Almost as if she was as desperate as I was to work myself out of a job.

  Marie and Jenna, I didn’t see much of them that week. They spent a lot of time with family. Marie with her husband and co-mate, and Jenna with her parents and brother. We were about to start an eight year mission, it would probably be a long time until they could get back.

  From what I understood, at least Marie’s family would hop a ship to wherever we were for visits on occasion, but that wouldn’t be very often. I wouldn’t have blamed her if she’d wanted to back out, but she didn’t, she showed up excited and ready to go on the morning tide.

  The trip to Aramore would take just two days.

  I was nervous. I was afraid for those I loved, my friends, my allies, and even myself.

  Anyone who says that they aren’t nervous or afraid going to war, is either insane, or a liar. Bravery isn’t the absence of fear, it’s controlling the fear and doing it anyway. In fact, without fear, there is no such thing as bravery.

  Fear and bravery, the latter can’t exist without the former…

  It was late on the second day of our voyage, and I was on my way back to the first mate’s quarters, when I quite literally bumped into Amara. I’d slid down the ladder without looking, and though I didn’t hurt her, she hadn’t danced out of the way quite fast enough.

  She glared at me.

  I frowned, “Sorry Amara, accident.”

  I sighed, completely at a loss on what to do or say to fix things when she continued to glare, and the words just slipped out, “I miss you, do you hate me now?”

  I could tell by the magic, that we had privacy despite standing there in the corridor.

  Her eyes widened slightly at that, but she didn’t speak. After a few awkward moments, I turned away and started toward the quarters I shared with Sharon and Lia.

  Her voice was a tortured whisper, “No. I could never hate you. That’s the problem.”

  I turned back, and her cold face was now… twisted with pain.

  “Why run then?” I asked softly.

  She shook her head, “Because I love you too much already, I already face thousands of years of life without you. I can’t…” she trailed off.

  I frowned thoughtfully, “It doesn’t seem to be working. Instead, you’re already in pain, and you’ll also have to live with regret. Better to be happy for a hundred years.”

  She sighed and accused, “Spare me your philosophy. That’s easy for you to say, you will have me your whole life.”

  I shook my head, “There are no guarantees. You could die in battle tomorrow, and then I’d have to mourn you, and regret that we never shared the possible joy of our union for the short time we had. There’s no way to know how long we’ll have. I hope for over a hundred years, but that’s actually a best case scenario. Who knows what will happen, or what blessings the goddess will send you when it’s time.

  “I have to believe it would be worth it, that we’d be happy. Not living now, because of what might happen in the future, is no way to live. I know it’s not fair, if all goes well, I get you as you are, beautiful, and young, for all my life. The truth is, I miss you, not… that. I love you Amara, my heart breaks for the pain in your eyes, and I’m here if you change your mind.”

  Amara seemed to pull herself together, and replied icily, “That’s nothing I hadn’t considered before Tony, but I’ll think about it.”

  I suddenly understood what the ice was for, it was to keep herself from falling to pieces.

  I watched her as she turned and left, my eyes caught until she disappeared from my sight. I turned and headed down the skinny corridor toward my cabin, and the two ladies I felt within.

  I’d hardly gone ten feet when a door opened next to me, and Daphne grabbed my hand and pulled me inside. I raised an eyebrow at the princess as she shut the door, and leaned back against it. It wasn’t exactly proper to be alone with her in her room, she was young for that sort of thing, but she was still a very attractive young woman, sixteen or not, she wasn’t a child. People would talk if they saw, even if it was completely innocent.

  Which it was, innocent I mean.

  She shrugged, “Wanted to talk to you in private, without everyone else around. I’ve been thinking about the future. I know you plan to research magic, and settled down and have a family after all this is done, but would you consider another job as well? Nothing too burdensome.”

  “What did you have in mind?”

  She frowned in thought, “I’m going to have the grand council trying to get me to agree to all sorts of things, and be constantly surrounded by intrigue. I need advisors, people I can trust to have my best interests in mind, as well as the kingdom’s. There’s no one I’d be able to trust without reservation than you, Sharon, and Lia. I also want to be able to introduce you that way, right from the beginning, so there are no surprises or misunderstandings later on.”

  I admit I preened a bit internally at that. I knew we’d grown close as friends as we built the vision of a new kingdom together, but I hadn’t realized she trusted me so implicitly and completely. I also had no idea why she did, or why she was so confident in us. Also, her magic was humming quietly, everything she’d said, she’d absolutely meant with no hidden agenda.

  The idea of staying a part of her life when all this was done was a nice thought as well.

  I nodded slowly, “I need to talk to Sharon and Lia about it, but my initial thought is that I like the idea.”

  As long as it didn’t come with power. Well, outside of the implied political power that would come with the post. Perhaps I was going a bit overboard with the goddess’s warning to avoid temptation, but I was avoiding as much of that as I could. I had some power and influence now, but only as a rebel, I hadn’t actually planned to take part in the new government at all.

  Not until now anyway.

  My focus had just been on removing the old one, and introducing the young lady that would run the new one.

  She smiled sweetly, and she seemed to be studying me.

  Daphne said, “If you can, tell me before we reach Aramore?”

  That shouldn’t be an issue, we weren’t going to get there until mid-morning.

  “That should be plenty of time.”

  She moved away from the door, “Thanks Tony. Good night.”

  I nodded, and slipped back out into the corridor. Once again I headed toward my shared cabin. I’d even gotten my hand on the door handle, when the next cabin popped open, and Melinda stuck her head out.

  “I want to talk to you, got a minute?”

  I almost sighed, would I never get inside my cabin tonight?

  “Of course captain,” I released the handle and walked one more door down, and into her cabin. It seemed a night for conversations.

  It wasn’t much bigger than the first mate’s cabin. A tiny bit bigger, and it had a table with a couple of chairs, but that was the only difference. These wooden sailing ships just didn’t have large quarters.

  She took a seat and gestured at the other one, and I took a seat.

  She frowned at me for a moment, and then she spoke.

  “What a captain needs more than anything else, is to always appear in control, and appear confident. They can never appear to be nervous, or not to have the answers, or to not be in control of everything and everyone on her ship…” she trailed off meaningfully.

  She looked me in the eye, “We’ve gotten along better lately, but I thought I should apologize. I’ve treated you like a subordinate when you really weren’t one. The thing there is, I didn’t do it because I saw you as just a tool to be used, I did it because there can only be one master on the ship. You… challenged me, and got in between Lia and I when I was challenging her to see how she’d react.

  “I couldn’t allow that, and might have gone a bit too far in my responses. As for my orders before that, it was just habit. I’m captain on this ship, and that requires a consistency which is quite automatic for me. I do respect you, and believe you’re a good man trying to do what’s right. Do you understand?”

  I nodded, “I understand captain, I truly did have a concussion that afternoon, or I would have thought better of jumping in like that. I also think we’ve worked well together this last week, quite frankly it’s been a pleasure to have your insights and wisdom.”

  She grinned, “I think we’ve complimented each other enough, why don’t you go get some rest, it’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”

  I took that as the polite dismissal it was, and nodded before I left. I went back to my shared cabin and stood there a moment, and looked back and forth. It was something of a relief as I neither sensed or saw anyone, and I opened the door and slipped in.

  My eyes feasted, and my cock grew, as I started to strip.

  They’d started without me, and they looked really good doing it. Sharon was on the bottom, and Lia on top as they pleasured each other in a sixty-nine.

  Once I was naked, I crawled in behind Lia, and felt Sharon’s hand grip me, and she guided me into Lia’s heaven. I groaned in pleasure as I slid across Sharon’s tongue, and into Lia’s slick tight sheath, which surrounded me with the mind-blowing pleasure of silken wet friction. Sharon’s hand started to tease my balls and taint, while she sucked and licked Lia’s nub.

  Lia gasped and arched her back, and I knew it wouldn’t be long until she came around me.

  I guessed Daphne’s question, and the captain’s urging to sleep, would just have to wait…

  Chapter Seven

  It was at breakfast with Lia and Sharon, when Daphne came in and it all came back to me. What can I say? My mates were extremely distracting last night.

  Daphne smirked at me when she sat down, she must have read the guilty look on my face correctly.

  I channeled Lia’s magic and put up a privacy curtain. It was easy to stop sound from vibrating through the air once I’d been shown the trick of it.

  Sharon and Lia paused from eating and looked between me and Daphne.

  I also felt guilty because I’d be putting them on the spot, by talking about it in front of the princess. After this though, we’d be close to the port at Aramore island, and far too busy with whatever patrol ships and other forces that were near the island.

  Sharon asked, “What is it?”

  “I meant to talk about it last night, but it… slipped my mind. Daphne wants us to be her advisors, on a permanent basis after this is all said and done.”

  Lia looked… amused.

  Sharon gave me a funny look as well, as if it was a stupid question.

  Lia turned to Daphne, “Of course Daphne, we’d love to.”

  Sharon just nodded.

  I felt like I was missing something, but I had no idea what it could be.

  Females were truly a mystery.

  Then they both turned toward me with a question in their eyes.

  I said, “Me too, I just didn’t want to assume on your behalf.”

  That seemed to be the right thing to say, because they both smiled. It also happened to be the truth so it worked out.

  We started to talk about the upcoming day while we ate, so I dropped the privacy shield of air. Not a moment too soon either, as Marie and Jenna joined us almost immediately after, shortly followed by Amara, Gorwin, and Ashera…

  The morning air was crisp and cool, though the rising sun helped ward off the chill as the tiny dot of an island grew on the horizon. It was a bit cooler than yesterday, and I realized I hadn’t really asked about seasons. Based on the angle of the rising and falling of the sun, I knew we were very close to the equator, and the weather had stayed warm for the first four months I was here.

  I’d suspected we were in the tropical zone, but maybe not. Now wasn’t the time to ask however, and I cleared those thoughts from my head. I also did my best to ignore Amara’s sullen presence, she’d be very close by for the battle, and most likely for the foreseeable future.

  I didn’t expect one of the last three diviners to be on this small island on the edge of the kingdom, but it was still a possibility we couldn’t just dismiss.

  Melinda’s crew was the best that sorceress haven had to offer, quite handily winning against one, or even a three ship patrol. Add to that, the extra crew for the ground assault team, not to mention my own diviner abilities, and we were a formidable force.

  The island grew larger to our eyes as we closed, and a three ship patrol came into view. My eyes narrowed as they turned and headed toward the port.

  Lia hummed thoughtfully.

  “We should have expected this, they’ll fight at the port so we can’t use your mass damage technique. There might be more kingdom ships docked there as well. Merchant vessels too perhaps, as well as fishing boats. We’ll have to be more exact in our attacks to avoid collateral damage.”

  I tried not to smile, as some of my colloquialisms from Earth seemed to catch on here. Especially the military ones. Regardless, she was right. We couldn’t use a heated air shock wave without taking out the port city, and probably every merchant ship present.

  That was okay, we hadn’t been counting on that attack anyway. After the large battle two months ago, it was probably safe to assume it wouldn’t be nearly as effective anymore, not now that the enemy knew how to defend against it.

  We had other plans.

  The last half hour or so of the trip went really slow. Wooden ships didn’t move all that fast, they couldn’t really do so without breaking up from the stresses. The magic could make this ship go very fast, at least, until it broke apart.

  I’d even considered building a larger ship, a steel ship. With earth magic it should have been easy, and fast. We could have even built a screw type system, and had one earth wielder turn it with magic. It would be much more sturdy, and fast.

  Not to mention… bigger cabins.

  But I’d thought better of it. Wood wasn’t something that could be directly affected by wielders. It wasn’t earth, water, air, or fire. But a steel boat, all it would take is an enemy wielder, and they could tear it apart with a thought. Yes, there would be a ward around it to prevent that.

  Except, there were still three diviners out there. That… wouldn’t be pretty.

  The small port harbor for Aramore grew larger, and we could easily make out what we faced.

  There were seven kingdom ships, and five merchant vessels, plus a smattering of fishing boats. Melinda had been right on the nose.

  Sharon said, “Seven isn’t so bad, not with you and all the extra crew, but I wonder why they had four kingdom vessels stationed here. I wouldn’t think this small island would rate more than a three ship patrol.”

  I frowned in agreement, not sure myself. A thought popped in my head, and I considered briefly that maybe they had a spy among us and knew of our plans, but I almost immediately dismissed that. If that was true, then they’d have a lot more than just four ships and a single patrol waiting for us. Which meant that those four ships, was just that bastard Murphy acting up again. They must’ve been here for some other reason.

  “Plan A?” I asked, we were getting closer, and Melinda still hadn’t given orders. Maybe she was waiting to see if another shoe dropped?

  Plan A was simple enough, and seven ships wasn’t too much for me. Even on a wooden ship, the surrounding ward that kept the enemy’s magic from directly effecting the ship mattered. Magic couldn’t rip the wood of ship apart directly, but it could set it on fire, or use the enemies cannon balls against them to hole the ship.

  I pondered that I still called them cannonballs, even if there were no cannons.

  The order came at the last moment.

  Captain Melinda said in a commanding voice, “Plan A people, stay sharp.”

  Several of those previously mentioned cannonballs rose from the enemy decks, and they threw them right before we reached magical range. I ignored them, the crew would stop them easily enough, and I had a pivotal job for plan A.

  As the ships came within magical range, I reached out and twisted their wards to make them worthless. Seven was a lot of things to do at once, but it helped that I was doing the same thing seven times, and I’d done it enough with these types of wards that my subconscious did a lot of the work for me.

  That was really my only job. I focused hard on it, and the area turned into chaos.

  Large sheets of ice, air, and fire acted as shields, as the ship was attacked. Most of the crew focused on defense, but there was a select group that took the attack forward. With me twisting the shields, they didn’t have to create their damaging fire, ice, or earth and then send it at the ships.

  They did it on the ships themselves.

  Decks and sails lit on fire. Their internal water supplies froze and burst their containers, and then exploded to tear apart the inside of the ships. Their own cannon balls shot straight down and through the decks. Without the ward to reserve all that stuff for the crew of their own ship, it was a slaughter. I could have used my vacuum trick to help, but honestly it wasn’t necessary.

  Their only chance had been to overwhelm us in that first barrage and kill us quickly, and our crew was too good to let that happen. Less than two minutes later, the battle was done. Seven burning wrecks lay before us, and not one merchant or fisherman vessel had been scratched.

  It was why the diviners were so feared. It was also why I believed we could win not only this battle, but the war. It was likewise why the last three diviners truly gave me pause, I was glad to have the elves along, but that just gave us an edge. It didn’t really guarantee anything.

  I also wished there was a better way to change things. But there really wasn’t, and I reminded myself of all the reasons I was doing this, and the evil the king and his kingdom perpetuates.

  It wasn’t hard to firm up my grim determination, when I didn’t have to look any further than my mate Lia to find a rape victim of this evil putrescent society.

  I turned and looked away at the sea, but didn’t see any other ships.

  The captain said, “Stand down, keep a sharp eye on the horizon for any latecomers.”

  I looked back at the port city of Aramore. It wasn’t nearly as large as Pheles had been, and it had no walls to contend with either. We were close enough where I could see the people running around, some taking shelter, others fleeing the city, and more importantly, the guards preparing for our landing. We were done with the sea battle, but we weren’t done by a long shot.