Mutiny - Letters - Ean 05

[lady_mab]

The Right Honorable

The Earl of Carneath, Clarence Temple

Dear Lord Temple,

We have made it to Aelem on time, and as I predicted, there was no pursuit from the gang in Stroneth. We were welcomed with all the warmth and grace that Elder Attaria has always shown us. I think, perhaps, she is always thankful that we deliver Grissa home safely each time that she shows such hospitality, but I do not question it.

I, too, am thankful that he is safe. I am constantly thankful for his presence, and I know Arculf thinks the same. He provides invaluable counsel, and is a steadfast companion aboard the Titan. Many a time we would be lost without his navigation, and his wise words.

It was a tense trip to reach Aelem, as I carry cargo I cannot trust, and carry crew I cannot let out of my sight. For fear of what they would do to me, to the others. (Do I actually believe that Tazyrr and Trielae would have done anything to me? No, honestly, I do not. They are players of an incredibly long game, and I am not yet deemed a threat.)

I am comforted by my arrival here, if only because I have received the letters you have sent, and seeing your words always puts me at ease.

But I cannot relax just yet.

I let the others off the ship, as many of the crew have not been to Aelem, and we have the week to relax here before we carry on to Lemuria. I asked Natalya to speak with me before she left.

She spent most of the trip, as she always does, locked away in the engine room. This allowed me to know where she was at any given point, and to not have to address the concerns that were looming over those who have recently worked with her. Perhaps that is irresponsible of me, putting it off for as long as I did, but I wanted to think it through every potential angle.

I did not think that she would have tried anything on me, that was not my fear. I did not think that she would retaliate on those who told me, because she does not interact with many, and she knows very well what she did to them. I wouldn’t have to name names for her to know who it was I spoke of.

I warned her against entangling with other members of the crew when it came to trying to influence their choices in specific directions. I let her know that if I caught word of it again, then I would need to take action.

“Resist the urge to make those decisions for other people, or forcing them to do what you want,” I told her, which seems like a reasonable thing to ask.

There’s a beat, and I think perhaps she understood what I told her. And then she says, “No one complained when I put the captain of the pirate ship to sleep.”

A strange deflection, and I can only stare at her in barely controlled shock for a few seconds before her words catch up. Yes, the one time she did not use it on a member of the crew, that is the time she pulls. And even then, to compel someone to sleep is not the same as forcing someone to be your friend so that they will do what you ask. It is not the same as forcing your comrades to stand down in the middle of a charged situation.

It is not an action committed against one of my crew.

“I understand that,” I told her, “and it was appreciated.” I did appreciate the assistance. It ended the situation faster and with fewer casualties than if we had kept fighting. “It is the members of the crew, and thus the citizens of Albion and Antilla that you will refrain from using those on.”

Not an order, not really. A warning, certainly, if she had the wherewithal to interpret it as such.

She doesn’t, or at least, not seriously.

“Yes, Sir,” she said, and left.

She is a girl who was raised in a certain fashion, and at a certain rank. Perhaps that creates a character that is unwilling to accept those of a lower status as worthy of her consideration. I had hoped she would understand, that by spelling it out for her in such simple terms, I could appeal to a base level of humanity that, alas, seems to escape her.

Should I make myself more available to her? Engage in more conversations, to learn her whims better so that I might understand better how she could reach such a conclusion? I am her captain first, I always thought, and never her father. I cannot take his place, though I do this as a favor to him. How would he react, seeing this behavior in her? How would her mother, or even her brother?

How would she react, having this same action forced upon her? Would she understand then?

I do not wish to dwell on this.

I will read your letters instead, to serve as a distraction.

You must guess, then, that since I have your letters, I have sent the contents of the lockbox to Noah with all due haste. After speaking with Natalya, that was my first course of action. A relief to have that out of my hands, and a relief to instead have your letters in its place.

I shall reply to them at my leisure, as we are here for an extended period of time, and there isn’t much trouble for them to get up to on the islands.

Grissa mentioned, when I handed him the lockbox, that I could use a vacation. I am glad for the chance to at least have the chance to breathe.

I do not yet know if the twins have taken my offer to leave them here, or if they will carry on with us to Lemuria. That is a question for a week from now. Let them have that time to make up their mind. Perhaps the peace of life on the archipelago will appeal to them, after they have had a chance to experience it.

First, I think, I shall have some tea.

All my love,

Ean