Caveat Invidia

[Csephion Draxus]

The Satrap nodded deferentially.

"Return, and it shall be so."

He clasped her hands with his, taking the last brief moment of solitude they had before being thrust upon the larger mission.

"I will give a ram to Denetion every day until your return, in good health and spirit."

[Ariadne Fyrian]

Fyrian gave his cheek a soft kiss, and his hands a gentle squeeze. So soon after their meeting on the road to Tirgatia, she had developed a strong fondness for the Satrap; a fondness that confounded her sensibilities and instincts. Kariun no doubt was writhing in his watery grave as his daughter consorted with his hated enemy.

Her lips whispered in his ear then.

"My time here has been a wondrous thing, and my host a man apart. My utmost thanks go to him for not allowing me to leave Tirgatia."

[Csephion Draxus]

Draxus smiled and whispered back.

"You have given me a new and unique appreciation for life that I had too long ago feared had succumbed to atrophy."

He released her without a kiss. Not here. That would await her on her return.

He looked to Captain Mako, and nodded with authority.

"See to it that she is well protected, Imperator. On your honor."

[Ariadne Fyrian]

A smile, and Fyrian stepped away from Draxus. She was leaving Necia, and though it was in the company of Necian soldiers, the fact remained.

She harbored regret at her subterfuge, and the feelings for the Satrap that had grown like weeds around the game she played. But no, such things could not be followed. She knew why Kariun had taken the Lantern - indeed he'd been allowed to take it; what looked like theft had been merely a ploy staged by Cano Draxus of the Csephii. And now Kariun was dead, and his daughter largely smitten by the orchestrator of this grand scheme.

She clung to her duties however.

Blood was thicker than Denetion's waters, or so it was said.

[Cneidon Mako]

Mako, now risen to Imperator, wore armor fitting of the station, which gleamed in the morning's light. His helmet, plumed with large tail feathers from the Velliphrax, was held fast in the crook of his arm.

The small alottment of soldiers at his command were already finished loading provision onto the ships in the Imperator's command. Glaucan sailors tested the timbers and rigging meticulously, as the troops milled about on deck, eating hard tack and saltmeats, sharpening swords, and other such things.

The Imperator acknowledged the Satrap with a sharp salute, and turned his attention to his charge.

"Lady Ariadne, we're ready to launch."

[Ariadne Fyrian]

A look was sent to the ships moored, and Fyrian only gave Mako a nod. She had no words for him at the moment, and quietly passed by him. His armor was a thing to behold without doubt.

Stopping, the Glaucan turned back to Draxus, a look of thoughtful sorrow on her features before reaching up to unclasp the waterstone charm around her neck. She approached the Satrap once more, and taking his hand, she turned his palm upward.

Fyrian placed the necklace in his hand.

"It is who I am."

Her voice was low, meant only for his ears, and she opened her mouth as if to speak once more, but shut it just as quickly. Without another word the Glaucan woman turned about and walked once more past Mako, making quick work of the boarding ramp leading up to the ship's deck.

The waterstone charm she'd left in Draxus' hand caught the sun in only the way that waterstone could; the wellworn leather thong that had kept it around her neck and its' simple design plain to see.

A circle quartered by a cross.

[Csephion Draxus]

Draxus let his hand close around the amulet, and watched Ariande take her place alongside the Imperator.

"I will keep it close, always."

The Satrap moved to leave, paused, and looked back.

"Come back victorious. I will be here to await you."

He gave her a smile, and stood at the pier, ready to watch her slip onto the horizon and beyond.

[Ariadne Fyrian]

Her eyes were on the Satrap for only a moment longer before she turned partially to regard Mako. He gave off an air of quiet authority and steadfast duty.

"There is a young Glaucan girl who was supposed to be given to me. Is she here yet?"

[Cneidon Mako]

"She's in the officers quarters."

Standing on the command deck of the lead trireme, Mako looked sidelong at his guest.

"I'll have her brought up at once."

With a gesture, Mako dispatched a nearby soldier to complete the task. In a moment, he returned with a doe-eyed little Glaucan girl.

[Ariadne Fyrian]

Erifa-Nimshi had been sure to make as much trouble as possible for these Necian's, and had even tried jumping over the side of the ship twice now. She was a helion, a Glaucan child full of hellspawn and hate. Far removed from the quiet and quirky little girl who'd been aboard the Chiron.

She pulled against the hand of the Necian who'd brought her up onto the deck, and she strained in the direction of the ship's railing. Crystal blue eyes stared off over the watery horizon.

Fyrian nearly called out at the sight of her, but she was quiet for now. It would take some explaining to the girl, but she knew that Erifa would understand; once her little rages had passed.

Watching on as the soldier grew closer, the elder Glaucan saw Erifa's gaze sweep up towards herself and Mako. Those eyes of hers widened, and she stopped suddenly, pulling at the grip on her arm.

[Cneidon Mako]

Mako watched the defiant child as she was delivered to Ariadne. While watching this, he glanced to a Glaucan with a full beard, who was stepping up to the deck.

"Our course is plotted?"

The Trireme's captain nodded.

"We will arrive in Peer within the week."

[Ariadne Fyrian]

Fyrian reached out a hand to take Erifa's, and with her other, the Glaucan gently eases away the Necian soldier's firm grip on the girl's arm. She knelt low so that she was mostly level with Erifa. The little one had grown strangely still, staring at Fyrian with wide eyes and quick breaths. Her lips parted only a small bit, but she said nothing.

Fyrian ran her free hand over the girl's face, inspecting it for any bruising that might have been given, but satisfied that the little Glaucan was well enough, she settled for pushing back a few of Erifa's unruly locks of hair.

And then she smiled, pulling the girl into a strong embrace and whispering in her ear.

"I thank your great father that you're safe."

[Cneidon Mako]

The Triremes spread out as they made headway from the Amethyst Bay and into the eastern seas, ready to follow the contours of Asga down to the southlands.

The flotilla kept barely within sight of land, so to take advantage of any advantageous stops that may need to be taken.

[Ariadne Fyrian]

Fyrian kept herself and Erifa in her own quarters for most of the time. There was much that had to be explained, and the girl had been angry at first. It was no surprise to Fyrian, and she bore Erifa's curses and ill words stoically. It would pass. And it did.

She gave the girl profuse apologies, and told her of how she'd been spared the prison cells that the rest of the crew found themselves sitting in. She needed Erifa's help... she needed to fulfill Kariun's last wish.

"Kariun would flay you for what you've done."

It was the early morning of their second day at sea, and the first thing that Fyrian heard before she even opened her eyes. She had fallen asleep at a small desk, a bottle of wine still gripped loosely in her hand and a half-eaten meal before her. Erifa she had given the bed.

Groaning, Fyrian straightened herself up. She slowly turned about on her chair, her shoulders sagging as she cast a heavy green gaze to the little girl.

"I know that."

It was not the type of morning conversation that she would have wanted.

"But Denetion holds his anger to Kariun for what he did himself."

Fyrian leaned forward to rest her elbows on her knees. What was this about now? She didn't say anything in response; it was best to let the girl ramble on until finished.

"Kariun mocked Denetion. He stole something that none have a right to steal. Your Satrap also mocks Denetion, though not as blatantly. He allowed it to happen, but it was Kariun who did the deed."

Her gaze narrowed then, as Fyrian realized that this was more than the girl's normal ramblings.

"You have to atone for Kariun's transgression. When you have done that, Denetion will lift the curse he placed upon the Fold."

[Cneidon Mako]

The days passed, and further down the coast the flotilla sailed. The waters were serene and the skies were clear, which was a fortuitous event. Mako spent a late morning hour pacing the deck, willing himself to move his feet in this confining place. The Glaucan sailors were used to such confines, but the Men stirred, eager to arrive at their destination and to give their ill-used feet a good working.

Periodically, the Imperator would draw up his spyglass, and view the coast. It was mostly sand, some wildgrass and the occasional palm. Some lengths of coast rose into hardscrabble and sheer rock faces, and the waves peeled apart before them in a saline spray.

[Ariadne Fyrian]

It was early morning of the fourth day at sea, and Erifa was soundly asleep in Fyrian's bed. She'd taken to sharing the bed with the girl, and the two were nearly inseperable whenever seen up on deck during the daytime hours. In Fyrian's cabin, more often then not they spent their time whispering prayers to Denetion and going over Fyrian's initial plans of escape. Erifa often asked about the Satrap, and Fyrian was hesitant at first, but the girl's persistance caused the elder Glaucan to finally open up and lay bare her soul.

Slowly, so as not to disturb the girl, Fyrian rose from bed. She dressed quietly, and with a parting kiss to the slumbering Glaucan's forehead, she made her way from her cabin and up on to the deck. Mako, of course, was already up and about, and she gave him an odd look as she slowly approached him. A passing Necian handed her a small clay bowl of water, and she thanked him before taking a sip, continuing onward.

Stopping at Mako's side, she offered him the remainder of her water. Perhaps it was her own form of olive branch to the Imperator, but whatever it was, she felt it necessary to have more than the rather brief interactions with him that she'd had in the recent past since first laying eyes on him.

[Cneidon Mako]

Mako looked at her approach with curiosity. She had been conspicuously aloof through most of the voyage.

"Thank you."

He took the water bowl, and drank from it, returning it to her with a balance still remaining. With affinity magic, it was not a hardship to distill seawater to be fit for drinking, therefore no one at sea endured for want of drink.

The sun rose at their backs, casting faint illumination to the shore at the ship's starboard.

"The child is well?"

[Ariadne Fyrian]

Accepting the bowl, she stared at its' contents for a moment before answering.

"She is."

Fyrian cast a gaze out over the water. It was serene and calm, and she found herself longing to submerge herself beneath the waves. It was a fleeting notion however, and she turned her eyes to Mako.

"She tells me that she recognizes you. She said that you were one of the ones at the beachfront, before her ship and crew were captured."

And indeed, Erifa had told her that.

[Cneidon Mako]

"I was."

The Imperator nodded.

"The child is very gifted in water affinities. She managed to secure Fyrian's escape."

[Ariadne Fyrian]

Leaning on the railing, Fyrian gave a sigh.

"Fyrian was already in Tirgatia long before you and your Satrap had arrived on the beach. If she did anything, it was to prolong the Chiron from being taken."

She knew that she had not made herself well-known during the course of the voyage. A quiet settled between them as she thought.

"You do not say much," she finally spoke up after a few moments of silence.