broken glass, and various pieces of trash littering the floor. There were also four simple wooden chairs, one of which was broken in a corner, several dusty chests by the walls and a large wooden table in the middle of the room. Two narrow beds stuck into the corner of the room looked uncomfortable and dirty, the blankets and sheets were in a mess and hanging over on the stone floor. It looked like there had been a fight here, but it could've also been the time it spent uninhabited that drove it to this state. "I'll beat up whoever left it like this."
"When was it last active?" he asked.
"Oh, maybe two or three months ago? I don't remember anymore... It should start warming up soon. Perhaps I should have you clean up."
"You are quite a riot," he said. He put his poor coat over one chair and held onto the table. To have a seat or not? With how exhausted he was, he could see himself falling asleep immediately. He still had work to do, though. Gotta stay up.
"And you don't seem to understand your situation, mister unconditional surrender." She sat down on another chair, putting her feet up on the table. "Ah, I see the broom over there." He followed her finger. The broom was indeed on the ground where she pointed. Snapped in half.

Hilarious.

He wasn't laughing.

She raised her hands in defeat. "Fine, at least pass me a bottle. There should still be some supplies in the chests."
He let out a sigh. He supposed he could do this much for someone who fished him out of the sea. And if he was correct, the bottle she was referring to would be some strong alcohol. Perfect for an interrogation. It may be inadmissible in court, but from his experience, people were less likely to lie when they were well under influence.
He had experience on how to get people to talk that was longer than this woman was alive.
This will be a piece of cake.

First chest he checked was empty, unfortunately, but he noticed there were enchantments on the inside to keep it cool. How in the world did they have such high grade equipment?! Just how rich was this woman?!
Strongly considering piracy as a future career option, he opened the next chest. No enchantment this time, but there were bullets inside, and next to it was a barrel of gunpowder. What a tragedy it was he didn't have his flintlocks with him.
No matter.
The third chest finally had some bottles in it. He could see some were broken or at least cracked, and the smell of booze made him cover his nose. Mmmhm, this was high grade. And mostly either spilled or drank by the previous pirate group. He could still see there was a bottle or two underneath it all. After a moment of hesitation, he decided he wouldn't dig around the glass with his bare hands, and instead went to get his coat. With his hand now safely wrapped in the fabric, he moved the glass shards out of the way until he found an undamaged bottle. Perfect. And since there was no food, she was sure to get properly hammered.

Her eyes were following him as he moved around the room, and she extended her hand when he finally found her a drink. He gave her the bottle and spread out his poor coat over the table on the opposite end. Perhaps it will dry by tomorrow.
She offered him the bottle after removing the cork, and he shook his head. "I had enough to drink today."
"Suit yourself."
And he did, sitting down on his chair a proper distance away from her while she drank straight from the bottle. Sitting too close would be off-putting, while sitting on the opposite end of the table would make a conversation impossible. Sitting on the side near her was perfect. He quietly watched her drink.

To summarize:
He was in the company of a woman who immediately knew who he was without a prior meeting. She knew in whose company he was before their unfortunate near-death experience. She knew the island she was on immediately, and that it was deserted. She told him this island's lighthouse lights up when necessary - specifically when they had visitors which would usually be quite an important matter - but she didn't remember when that last happened. Finally, she seemed to have a completely wrong idea of who was in charge of the ships when they were on the sea.

If she had spies, they wouldn't have given her the wrong information like that. And they wouldn't have the time to give it to her between the battle and the two of them almost drowning.
If she didn't know when the last time this lighthouse was active, that would mean she wasn't actively overseeing it. How did she know that there would've been nobody but the two of them here?

It was time to build a case. How nostalgic.


"So, which battle did you get this island from?" he asked.
"Are you fishing for a story?" she asked in return.
"Perhaps, to pass the time. Unless you only want to talk to the bottle."
"Hah! You'd say you're better company than that?"
"Marginally," he said.
"Hmm... Why not. It was some twenty-five years ago I think? No, it's closer to twenty now, maybe. Franac ships battling Bretonians. We were working on gaining more land and your colonies were in the way, so we had a bit of a polite understanding with the Franacs. When their two merchant ships and three accompanying schooners got ambushed on their way south, you really did a number on them. We saw the battle in the distance and opened fire on Bretonians."
"Oh?" he said.
"Aye. I was just a lass back then, cleaning the decks. I was this tall, maybe," she said. She held her hands showing what Rosamund presumed was a barely-a-teenager height. "All I had when we started boarding was a pair of daggers. We sank one man o war, but Captain ordered the other one be captured. The Franacs were busy cleaning up the rest of your little fleet, so we could throw the hooks and board safely." She smiled, reminiscing. "That ship raised the white flag, you see. The other man o war didn't, so we sank her. But these guys were scared properly. Their captain was shaking in his boots before our Captain. He ordered them all to board the lifeboats and left them in the sea. He lifted me up and let me sit on his shoulders when he took the ship's wheel. He was so happy." She laughed at the memory and drank a bit more. "We took that ship, and it's now my flagship. Her name before was Her Majesty's Ship Veritas, but I renamed her Vivienne when I was elected Queen. Even the previous Queen and King loved her the most."
"But, this island?" he asked.
"Ah, right. The Franacs' merchants were apparently carrying a cargo of coffee beans and vanilla. Worth double its weight in gold, at the very least. We didn't know that at the time, but if we did, we'd have robbed them. Instead, the Franac Republic declared this is now our island. It was already on the outskirts of our city, maybe thirty miles out? We had our sights on it. The King accepted it."
Hmm... what a story. And if this was truly that close to the heart of the Free Pirate Republic of Hannau, then the beacon she lit would only call forth more pirates. Being rescued from this rock would be appreciated, but he'd prefer if it were his men doing the rescuing.

No matter. Just keep her talking.

"Did you like the story?" she asked.
"I was just thinking," he said. "I think I do remember some of this from when I was a teen- a young man. It was the gossip of the Capital. The Captain you mentioned was fished out along with the men. You left them on rescue boats with enough water, straight out along the trade route. They were easy to find. He was a laughingstock for months."
"Really? What a shame. I hope he retired from sailing, then."
"He was demoted. He was lucky his noble status prevented him from being sent out to prison. Or the plantations."
"There we go." She brightly smiled at that. "I hope you don't expect me to feel sorry for a nobleman," she added.
"I suppose he got off lightly compared to me," he said.
"Quite. You'll stay alive, don't worry. I have a purpose for you," Adanita promised.
"I figured as much, yes. I don't see why." She only shrugged, but it's not as if he expected an answer just yet. "Have we met before?"

"No."

AHA! SHE HESITATED!
"Figured as much," Rosamund said. "If you were a pirate all your life, we'd really not have much of a chance to meet." Not a nobleman's illegitimate daughter. They never met. How did she know, then?!
"Aye. Until now, that is. How did a man like you even become the Governor?" she asked.
"A man like me?"
"Well you're not exactly, you know..." She waved a hand in his general direction. "I'd say impressive. Is it your family influence?"
"Quite rude to assume something like that, don't you think? An accusation like that is almost as serious as your other one."
"I told you a story," she complained.
He put his elbows on the table and leaned on it, thinking. A fair exchange like this could work to drop her guard even more. He didn't see why not.

"Have you heard of the Verlice Experiment?" he asked. She was a sailor, perhaps she did.
"That was with that Captain... Misa Verlice?"
"Mislav. But yes. She was the most important figure in it, considering she was the one who actually performed it... She had thousands of wooden cubes painted in various colors and released into the sea on various locations."
"Hah! I was remembering correctly. We used that to map out the currents in these parts as well."
"Yes, correct. Well, that idea to use wooden bricks like that came from me. Easy to mass-produce. If they are colored, we can have people easily spot them on the beach. Offer a small monetary reward to people who find them and we can easily figure out the currents in the ocean. Repeat it seasonally, and the maps only get more and more accurate."
She stared at him as if he was mad. "You're lying."
"No, I am not. I presented the idea before Her Highness, and she put me in charge of organizing it. I left the budgeting to my secretary and spent the rest of the time planning out the entire process. Captain Verlice was of invaluable assistance, she decided which colors and the type of wood would be most suited for this. She picked the places where it would be released. She worked on the recovery. She explained the process to numerous other captains from five different countries, while I was negotiating with their governments. It was a massive undertaking."
A project that required cooperation that was completely unheard of in this world. Not to mention they were in the state of war with half of the countries involved. The months long diplomatic discussions were the worst experience he had on both worlds, if we didn't include him dying back on Earth. Getting everyone to agree to give the data for processing alone required three different treaties that had him swear on his mother's grave (even though she was still alive) that all the finished maps would be given to all the participating countries. But he wasn't here to bore her.
"Spreading the word of it to the people, all those governments setting money aside for it. And in the end, we all benefited from the knowledge. Even you, apparently." He held his hand out. After a moment of looking at it with a blank face, she finally remembered and passed the bottle to him.
He took a very careful sip and immediately regretted it.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"Quite." If he were ever to drink an industrial cleaning liquid, he was sure it would taste like this. He returned the bottle to her, well aware how red he was in the face.

She took it back and took another sip from it, eyeing him suspiciously. "But you're not a sailor. Or something."
What, should he explain to her the optics of a tanker ship accidentally releasing about thirty thousand rubber ducks into the Pacific, and oceanographers tracking them down in the Arctic thirteen years later? She'd think he's insane before he even manages to explain what a rubber duck is.
He shrugged. "Anyone can have a good idea. The reward for mine was to bring it to reality. And then the next reward was a job. And a task to arrest you."
"But if it was your experiment, wouldn't your name be on it?"
"I only helped," he repeated. "Captain Verlice was the one who did it. She produced the wood, she collected the data, she drew the maps along with her crew and with other captains. I did not do much of work on the process of it myself. She deserves her name to be on it."
"But still. I thought you were some pompous fool. That they sent you away here so that your little brother can work on becoming the Earl. If your name was on it..."

A-ha.

Language such as this can only come from the highest grade gossip during the peak of the social season.
"Earl Alsop en la Dale should be an alchemist. I have no talent for magical arts," he said. Keep it cool, keep it cool.
"Really?" she asked. "But if your story is true, you're very competent. It's strange you don't even stand a chance. Even if he is an alchemist, this is still..."

Keep it cool, keep it cool. "And what do you know of Lilac?" he interrupted her.

Silence.

"Not much. I know he is to be the next Earl, while they have their firstborn here and well," she cautiously said.

"That is a very strange tidbit of knowledge for a pirate to have. Have you been to the Capital recently?"

Silence.

"No. I've not been there yet."

What in the world was this woman hiding? Time to go on the offensive.
"While we're at that, how did you know that I was the Governor, back at the beach? Have we met before?"

"No."

"Really? And how did you know whose company I was in?"

"I didn't-"

"You did. You knew I was with the Vice Admiral and that the Captains sent out a warning before we entered the storm. And you seem to be full of strange gossip about me and my family. Where did you hear all of that?"

"I didn't!"

"And what of this island? How did you know there would be nobody in this hideout when you didn't even know when was the last time somebody was here?"

"Oh you- you are-" She began to get up, and so did he. Is it going to be another fight? Now that she had drank almost the entire bottle, perhaps he could manage a way out of this. Somehow!

"You cannot expect me to idly sit by while you spout all that nonsense about me! To have the gall to call me pompous and disgraceful to my face! And how dare you bring my brother into this?! Who do you think you are?!" he shouted.

She slammed her fist into the table and he stepped away from her, vividly aware she was the one with weapons.

"You... you are far more perceptive than I expected you would be," she said. "I apologize for underestimating you."

Thank you. It was my job once. He, however, did not say it out loud.

It seemed she was trying to contain herself, taking slow and deep breaths.
"Is there any use lying to you?" she asked.

"You are allowed to try," he said calmly.

"Hah!" She finally calmed herself down enough to have a seat. Her orange eyes were piercing him like knives. He didn't feel quite safe enough to sit down as well, though.
"And would you believe me if I told you what I do know?" she asked.

"It depends. I only believe the truth." He had so much more he wished he said. That the position of a Governor was a prize to him, that he hoped he could use it to make the world at least a little bit of a better place. That he loved Lilac deeply and that he was proud of every accomplishment he ever did. If he dies now, what will become of him? His little brother had nothing to do with any of this, and yet this woman was mentioning him like it was nothing. She knew his entire family! Even if it was through the lens of some disgusting misinformation - she knew!! The situation he was in was far, far more dangerous than what he thought, if she could just... just say all that. He was beyond livid, but he needed to stay calm and continue this charade, until this criminal excuse for a human finally tells him what in the seven hells was going on.

"Hah," she said. "You're a real piece of work."

She was almost there. He could tell from decades of experience - this was the behavior of someone who was debating whether or not to say the truth. He waited to see what it would be in her case.

She let out a tired sigh and crossed her arms.


"I know all this, because it has already happened once," she said. "And last time we were here, I killed you."


His legs gave out.

The cold, dirty stone floor of the cave greeted Rosamund as he passed out.