The collapsed fort had once been used as a barracks for Halad's soldiers and the militia. After the Tarzovian attack, it was left partly unusable due to the danger of collapse—though that didn't matter to the pirate crew.
From their captain's point of view, leaving a structure like that abandoned would be a real shame: "Just imagine all the space we'd have!" he'd said at the time.
Of course, Lin knew all of this was part of a larger plan, but she didn't know what the captain had in mind—and perhaps the appearance of this so-called Nellac was a variable they hadn't accounted for.
But what was she supposed to do—kill him? Their brief fight had made it clear to the pirate that this wasn't a man she could fight lightly. Underestimating him had been a mistake her captain would surely repeat.
"Hey, we're here. Tell them I'm with you," Nellac said, snapping her out of her thoughts.
Before them stood the fort's gates, guarded by a group of five pirates with unfriendly faces.
"Don't panic. He's my guest," the woman said.
"The captain doesn't want anyone passing through, Lin," said one of the pirates—a scrawny man who seemed to be the one in charge.
"The captain doesn't blablabla," Lin repeated in a mocking tone. "Just step aside and don't make my job harder," she ordered now.
The woman could see the man turn red with rage, which amused her, but she knew he'd still try to stop her.
"You're walking a dangerous path there, woman," he said, reaching for his weapon.
Lin could see out of the corner of her eye how her companion did exactly the same. This was no longer funny.
The woman hurried to the pirate's side, disconcerting him.
"Look, I don't like you, you don't like me. See that guy over there?" she whispered in an urgent tone, pointing at Callen with her head. "Well, neither of us likes him, and he's not in the mood to be contradicted!" she said a little louder this time.
"What does he want, Lin?" the pirate asked, a little calmer but still on guard.
"No idea. He just told me he wanted to come for a visit."
"You're asking me to work with very little."
"Better to work with little information than without arms, don't you think?" Lin patted him on the shoulder.
She moved away toward Callen once more.
"What did they say?" the prince asked as soon as she got close enough.
"Ah, we can pass."
"I never gave them permission!" the pirate at the entrance complained.
"No, you didn't." She grabbed Nellac by the arm and dragged him with her. "Come on, I'll take you straight to the captain, and NO ONE will bother us." She looked sourly at the man at the entrance, and he simply stepped aside, muttering curses.
That went well, she thought, happy with herself for having avoided a fight she knew the outcome of.
They passed the entrance. Instantly, the smell of fish that flooded the streets was replaced by a strong smell of alcohol. Lin could tell Nellac was clearly disgusted by this. She just hoped he wasn't one of those people who got more aggressive the more disgusted they were.
This place reeks of alcohol, Callen thought, frowning. I can also hear distant conversations and laughter—most of them seem to be here.
They passed through a hallway that connected to a storeroom. Three pirates were carrying a box into that storeroom. Suspicious—too suspicious. But this wasn't the moment to focus on those things. He had to reach the captain of this crew.
Lost in his thoughts as he was, Callen hadn't noticed that Lin was still pulling him by the arm.
"Hey, Lin."
"Yes?"
"You can let go of me now."
"Huh?" The woman looked toward the prince's arm, seeing she was still holding it. "Ah, sorry!" she said, embarrassed, releasing her grip.
I think this is the first time I've seen her like this all day, the prince thought, curious about her reaction.
She began walking, leading the way. She looked nervous—more than usual. In fact, she'd never looked like this the entire time he'd been with her.
"Are you okay?" he asked with a touch of concern.
Concern? He was worrying about someone who could be his enemy. That wasn't normal for him.
"Yes, it's just that I don't like being in the captain's presence," she replied, discouraged.
What a drastic change in attitude, Callen thought.
"What's this captain like?"
"He's, well, eccentric, if you can call him that. He always takes us down the path that gives the best profit, even if it's the most complicated."
"I suppose this is one of those moments."
"Yes, or so some of us think. He likes to take on more than he should."
A bed, full of gold coins. Some shelves with books badly placed or fallen to the floor. A table with several bags, probably full of gold. And sitting in the chair behind it, a man.
The man wore a large hat with a feather, with a skull painted in blue on the crown. He was smiling, so they could see two gold teeth. He wore a leather jacket of noble appearance, very well cared for—it made Callen wonder where he'd gotten it.
The man was examining a small gold coin, paying no attention to those who had just entered.
"Captain, I brought you a visitor," Lin spoke, in a much lower tone.
The captain made a grimace of disapproval. In response, Lin lowered her head, not daring to look him in the face.
"Ah, my Lin, my dear Lin. I thought I'd told you that you couldn't bring anyone into my presence, no?" he said without taking his eyes off the coin.
"I insisted," Callen spoke, stepping forward.
The man now did take his eyes off the coin to direct them at Callen.
"I don't recall addressing you, boy."
"You didn't."
The man bit the coin. Seeing it was real, he left it on the table. Then with a leap, he landed right in front of Callen.
"May I know who you are and what you want?"
"Nellac. I'm a traveler. I just wanted to visit this old fort."
The captain burst out laughing.
"So you just wanted to see the fort? You take me for an idiot?"
"You don't look very smart."
The pirate pulled out a small knife, bringing it dangerously close to Callen's neck—though he didn't react in any way.
"I don't think I heard you right. Repeat that last part?"
"Tell me what you and your people are plotting here, pirate," the prince ordered, ignoring what the pirate had said.
The captain stared at him, somewhat confused, then burst out laughing again, putting the knife away.
"By the tide, you don't let yourself be intimidated. That's good." He patted him on the shoulder. "You should learn from him, dear Lin."
The woman flinched upon hearing her name. Callen frowned. What the hell is going on here between you two? he thought.
"You still haven't answered my question."
"And what makes you think I will?" The man put his hands behind his back, walking back to the table. "You come to my fort demanding something. We don't live on charity, friend."
"And I won't pay a single coin to someone who makes a living raiding ships."
"Raiding ships?" He burst out laughing. "We've been stranded here for weeks, keeping these people safe from the Tarzovian attacks."
"Attacks?" Callen repeated, raising an eyebrow. "The last I heard, there was only one attack."
"Of course. They don't dare set foot here. Who would, with us around?"
Every word, every syllable, every movement of that pirate's mouth. He had no proof, but Callen was sure all of it was rehearsed. Since that man arrived, he hadn't said a single truth.
But there were still some things to discover before acting. Perhaps killing the man right now would rid him of a problem, but deep down he was sure this wasn't the end.
"How should I address you?" Callen asked.
The man glanced at him sideways, with a serious expression. He didn't respond immediately.
"Captain Viss. Now, if you have nothing more to add, get lost. I have to keep counting my pay," the man replied, gesturing for Callen to leave.
Callen turned to leave, closely followed by Lin, who began sighing in relief once they moved away from the room.
"You and him—you have some kind of history, don't you?" Callen said to Lin, almost whispering.
"Us? No, of course not. It's just—" She stopped, bit her lower lip, and sighed. "A while ago, you know, he tried to make me his partner."
Callen nodded slowly, though without fully understanding where she was going with this.
"I'd have a high position in the crew and all that." She sighed again before starting to scratch her head, nervous. "But he's not my type—not at all—so I refused."
Ah, I think I understand now.
"Are you afraid he'll try something out of line?"
"At first, no. But lately he's been acting stranger than usual. He keeps away from everyone, and his orders don't vary much from: 'don't bother me.'"
"I don't think that's enough to have you this on guard around him."
"No, the truth is it isn't. But my instincts scream that I should be." The woman sighed again, slower this time, and returned to the attitude she'd had all day. "But anyway, enough talk about such gloomy things. I must admit, you looked really good standing up to Viss like that."
"Still, I've never seen anyone ever do something like that. You're not so normal after all, little prince."
"I'd prefer you stop calling me that. It sounds like you're referring to me as a child."
"What? But 'little prince' is such a cute nickname," the woman said jokingly, moving a little ahead. "Well, setting that aside, where else do you want me to take you today?"
Callen stopped near the entrance, pulled a small bag of coins from one of his pockets, and tossed it to Lin. The jingling of the coins combined with the weight made the woman's eyes go wide with surprise.
"I won't need your services anymore. I'll stop being a simple traveler soon." Callen said goodbye, waving his hand.
"Ah, well. Good luck then, little prince," the woman said goodbye too.
Callen crossed the door, welcomed by the smell of fish from the village but at the same time by a strange feeling—he felt a little sad about leaving behind the woman's company.
At least an hour had passed since the prince left the fort, leaving Lin alone walking around the surroundings. Bored, the woman began exploring the hallways—some clean, others full of rubble or without a roof.
She toyed with the bag of coins, looking at it with a lost expression. She liked bothering Nellac—too much for her liking. Now that he was gone, she felt like a part of her had gone with him.
She hit herself. It wasn't normal for her to get depressed like that just from a goodbye. He wasn't the first, and he wouldn't be the last.
Without realizing it, from so much walking, she ended up going down to the fort's catacombs. That place used to be full of thieves, murderers, or even pirates like her. Just thinking about being locked in there gave her goosebumps.
The woman flinched upon hearing a cough. In the place, there was only one torch beside one of the cells, so the lighting was quite poor.
Could there be a person here? she thought, approaching the torchlight.
To her surprise, there was. In the dark cell was a woman. Older than her at first glance, with black hair, wearing a dress now full of dirt and moisture.
How long has she been down here?
"Ma'am, can you hear me?"
"W..."
"W?"
"Water, please," she managed to say before starting to cough again.
Lin frowned. She couldn't see her well, but it was clear she wasn't in good condition. She hadn't seen when they brought her here. Was she part of the plan?
But this was cruel. It bordered on torture to leave someone in this place without giving them hardly any water.
Lin used her ability, absorbing the moisture from the walls around her, forming a small bubble of water—just like the ones she'd used to escape from Nellac earlier that day.
She brought the bubble close to the woman's mouth, but she didn't seem to trust Lin too much.
"It's drinkable. I've checked it myself several times," the pirate told her. "Though I can't promise it's cold."
Though she hesitated a little more, the woman finally ended up opening her mouth to swallow the bubble.
"Thank you very much. I needed that," the woman said, accompanied by a cough.
"Who are you, and why are you here?"
"The pirates brought me. They kidnapped me," she began to say, coughing again. She seemed not to have realized Lin was one of them. "I'm Jullie, Lord Halad's wife."
His wife!? Lin thought, opening her eyes wider. She looked around, but there was no one. Why is the wife of the noble who controls the entire north here? This wasn't part of the plan. They didn't tell me anything about this.
The woman began to sweat faster. Then an idea crossed her mind. Nellac.
Yes! If I look for him and explain the situation, he'll surely help me. He was too interested in all this—maybe this was what he was looking for! she thought, with a slight smile.
"Hold on a little longer. I'll get help."
"Oh no, you won't."
The voice came from behind—unmistakable to Lin. The captain's voice.
By the time the woman tried to turn around, the man's arms had already seized her by the neck, applying enough pressure to cut off her breathing.
She tried to defend herself, kicked, hit the man—but she barely had any strength. With each passing second, her movements became slower and more erratic.
"You made a mistake, dear Lin."
Lin's vision began to blur and hear less and less. Her voice was little more than muffled grunts at this point.
"You shouldn't have betrayed me like that."
It was the last thing the girl managed to hear before falling unconscious.