Elemental Thief Part I : Child of Calamity

Summer Tides

Darya watched the sparkling summer waters ahead of them as they headed north, her gaze flickering to the sky every so often. She'd been watching for a bird for weeks now and had received no word from Morningside, which was normally a relief.

But the journey back toward Clairval had not comforted her, and as she had sailed up past the southern end of Clairval and noticed no Royal Navy ships in the waters, her unease grew. They were a few days away from home now, and she could see her crew looking forward to the rest with their families and loved ones. They had been at sea for several months and as Darya used her profits to pay them a regular wage even when they weren't on the ship, most of them could enjoy the time on land relaxing and catching up on the things that they'd missed.

The sales she had made, along with the goods that they would sell once they returned home, would allow her to keep the Calamity in port for a few months, though Darya had only just recovered her savings after purchasing the ship a couple of years ago. Not enough for her to retire, and certainly not enough for her to remain in Morningside for a long time, but she feared that if things were going south for her sister she may have to, which would cause her taking a financial loss.

Not that she would admit it to Valencia.

Her sister had been critical of her decision to purchase and finance a ship and crew and they had argued viciously about it before, during, and after she had purchased the Calamity. Not that Darya wasn't also helping Morningside out by patrolling the waters, fighting alongside the Foxglove and Comet, and bringing international goods and trade into Morningside's markets.

Val made a pretty penny from it, but her sister had and would again argue that Darya could have done the same with one of Morningside's ships just as easily as one of her own. They both knew that Darya had been impatient for a chance to captain her own ship and to be independent of the decisions from her sister on the priority of where they should sail.

Sometimes it felt like the only reason Darya returned home at all was because it was also the place her crew called home.

Darya glanced down at her small map of Clairval, doing a quick mental calculation on where the next port would be, somewhere up ahead before nightfall, and chewed on the idea of stopping there to get a feel for things before continuing north. The Port wasn't exactly friendly, the Peer who ran it being hotly opposed to Morningside, and if things were brewing, Darya knew she would only make them worse by showing up.

But the information she'd gain from doing so might help her and her sister.

"Ship ahead!"

One lookout called, and Darya pulled out her spy glass and stepped to the side, searching the horizon.

There. Heading north, but at a slower pace, there was a large ship.

Darya was too far away to make out the flag or markings and glanced at her second, giving a shrug. "Be prepared to swing wide if it's someone we don't want to have a chat with."

They waited for a few minutes longer before the same lookout called down. "It's the Serenity!"

Darya sighed softly and closed her spyglass, muttering a curse.

"Are we avoiding her?"

The suggestion was tempting. She could race the larger ship and make it into Port Morningside hours before it did. She had done it before. The Calamity was good at speed and stealth, and the large warship they were approaching was better at brute force.

Glancing up to her second, Darya laughed softly and shook her head. "Nah. Bring her alongside. Maybe we'll get some news without chancing being arrested in an unfriendly port."