.ೃ࿐Burning Souls.ೃ࿐ [1]

1 - Visitors (friendly and unfriendly)

Visitors

(friendly and unfriendly)

The midnight moon was shining beautifully in the sky. The Verrhader was silent, most of the crew had already gone to sleep. Ekaterina Sokolov was sitting on the stern of the ship, a binocular in her hands. A bad feeling formed in her chest. Her frown deepened—if that was even possible—and she put the instrument in front of her eyes again.

She could see two ships behind her own, that were no threats, as Ekaterina thought. Both were Zemeni trade ships, no Fjerdan drüskelle, no Shu crazy scientists. Yet the feeling in her gut didn't go away. She had the feeling that someone was watching over her, not in the ways Saints would watch over you and protect you, but in the way that someone—or something—was observing you.

"You should go back to sleep, milaya."

Ekaterina turned around, casting her eyes over the captain's shadow. She remained silent and turned back to watch over the sea. She heard the man sigh and mutter a few words in his mother language. The captain was an older man born in Os Kervo. He had been working with Ekaterina's father for a long time. They grew up together, they were like brothers. He was a man of many talents, one of them being languages. He taught young Ekaterina the Zemeni language and Ravkan when she barely even knew a pinch of Kerch. Her father always insisted she knew a lot of languages, it will help with the trade, he said, when you'll take my place in the merchant council and will finally work as a real merchant, you will be harder to trick.

She was grateful she learned Kerch, Zemeni, Shu, Ravkan, and even Fjerdan, even though she never intented on going anywhere near the country. She loved to walk in the Zemeni harbors, listen to the gossip around her, even hear what people said about her.

"We will arrive near Shriftport a few hours after dawn," the captain said, leaning on the railing of the stern next to Ekaterina, "two hours after the sun rises, maybe three maximum."

The woman nodded. she opened her mouth to say something to the man but her words died on her lips when they heard a scream from Ekaterina's sleeping chamber, where the two fantomen were staying the night. The woman dropped the binoculars and sprinted to her cabin. When she opened the door, she saw the girl shaking in the boy's arms.

It wasn't a surprise anymore. Every night Ekaterina would hear the scream from her spot on the stern and every night the two fantomen would see the woman burst into the cabin, her eyes alarmed and a certain fear in them. Why do you still come to check on her, had asked the boy on the third day. I dont like hearing screams on my ship, boy, she said to him in perfect Ravkan. He had the courage to add more, you're not the captain, so it's not your ship. Ekaterina had never wanted to burn someone as much as she wanted to burn that boy. But she kept her anger in herself and said, I bought the ship, it is mine, I don't need to be the captain to own it. It was the truth. She bought the ship and used it to help her father's business, she just never liked to be called captain.