Venture to Chaos (#2)

26 | The Explanation of Uncertainty (Cont.)

Despite knowing Bardarian was dead, Archer could feel his gaze on the back of his neck. Tonight, the crew of the Avourienne were playing that old game of truth—the one the late captain had challenged him to a long time ago.

It felt like a dangerous game then, and it felt like one now, too. It was Rusher—now conscious and apparently declaring the whole passing-out situation as 'inevitable' in the pirate world—and Starle again in the middle, but instead of Silta monitoring their lies, Eiler sat in a chair across from them, bored as he called Rusher out for perhaps the seventh time.

Archer's skin simmered with familiarity. He looked around for Silta but couldn't find her. Like Bardarian, she rarely showed herself when the crew gathered like this. Still, Archer knew she'd show sometime tonight. She always did—if only to check that no one was killing anyone. When she did, he had a plan. After the fiasco in the navigation room a few days ago, he was desperate to speed up his idea.

Archer debated the best person to carry out his plan, for he was far too dangerous for Silta to play along. He'd considered Alli, but she was with Shuri in Archer's room, attempting to console her sister and help her with her shoulder.

But Britter—Britter could work. In fact, he was the only one that could pull it off, since everyone else would be far too suspicious.

The first mate sat lounging on the couch across from the whole truth debacle, next to Harvi. Jackson had now wormed his way into that group, too, loud and laughable as they watched Rusher lie for the thousandth time. Archer worked his way over, nodding to Liam as he approached. The first mate caught his eye and stood.

"Kingsley," he acknowledged, moving them away from the group. "You come to yell at me for breaking Laurier's heart?" A smile cut his face, but there was something fake about it.

Alli and Britter's fight the night of the navigation room incident had been common knowledge, since Alli screamed at him loud enough to wake everyone up. She'd been upset over the Shuri situation; he'd shouted back in confusion as to why she expected anything else from him. Eventually, Britter called her some name, and Alli stormed off. Since then, the sisters had been sharing the queen bed in the corner room, and Archer had been nodding off on the floor next to the door. He'd lock the door each night, but he was too worried He was going to come after Alli again to really sleep.

"I think you could've handled it better," Archer said, "but that's none of my business. I've come to ask you for something."

Liam gave him a look.

"Look, you want me to fix Silta, and I think this whole 'truth night' thing is our best shot at it," Archer told him.

Liam shook his head. "She won't play against anyone. She always mutters something about rule number three and leaves."

Rule number three: Pick your battles. Always weigh risk to reward. If the exchange does not offer to you as much as it may take, do not enter it. Silta would follow it religiously.

"Then there needs to be an incentive," Archer told him. "Something that playing will offer her. A reward that outweighs the risk."

"She knows everything, Archer," Britter answered, his voice bored. "There's nothing she desperately needs."

"I'm not talking about her gaining something if she plays," Archer explained. "I'm talking about having her lose something if she doesn't play."

Liam's eyes sparked with new interest. "And how do we pull that off?"

"We cause problems with her leadership. We insinuate that you're smarter, that you're more fit to lead. That way, she'll be careful to prove that she can beat you in this game."