Here There be Dragons: Testing the Waters

In preparation for their dinner with the Gnomes, Nereida went seeking out Dymion. The man was up to his elbows in dirt in his secret, magically sustained garden. Egaz was next to him, the little boy completely covered in mud, a brilliant smile on his face.

“My potatoes got harvested!” the boy proclaimed. “I planted them with Dymion soooo long ago! Before we even got stuck in the castle. And now we get to have them for dinner! He even said I could peel them.” He was bouncing on his toes.

“I’m sure they will be the best potatoes you’ve ever tasted,” Nereida said with a happy laugh. She kissed Egaz’s head, the only part of the boy not completely covered in dirt. “Go wash up, no one will have you in the kitchen like this.” The boy sprinted out, laughing and calling his brother’s name as he thundered down the halls. Nereida grinned at his back, her heart feeling light.

“He’s got a fine green thumb,” Dymion observed, brushing his hands on his pants. “He likes the growing.”

“He was farm-born,” Nereida replied. “It was hard but… he learned before he could walk how to put plants in soil.” She smiled, remembering the small cottage that had been the only home Egaz had known until Basiano had come for them. The walls had been bare wood, there were no tapestries or portraits, but it had been home. Now, home was a ship and an ornery Admiral.

“Did you come to get the boy or see me?” Dymion asked after a moment. “You ain’t one for the gardens, usually.”

“I’m here to seek your advice,” she started. He barked a sudden laugh.

“Oh, sweet lass, I’m hardly one for advice-givin’. I barely take the stuff.” He winked.

“I need to know what kind of host-gift to bring.”

There was a long, slow beat as Dymion stared at her.

“None,” he stressed, looking suddenly serious. His great, bushy brows were furrowed. “We Gnomes, we love our hospitality. You bring something, princess, and he will think you find him lacking.” He took a moment to knock some dirt off his trousers. “Make sure the Admiral don’t make the misstep neither. Or that handsome rogue. They won’t trust you none.”

“I understand,” she said softly. “What will impress them?”

“Gossip,” Dymion snickered. “We’re all gossipy biddies in the end. Tell ‘em who you are, and that’ll have them buzzing fer weeks.”

Nereida chatted for a few more minutes, making easy conversation about the boys, and Dymion’s attempt to grow a berry bush as a gift to the boys. The soil he had wasn’t right in some way, and the berries wouldn’t take.

“I’ll try raspberries next. Them things are tough and’ll grow anywhere.” She nodded, though she knew less about berries and bushes. Nereida left the Gnome to his planting, and went to find Matthias before the man tried to bring an expensive wine to their dinner.

By sunset, she was dressed for dinner, her hair up in a complicated braid that Aella had helped her with. She wore a thin silver coronet, nothing special, but clearly marking her as noble. She and Aella matched, Aella in trousers, a fancy tunic and wearing her uniform jacket and thick leather gloves. Her good feather had been placed in the hat. She looked very fine, though her face remained set in a grumpy scowl.

“Do try not to look like you are headed to an execution, darling,” Matthias said with a sigh. “You’ll frighten them off.”

“This is just my face,” Aella grouched.

“Try looking at your wife. That usually boosts your mood,” Matthias suggested helpfully. Aella snarled something anatomically unlikely at him. Nereida simply slid up beside her wife and placed a kiss on her cheek. Aella’s face relaxed into an almost content expression, but she kept her eyes on the horizon.

“Last ship we talked to turned out to harbour monsters,” Aella grumbled.

“I highly doubt every ship is filled with monsters, bigots and violent thugs,” Nereida soothed. “They seemed to want to help. We aren’t alchemists. We can’t do everything.”

“I know,” Aella sighed. “But… there’s a storm in the air.” Nereida looked up at the perfectly clear sky, then back at her wife. Aella shook her head. “Not the sky kind. The kind I feel coming. Danger.”

“Do you even know what safe is, Admiral Aella, darling?”

Aella clearly had no retort, and so she took Nereida’s arm in hers, and ordered the crew to drop the boat.

Captain Georgie was still excited when they arrived. Aella carried the cursed journal in her glove-clad hands. She held it away from her body, as if it might leak noxious fluid at any moment. She placed it on the table, and insisted that Georgie read it before supper.

“Better to turn you off food then have you be sick,” she muttered. Georgie looked up at her with wide, unblinking eyes, and Nereida couldn’t tell if he was shaking in fear or excitement.

“Where did you get such a thing?” Georgie asked, once he was finally able to crack the book open. Nereida drew closer to her wife, feeling nausea bubble in her stomach. She’d manage to go the whole day without thinking of the siren she’d been unable to rescue. She’d never even known her name and now…

“From the Grey Death,” Matthias said, breaking her from her spiralling thoughts. She felt Aella’s hand move from her arm to her back, as if she was steadying Nereida. “Her captain thought to relieve us of our water.” His voice lacked its usual sparkle, and he sounded tired.

“I’ve heard of them,” Georgie said slowly, very carefully looking anywhere but at Nereida. “They’d been to Windfall just a few weeks ago, spending gold as if they’d hit rich. Spent time at the apothecaries, from what I’d heard. I didn’t… you don’t make friends with people who have a ship called Death or Pain or anything like that.” He was looking over the opening notes in the journal as he spoke, his words getting softer. “I… oh stars, shadows and seabeds…. They did this on purpose.”

“It only gets worse,” Aella said softly, her tone almost protective.

The excitable Gnome motioned for her to be silent as he read, the colour draining from his face. He slumped lower and lower as he read, as if he wanted to melt into the wood benches on which they all sat. Two other Gnomes came to deliver food, a delicious-smelling stew with chunks of potatoes, carrots and some kind of meat. They looked at their Captain, exchanged glances, and fled without asking anything more. No one moved to touch their food. Nereida wasn’t sure if it was rude to eat before the host took the first bite, or if they were expected to start. She stayed still and quiet, as if it were court. Matthias and Aella took cues from her. The cramped little captain’s quarters, with its too-low ceilings and strange metal walls, felt almost like a prison cell. She wanted out, she wanted to be in the water, or on the deck breathing the ocean air.

“This is the most horrendous thing I have ever laid eyes on,” Georgie said at long last. He looked up, and frowned. “Is there a problem with the stew? Do you not eat meat?”

“It smells wonderful,” Nereida said sincerely. “I just… I could not eat knowing what you were reading.”

“Oh, sweet Lady, you must never let the horrors of the world get in the way of a good meal with friends!” He slammed the awful book closed. “Come, let us eat. I will copy this down later. Please, tell me, as I need a palate cleanse, tell me about how you two met. I’m sure the story is marvelous.”

And so, Nereida launched into the tale of how she had met Aella, who had been tasked with bringing her home. She made sure to harp on how Aella had assumed she was married to her brother, that assumptions about culture lead to them down all sorts of misunderstandings.

“She saw you with your hair down. A Seliniak?” The Gnome hit his thigh as he laughed. “What did your brother think?”

“Oh, Basiano pushed me to-”

“Stars and Seas!” Georgie jumped to his feet and gaped at her. Nereida looked back at him as his mouth opened and closed a few times. She folded her hands on her lap, straightening her back and waiting for the Gnome to finish his interruption. “King Basiano?” the Gnome finally managed. Matthias laughed softly, and Aella’s mouth even quirked into a small smile.

“Yes.”

Georgie let out a long, loud whistle, and he sat back in his chair. He reached for his wine and took a long drink.

“You're a princess?” When she nodded, he looked around the cabin as if it wasn’t quite enough, panic in his face. “I’m entertaining a princess?” His voice rose almost an octave as he squealed out the last few words.

“And doing a lovely job,” Nereida soothed. “Honestly. Please, we aren’t at court, call me Nereida. Count me as a friend.”

Georgie fainted. His muscular, short body hit the floor with a thud. Matthias looked as if he were torn between laughing and helping the man. He chose to duck down, moving slowly to avoid hitting his head on the low ceiling, and started to gently shake the unconscious gnome.

“That’s the first time you’ve made someone faint, love,” Aella observed dryly. “Should I be concerned?” The way Aella’s eyes sparkled in the candle light made her look absolutely pleased with the fact their host was unconscious on the floor. “I think it's safe to say he is not the danger.”

Once Georgie recovered, the rest of the dinner passed pleasantly. Nereida finished her tale of their meeting. Matthias, after checking with Nereida and Aella, told the story of how they had encountered the Grey Death, though he left out all mention of dragons.

“They turned out to be no match for Admiral Aella’s skills, though admittedly it helped that we had a pair of sirens and a sylph to outmaneuver them. Sadly, they lost all souls aboard, but if you court Death, sometimes she turns her attention to you.” He shrugged as if it were no great loss. Nereida clenched her fists in her lap, her heart pounding and the sound of the siren’s prayers for death echoing in her ears. She painted a smile on her face, and thanked the gnome for his hospitality. Matthias said he would stay aboard to take the journal back once it was copied. He looked at Aella and mouthed something, but Nereida couldn’t make sense of it. The lights from the candles danced threateningly. She tried to stay in the conversation, but Aella spoke.

“We will come visit tomorrow, Captain Georgie, and perhaps we can plan how to best help once you and yours have looked over the alchemical nonsense. But my wife is tired, and I think I should retire.”

“We can bring your First Mate back once we are done,” Georgie offered, motioning to Matthias. Aella just smiled, but it was a courtly smile, one of polite nothingness. It looked so wrong on Aella. Nereida preferred her wife scowling to this false smile. She was shocked when Aella did not correct him, and Matthias simply smiled.

“Oh never you worry your head about me. I’m sure I can find someone, something, to do.” Nereida found herself giggling at Matthias’s antics. It felt good to laugh. Laughing wasn’t crying.

Until it was.

She wasn’t even sure how they got back to the ship, or into their room, but the giggles had turned into sobs at some point on the ocean's rough surface. Aella’s strong arms were around her, returning her to the here and now. The siren, the woman whose name she never even learned, had faded back into memory.

“I’ve got you, Ner,” Aella whispered. Nereida leaned into her wife, kissing her deeply. She wanted to feel something, anything, other than crushing guilt. But Aella pushed her back gently. “I’m not a distraction, love.” Nereida nodded, and buried her face into Aella’s fancy tunic, likely ruining the soft fabric with her salty tears. “I love you,” Aella whispered.

“I love you,” Nereida replied softly, hicuping as the tears subsided. Aella pressed a kiss onto her head, and started working her nimble fingers through her hair, undoing the fancy braids.

“Rest,” Aella whispered. “Tomorrow, under the light of the sun, you can tell me why you are hurting so.”

“I didn’t save the siren.” She didn’t want to wait. She didn’t want this anchor on her heart any more. “I… I… I gave myself over to the Ocean so she could… the siren was dying. Not even the Ocean could save her. So… she…” Aella’s arms tightened around her, holding her as if she could shield Nereida from her own hurting heart. “We killed her,” Nereida finished, forcing the words out. “We killed her so she wouldn’t hurt any more.”

“We?” Aella asked, worry in her tone. Nereida just shrugged, as best she could with the Admiral holding her tight. “Was it you or her?”

“I… I don’t know,” Nereida admitted, shivering. “I… I think it was her. But only because I asked.”

“Love,” Aella breathed. “Love, you need to stop inviting her in. What if… what if she doesn’t… I can’t lose you.”

“You won’t,” Nereida promised. Her eyes felt heavy after all the laughing and crying. She thought she should feel lighter after sharing what had happened with her wife, but she just felt tired. “I’ll always come back to you. Promise.” She leaned into Aella, finding peace and strength in her wife’s arms, before giving in to the sleep that wanted to claim her.