With the pirates defeated, my companions and I could enjoy the rest of our journey in style. I stuck the chest of gold away in the captain’s quarters, and I didn’t mention it to the others. While I knew no one would stand between me and my treasure, Risthan had expressed disapproval over the idea of taking it, so I didn’t want to rub it in his face.
There was no way of knowing if that was the last we’d see of pirates before we arrived at our destination, though, so the crew kept a watchful eye on every horizon as we traveled across the dark blue waves.
Krin checked in with me any time I was above deck on his way to and from the crow’s nest, and the younger man was determined to see any ships coming with plenty of time for The Quest to maneuver. He was a good kid, and I was proud of how much bravery he’d shown since our first encounter.
The rest of the crew stayed busy, so I tried to keep out of their way for the most part. The running of the ship was ingrained in me from countless respawns spent aboard the vessel, but I’d already proven I could do it, so I preoccupied myself in other ways.
Caelia and Evangeline helped keep me busy, and the three of us didn’t leave the captain’s quarters for several days after the battle with the pirates except to fetch food and empty our toilet.
I awoke on the fourth or fifth day after the pirate fight eager to walk the deck and get some fresh air, so I pushed myself out of the captain’s bed and got dressed while the two beauties still slept beneath the blankets. I gazed lovingly at my lovers, but then I left them to their slumber and headed for the upper level.
I found Captain Black-eye on the prow, and the black-haired older man held his spyglass in his hands as he gazed out at the horizon. His long waistcoat fluttered in the breeze, and his pointed hat shadowed his face from the harsh light of the sun. He cut a striking figure, and I would miss being around him once we returned to Sorreyal.
“Good morning,” I greeted as I clapped the man on the shoulder. “See anything of note while I’ve been occupied below deck?”
“I would alert you immediately if I perceived any threats,” Black-eye promised, and the older man gave me a tight-lipped smile. “Even before you came aboard, the pirates have been a thorn in our sides. It seems those thieving bastards are the ones in control of the Eastern Ocean lately.”
“We’ll put a stop to it before it gets out of hand,” I assured him. “There’s no way I’m going to leave this part of the world in the hands of those assholes. Freedom will be a thing of the past if they have their way.”
Captain Black-eye nodded solemnly before he returned his gaze to the horizon, but he seemed to be comforted by my words.
I wandered the deck for a bit, but I didn’t participate in any of the activities the crew bustled about doing, and after a while, I spotted Risthan standing at the starboard rail.
“How are you feeling now that you’ve seen me in action against some pirates?” I smirked as I approached the silver-haired older man.
Risthan flashed me a quick smile before his customary unreadable expression returned to his face, and he jerked his chin toward the open ocean.
“Any idea what lies ahead of us?” the Arajian asked with a hint of worry in his voice. “You predicted the last attack. Can you do it again?”
I made a new save point just in case I needed to take back my words.
“I can assure you we will reach Arajah safely,” I said. “There are no more threats ahead of us.”
“Your power amazes me.” Risthan shook his head in awe. “I have never seen anything like it.”
“Nor will you again.” My grin widened, but then a thought struck me, and my expression faltered. “How are the people we rescued from the pirates’ ship?”
“They are well.” Risthan tilted his head. “They are weary and half-starved, and the women are still reliving their ordeals in their sleep, but they will heal. Thanks to you.”
I blushed under his compliment despite knowing he spoke the truth, and I smiled my gratitude for his words.
“I would have done the same whether you were with me or not.” I shrugged. “People deserve to be free.”
“Not everyone shares that sentiment.” Risthan’s eyes turned sad. “Even the king of Arajah no longer values the lives of his people.”
“That definitely sends the wrong message to the people of Arajah,” I pointed out. “Don’t worry, though, I’ll set him straight.”
Risthan smiled and nodded, but I could sense a glimmer of doubt in his eyes. It didn’t matter to me since I was confident in my ability to free the Arajians from the pirates, and everyone else would figure it out when they saw it for themselves.
Seeing was believing, after all.
“You deserve to keep the gold from the pirates,” Risthan said suddenly.
My eyebrows disappeared into my hairline. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, Great One,” Risthan confirmed. “You more than earned it with your strategic plan against the pirates. You are aptly named by the crew. Red Hands, indeed.”
“They’re still scrubbing pirate blood from the planks,” I chuckled.
“Soon, the pirate stain on the Eastern Ocean shall be completely clean.” Risthan flashed me a broad smile, and I marveled at the white sheen of his teeth.
“Now, that’s the spirit.” I clapped the man on the shoulder again, but then I heard footsteps behind me, and I turned back toward the door leading below deck to see Eva, Caelia, and Sarosh emerge. “What do you say, Ris? Shall we go grab some drinks and lounge on the deck in style?”
“Sounds like a plan, Great One,” the Arajian said with a sideways smile.
“Everything okay?” Sarosh frowned in Risthan’s direction as the ladies crossed the distance to the rail.
“Everything is fine.” I smiled. “We were just about to go grab some drinks before we found some place to sunbathe.”
“Sounds like a fine way to spend the day,” Eva said. “I can only think of one thing better.”
“Oh, yeah?” I chuckled knowingly.
“I can think of a few things I’d prefer to do more than sitting beneath the heat of the sun,” Caelia said with a shake of her head. “I may just take a nap. I have been feeling more tired than usual lately.”
A worried frown creased my brow, but seeing the expression mirrored on Evangeline’s face lightened my heart, and I remembered how the two of them were probably pregnant.
“You’re more than welcome to nap for as long as you wish,” I said. “You know where to find the rest of us.”
“On the ship, I would hope,” Caelia replied with a wry smirk. “I don’t have the energy to search the entire ocean for you.”
“How about you, Eva?” I asked as I turned to the blonde bombshell. “How are you feeling?”
“Marvelous,” Eva breathed, and her twinkling gray eyes confirmed it.
“I’m doing well, too,” Sarosh added in a teasing tone.
“That was going to be my next question,” I said, but I flashed my priestess a wink. “But I trust you to let me know if you need any special treatment.”
“I’m sure I will manage perfectly fine the way things are,” Sarosh said, and she graced us with a rare bubbling laugh. “But I would rather sunbathe than take a nap today.”
“We won’t have much more time to relax,” Risthan pointed out. “At the speed the vessel is sailing, we should reach Arajah within the next few days.”
“Plenty of time for a bit of a cruise,” I said. “I want us all to be well-rested and ready for anything when we arrive.”
My companions and I fetched our beverages and some extra chairs from the dining hall before we returned to the upper deck where the sun struck the hottest, but we were all contentedly laying beneath the rays with mugs in hand a short while later.
We spent the rest of the day lounging, but then we joined the crew members for dinner in the dining hall, and even more alcohol was shared by all. Patsy used the leftover stew to make mini pot pies, and there was even enough for everyone to have seconds.
We laughed and drank while we ate, and the sound of the crew around me brought comfort to my soul. After we’d all eaten our fill, my women and I retired to the captain’s quarters for some sexy shenanigans, and I fell asleep in a tangle of limbs and hair.
Just as a god should.
The next morning, I decided it was time to acquaint myself with the people I’d saved from the pirates, so I made my way to the medical bay where Culver tended to the Arajians. Three of the five freed slaves laid on hammocks stretched from the rafters, but the other two sat on the exam table while the surgeon examined them.
“Sorry for interrupting,” I said as I knocked on the door.
The freed prisoners stiffened as their eyes filled with fear, so I put on my friendliest smile and showed my empty hands. They responded like feral animals, and they quickly backed away from me as far as the small room would allow, so I stayed in the doorway for a little while longer.
“Come on in,” Culver grunted over his shoulder before he followed his patients across the room, but then the surgeon stuck a glass thermometer unceremoniously into one of the victims’ mouths.
The former slave’s lips quivered around the glass stick, but he didn’t protest, and I took the opportunity to observe the people I’d saved a little more closely. The three people in the hammocks were women, if the slender shape of their bare feet sticking over the edge of the fabric was any indication, but the two being examined by the surgeon were men.
They both had metal-colored hair, but their tendrils were a darker shade than Risthan and Sarosh’s. Their eyes were a dull blue, like the ocean during a thunderstorm, and they eyed me like cornered dogs. They wore simple gray shifts, but the fabric was frayed and dirty from constant wear.
I’d have to get them some better clothes so they could put their ordeal behind them a little bit more.
I kept to the far wall closest to the entrance, but I closed the door behind me and moved deeper into the room. I scanned over the instruments lining a small tray on a shelf along the wall, and I noted the cleanliness of the objects.
Culver Hamet, the resident medical professional aboard The Quest, was a bear of a man, but he was particular about his tools. He spent a great deal of time maintaining their cleanliness and sharpness, but that was merely the mark of a good doctor in my eyes. His lack of experience with the challenges facing the former slaves concerned me, but I had faith in him.
“Alright, you’re all good,” Culver said after checking the temperature of both of his patients. “You can go back to your beds if you want.”
The two former slaves nodded silently before they moved to the empty hammocks occupying the remainder of the open space in the room, and I wondered briefly where the surgeon slept, but I knew the crew were comfortable in their bunk room, so I wasn’t worried about it.
Then I made a new save point before I attempted to talk to the former slaves so I could reset after I learned their names and backstories.
“Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?” I asked as I interposed myself between the former slaves and their beds. “It won’t take very long.”
The two men exchanged a look, but then they nodded.
“I’ll leave ya to talk,” Culver mumbled as he left the medical bay.
“What are your names?” I asked.
“I am called Alaster,” the man to my left said in a voice much deeper than I was expecting. He appeared to be middle-aged, but I wasn’t sure how the people of Arajah aged, and Sarosh seemed almost timeless. “This is Torin, and the women sleeping are Janella, Ivasthi, and Samaria.”
One of the women snored behind us, and the two men gave me small smiles.
“They have endured much since we were taken from Arajah,” the younger of the two men said, but then he stuck out his hand for me to shake, and I accepted it eagerly. “I am Torin.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said with a dip of my head. “Although I wish it were under better circumstances. You can call me Bash.”
“Joyous meeting, Bash.” Alaster inclined his head, but then he nudged the slightly younger-looking man beside him.
“Joyous meeting, Bash,” Torin murmured in echo of his companion.
“Are you all related?” I asked in a quiet voice as my gaze flicked to the sleeping women.
I didn’t want to rouse them if they needed their sleep, but I’d prefer to speak with all five of the former slaves at once instead of having to come back later. With any luck, the noise of our conversation would wake them up for me.
“Torin is my cousin,” Alaster informed me. “But I had never met the women before we were sacrificed to the pirate king.”
“Tell me a little bit about yourselves,” I requested. “What were your lives like before you became slaves to the pirates?”
“To speak of Arajah to a foreigner would bring on a fate worse than death,” Alaster said in a reluctant tone. “We are grateful for your aid, but we cannot divulge the secrets of our land.”
“So I’ve heard from a couple other people.” I sighed and raked a hand through my hair. “But then they eventually learned I was a safe person, and that I couldn’t save Arajah without knowing everything about the island and its people. Whatever you tell me will be in confidence, but it could mean all the difference when it comes to saving lives.”
Torin and Alaster exchanged a look full of skepticism, and I waited patiently for them to process my words. Change took time, and these people were ingrained with a secrecy that was hard to crack.
I was still up for the challenge, though, and I knew they would trust me soon enough.
“I was a weaver,” Alaster informed me after a long, silent moment. “My sacred oath was fulfilled by providing comfortable places for the leaders to sit. My craft was sold in markets across the island, and even bought by the palace.”
“Have you ever seen the king of Arajah for yourself?” I asked. “What’s he like?”
Alaster shook his head, but then he glanced questioningly at his companion, and Torin nodded.
“I entered the palace once,” Torin said in a soft voice. “My mother took me after the parade, but this was when I was a child, and I haven’t been back since.”
“I was a handmaiden to his majesty’s daughter,” a female voice said behind me. “It still wasn’t enough to protect me from being called forward as a sacrifice.”
“That must have been really scary,” I said as I turned to face the woman.
Her hair was a dull gray color, but it reflected the light of the lanterns strung from the rafters. Her eyes were a light-gray hue, and they reminded me of spring rain clouds. The woman’s ears jutted out between the metallic-colored tendrils, and they added an elven vibe to the lady’s appearance.
“I am Janella,” the woman said. “I am sorry for eavesdropping, but I couldn’t help overhearing.”
“No worries.” I grinned. “I’m glad to see you awake. How are you feeling?”
“Better.” Janella pressed her lips into a tight smile. “Although, I wish I could forget what those men did to me and the others…”
Anger bloomed in my gut, but I swallowed it down.
“What did they do to you?” I asked in a soft voice.
Janella looked away and bit her bottom lip, but I could still see the tears rising in her eyes. “They… They…”
The Arajian woman began to sob, and my first instinct was to wrap her in my arms, but I wasn’t sure how she would respond to a strange man’s touch after her ordeal, so I kept my arms frozen by my sides.
The other two women jumped from their hammocks and rushed to Janella’s side, and their matted metallic-colored hair slid across their faces so I couldn’t make out much details about them.
I waited patiently for the women to calm down, but in the meantime, I turned back to Alaster and Torin.
“So, you were able to make a business out of weaving?” I asked the older of the two men. “Why weren’t you safe from the sacrifices?”
“Everyone’s names are entered into a random draw,” Torin explained. “At first, only the lowest classes needed to volunteer for service, but as our population dwindled, the merchants and tradesmen had to add their names to the ledger.”
“Things must be in dire straits if it was coming to that,” I observed.
“Arajah needs help,” Alaster said in a grim voice. “She may be beyond the help of a single man.”
“I am more than a single man,” I argued. “I am more than capable of freeing Arajah from the pirates.”
“What makes you so confident?” one of the women asked.
“Allow me to properly introduce myself,” I said as I flourished down into a bow. “I am Sir Sebastian, the Archduke of Sorreyal, Dragon Slayer, Red Hands the Pirate Bane, and last but not least, the God of Time.”
The awe in their faces was more than enjoyable, but I merely smiled sweetly at their shocked expressions.
“We were saved by a god?” Janella gasped, and her tears were suddenly forgotten. “You must help Arajah!”
The young woman’s vehemence took me by surprise since the rest of the Arajians were less forthcoming, and I admired her strength. To have gone through the kind of trauma she must have experienced at the hands of the pirates and still be thinking of the people who put her in such a position meant she had a good heart, and that was exactly the kind of people I wanted to help.
“That’s the goal,” I chuckled, but then I turned to the two unnamed women. “Now, which one of you is Ivasthi, and which is Samaria?”
The larger of the two women planted her hands on her hips as she scrutinized me for a long moment, but then she nodded decisively like she’d come to some internal decision.
“I am Samaria,” the curvy Arajian woman said. “Ivasthi is my daughter.”
“Lovely to meet such beautiful women,” I said as I flashed the middle-aged woman a charming smile. “You are far too precious to be wasted as slaves. I am so sorry about what happened to you, but I promise we will get our vengeance on the assholes who hurt you. Now, what can you tell me about your lives before you were sacrificed to the pirates?”
I continued to speak to the freed slaves until I got a full picture of their former lives, but I didn’t think any of them would be able to return to their normal routines easily. The pirates had beaten and raped them, starved them, and in general treated them as disposable. They were lucky they’d survived for as long as they had, but they all had a strength in them that was easy to respect.
The pirate assholes were like maggots destroying the last bit of life left on a corpse, and their callous disregard for human life was obvious from the stories their victims told.
It made me sick to my stomach.
Every tale I heard about the treatment the Arajians had received furthered my rage, and by the time I’d gotten the full story, I was ready to murder someone. I bottled up my anger and reminded myself I could unleash it upon the guilty parties soon enough, but that wasn’t quick enough for my tastes.
Once I’d gotten all the details, though, I reset back to my save point with a wave of my will.
Chime.
“Alaster, Torin, you have no reason to fear me.” I placed myself in between the two men and their hammocks. “I just wanted to discuss some things with you before Janella, Samaria, and her daughter Ivasthi wake up.”
“The women were treated very poorly by our captors,” Alaster said, and a worried frown creased his brow as his gaze flicked to the occupied hammocks nearby. “They deserve to be left in peace.”
“I agree,” I said with a curt nod. “I just wanted to assure you that we will save Arajah, and all her people. That means the ones who are still captives. We will save them all, together.”
“How do you plan to accomplish such a task?” Alaster’s frown deepened.
“I’m the God of Time.” I shrugged. “I’ll figure it out eventually.”
“G-G-God of Time?” Torin’s jaw fell open. “But you look like a human!”
“I am,” I laughed. “I’m just an immortal human. Don’t think too hard about it, though, I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
“How did you come to know of Arajah?” Alaster asked.
“I have a way of just knowing things. I have a friend from the island, but she didn’t tell me much about where she was from,” I explained. “Then I met another Arajian man after I freed him from the God of the Purge, and I learned of the pirate scourge terrorizing your waters, so I decided to help.”
The men exchanged a glance as they thought over my words, but then the older of the two sighed and gave me a sad smile.
“Arajah may be beyond even the help of the gods,” Alaster said in a somber voice. “We have fallen far from grace in recent years.”
The shame and guilt on his face was obvious, but I paid it no mind.
“I gathered as much,” I said. “But have no fear. I’ll save your land, and a new day will dawn for the Arajians. You have my word.”
“Who are you?” Janella sat up in her hammock and stared at me with blatant curiosity.
“I am Sir Sebastian, Archduke of Sorreyal, Dragon Slayer, Red Hands the Pirate Bane, and the God of Time.” I puffed out my chest and lifted my chin proudly. “When I say I’m going to save your homeland, I fucking mean it.”
The former slaves’ eyes widened, but they didn’t argue with me, and soon their gazes were full of awe. Despite the pain and trauma they’d just experienced because their own king was too weak to stand up to pirate scum, they were still holding onto hope for their island nation.
I left them in peace and returned to the upper deck a short while later, and I spotted my companions on the back rail of the vessel, so I quickly crossed the distance to them.
“Where have you been, Bash?” Eva asked before I’d said a word in greeting.
“I went to see the victims we saved,” I explained.
“You did?” Risthan’s head snapped around to face me, and the fishing pole in his hand swayed in the air. “Did they speak with you? How are they doing? Is that giant man being nice to them?”
“Everything is fine,” I laughed. “I just wanted to check in with them personally after everything they’ve been through. I’m sure with our help they’ll be back to one hundred percent very soon.”
Then I looked pointedly at the Arajian’s fishing pole, and he smiled as he handed it over.
“There is a reef under us, and we’ve spotted a few big fish,” Caelia informed me without taking her chocolate-brown eyes off the water. “I am just about hungry enough to eat a shark.”
With each day that passed, there were more and more signs Caelia was indeed pregnant, but I wanted to wait until we were certain before I celebrated too much. I didn’t know much about pregnancy and childbirth, but I knew a woman’s first child could often be a difficult one to bear to full term.
“You can always catch my big one if you want,” I teased as I flicked the line out into the water.
I spent the rest of the day fishing with my companions, and by dinner time, we had a pile of fish ready to be cleaned and prepared. Patsy was overjoyed at the fresh meat, and she brought a small contraption to the upper deck to give the fish a proper grilling.
The meal was delicious, and it paired nicely with the bottle of wine Captain Black-eye pulled from his waistcoat halfway through dinner, so I was quickly intoxicated and having a blast.
The remainder of the trip to the island nation of Arajah was enjoyable, and both my days and nights were full. A couple days after I’d spoken to the former slaves, the Arajians joined my companions and me on the upper level of The Quest, and soon, some of the light returned to their eyes.
I got them some better clothes, and all I had were in the Sorreyal fashion, but the gray-haired Arajians still stuck out amongst the crew and my companions. The former slaves followed Sarosh and Risthan around like ducklings behind their mother, but the silver-haired man and woman didn’t seem to mind in the slightest.
I made a new save point each morning before I rose from my bed just in case something happened throughout the day that would merit a reset, but the days were uneventful.
It was early in the morning when the dark, hazy line of mountains came into view, and Krin called out loudly from the crow’s nest.
“Land, ho!”