Puzzle Piece
After the fight with the Do-mare, this one returned to its cabin to think over the situation it now found itself in. This one looked itself over in the small cabin mirror slowly and carefully this one added realistic bruises and swelling where this one had been hit. Changeling chitin didn’t have the same properties as mammalian skin, so unless this one made a point of changing its disguise it wouldn’t show wounds the same way an equine would. It was the type of oversight that caused a changeling to give themselves away. People would start asking questions if this one didn’t show any wounds after getting into a slugout. The key to a good disguise was to be so perfect that no one questioned it to start with.
Examining this one’s battered-looking face served as a bitter reminder of how things had gone back on deck. The fight had been tougher than this one had thought it would be. Oh, this one hadn’t expected a cakewalk, but that had been ugly. The Do-mare was a true natural fighter. Most people needed years of hard training and discipline to become a proper warrior, but she seemed like one of those rare gifted individuals for whom the battlefield was their natural environment.
That knowledge didn’t exactly help this one feel all that much better, physically or psychologically. This one had some talent with using its hooves, but nothing like what the Do-mare had. This one had spent years working on its skills until it was a well-honed instrument. The issue wasn’t helped by the fact that this one wasn’t even sure how the fight would have ended if it had continued. This one had been getting a better grasp on how to fight the Do-mare as it went on, but she had thrown more than one surprise this one’s way.
And this one would never know how that fight would have ended. Afterwards, the Ephemera-mare claimed that she saw an opportunity to take out her nemesis and took it, saying that she had no intention of hitting this one. It was possible she was being honest, but at the time it sure looked like she was firing far too closely for this one’s liking. The Ephemera-mare’s treatment of her other employees made this one suspect she would be quite willing to write this one off as collateral damage if she still achieved her goals. That her actions had cost us our compass didn’t make this one much happier, either.
Hence why this one was sitting in its cabin to think. There was a great deal to think about: how to deal with the Do-mare, how to get our compass back, what to do about the Ephemera-mare, our plans once we got back to land, and so on. Unfortunately, there weren’t any easy answers to those questions. This one wondered if it might have to come up with some inventive solutions to its problems.
A knock on the door pulled this one out of its ruminations. “Who is it?”
The door opened up to reveal an unexpected guest. Before this one stood a zebra mare with a willowy body and a severe face framed by a pair of glasses. She gave this one a smile that didn’t quite meet her eyes. “Hello, my name is Alya. I wanted to talk, if you have the time.”
This one frowned and wondered what all of this could be about. This one recognized Alya as one of its fellow passengers, though she had mainly kept to the other merchants that were also taking passage on the Buried Treasure. “And what brings you to me?”
Alya sat at the small desk opposite of the bed this one was reclining on. “I’m a merchant and alchemist who represents the Clover Consortium, and I have a business proposal for you.”
Now this was interesting—suspiciously so, but still interesting. At least it would give this one something else to think about for a few minutes. The Clover Consortium was a major business venture in the Zebrican Empire that had been created when several wealthy merchant houses had combined their resources through a complicated series of marriages. They were no small players, assuming Alya really did work for them.
“How intriguing. And what would your proposal be?”
“It has to do with you planning to head into the continent's interior,” Alya answered.
“Is that so?” This one leaned back, its curiosity growing by the second. “Few people have any desire to do business there, least of all the inhabitants. It’s my impression that no foreigner is even allowed into the interior.”
Alya frowned deeply. “Yes, that's no small part of the problem my consortium is facing. The Dromaed tribes only allow limited trade within their territories, if at all.”
“And even that comes with no guarantees when it comes to the local wildlife,” Alya observed.
“It makes it rather hard to make a profit when you have to worry about being eaten by large carnivorous lizards.”
This one snorted derisively. “That certainly sounds inconvenient.” Once again this one was annoyed by its lack of knowledge about the Dromaed. This one liked to know what it was getting into. What you didn’t know was what was most liable to kill you.
This one leaned forward as it thought of its next question. “So what does your consortium seek?”
Alya grinned wryly at this one. “Seeds.”
“Seeds?” This one raised an eyebrow. “Why seeds?”
Alyra waggled a hoof in front of this one. “Not just any seeds. You see, there are rare spices, medicines, and alchemical ingredients that only grow in the hinterland forests of the southern half of the continent. Lands that no non-Dromaeds are even allowed to get close to. The right plants could be worth a fortune if they could be harvested and removed from the region.”
Ah, so this is what she wanted: profit. That was a reasonable enough motivation, and one this one understood well. “Small surprise, though how well those seeds would adapt to a different climate...”
Alya smiled knowingly. “Which is why my consortium has specially prepared enchanted greenhouses suited to perfectly replicate the necessary climate. If we can get the seeds back to Zebrica the farmers can take care of the rest.”
This one crossed its legs over its chest as it thought this over. “It sounds like your group has thought it out pretty thoroughly.”
“In nearly every aspect, yes.” Alya frowned and leaned closer to this one. “Except for one: we need to actually get the desired seeds out of Dromaed lands.”
“That is rather central to your plans, yes.” She hadn’t explicitly said so, but this one imagined the penalties were quite high for anyone caught trying to smuggle the proposed seeds. The Dromaed were an insular people, and they did not give up their secrets easily.
“And what did you want from me in that regard?” this one asked. “I know a great many things, but herblore is not one of my strengths. And that’s assuming this one is heading into the hinterlands to start with.”
Alya scoffed. “Oh, you’re going. I saw that compass you were all fighting over earlier. I know what they are and what their purpose is.” The smile on her lips spread. “You want to get into the City of Giants, and to get there you need to go into the hinterlands.”
This one made a mental note to be careful about where it allowed anyone to see those compasses, assuming we could retrieve one again for ourselves. That was a rather prickly issue at the moment.
“Still, I hardly know anything about harvesting, or what you want,” this one pointed out. “I’m hardly familiar with the country, much less its herbology.” That wasn’t entirely true, this one knew how to make potions, but she probably didn’t know that. But if she did know then that would tell this one much. It was possible she was actually affiliated with the bounty hunters after this one, so giving her some room to screw up her disguise was to this one’s advantage. Not to mention this one wanted to see Alya’s hoof in this. Having her tell this one everything she knew could only benefit this one.
“No, but I do,” she said. “I’ve been working with potions and herbs my entire life, I know exactly what the Clover Consortium desires, and how best to harvest the desired plants.”
“Then you wish to accompany us?”
Alya nodded. “I could make it worth your while. If we can collect the right plants, then my employers would be willing to offer you a considerable sum for your help.”
“I certainly wouldn't object to that.” Though that depended on the offer being genuine. “Of course, I would need to clear any such arrangement with my current employer, and I would like proof you work for who you say you do.”
“Naturally.” Alya pulled out some papers for me to review. “I would have contacted your employer first, but unfortunately the Captain's guards aren't exactly allowing her visitors at the moment.”
“No, they are not.” This one had only been able to have a brief conversation with the Ephemera-mare through some sweet words and a bribe. “But I never like to burn bridges unless it becomes absolutely necessary. Especially when I would be burning bridges with the type of people who take that personally.”
That last statement was intended to provoke a reaction from the Alya-mare, but she wasn’t the one to reply.
A familiar voice echoed from through the doorway. “Then maybe you should think twice about working for a vicious nag like Ephemera.” The Do-mare pushed open the door and leaned against the frame.
This one raised an eyebrow, a stab of irritation running through it. It didn’t appreciate being eavesdropped on.
Daring snorted. “That’s rich coming from you, Mr. Information Broker.”
“This one’s eavesdropped enough times to know how much important information often gets passed around in private conversations,” Puzzle countered. “And the Do-mare listening in on a potentially illegal contract wasn’t something this one wanted to have happen right then and there.”
Daring frowned. “Point.”
This one instinctively evaluated the situation. The two escape routes were either through the window or past the Do-mare to get into the hallway. Potential fighting conditions were cramped, leaving this one the better position in the event of a fight. All of this one’s weapons were present, but most of them were in this one’s saddlebags and its shock gauntlet hadn’t had enough time to recharge. A fight would likely result in the crew responding, in addition to risking injuring Alya and giving her a negative impression of this one. The Do-mare didn’t seem aggressive, but there was wariness in how she carried herself as she leaned against the doorframe. Best to ask her why she was here then.
“I don't recall inviting you in,” this one told her.
Daring shot this one a cocksure grin. “Yeah, but here I am.”
This one scowled and turned to address Alya. “Could we talk later? It seems this pony has some business with me that just can’t wait.” It struck this one as best to keep the two mares separate. The Do-mare might poison the Alya-mare’s opinions about this one and the Ephemera-mare with her rather vocal and caustic opinion. Or at the very least, negotiate a lower price for our services.
Kukri nodded. “As Dad would say, never pay five ducats for something you can pay with one.”
Alya looked between us before nodding. “Yeah, sure.” She stood up and Daring let her pass, leaving the two of us alone.
“So, you still owe me a friendly hoofshake for the end of our match,” the Do-mare said.
This one considered the Do-mare for a long moment. Was she teasing this one? Sincere? Taking a measure of this one? This one couldn’t say for sure one way or another. So this one decided to play nice for now. After all, good manners cost nothing. “Alright then.” This one said as it offered her a hoofshake.
“Well fought.” She shook this one’s hoof. “Have to admit, it's been a long time since I fought anyone that could keep up with me.”
This one inclined its head. “I could say much the same.”
The shaking done, the Do-mare looked this one over. “So what's your deal, then?”
This one put its defenses up. The Do-mare must have been looking for intel. That made sense considering our fight. This one would do the same in her place. “My deal?”
She waved vaguely. “Like why you're working for an evil jerk like Ephemera. You're not her usual brand of minion. Most of them are big, muscly, and I’d call them dumb as rocks, but that wouldn’t be fair to the rocks.”
This one shrugged. “She paid very well.”
“Again, weird for Ephemera.” The Do-mare tipped her hat back and scratched her head. “So what, you're some Freeportian merc?”
“Indeed so.” That was effectively what this one was now. Perhaps this hadn’t been the career path this one had planned for, but here it was.
“And what were you doing before?” I asked.
Puzzle waved the question off. “We’ll cover that later.”
“Figures. Though is that all you are?” Before this one could protest, the Do-mare snatched up this one’s saddlebags and started rifling through them.
This one tensed and scowled. “Give those back right now, or this conversation will become considerably less civil.”
The Do-mare didn’t show any concern about this one’s threat as she hummed to herself while looking through this one’s objects. “Daggers, batons, tools for breaking and entering, firegems, potions, a thunderflash stone, and a jar of suspicious-looking green stuff.” She tossed the bag back to this one and it roughly hit this one’s barrel. “So you just a merc, or would ‘assassin’ be more accurate? Though I guess an assassin is just a highly specialized type of merc. I bet plenty of assassins would like that nasty gauntlet of yours. I saw how it took out that shark that was looking to make me a meal.”
“It depends on the pay and the target.” This one pushed its saddlebags under its bed. This one didn’t like its personal possessions—the only things it really owned anymore—being gone through like that.
The Do-mare frowned as she watched this one. “So what're you getting paid for? Just to do Ephemera's dirty work, or did she have something nasty in mind for a specific nemesis?”
So that’s what she was getting at. She wondered if this one was a threat to her and her own expedition. A fair enough worry considering our fight earlier and her past history with the Ephemera-mare. The Ephemera-mare had even told this one to kill the Do-mare during our fight, though this one had been ambivalent about the idea. Especially doing it in front of so many others. There was also the fact that it seemed so unnecessary. This one had killed before, yes, but only for good reasons and when necessary. This one had hoped to injure the Do-mare and leave it at that; and a broken leg wouldn’t be hard to explain given the free-for-all we’d been thrust into. People got badly injured in far less risky sports all the time. It wasn’t like the Do-mare could go trekking through a dangerous wilderness with a broken leg, and if she couldn’t follow us she wasn’t a threat.
Daring raised an eyebrow. “It’s just a little creepy hearing about you talking about maiming or killing me.”
Puzzle gave her an overly sweet grin. “Though this one wouldn’t imagine taking a job to hurt you now. This one likes you.”
“So it’s just you liking me that keeps you from thinking about breaking my legs?” Daring snorted, though there was a hint of a smile on her features. “Geeze, that makes me feel so much better.”
In truth, this one was surprised the Ephemera-mare hadn’t indeed hired an assassin to deal with the Do-mare before now, though not overly so. The Ephemera-mare seemed to like to do things on the cheap, and capable assassins tended to be very expensive. A weakness of hers. Of course, she might very well have hired an assassin and hadn’t told this one. This one hadn’t asked, after all.
“So far, you haven't come up,” this one lied. “But I would be surprised if it's not on her list. You two do have a history.”
The Do-mare scowled. This one wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t believe it.
“I didn’t,” Daring confirmed.
“Yeah? So where does that leave us?” Daring asked.
This one shrugged. “For the moment, she's locked up by the captain.”
“So, you don't make decisions?” Daring snorted derisively. “You just do whatever Ephemera does because she's the one bankrolling you.”
“I wouldn't go that far,” I said. “But obviously if my employer is a non-factor...”
“Until we get to land, and Captain Hazim kicks her off his ship.”
“I don't break contract without a very good reason,” I told her.
“Like what? She stops paying?”
This one nodded. “That would certainly qualify. I would also refuse to honor a contract that crossed certain ... lines of acceptability.” In truth, this one had been seriously reconsidering its deal with the Ephemera-mare. There wasn’t much this one liked about her, and the money she was offering was quickly becoming not worth the trouble to work with her. Now how best to act if this one did decide to break our contract...
The Do-mare sighed as she rubbed the back of her neck. “Figures, you're just the expensive version of the muscle she normally hires. I really don’t get guys like you; people who hire themselves out to evil nags like Ephemera. You saw how she tried to zap the both of us during our fight, right? Just saying, I’d think twice about working for somepony that tried to flash-fry me.”
This one stiffened slightly. “She claims she had a clear shot at you.”
“And you believe her?” The Do-mare scoffed. “Well my back was to her, so I'm sure you can take her word on that. After all, she’s been so benevolent to her other employees thus far.”
This one grunted neutrally. What more needed saying?
The two of us remained silent for a time, but eventually the Do-mare shrugged. “Thanks for saving me from the shark anyways, even if I'm pretty sure that was mostly just to save your boss. It’s not just any day someone pulls my rear out of the fire.”
This one found itself chuckling. “Not just for that. It would hardly have been sporting for me to let it end that way.”
The Do-mare quirked an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”
“I did not think it so mysterious,” this one said. “Letting you get killed by some shark would hardly have been a proper way for this to end. Besides, this one wants to learn if it can really beat you, not just let some random third party take you out.”
In truth, this one didn’t know what it had been thinking. Normally this one would have let the shark have the Do-mare and dusted its hooves off at a job well done. Now though? It didn’t know. This one’s whole life had been upturned since running from Freeport. This job and its budding rivalry with the Do-mare were all it really had at the moment. Letting its emotions get the better of it was wrong, this one knew, but there it was.
The Do-mare studied this one before grinning. “You're a weird guy, you know that?”
This one smothered a chuckle. “You're not the first to tell me that.”
The Do-mare pushed herself off the doorframe to face this one. “So I guess it's only fair to warn you that if you try to tangle with me again I'm gonna knock you out. Guaranteed.”
This one smirked back at her. “We shall see.”
Daring Do
The next day we arrived at the port city of Haztuha, gateway to the lands of the Dromaed. It didn’t look like much as we approached. A couple dozen or so wood buildings were surrounded by a wooden wall and several piers stretched out into the water to accommodate the couple of merchant ships in the harbor. The merchant and fishing vessel ships in the harbor looked to be Zebrican in design. The one structure that stood out was a slightly dilapidated pyramid that sat in the middle of the town, albeit one of a different aesthetic from the pyramids of Somnambula, being narrower and straighter than the even proportions of its desert cousins.
My smile widened as the Buried Treasure slowly settled into dock and laid anchor. Finally! We were in the land of the Dromaed. True, I could only see zebras along the pier, but all the work, research, making deals, traveling, and fighting for my life were finally paying off. It was still a long way to the City of Giants, but we were a hay of a lot closer than we had been.
“You seem happy,” Capital observed with a smile.
“Of course I’m happy,” I said as the crew went about laying down the gangplank and worked to let all their passengers off. “We’re finally here! This is the type of thing I live for. To visit strange new lands, see new sights, and learn new things.”
“I quite agree,” Capital said. “My Uncle Interesting told me all about his trip here, but words really fail to convey the image. I mean just look at that pyramid! You don’t get those back home, no sir. It makes me wonder what else there is to see here.”
The sailors finished putting down the gangway, and I led the way off the ship. “It’s gonna have to wait,” I told him. “First we need to get the supplies we’ll need to go inland, not to mention we’re going to need to get a passport from the mayor. Seems they don’t want just anyone heading into the jungle.”
Capital let out a huff as he followed me. His retinue worked to pull all of our stuff off the ship, and I hoped it wouldn’t take too long given there were crates of stuff to unload. “Oh very well, business before pleasure. Though really, we can spend at least a little time to see the sights and get to know the town.”
I shook my head. “That’s a no-go. We’re still in a race with Ephemera and her goons. Remember, we have both compasses now, and she’s gonna want at least one of them back.”
I looked up at the ship, saw Puzzle leaning against the railing on the aft castle. He wasn’t looking right at us, but I knew he was watching.
“This one always has an eye for you,” Puzzle teased with a grin.
Daring snorted. “For me, and half of Freeport.”
“True, but there’s a difference between business and pleasure.”
I sighed and rolled my eyes. These two were the type of old friends that made you feel like the third wheel. “Down you two. Maybe let’s get back to the story?”
Ephemera hadn’t made an appearance yet, but that was only a matter of time. Thanks to her bad behavior during the trip, Captain Hazim was only going to let her disembark from the ship after the other passengers left. That bought us a little bit of time, but not much.
Capital’s hoof reached up to fidget with the compass I had won during the voyage. “I really don’t see why Ephemera couldn’t have been made to see reason.” He sighed. “But I suppose we will merely do what we must. I certainly cannot condone her actions thus far. She tried to hurt you!”
“She tried to do a lot more than that.” I glowered up at Puzzle. “We need to watch our backs and get moving as quickly as possible.”
Capital took a deep breath and nodded. “Right, so what’s our first move?”
I motioned for Capital to follow me, putting some distance between us and the ship. No sense letting anyone easily overhear what we were saying. Even if Puzzle was a good lip reader it’d be difficult for him to get a read on us through the crowd that filled the busy docks. “We’ll let your retinue deal with unloading everything. Maybe you can send Proper to get us some lodgings? As much as I’d like to head out there right now, it’s getting late, and we don’t want to be heading into the jungle when it’s about to get dark.”
“That’s what my Uncle Interesting said,” Capital agreed. “So maybe we should go talk with the mayor while my retinue takes care of some of the other details?”
“Sounds good. Once we’re set, we’re going to head up the Sewa River to Szuszushlui. My research says that it’s the central meeting place for the green seers, and they’re probably the only people who can give us permission to go to the Zihlius.”
Capital grimaced. “I’m still worried they won’t let us go. I mean, it is a forbidden city. That kind of says it all, doesn’t it? Nobody but the hristak and the green seers are allowed to even visit the ruins there.”
“But that’s the thing.” I pulled him aside into an alley so we could talk more quietly. “Nopony has ever been there as far as we know. That’s what makes this so huge: there’s so much we could learn by going there. There’ll be artifacts there that we won’t be able to find anywhere else.”
Capital smiled, some of his usual jovial spirit returning. “Then we’ll just have to win them over with our wit and charm to let us go.”
“Exactly, we can’t worry about failure,” I told him. “If we let ourselves get paralyzed by everything that could go wrong we’ll never get anything done. Besides, it’s not like Ephemera is gonna stop just because the Green Seers say it’s against the rules. She doesn’t care about anything but herself and the size of her bank accounts. At the very least we will need to warn the Green Seers she’s coming, but after that we’ll wing it.”
“Probably the best plan we have until we get a few more details. We certainly can’t let that disreputable mare steal from the forbidden city,” Capital said, his gaze shifting to the pyramid looming over the city. “So, shall we get going, my fine mare?”
I led the way down the main avenue that led to the pyramid. “No time like the present.”
Puzzle Piece
This one watched as the Do-mare and Idea-stallion made their way to the pyramid. It wasn’t too hard to figure out what they were going for. After the Do-mare’s interruption, this one had gone back to the Alya-mare and hammered out a potentially profitable agreement between us. Once that was done, this one had started asking everything it could about the Dromaed: their nations, leaders, politics, customs, economics, anything that might be useful. Among the things this one had learned was that the Dromaed tribes didn’t like seeing foreigners moving through their territory. While some tribes were friendlier than others, they still had a pretty strong xenophobic streak.
Those restrictions instinctively grated against this one’s sensibilities. This one was a Freeporter through and through, and Freeporters were used to being able to travel freely, either within our own nation, on the seas, or visiting other nations. Naturally other nations had a right to know who was coming and going, but just visiting for business or pleasure was rarely a major issue; at least with neighbors like Equestria, Westmarch or Northmarch, all of whom were interested in the goods Freeport possessed.
By comparison, the Dromaed just seemed to have little to no interest in the outside world or its foreign peoples. That struck this one as narrow-sighted. A nation was made stronger by the exchange of ideas, people, and goods. To forbid such things was to invite stagnation, and from the sound of things, that is exactly what had happened to the Dromaed. Despite having a civilization that dated back millenia, life among the Dromaed hadn’t changed significantly in all that time. It continued to be ruled by its various petty monarchs, the green seers gave its leaders and people advice and offered their spellcasting services, and the average people engaged in some agriculture, animal husbandry, hunting and gathering, and primitive crafts.
Admittedly, it probably suited the Dromaed just fine. But from everything this one had read, such societies could only operate as long as they remained isolated from the world. That was a problem when the world seemed to become a smaller place with every passing decade. More than one nation had been absorbed because it had withdrawn on itself, only to have its neighbors surpass it and come to conquer it.
Kukri groaned. “Can you skip the lessons already? This one wants to get to the next fight.”
“It wouldn’t hurt you to learn a bit,” I told my apprentice. I didn’t know all that much about the Dromaed, truth be told, so I was getting to learn quite a bit from this. Not the least of which was Puzzle himself. Thus far this had proven to be an enlightening experience about my friend.
This one was pulled out of its ruminations on this new land as a trio of hoofsteps sounded behind it.
“Time to go,” the Ephemera-mare said, carrying herself with her usual air of calm detachment. “We’ve wasted enough time as is.”
“Alright then.” This one pushed off the railing and led the way to the gangplank. The Alya-mare was waiting for us on the pier, and this one gave her a smile. “Ready to go?”
“As I’ll ever be.” The Alya-mare certainly looked it. She wore a pair of well-worn but sturdy saddle-bags, and a bandolier of potions crossed her barrel. This one made a mental note to ask her what sort of potions she had available later, in the event of an emergency.
“Come on then,” the Ephemera-mare said with considerably less kindness. She brushed past the two of us, one of her guards nearly barreling this one over as he tried to stay right by his master’s side.
This one frowned but fell in behind them with the Alya-mare not far behind. The sailors of the Buried Treasure shot us a number of nasty looks as we departed the ship, but didn’t otherwise impede us as we left. Once we were off the ship, this one remarked, “Nice to be back on land.”
The Ephemera-mare didn’t reply, and when this one gave the Alya-mare an inquiring look she shrugged. This one tried to spark up conversation again, as it didn’t like the idea of being casually disregarded. “I have to say, we were a bit overcharged for the accommodations. The cabins were small, and the food was only passable. Oh, and being made to fight for the crew’s entertainment. Have to say, not a ship I’d recommend traveling on again.”
The Ephemera-mare snorted. “Perhaps you were overcharged, but I got myself a refund, and then some.” She pulled out a bag of coin that clinked as she swung it.
This one pressed its lips together as it considered the implications of that. “I can’t imagine Captain Hazim would have just given you all that money back. Especially after all that happened during the trip.”
“I wouldn’t worry about Captain Hazim,” the Ephemera-mare said as she slipped the coin back into her bags. “He won’t be bothering us.”
That sounded ominous. What exactly had she done? She certainly made it sound like she’d stolen from the Captain, and even more than that. Something he was going to find out sooner or later, and would no doubt be very unhappy about. That was the type of thing that could get the city guards after us if Hazim decided to tell them he’d been robbed. Those facts made the theft an unnecessarily risk to our objectives from this one’s perspective. There were times when risks were necessary to complete a mission, but this wasn’t one of them.
Still, this one decided not to inquire further into the matter. This one couldn’t admit to anything it didn’t know—officially, anyways. That would come in handy if we were questioned by the guards. Considering the matter was already done, this one concentrated on the future. “So what’s the plan? You seem to know where you’re going.”
The Ephemera-mare didn’t bother to look at this one as she addressed it. “I don’t answer to you, Puzzle. You work for me, not the other way.”
This one buried its irritation. The Ephemera-mare needed to be taught something about employee relationships, and while this one hadn’t technically been hired for that, ineffectiveness still got on this one’s nerves. “But I’d be more effective if I knew what we were doing. Encouraging initiative in one’s employees by expressing your desires clearly can yield great benefits if done right.”
The Ephemera-mare’s steps slowly slightly as she peeked over her shoulder at this one. “Is that so?”
This one nodded. “For instance, if you still want that compass this one might very well be able to retrieve it for you.”
That was part of this one’s motivations. The other part was that this one would like to make some other arrangements if possible. Such as getting itself a meal. This one was nearly out of thymoplasm even after careful rationing, and its belly ached with hunger. The hunger was disrupting this one’s concentration and making it irritable. This one had to force itself not to look at every passing couple walking down the harbor. That problem needed to be addressed sooner rather than later.
The Ephemera-mare raised her chin with a derisive sniff. “You retrieving the compass would be nice considering you lost it to start with. I don’t relish the idea of being forced to chase Daring yet again.”
This one glowered at its employer. Had this mare even heard of employee morale before? “So if you give me a good idea of what you’re going to do, I can head off and see if I can get the compass back from our competition.”
The Ephemera-mare considered this one for a long moment before nodding. “Alright. My patron has provided me with everything I’ll be needing for the next leg of our journey. Assuming you can retrieve the compass, we should be able to head out before long.” She pointed down to a nearby warehouse. “I’ll be there. Go and do whatever it is you do.”
This one inclined its head. “Alright then. If all goes well this one should be back by nightfall.”
This one turned to go, but hardly made it more than a step before being interrupted. A great explosion erupted from the Buried Treasure, with pillars of fire bursting from every hole of the ship. This one instinctively dove behind some crates as debris started falling in the area around the ship. When this one determined it wasn’t in any immediate danger, it started taking stock of the situation.
Alya was ducking behind some barrels, her eyes wide as sudden devastation reigned. But what really caught this one’s eye was the Ephemera-mare. Her guards continued to stand by her side, whatever preservation instincts they had overridden by their mandate to protect their master. The Ephemera-mare herself stood still, a slight smirk on her lips as she watched the Buried Treasure burn. Watching her demeanor now and having heard her words earlier, it wasn’t hard to figure out who had caused the Buried Treasure’s sudden and terrible misfortune.
“Oh, and Puzzle,” the Ephemera-mare said in a cold voice. “Don’t fail me. I so hate failures.”