“And now?” she asked.
“Joy,” he said.
She nodded. “It is part of my construction,” she explained. “The emotions — you can deny them to me, if you desire. You have absolute power over me, Captain.”
Dexter’s eyes widened. “What? No — never! That’s a cruelty that should never be done. Not to you nor anyone. In fact, when you’re happy, it’s okay to smile.”
Keshira smiled, her full lips curling up and revealing her equally perfect teeth. Dexter whistled through his teeth. “Be careful with that,” he said. “You’re likely to cause some hearts to stop if you share that with too many men.”
Keshira looked at him with a head cocked to the side, but Dexter just laughed. “You’ve much to learn, my friend, but I’m thinking I’ve got a fair bit to know yet myself!”
“Now then, I’ve got to find Jenna — seems I owe her a thing or two,” he said. “Any chance you see where she went?”
“The tower,” Keshira said. “After she donned her prize, she slipped away and headed towards the tower.”
Dexter frowned. He wondered why she would go there. Then again, by winning she was allegedly the new Lord of Deepingdale. Perhaps she had been so angry with him that she was ready to begin her new post and be rid of him.
“Rosh!” Bekka said, surprised to see the large man stomping up the deck. “Are there problems?”
“What?” He snapped, then softened. “Sorry, just ain’t in the mood for it.”
“What happened?” The always inquisitive half elf asked.
The large man took in a breath to brush her off, then paused and blew it out. “Nice place here,” he said, turning and staring at the town from the edge of the deck.
Bekka nodded. “As fair as any,” she replied.
“I see it in the eyes of the others — felt it in my own heart,” he continued. “Some of them’s thinking of staying — ‘specially now that Jenna’s in charge.”
“Wait, what?” Bekka asked, suddenly alarmed. “What do you mean, in charge? In charge of the ship? Did something happen to the Captain?”
Rosh looked at her for a minute, sorting out his thoughts. He shook his head. “No, ain’t nothing wrong with him. I meant she’s the new Lord…er, Lady of this place.”
“So it’s true then? The Festival of Lords truly does pick a new Lord and Jenna won the title?”
Rosh nodded. “Aye, she won and put on this amulet they gave her, then she took off, heading to the tower. I reckon we got an easy time of it here now, with her running things. Maybe she’ll even offer us titles too.”
Rosh scowled as his earlier thoughts came back. “Don’t matter, I ain’t staying.”
Bekka, confused at the talk of staying, could only nod. “I think we will all stay with the Captain. He’s a rare man that cares for his crew.”
Rosh shrugged. “Don’t be so sure,” he grunted. “If he’s so caring, why’d he spurn Jenna? Takes a fool to turn something offered like that down — and a damn mean fool to lead her on otherwise.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked him, concerned.
“After she got scratched, we locked her up in the hold,” he explained. “I was keeping an eye on it, I saw how strong them things was once they turned. If she turned, I meant to put her down quick.”
“Dexter went in there with her, and the things I heard were the kind of things you hear when two people are fighting or…”
Bekka’s eyebrows rose in understanding. “They didn’t come out with no fresh bruises,” Rosh finished.
“I didn’t know,” Bekka said softly. She meant to say more but they were interrupted.
“Rosh, is everything all right?” Willa called from below. Her voice sounded a little slurred, but not too badly.
Rosh looked at Bekka, his eyes fierce. She nodded wordlessly and he turned. “Yeah, just got tired.”
“Come on down here, I need some company,” she said.
Rosh grinned in spite of himself. “Why don’t you come up here?” He offered.
Willa pouted from the deck. “We’ve spent enough time on that smelly boat, don’t you want to feel real ground under your feet?”
To Rosh the words she spoke sounded strange. He looked around at the Voidhawk, conscious of the smell as he did so. “The ‘Hawk don’t stink,” he said.
Willa giggled. “Maybe not, but there’s so much more room down here! Please?”
Rosh sighed and shrugged. He stepped onto the plank and walked back to her.
“Why’d you leave the party?”
Rosh shrugged, “Didn’t want no trouble. Not with Jenna winning that contest and all.”
“Wow, can you believe that?” Willa asked, the alcohol making her easily distracted and a little flighty. Rosh could not help but chuckle and find her cute because of it.
“Yeah, looks like the ‘Hawk’ll be needing a new mate,” he said.
Willa made a strange face, but let the comment drop. After a few moments of silence while they walked to nowhere in particular she asked, “Who was that man, Rosh?”
The Arms Master shrugged. “I ain’t for knowing.”
“What about the man he mentioned… Jaspar Highsail? Do you know him?”
Rosh paused, coming to a stop. He turned to look at her and she did the same, a smile on her face. “You’re drunk,” he accused her.
She giggled a little and nodded. She held up her arm, bringing the stump into the dim light from the nearby town’s lanterns. “You played a part in saving my life twice,” she said softly. “First time you held me and cut my hand off. It was ruined and poisoning me, killing me slow.”
She reached up with her other hand and gently caressed his cheek, feeling the stubble that had grown over the course of the day. “The second time was when you kept me from falling off the Voidhawk. I’ve been wanting to thank you, wanting to show you how much I appreciate you, but I’ve been afraid.”
“’Fraid of what?” he asked, his voice deep but also soft and drawn.
“Afraid of rejection, maybe,” she said, tears glistening in her eyes.
“You’re right, I’m drunk,” she admitted. “So I don’t know better than to tell you all this. You’re my lifeline — you keep me going, Rosh. I felt worthless losing my hand, but then you saved me anyhow. You don’t care that I only got one hand. You still treat me special.”
“I’m afraid if you don’t have the feelings for me I got for you… well, I’m afraid that’ll mean I don’t matter.”
She opened her mouth to say more but Rosh had heard enough. She was a wisp of a thing compared to him and picking her up was easy. His mouth closed on hers and she moaned breathlessly as he crushed her to him.
With the new Lord chosen The festival ended. Logan, Jodyne, and Bailynn returned to the Voidhawk much as the town’s folk made their way back to their homes. As soon as they arrived an agitated Bekka asked for them to stay and keep an eye on things, then she slipped into the darkness of the night with nary an explanation. The others, tired from their recreation and also with strange thoughts in their heads, put little mind to her behavior.
Bekka slipped through the town, finding it strangely quiet, even for such a late hour. She moved on and came across Keshira, who stood silent watch like a sentinel. She pulled up short, surprised at the pleasure golem’s presence, then nodded to her.
“Keshira, do you know where Dexter is?” she asked. “And Jenna?”
Keshira looked at her and smiled, which further set Bekka back. “The Captain searches for Jenna at the tower.”
Bekka nodded and started towards it. She stopped and looked back at Keshira oddly. “Why do you stand there?”
“The Captain asked me to,” she responded. “He told me it was okay to smile.”
Bekka had to admit the woman had a beautiful smile, no matter how confusing her statement was. She
