Jack was indeed shocked.
The Beln Kingdom, ruled by the Demonic Liege, King Beln, was the neighboring faction to Lilith’s in Hell. The Hellish Kingdoms were a colossal span of terrain, as big as any country in the Garden.
"How long did the Belns chase you for?" Jack asked somberly. "How did you end up with us?"
Remus took another sip, collecting his thoughts.
"I’m not sure how long I was in Beln for," the knight answered softly, his gaze heavy and still fixed on the distance. "A few centuries, perhaps. As you know, time has a hard way of making sense over there..."
Jack nodded, well aware of the time difference between realms. Regardless, centuries of being hunted in a land inhospitable to mortals.
Unimaginable.
"It’s been a while since I’ve been in the old country." The big man grinned sheepishly. "But even so, I should have heard about something like this. Even a Kingdom or a whole realm away. This is unheard of!"
Remus did that slight smile again. "Oh, I believe Beln would have kept it quiet. A sacrifice coming, though, and escaping, running rampant without capture through their lands. It would be a tad bit embarrassing, no?"
"Aye, it would." Jack nodded, looking back at the dock. "And braggin’ about it wouldn’t endear you to those assholes either, never mind ol’ Beln himself. A knight status wouldn’t stop you from gettin’ axed out here."
"Indeed." The knight nodded. "Many have a fair idea, but the Queen insists not to make too much a fuss out of it. The less hot-headed minds make it personal."
Jack mused, eyeing his empty mug in thought. "But ye told me."
Remus then looked back up at him. "Because you asked, Captain Jackson."
Jack eyed him back, reading the note in the knight’s eyes. "Aye, I did. And I’ll keep it to myself. Thank you for yer honesty."
Remus gave a slight nod before returning his watch to his target’s holdings at the coast.
"Ye know, you can just call me Jack. All this formal stuff gives me the willies."
A slight grin appeared on Remus’s face. "Very well, Jack."
The big man guffawed and clapped the knight on the back. "That’s more like it, Remy!"
"Remus." The knight corrected, the beginnings of a long-suffering eye twitch beginning in his left eye.
The ship’s captain politely ignored his input and asked if he wanted more coffee.
Later, Remus observed through his telescope. The Lancen docks still seemed devoid of activity. Perhaps this business actually was legitimate, and unlinked to Lancen’s other pursuits.
Remus’s thoughts were interrupted by Jack and more coffee. The big man returned from his cabin and handed over the mug. The knight was adjusting to the taste, but noticed more sugar had been added this time round.
"Ye know, been thinkin’ there." Jack began, gesturing towards the cabin. "About yer tale."
Remus raised an eyebrow at his new friend, nodding for him to continue.
"The people who did this to you. The sacrifice. Do ye know what they bartered for? Or why you were used?"
The knight sipped his sweetened coffee patiently, genuinely thinking about it, before shaking his head.
"Hmm." Jack hummed. "And if I could be so bold, what was yer line of work when it happened? Were you a priest or somethin’?"
"A what?" Remus responded, blinking in confusion. "No. I was a Royal Knight."
The wind picked up slightly, rocking the ship gently along the water. Nothing but the moonlight shone on the dark water, giving both men a small semblance of light to see one another.
"A Royal Knight?" Jack asked, "Were you one of the honest ones?"
"I’d like to think so, yes," Remus answered, a slight bit of defiance in his expression.
"Maybe that was it then." The captain nodded sagely, looking past Remus.
"Excuse me?"
"Just a theory, a long-shot one." Jack amended, focusing on Remus again. "Don’t think much of it, just something I heard, rumors a while back. The Belns were after pure souls, whatever the fuck that means. Souls are souls, they fill up the wall and get mashed good enough. But them lads were looking for genuine ’pure’ souls."
The knight looked taken aback, confused by this information. "Whatever for?"
"Beats me." Jack shrugged, swigging his coffee. "Rumors. I go from port to port sometimes for business. Just rumors in other taverns a while back. Children wouldn’t do it fast enough for what they wanted. Too young, soul isn’t dense enough. They were looking for adults, devout folks."
Remus gritted his teeth, looking back to the docks. His mind began to whirl on what exactly that could mean, and what it may or may not have to do with him.
"As I said, it was just a rumor. Boys could have been talkin’ shite. End of the day, it doesn’t make sense. The thing just popped in my head when you were tellin’ your tale."
Remus nodded, appreciative of the information, whether it had a foundation of truth or not. None of those whispers were in Hell, which made sense if all the action was on this side of the metaphysical fence.
Jack was about to belch more wisdom, but was interrupted by Remus. The man leaned forward suddenly, bringing his telescope up quickly, focusing on the distance. Faint lights came from the docks, people carrying lamps. Adjusting a custom control, Remus zoomed further in on the men, then panned into the distance they were looking at.
A ship, about the size of the one they were currently on, was quietly making its way into the port.
Jack cursed, turning to the helm. "Shite, we’ll need to move in case we get seen."
"No need," Remus said calmly, eyeing the new vessel with curiosity through the scope. "I took the liberty of placing a glyph on your mast. We’ve essentially been invisible this whole time."
The captain’s jaw dropped in shock, spinning an accusatory glance at the mast of the ship. And there, neatly pinned onto it, was a fine piece of paper. Elegantly drawn was a complicated glyph, faintly glowing.
Jack rounded back to the knight.
"Remy. You just don’t go and touch a man’s mast like that without askin’!" he whined.