Lovely Dark Things

ELEVEN (RUBY POV)

Disclaimer: Remember the Druchii, the Dark Elves from Warhammer world? I took inspiration from their background story to write this chapter so not everythign here comes from my vivid imagination. I hope you don't find it boring, these kinds of chapters are neccessary sometimes. 

"No, not that one... wear this..." I tie the ribbons of Iselen's tunic on her chest making sure the soft skin of her cleavage isn't visible, there's no need to excite the vivid imagination of the crew, they could think that some drops of blood would look beautiful contrasting with her pale skin and my brother would face a riot only because they want to torture her. The truth is that respect counts for nothing unless it is backed by fear in our society and, if they think they can get away with it and escape to a terrible punishment easily, they won't hesitate to disobey the queen's orders and tell her whatever lie they make up later in order to explain why her advisor never made it to Baalberith. She's not here but, fortunately, I am and my sharp knives are waiting for them...

"Is this okay?" Iselen stares at her reflection in the small bathroom mirror, worried, and I nod. Her clothes are warm, good quality but without flashy embellishments and in sober colours like grey and brownish. Later, if she shows she's useful and My Lady supports her, she'll wear fancier clothes but now it's no time to draw attention. Anyway, she looks better with these pants, tunic and boots and her hair up in a soft ponytail than with those shapeless dresses that she wore when she lived with the wizard.

"Remember, stay by my side..." The adviser follows me to the deck meekly, the sun shines making me blink for a second but the cold breeze of the sea helps me to stand the heat: we're sailing north in order to dodge the island where our enemies, the Light Elves, live facing the coast of the big continent and temperature will drop till being bearable for a dark elf standard... I can't wait to be back home, anyway, it's true that I've avoided the worst of the winter but I'm sick of sweating. My brother is standing near the pilot who's in charge of the helm while yelling commands at the crew and I get closer to him slowly, leaning one of my hands on the knife hanging from my hip. I'm not hiding my weapons anymore, in fact, the more visible the better... although I still keep some tricks under my sleeve and in my boots and they all suspect it, probably.

"Good morning... again..." Argyle flashes a mocking smirk but I just raise my eyebrow... at least I got some today and he has to wait till we arrive to Baalberith to visit that frigid lover he keeps because he thinks her powerful family will help him to move up in our society. He should be careful, that woman is a viper... like most of the ladies of high status in our kingdom, actually. The crew is busy with the ship but they keep looking at Iselen out of the corner of their eyes while she leans her hip on the gunwale close to me and looks around... there's not much to see apart from the sun reflecting on the water. "Do you like my ship?" My brother smiles at the adviser haughtily while staring at her amused, it may seem that he's trying to be kind but the truth is that he's testing her again to check if she's able to talk to him and not peeing herself of fear. I cross my arms and lean my butt on the gunwale casually waiting for my girl to answer, having a conversation with this idiot will be a good training for her before we arrive home.

"Your ship shows elegant lines... it looks very fast." Iselen answers with diplomacy and smiles shyly when my brother explains her some of the details with a technical language while I try to keep a straight face. I've seen the drawings in her trunk and I know she has some knowledge of ships design, if this idiot of Argyle is trying to make fun of my girl, he'll need to find another way... "The hull isn't that big... does Baalberith port allow large tonnage ships to dock?" My brother frowns, puzzled when he notices her eyes shining with interest waiting for his answer, but that's why I'm taking Iselen to our kingdom, she's going to improve infrastructure.

"This is a corsair ship and the only thing that matters is its speed in order to arrive, attack, loot and leave looking for another target. The so-called black arks are way bigger and their massive holds can carry tons of supplies and thousands of slaves... they're like a mini city." The adviser nods and not even blinks when hearing the word slaves, which is fortunate since Argyle was watching her reaction closely... she's learnt not to show weakness soon. "Black arks don't usually dock at the capital's port, although they could do it..."