The Aftermath

Rosamund was sitting at Adanita's table in her office, resting his head on it with his eyes closed. The rest of the meeting went great, honestly. They discussed several different topics and planned their approach to proper internal organization. They didn't agree on a lot, but he didn't expect anything like that on day one. After his little outburst, he was allowed to stand in his place in peace and quiet.

His legs were hurting from playing a statue.

She kicked him out of the bed in the morning. Just grabbed his blanket and tossed him out. She carried a scent of freshly baked cookies, but she had none for him. After he got dressed, she talked for hours about how to run a country. Her ideas were good, and he had no input for her aside for a suggestion to let him educate some of her people so that they could get some experience before diving into this. She took him to lunch, and then dragged him off to the meeting that he had no plans to attend.

And then he almost got stabbed in the throat.

Great day, all in all. Ever since the meeting was adjourned, she was basically hopping around him in excitement and giddily repeating "Young man, you seem to have dropped something".

He sighed, not bothering to get his head up. "Captain Vervain. I almost died today. The least you could do is get me a drink."

One day when he thought he could take it easy, spend time reading that Codex of theirs and plan the future. She was supposed to take over this part. His part in this should have ended after he managed to convince her to do what he said. She was an expert at wrangling these people, she was amazing during the meeting. Keeping everybody's attention, answering questions but not letting them barrage her.

And yet, there he was. Twiddling his thumbs. Playing a dartboard for an angry pirate.

"Why are you so down? You handled yourself perfectly! I did not expect you to be so... how should I say it?" she chatted, getting him a glass and a bottle.
"I appreciate the compliment. Do make sure I don't need to dodge your allies next time, would you?" he said. He undid his cravat to have a look at it. He could have sworn he heard it tear - yes, there it was. A small cut in the fabric. "He ripped my cravat..."
"I'll get you another one! I'll get you fifty more!" she promised, pouring him a drink.
"I appreciate your enthusiasm." Finally. He deserved this, he decided, taking as large a chug as he did when he was in his first twenties.

Oh.
Oh no, it was that industrial cleaning agent from the island. He could feel his face and throat burning, and he set his head back on the table.

"Are... are you alright?"
"Yes. I am about to get horribly drunk, though."
"Don't worry, I'll get you back to the ship. Sorry, I didn't expect you to down it like this."
"No, it's alright. I did it to myself."
"Well, it is an occasion worthy of celebrating. How did I do?"
"Beautifully," he said. Oh gods it was hitting hard. "Beautiful."
"Were you afraid?"
"From the knife? Absolutely, but I'd lie if I told you it was my first time being in this situation."
"Really? Verlice Experiment?"
"Yes. Two other meetings too, when I was younger. And once in my past life."
"Who was it?"
"Karpathians. And before, it was our local homegrown hotheads. And a victim. I was defending a criminal." He could feel her curiosity about it all. It was just oozing from her. He hoped she wouldn't ask him more questions about any of those, though. Living through another one was enough, he didn't want to reminisce about the previous ones at this time.
Thankfully, she had enough tact not to ask. "I see... I apologize for this. I really am sorry. I just got excited with how you handled him."
"I know. I believe you."
She made a sound between a hum and a chuckle, clearly pleased.

"So, what did you tell him? When you leaned in close?" she asked. She sat down on the table next to him. He could feel she was near, or at least, he imagined he could feel her.

"That he can't stab ideas," he said. Best answer while his head is still clear enough for a conversation. "And that killing me wouldn't change your mind, only make it harder for you to do what you plan to. Hopefully, next time he'll aim for you."
"Next time? You think he'll try again?" she asked in a serious voice.
He raised his head and looked at her. "Wanna bet a shilling?"
"Then why do you want him around?!"
"Why not? I meant it when I said I like it when underlings take initiative. If I can only get him to express himself properly, he'll be a good government official for you."
"I'm sorry, do you normally do that with people who want to kill you?"
"No, no, I milked Karpathians for months. You would not believe what reparations I got from them when someone with half a brain stepped in to deal with the fallout."
"What? Why him, then?"
"Why not... He's a pirate, he's good in a fight... He didn't know how to say it well, but he had arguments..."
"I think you may be insane after all."
"And yet, here I am."

He could see her blurry face smiling. The gold in her hair glittered in the candlelight.

No, no. He let his head drop on the table again. "Carry me to the ship?"
"Carry? You already can't walk?"
"I apologize, not everybody is built like a tank."
"Tank?"
"A metal vehicle. Has a cannon. Really big."
"Should I be offended?" she asked.
"Are you telling me you wouldn't carry a cannon around if you could?"
"Hah! Bold of you to assume that I can't!"

Oh, the mental image of her with a cannon on her shoulder...

No. He was drunk.

"What's the name of that man?" he asked instead. His voice was already getting more mumble-ly. Mumbly? Who knew.
"Hmm... I really am not sure, this is my first time meeting him. I will look it up. I believe he belongs to Captain Jason Lotus, though."
The name sounded familiar. "Where are they from?"
"She is from Port Khonsu, but she changed her name when she became a Captain."
"I see."
"You may remember her as the one who killed that envoy of the Duchess originally. Not that it affected our negotiations after I killed her."
Ah, that was that. Great, he definitely just angered one of the people that not only would, but absolutely could murder him. Will he ever get out of this horrible situation? Yes, yes he will, he just needs to let Adanita have a few more days of meetings with these people before she takes him back to Hipparcos. Even through the alcohol, he could feel the deep dread setting in. He was wasting so, so much time here...

"Are you sure you want to go to the ship already?" she asked.
"I am dizzy."
"Right. Sorry. Would you like some fresh air first?"
That willow in the garden... "Yes."

She carefully picked him up by wrapping his arm around her shoulders and helping him to stand.

Alright, legs were working. With her help, they got to the gardens. She set him down on a bench and sat down next to him.


The night was beautiful and warm, and his eyelids were heavy. The stars in the sky spun around as if the entire planet had sped up and started to spin with his poor head as its axis.


He survived another day.

May there be many more...