Clear Sailing

Passage on the 'Queen Thia' (as the crew called her affectionately) proved to be a good experience for the trio of escapees. Sagacious spent most of his time reading various books that he had apparently pulled from his cloak, seeing as Scarlett was reasonably certain that he hadn't had time to grab them from the villa. Isobel rested and recovered for a couple days and was soon found on the deck above, helping to watch from the crows nest and chatting with the crew.

Scarlett stayed in the room with Sagacious for as long as she could stand it, lasting about four whole hours before heading to the top deck to look for Isobel. She found her easily, leaning on the aft rail, watching the frothy wake left by their passage. Isobel smiled warmly at her and motioned her over.

"Sagacious reading too loudly for you?"

Scarlett laughed richly and shook her head. "It's not the reading so much as it is he talks to himself. If I hear another 'aha!' or 'Interesting!' followed by the scratch of some notes, I will force him bodily through a porthole." Isobel giggled and threw an amiable arm around Scarlett.

"He gets excited by learning. He thinks he's solving history, but I agree it can get annoying." She fixed Scarlett with a curious look, "Is this the first time you've been out to sea like this?"

One of the sailors working nearby was watching them closely with curiosity, and Scarlett pulled her hood up to cover her face before answering Isobel. "Yeah. I grew up next to a pretty big lake, so I know boats. Ships are… different. Larger, obviously." She looked up at the mast with wide eyes. "Nothing like this back home, that's for sure."

Isobel watched her face closely as she asked, "Why did you leave?"

Scarlett's eyes immediately cast downward in guilt, a fact Isobel noted. "I made some mistakes, the wrong people got interested in me. I ran to Amonthus, was fairly sure I was going to die there, until I met Mae."

Isobel squeezed her shoulder. "Well, you've come a long way since then, Scarlett." She added thoughtfully, "Sagacious and I both grew up in Vael, in an orphanage there. Not the same one, no, but that's how we know each other."

Scarlett found herself replying openly and honestly, much to her internal surprise. "Is that how you became a Knight too?"

Isobel laughed and shook her head, smiling broadly. "Me? Oh no, Scarlett, that's Sagacious and Sagacious alone. I'm no Knight, just helping him on this job." She laughed again and added, "His er… Patron, I guess you could call her, doesn't like me very much. I don't fit in all that well with the Knighthood. Sometimes people need to get their morals dirty."

Scarlett was also laughing in agreement, she rather found that she liked Isobel's company. "I agree, morals are all fine and dandy until you need to steal to survive." She saw a look of recognition in Isobel's face and nodded at her conspiratorially, leaning in closer. "Back at the villa, Isobel. I was a cat, looking to escape that brute to get to the balcony."

Isobel nodded, "I remember."

"Well, my ears were much better in that form." She grinned impishly, "When you attacked the witch back there, I heard you. What was all the 'garden' talk all about, Isobel?"

Isobel went pale, she was sure that nobody had heard her offer her prayer to Mercy. This could complicate things, she mused, as her eyes narrowed. One hand trailed down her own leg, fingers brushing the dagger that sat there. "You heard that? Interesting."

Scarlett sensed that the conversational advantage had shifted in her favor and pressed her advantage. "I did. I'm pretty sure Sagacious didn't though, if that's what you're worried about?" With satisfaction, Scarlett noted the brief second of relief that Isobel showed. She did not want him to know. Interesting.

"That," Isobel began sharply, "Was none of anyone's business but mine, Scarlett." She paused to make sure she had Scarlett's eye contact before adding, "Just like whatever chased you out of Westgate was yours." She sat back slightly, watching Scarlett do some internal mathematics.

A few moments passed, during which Isobel had already been looking for ways to dispose of Scarlett's body. She was relieved when the conversation resumed. Scarlett for her part, had been doing exactly what Isobel thought; re-assessing the situation. They knew about Westgate, probably knew about Vannevar and her issues with the thieves guild there. Sagacious was too nice to mention the leverage, but Izzy here had no such compunctions when threatened. Scarlett liked her even more.

"Fair enough, Isobel." Scarlett nodded in approval. "We all have our secrets, I suppose." She watched Isobel nod in return, visibly relaxing. "What's the plan now?"

Isobel moved her hand away from her weapon and shrugged. "Well, we're stuck on this course for a few weeks. Once we get to Caer Ashwynn, I imagine Sagacious will have some kind of plan? Probably talk to some wizard/lore keeper types, see if he can't figure out your new tattoos. Hopefully, learn a bit about how to stop whatever that was back in Memnon."

Scarlett groaned loudly. "You mean he's going to be reading the WHOLE time we're on the boat?"

Isobel laughed warmly and winked at Scarlett lasciviously, "Well, no. I should be able to pry his attention away from time to time. You could help? If you wanted to, I mean." She laughed again as Scarlet shook her head.

"Ugh. No, thank you. You, maybe, but I don't want anything to do with him that way." She saw Isobel's eyebrows raise and added, "He's very handsome, just… not my type."

Isobel roared with laughter and patted Scarlett's back. "I think he would die of embarrassment if he knew we were discussing this. He's a good man, terribly clever, but sadly a bit repressed. Don't worry about it, I'll hang a sock on the door knob if we need the cabin." The two of them stood at the rail again, quietly watching the wake as the water cruised past them. Back in the direction they'd come from, dark clouds had begun to swirl and flash with lightning. Scarlett absently scratched at her arm, the markings were itching slightly.

She sighed and nodded at Isobel, still looking at the storm building back towards Memnon, a sense of dread and foreboding fell over her as she spent the next several hours watching it swell and seem to stay on the horizon behind them. She expected it would grow smaller and less visible the further they sailed, but it seemed to always hand on the horizon, perhaps even growing stronger...