Silarsha watches the patrol conclude it's business, and sail away.
Once out of sight, she lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"Deceive always thy enemy but never thyself." Indeed.
"Fine work Genevieve, and quick thinking." walking back to the others, she spares a passing glance at Captain Odenkirk.
Sorry Kargeld, but "Secrecy is our greatest ally. Exposure brings death." and you haven't shown that you're worthy of anything, let alone our trust.
"But Papa, why were we worried if Mama had all the papers tucked away?" Charmaine asks innocently, her face frowning with thought. "Is it one of those 'when you're older' things?" Not sure what to think of the situation, she pushes the side of her head into Genevieve's leg and ponders, following her as needed. HA HA! That was awesome, we need to use that trick more often. Forgeries?! That's so cool! With magic, disguises, forgeries, and Silarsha's muscles, what can't we do?!
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Florian breathes a silent sigh of relief as the patrol ship captain returns to his ship and sails off.
One burning question remains on Florian's mind, however; one which threatens to torment him the rest of the journey north. He meets eyes with Brice, one eyebrow cocked, hints of a concerned expression beginning to show. With a glance around, as if to be sure Kargeld isn't lurking nearby, he speaks.
"Is that what you think merchants sound like?" Horror flashes in his eyes for an instant. "Is that what we sound like?"
Genevieve holds to her daughter and husband for a moment, then gives a curt nod to Kargeld. "You're welcome," she says loudly for all the crew to hear.
Finally she turns back to Aiden, "Just don't go using them too freely. We're lucky that he didn't know their actual handwriting. If we got to Balentyne, we'll likely have to deal with people that do." She pauses musing, "Though it might be nice to redo something like this after obtaining a sample of their handwriting and signatures."
Brice smiles at Florian, then coughs. As has been common up until now, a message is whispered into his ears.
"Sound like wot now, gov'nah?"
Dropping his hands, he speaks a bit louder. "I find it distasteful to affect that voice, but it makes those in power a bit less likely to think I have anything to hide. A trick that the street merchants sometimes use in haggling, to their benefit."
Silarsha reaches out and takes Florian's hand in hers.
Looking him dead in the eyes, she says in a serious tone:
"Fear not dear husband. I could never marry a man who sounded like that."
And then she steps away, visibly barely containing her amusement whispering a mocking "I'm an honest merchant I am Guv'na" in a sing song cadence.
Aiden gives little Fontaine a comforting hug with one arm.
"Don't worry, little one. Grown up stuff can be confusing at times. Just keep keep calm and stay close to me or Mama if something like that happens again."
He smiles, but coughs again.
"Good work. The captain seems to see you as weak. It is good that our 'guests' did not spoil that much."
Tussling her hair, he goes to cargo and ensures it wasn't disturbed by the recent escapade.
The rest of the day seems to go well as you travel along the coast. The captain is not quite so harsh as he has been other days, and he even opens up some of the better rations.
As they sail further along the coast, Brice happens to be toward the aft when he spots what appears to be a pod of dolphins trailing behind.
"Look, Fontaine," he calls to his daughter, pointing to the sea mammals, "see the dolphins? Most sailors I have met believe that to be a good omen, though we would have to ask our captain if that is true."
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Silarsha as Sylvia is back at her sewing when "Aiden" mentions the dolphins. She looks up and out over the water, but not seeing them quickly returns to the task at hand.
Meh. If you've seen one dolphin, you've seen them all.
She then mutters;
"Stupid thread. Get in that damn needle eye!"
------
"Ooooooo! I'll go check!" Charmaine coos, trotting off to find the Captain. "Caaaaptain! Caaaaptain! We have dolphins following us! Papa says that means good luck for sailors, but to check with you first. Is it true?" She hops back and forth from one leg to another as she waits. Man, we are sooooooo going to get the jump on you! I bet I could get two daggers in there before you even notice what's going on!
"Do dolphins always swim here? I've never seen one before!"
________
From his position near Silarsha, Florian looks up from his book at Brice's call. Gazing out over the water, he quickly spots the dolphins. He watches them swim along in the wake of the ship. A small smile forms on his face. "Huh." He looks over at Silarsha. "You know, I'm not sure I've ever seen dolphins before. Certainly not like this." Florian looks back out at the dolphin pod. He leans over, one arm against the side of the ship, his head resting in one hand. "Nothing novel for you, I'll wager. Still, it's quite something."
Setting down the thrice damned needle, and its equally uncooperative thread counterpart, Silarsha looks up at Florian.
"It's always interesting to watch them, I guess. They seem to always be having fun without a care in the world. They are a good omen though", as she nods in Brice's direction.
She looks to see that none of the crew are close enough to listen in, "My father swore that every trading voyage where they made an appearance was very successful." a flash of a smile crossing her face at some fond memory.
"Ah, yes. they are quite beautiful creatures, aren't they." She smiles over at Silarsha, "I'm sure it would have been wonderful to sail with your father. Maybe one day you can show us what it was like."
The captain and other sailors look on at the dolphins for just a moment before turning back to their work. After a front and a spit, the captain says "They're always around here. It's not so great."
The day wanted on until the shop finally pulls in for the night. As everyone is calming and getting ready to drop down and sleep, a shout is heard over the waves. "For Nerthimas!"
In the water, the dolphins are much closer now and with them are 5 scaly fish men. One is dressed a little more grandly than the others, and all seem to be in the process of casting a spell.
Silarsha steps behind the blanket curtain, and prepares to strip off her armor and head to sleep. Before she does so, the shout of the scaly fish men stops her in her tracks.
"Are you kidding me!?!"
Taking in the scene, she realizes that the ship is in a great deal of danger.
"Spellcasters!!!"
She then grabs her short-bow from the crate where she had set it to undress. Stepping out from the makeshift curtain and closer to the enemy, she nocks, aims, and fires an arrow at the closest of the scaly fish men.
Silarsha's arrow splashes into the water, doing nothing to the casting creatures. The sailors begin moving around, trying to get organized. The dolphins swim up closer to the ship but do little more.
Well that's not good. Keeping these disguises up is going to be a lot harder if I go slicing these things up. Charmaine desperately clings conveniently to the nearest person, grabbing Silarsha in her apparent haste. "What do they want from us?" she shouts in distress.
Now I just need to keep up...
________
<Time to get to work, sis.>
Drawing his blade as he mentally says this to her, he points it at the lead mer-creature.
"How dare you interfere with the free exchange of goods!" He yells at them, focusing his power. Two bolts of energy fly forth from his free hand, sailing into the Triton's leader.
"Begone, lest you face our wrath and that of the Talingardian Navy!"
Genevieve follows her daughter over to the curtain. She stands there behind it, and begins to chant and motion, pointing at another one of the creatures.