"Malicious fortune seldom spares a man Because he is courageous. No one courts Danger so often with impunity. Follow death long enough, and you will find it."
— Seneca, Hercules Furens (trans. Diana Gioia)
Lin woke up with the dim sensation that she ought to go back to sleep. Being the contrarian that she was, she pried an eye open. The room shifted. She blinked harder, the familiar smell of old sweat and rotting deadwater filling her nose and placing her at Sirenita. She exhaled as yesterday's memories floated back in.
"You okay?" Hadrian asked.
He laid in the couch across from her, arms folded under his chin as he angled his head to look at her. Lin grimaced. "Awesome."
He gave her a soft smile and nodded, pushing himself up with enough fluidity that she was sure he hadn't fallen asleep there. He probably hadn't been sleeping at all. Lin rubbed at her eyes and stretched as far as the cluttered couch allowed her. Razo hadn't cleaned in what seemed like years. She felt gross, like a film of -- wait. She was covered in blood and sweat. She sighed heavily and ran a hand through her hair, unsurprised to find chunks of it solidified with gore.
She rocked her head to the side, lips pulling down as the barest hint of a headache leeched through. "Are you hungover?"
Hadrian gave her two sleepy blinks before shrugging. "Are you?"
She scoffed and stood up. Sirenita still had her engine on, rumbling through the waves dutifully. The light that managed to seep in through small, grimy portholes was a dark blue. Just before dawn, then. Fun. Lin popped her neck and patted Hadrian's shoulder as she passed him. She fought a yawn, struggling with the sliding door before shoving the frail plastic aside. Cortez was still in the bridge. It wasn't surprising, there was nowhere else for him to go, she'd just been hoping that the man would disappear on his own. Three people was too many for her to deal with at a time.
Lin squinted out at the sea as she approached Razo's chair, frowning. "What the--"
"Been like that all night." Razo's finger tapped staccato beats against his knee. "Don't know what to make of it."
The sea was dark and flat as glass.
Not a breeze or whisper of tide broke the perfect stillness.
"Since when?"
Cortez answered her. "Midnight. Exactly midnight."
The two men had been up all night, then. Probably staring at the sea and wondering what the hell was happening. Lin pulled her lip into her mouth and gnawed on it. "Have you seen anything like this?"
Razo shrugged, eyes still focused on the sea. "That witch you just killed was stronger than any we've seen in decades, but she can't've done this after she's dead. Likely not when she was alive, neither."
"And?" Lin crossed her arms. "Magic's weird. There have been witches strong enough to do something like this before."
Razo hissed out a sharp breath. "Yeah. Those were the ones who brought on the deadwater and ate up the world. Heaven help us if they've come back."
She scrunched up her face and focused, her sigils swimming and warming against her. The magic had changed. Shifted in the night. Where it once flowed like the water it came from, this time it pooled. Threads of power gathered like silt in the air, patches of it whirring along the water or tangling up in the sky. Her sigils refused to give her any hint as to why. There was no jolt of opinion or command, almost as if Greymark had ordered them silent. Which he wouldn't do.
She brushed the magic away. Her sigils cooled. This was someone else's problem. This was Grey's problem, she wanted nothing to do with it.
"Does it interfere with us getting to Mara's?"
"Shouldn't," Razo said. Lin clapped him on the shoulder as if she could physically shake him back to normal.
"Great. Let's get going, then. I'm gonna clean up and then get ready to kill some rich people," Lin said with a smile. Her eyes slid to Cortez. "And I want you there."
Cortez blinked. He'd backed up to the wall as Lin had been prodding Razo, leaning there as though he could vanish. "Wh -- "
"Don't ask questions," Lin snapped. Her attention slipped past him and she walked back to the living area. It wasn't really a living area, she had no idea why she called it that. Hadrian glanced up at her, having acquired a book, as she trotted past him and rifled through a stack of crates. They were grimy -- not dusty -- and heavy enough that her sigils whispered to life and helped her lift them. She hummed and cocked her head, squinting down at one of the boxes.
It was newer than she'd expected. Razo had a habit of keeping spoiled water on the ship, but the crate of bottled water looked to be relatively recent. She plucked a glass bottle out of the dozen offered and hummed.
"What are you doing?" Hadrian asked.
Lin shook the bottle. "Cleaning up. I'm a mess, or didn't you notice?"
"Not really. Just thought you always looked like that." The comment didn't have any bite. He gave her an equally tepid smile and turned the page of his book. It looked like one of Lin's. She scoffed and turned her search to a towel.
She scooped one up off the floor, hoping that it had been washed at some point, then proceeded to the cargo area. She slammed the door shut in her wake.
It smelled even worse than the rest of the ship.
She grimaced and dampened the towel, scrubbing at her face. The slice in her cheek – long since healed – smarted as she scraped fabric over it. She was an old hand at cleaning herself in this exact situation. The towel was practically crusted with dirt and blood by the time she tossed it to a dark corner.
Lin doused her hair with the rest of the water, running her fingers through the locks and dislodging as much of the blood as she could.
It smeared uselessly, but it wasn't completely matted at least.
Giving up, she twisted her hair into a braid and left it.
She was still mad.
Killing the witch had done nothing to sate her anger, the tension that had been pushing at her skin since she killed Alekhine. It thrummed in her knuckles and up her back, almost painful in its constancy.
Losing Janus had reignited it with a fury. Greymark being Greymark only made it worse. Everything else turned it into an all-consuming static that clung to her mind. She hissed out a breath and sat down on one of Razo's crates. The only light came from a flickering lightbulb in the corner, painting shadows across the walls in gold. Sirenita moved smoother than Lin had ever known her to, the slight rumble of the engine like a soothing purr.
She barely kept herself from raking her nails across her scalp again, reluctant to disturb her braid. She was going to see a King, after all.
Lin breathed out the rotten air. "What'm I doing?"
What she was told, she supposed. Her jaw ached as she clenched it. No, she was going to kill Mara because she was pissed and wanted someone – a lot of someones – dead.
A soft tap broke her loop.
Hadrian stood at the door. She hadn't even heard him open it, hadn't heard him approach. Lin's book dangled from his fingertips as he watched her, expression unreadable.
"Can't a girl get any privacy around here?"
He ignored it. "What's wrong?"
Not even an attempt at pleasantries, then. Lin rolled her eyes and stood up. "Nothing, piss off."
He nodded, then proceeded to not piss off. He tucked her book under his arm and walked over, shutting the door as he did, and stopped a few feet away from her. Hadrian looked her up and down.
"If you don't want to – "
"Oh, fu – " she cut herself off. Grimaced. "It's fine. It's nothing. I already decided, anyway."
He lifted an eyebrow. She could practically see the gears turning behind that impassive face of his, searching Lin's for a hint of her thoughts. Before he could ask anything else, she scrambled for something to distract him.
"Do you trust Cortez?"
He blinked. "Why?"
"Just answer."
His black eyes flicked down, thinking. His thumb brushed across the spine of his borrowed book, and Lin couldn't quite figure out why it took him so long to answer until he spoke: "He doesn't trust you. By extension he doesn't trust me when it comes to you, and we can't trust him in return."
Lin nodded. She'd thought so.
"He won't hurt me on purpose, though," Hadrian continued. "You can trust that, if nothing else."
She snorted. "What makes you say that?"
He shrugged. "A feeling. Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot," she said, leaning back against a stack that she really shouldn't be leaning back against. Stale air and dust wafted down around her. She blinked against it.
"Do you trust me?"
That was unexpected. Lin considered just saying yes and being done with it, but that wasn't realistic. "Wow, insecure much?"
"Yes, actually." Damn, right. She'd forgotten he actually had issues, too.
"I like you well enough," Lin said. "You're a good friend."
His eyebrow lifted again, a bemused smirk coloring the expression. "Wow. Positively glowing remarks, my self-esteem is saved."
Lin melted into a smile. "Aw, your sarcasm's getting better."
"Did it ever need improving?"
"Okay, stop – we're good, we get it." She hadn't stopped smiling. Hadrian's nose wrinkled and he shrugged.
"Oh, Razo did send me down for a reason," Hadrian said. "We're getting close, so if you've got to get ready you should do it now."
"There a reason he sent you instead of coming himself?"
Hadrian shrugged again. "I'm the charming one."
By that Razo probably meant Hadrian was less likely to get his head bitten off if Lin happened to be in a mood. Which was true. Hurtful, but true. She'd either have to apologize to the old man or give him a good kick at some point.
She sniffed and gestured Hadrian back to the living area, following short on his heels.
Mara's home was unique to say the least. The first time Lin had been there, she hadn't even stepped foot onto the island before she knew something about it was different. Then again, it had been another King's turf at that point. There was no fearsome aura like at Greymark's Manor or underlying twist of magic that sent her sigils screaming. It was just... strange. Strange in the way only humans can be strange.
For one, it was an island of celebration. An island of never-ending parties and home to the best booze in the world, the best drugs.
This meant islands upon islands of poppy fields and pot. Grapes, corn, wheat, apples, and other fruits belonged to Mara as well. Lin liked a party as well as any other girl, but she also liked to eat.
For another, the buildings had been torn down and redone in a new image. It wasn't out of necessity, just for a new design. Materials had been melted down from decrepit ships and molded into a metal grid, black and hot even without the blazing rows of oil lining the streets.
Lin didn't care enough to learn which King had done it – the west islands were a much-contested area with the crown passing from bloody hand to bloody hand every few years.
It wasn't ready for Lin. Nothing ever was. Certainly not when she was "in a mood" as Razo said.
She dug up a dark blue jacket, fancy and embroidered in the front. Razo lifted an eyebrow when he saw her lift it out. "Thought I'd lost that one."
"Mind if I borrow it?" Lin asked, not really asking.
He sighed heavily, closing his eyes as he shrugged. He leaned his wrist on his chair's headrest. "Won't ask you to keep it clean. Think that was your father's."
She eyed the jacket dubiously, slinging it over her shoulders. It fit like a glove.
"He was a skinny lad."
The hem reached down to the tops of her thighs, concealing her holster and most of her knives. She buttoned it up to her throat.
"How do I look?" Lin swung into a dramatic pose, Cortez and Hadrian both looking up. Cortez had been nervously choosing between weapons while Hadrian moseyed through his book. She was beginning to think she wouldn't get that back.
Hadrian twisted his mouth to the side. Whatever he would have said was lost when Cortez answered first. "Wouldn't a dress be better?"
She frowned. "The day I wear a dress is the day after I die."
"I think you look great," Hadrian said with a smile.
She narrowed her eyes and pointed at him. "You're lying, aren't you?"
"Nope." He popped the 'p'. Of course he did. Lin smile and walked over, plucking a small knife from the array Razo had set out along the table for them to choose from. Cortez had apparently settled for a short sword. Bold choice. She nudged Hadrian.
"You okay?"
He looked up, big doe eyes innocent and no doubt hiding something. "I'm fine. Why?"
Lin bit her cheek. "I want you to stay here, with Razo."
"Okay."
The arguments she'd prepared stalled in her mouth. She'd expected at least a slight push back. Hadrian was generally easygoing, but the complete lack of resistance confused her.
"You're taking Cortez with you," Hadrian said. "Makes sense."
The arguments were:
1. She trusted Hadrian (and Razo) enough to leave them alone and complete their own mission separately.
2. She didn't trust Cortez enough for that.
3. If anyone recognized Hadrian, they might get suspicious.
There was a fourth part to the argument that he wouldn't have appreciated. That she didn't want him in the line of fire if things got violent too quickly. The island was difficult to navigate. Too difficult if he needed to escape quickly.
She swallowed and nodded. "Okay. Cool. Uh – me and Charlie – "
"Cortez."
" – are gonna go in first and scout things out, maybe set something up if things aren't in the right position. You and Razo are part two of this whole shebang."
Cortez cleared his throat. "So, we're not going to just go in and kill everyone?" he asked.
Lin made a face at him. "No. We're not animals. We can get them all in one spot and they will lock them in from the outside."
"Keeps bystander casualties to a minimum and makes her job easier," Hadrian said.
Cortez' brows lifted. "Oh."
Lin shrugged. "Not in the mood to chase randos down just in case they're one of my targets. I don't know these guys by face, anyway. Gonna have to talk to them first."
Cortez looked a little green. Hadrian, however, took the news like a champ, completely unbothered by the murderous plot. It probably wasn't his first rodeo. No – it definitely wasn't.