Dealing With It

Drowning.

Arms grabbing onto him, chaining him up, dragging him deeper and deeper, his lungs filling up with disgusting, muddy brackish water, the burning in his veins as blood turns to acid, the pain-



Rosamund woke up, frozen in bed. His eyes were wide open. He was tightly gripping the bed sheets. Alive.

Breathing.

He was alive. Breathe in. Breathe out.


Alive.


His bed was rocking.
Right, he was on a ship. Adanita's ship. Captain Vervain, with whom he spoke last night. He was alive. Everything was alright, and he wasn't drowning. He wasn't. His heart was beating loud enough he could hear it in his ears. The ship was in the sea, but docked. He wasn't drowning. He was fine.

Slowly, he relaxed his muscles. His breathing and heartbeat slowed, and he could move again. He didn't know whether he should curse Teodolit for reminding him several times, or Adanita who shared her lovely experience of dying by hanging. Or both, or himself. His nightmare, his fault. Or at least his brain's.
How long was he sleeping, anyway? He was still tired, but he didn't want to go back to the nightmare now that it was almost guaranteed he'd repeat it. If he got here around six... it looked like midday... A few hours, then. Good enough, he decided.

He pushed himself up, feeling dizzy.

Good enough.

Time to get dressed and get to work. He needed to find that man, Teodolit. He needed his tea. And food, too. He remembered just now that he had no money on him.

As he was getting dressed, his dizziness was slowly passing, leaving him only tired. His back was still all pain, but he was feeling better too. Maybe he shouldn't work just yet today... it's important to rest, after all. Or maybe it could be used as a welcome distraction.

In just a moment longer.
He wasn't quite ready to go out into the world just yet, was he? His hands were shaking slightly.

It wasn't appropriate to be seen like this.

He started pacing around the cabin, picking up little trinkets every now and then, before setting them down. An ornate dagger with gems embedded into the hilt and the sheath, purely form and no function. He checked, it was dull. A large musket with fine silver filigree details. He picked it up - it was a real weapon, beautifully crafted. It probably belonged to a nobleman once, and he could see initials carved into the metal. Something like this isn't given as a gift...
No need to dwell on that. He set it down where he found it and moved on to a beautiful necklace that almost bordered on kitsch with the amount of gems embedded into it. All real stones, from what he could tell. It wasn't even placed into a box. Then, a pearly veil, hanging on the wall. It seemed the fabric was silk. A beautiful bixbite cravat pin, forgotten in the corner of a shelf. He was almost tempted by it, to be honest.

And a massive map on the wall.

Now, this was new. He has seen maps of the world before, of course, but few had such fine details that they'd, for example, show pirate hideouts in the archipelago on them. He studied their locations for a bit, before finally moving onto the bigger picture.

Let's see.

Getting from Hipparcos, his city, to Hannau Cove took him about two days of roundabout travel. Three, if we include half a day he spent drowning and being stranded on an island. The Teuta archipelago in the middle of the ocean stood almost equidistant to three continents. It always felt strange to him to see such similar names for countries in this world, but have them look so completely unfamiliar. Bretonia and Franac Republic being on two peninsulas, with a gap between them which led towards an inner sea, whose islands were occupied by Mletak Republic, and inland belonging to Eastern Empire... every one of these, at war with everyone... Further north, scattered city-states, further east, another powerful kingdom, to the south the Karpathians who held the single land bridge to the second continent, farther in the south...
And secret pirate hideouts scattered on every coast that was shown. He suspected that those faraway pirates didn't exactly fall under Adanita's proverbial crown. Or a hat? There was no way anyone, not even Adanita, could manage an entire world's pirate population. No, these pirates would come to the Cove and do business here, perhaps, just like other merchants and noblemen. Teodolit mentioned they had their own hideouts if they didn't follow the Codex, and that almost certainly applied to the pirates who weren't living anywhere near the Cove too. Why should someone half a world away follow Adanita's orders, after all?

He was satisfied with the map and wandered off. How many more little trinkets and precious gems could she have around here? Quite a lot, and if he spent more time snooping through her things, he'd waste an entire day. He couldn't afford that, he was hungry. He had work to do.

It was time to go.

He left the ugly cobwebs in his mind behind as he exited onto the sunlit deck.

The day really was beautiful.

...

And thanks to someone who got him talking about his work again, he spent the rest of the day doing absolutely nothing of use. Teodolit did let him know that Adanita wrote a diary of the events as soon as she woke up that fateful day, so it wasn't a complete waste of time. Rosamund asked him to tell her that he'd like to read it. There may be some missed details, or some new information that he needed. He also informed him that he will need to send some letters, as well as receive a response or few. He was promised that the elusive spymaster will handle that.


The next day, he woke up to another nightmare, but he also finally got to work. He decided he should still be taking it easy, and just sat at Adanita's table for some time, carefully reading the diary Teodolit got him during their lunch. This time, he didn't allow him to get him to start talking.
Small victories.

The first enemy he had to deal with was, to his honest surprise, Vice Admiral Khamil. He wasn't yet sure how to approach it, but with some information on his plans, it was enough to get him to start writing a letter to Nivelir.
Vice Admiral's motives were currently unknown to him, but he led them into a storm, severely damaged three out of their five ships, and then accused him - with the support of other Captains - claiming he was the one who gave them those orders. On account of him being dead, and there being no other evidence, his family fell from grace as rumors ruined his entire reputation.

How quickly the tide shifts in the court of public opinion...

In either case, assuming that the ships suffered more or less identical damage this time around, he was about to be in hot water. He needed evidence, and he needed the other Captains to turn on Khamil, or on each other. His first step was therefore simple and straightforward.

Dear Nivelir, he wrote, using his real handwriting. His secretary was a very careful man. He'd need several pieces of evidence that it was Rosamund who wrote the letter, and unfortunately, his signet ring stayed behind in Hipparcos. I am alive and well. I am currently staying in Hannau Cove, and I am unable to give you more details about the situation I have found myself in. I command you immediately detain the Captains of all ships that Vice Admiral Khamil and I sailed out on, as I need to interrogate them upon my return. Seek out connections between Khamil and Duchess Almukantarat, as well as their connections to the detained Captains. You must do so in secret. I also need you to send the other letter you will receive to my brother in Bretonia. It is of utmost importance you follow my instructions immediately. Please forgive me and understand that I cannot tell you more at this time. You may send a reply with the messenger who delivers this. I will come back soon.

He signed the letter and borrowed Adanita's letter opener. The sharp little dagger was more than enough to carefully cut off a lock of his hair, which he placed into the envelope along with the paper. He sealed it in wax, with a plain stamp instead of using any of Adanita's symbols. He didn't want to give the poor man a heart attack, after all.

His used of the letter opener for one more thing, he prickled his thumb for a single drop of blood. This was a letter of utmost urgency, and he will have it treated as such.

The other letter was for Lilac.

Dear Lilac, immediately leave Bretonia and find your way to my manor in Hipparcos, he wrote. Avoid Duchess Dorotea Almukantarat at all costs. Pack and leave as soon as this letter finds you. Send my love and greetings to our parents. I will be home soon.

He repeated the whole process of preparing the letter for the second time, including the drop of blood. The letter will take a month to reach him once it leaves Nivelir's hands, but better late than never. Hopefully, by the time Lilac gets to Hipparcos, he will be there to greet him and tell him all that has transpired.

What a mess, what a mess. Random thoughts mixed with the bits of conversation with Adanita swirled in his head in absolute disarray.
He was done with his work, he needed a break. He intensively stared at the large map of the world, as if he could crush the landmasses closer with his mind and get Lilac to come here sooner.

He was getting lost in thought. The letters needed to be sent, it would take them about a day to reach Hipparcos if they used the fastest route and if the wind was favorable. The map was clear. No need to stare at it further, he needed to schedule a meeting with Adanita. Tomorrow, preferably, or the day after. He couldn't rush in without a proper presentation.


The only way forward he could see would gamble with the future of an entire city, after all.