Dark Waters Rising

Accord

"Ignore him. He thinks with his heart instead of his head," Wesley approached the pirate captain and held out his hand. "I don't believe we've officially met. I'm Wesley."

"I know," Cassius cautiously took his hand. "We were just discussing you."

Wesley looked back at his former first mate. "Have you been looking for me?"

Somewhat stupefied, Castor nodded from where he was still being held in place by the pirate crew.

"Well rest assured, I'm fine. You don't need to worry."

"He's making you say that, isn't he?" Castor narrowed his eyes suspiciously, searching Wesley's face for any sign of internal distress.

"No." Wesley said. "Believe it or not, Mr. Cross only sings to people when they're trying to kill him."

"It's true then," Cassius interjected. "He's still alive?"

Wesley nodded.

"How in Goddess's name did he get past the Kraken?"

"He didn't." Wesley said and then shook his head, "It's a long story, but the moral is that he's alive now and he needs your help."

Cassius held up a finger and turned to the barkeep again. "We'll be needing another round of these."

"Why are you helping him?" Castor piped up again, causing Wesley's head to turn.

With a sigh, Wesley ran his fingers messily through his hair.

"Look, I know he's done terrible things. I know he's done them to us and I'm not about to forget that. But he's not a terrible person. Well, not all terrible at least. He has a good heart and he fights for what he believes in."

"I don't understand why you're saying that," Castor said.

"Because I love him," Wesley said plainly and genuinely. Then as Castor fell speechless he turned to Cassius, "and right now Aurelia is on the brink of declaring war on the surface. No ship will be safe to sail any sea and the world economy will crumble. Valentine is leading a rebellion against the siren king to stop the war before it reaches a surface, but he needs your help."

"I am but one man," Cassius said. "What could I do?"

Wesley stepped closer and lowered his tone so that only the Captain could hear him. "You are but one man who knows how to kill sirens and cannot die."

Cassius's lips twitched into a frown. Valentine must've told him. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

"Again," he said. "What could I do?"

"He needs a distraction. Something to draw attention away from the Aurelian palace while he sneaks inside."

"He wants me to fight a siren hoard?"

"He wants you to fight a siren hoard."

Cassius sighed, his eyes dragging over his curious crew members, then over the black haired boy leaning heavily on Wesley's arm. A pair of bronze irises were already on him, but they flitted away as quickly as their eyes met. Cassius then turned his gaze back to Wesley.

"I would die for that man," Cassius said, referring to Valentine, "but my crew will need more to convince them."

"I have nothing to give them," Wesley said.

"I do," Evander piped up, causing  both men to train their eyes on him.

He cleared his throat and stood straighter, letting go of Wesley's arm and standing on his own.

He looked over the awaiting crew and said, "Valentine Cross is my brother. He needs you to fight a hoard of sirens to prevent a war that will steal the ocean from you. It will be dangerous, of that there is no doubt, but with great risk comes great reward. Siren scales are very valuable. Roughly three gold pieces for each. If you fight with us, you may keep every scale from the tails of the sirens you kill. You will be very rich men."

The crew members started muttering amongst themselves.

"I'll help."

The voice was a surprise. It came from Castor.

"What?" Wesley asked.

"I said, I'll help." Castor finally shook off the restraining hands of the pirate crew. "I have the Queen Adelaide and a full crew. Any who do not wish to fight may stay behind, but many of them, including myself, owe you their lives and will likely be willing to repay that debt."

"I'll help too." This time it was Roman. "My father was a skilled siren hunter. I can help prepare the Queen Adelaide and her crew for the fight."

"I'm in as well," Cassius said, "as long as this one sails with me."

Cassius's eyes were trained on Evander's. The boy was fidgeting nervously under his intense gaze.

"He's under my protection," Wesley said. "If anything happens to him, Valentine will kill me."

"He couldn't if he tried," Cassius snorted. "No one can fight the pull of a mate."

"I'll go," Evander said, as if the words had burst from him suddenly and without his permission. He held his breath as Wesley looked between the pair suspiciously.

"I'll protect him with my life," Cassius assured. "And we both know that promise means more coming from me than from you."

Wesley wasn't sure exactly which way Cassius meant that, but he figured it was true either way.

"Okay."

"What say you men?" Cassius asked, addressing his crew.

"Aye," was the response from most of them, though a couple men shook their heads and sat back down to bury themselves in their drinks.

"Then we have an accord, Mr. Roberts." Cassius held his hand out.

"Aye," he agreed, shaking the man's hand. "And Valentine has a chance."

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A/N

Question: if you could revoke the existence of one food item, what would it be?

Happy reading!
-Mora Montgomery