“Pyre Lady!” The leader, a heavily shouldered older man looked genuinely shocked. “We didn’t expect you so soon.”
Druanna marched down the plank with supreme indifference to all the bows. “I need warn you?”
“Not at all, of course. I…yes.” The man was scrambling to regain his wits. “Be welcome, we’re honored, this is far too great an honor. We’ve only assumed authority this morning, as surely you know, it’s been a smooth process, House Chimera has been most accommodating, I…”
He ceased babbling as Druanna turned her stare upon him. “Fetch my belongings from the hold. I would deliver a treasure to Captain Thorne before he departs.”
“Of course!” The man gestured furiously to two of the Kraken guards who hurried up the plank under Ydrielle’s amused eye. “Captain Thorne has received the full cargo of Gold from House Chimera and is departing soon. Your arrival is perfectly timed, Pyre Lady. Absolutely perfectly timed.”
“Good. Scorio. You are ready?”
He bit back a half dozen questions and hid his surprise. “I’m at your disposal, Pyre Lady.”
“Good. We will discharge this obligation immediately and then I will meet with the House leadership to discuss our stewardship here.”
“As you command.”
News of the Pyre Lady’s arrival was sending shockwaves across the esplanade. House Kraken guards were everywhere in evidence, especially by the main gate leading into the fortress proper, and they were craning their necks and rising to their tiptoes in an attempt to catch a glimpse of her.
The Celestial Coffer was alive with activity. Sailors swarmed her deck, climbing the mast and rigging as adroitly as the crimson snake-salamanders from Bastion’s ruins.
Everyone stood in awkward silence as Druanna waited for her belongings. Crush leaped back onto the ship to rejoin the other watchful Flame Vaults, and Scorio caught her watching him. Her expression was strange: pity?
The Pyre Lady stood in such splendid dignity that the detachment of bureaucrats could only shuffle and wait. Moments later the two guards emerged with a small chest between them; it didn’t seem too heavy, but perhaps they thought it more dignified to carry it between them.
“We’re ready.” Druanna flipped her black hair back over one shoulder. “The sooner we’ve handed the artifact over the better.”
They followed her down the pier and up the esplanade to where The Celestial Coffer was docked across from the main gate and the freestanding entrance to the Golden Cupola. Everyone was watching. Bron, the heavily mustached Dread Blaze who guarded the Cupola was gone, replaced instead by four competent looking Kraken Great Souls.
Scorio schooled his features into neutrality. The dozen Coffer guards formed a cordon before the pier that ran out alongside the great whale ship. Their expressions were guarded. These men and women weren’t elated to see the Pyre Lady.
Their leader stepped forward. He was a hirsute man, small of stature but with a wily expression as if he’d lived a dozen lives back-to-back exclusively in gambling dens. His armor was the ivory and gold of the Consortium, contrasting sharply with his weaselly demeanor.
“Greetings, Pyre Lady.” He inclined his head respectfully. “Dread Blaze Meneleo at your service. Can I be of help?”
Druanna drew herself up before him. “We’ve a delivery for Captain Thorne. House Kraken arranged to have a powerful artifact delivered. I’d like to board so as to deliver it to him.”
“I’m afraid nobody boards The Coffer that’s not employed for the Tyrant. Standing orders, you understand, nothing personal. If you’ll give me the item in question, I’ll have the right paperwork issued to mark receipt and deliver it to him myself.”
Scorio bit back his words, but Druanna was equally displeased. She tugged on her earlobe and smiled. “This is a personal gift from House Kraken to the Iron Tyrant. Please inform the captain that I require his presence.”
“Of course.” Meneleo glanced over his shoulder at a guard and gave a sharp nod. The man took off at a run. Meneleo grinned. “Protocol.”
Again they stood in awkward silence. Scorio glanced around the esplanade again. Everyone was still watching. Scorio couldn’t blame them. Wasn’t every day that regular House members got to see one of their Pyre Ladies stymied by a guard.
The minutes passed, and then the heavyset and gruff looking Captain Thorne appeared at the gunwale and descended the broad bridge to the pier. A couple of junior officers escorted him, the messenger guard behind, and the quartet strode right up, the cordon parting for them.
“Pyre Lady Druanna!” Thorne grinned, displaying his yellowed ivories amidst his bristling beard. “A rare honor. I hear my guards are being sticklers for protocol. My apologies.”
“No, that’s quite all right. You can’t be too careful with The Coffer. I’ve just returned from the Chasm where I acquired that treasure promised to the Iron Tyrant by Pyre Lady Octavia.”
“You have? Splendid! The Iron Tyrant will be most touched, I assure you.”
“We must relay it to you in private. The instructions are confidential.”
“I see.” The captain frowned and tugged on his beard. “Well, we can always enter the Shoals and find a suitable chamber.”
“Very well. Scorio is the only one who knows the activation sequence. He can explain it to you and then you and I can take a tour of the production area.”
Thorne hesitated, then glanced toward the back of Druanna’s group. His expression brightened. “Ah, I recognize that face. Scorio!”
Scorio moved up and bowed. “Captain Thorne. It’s good to see you again.”
“Let us be quick about this—I know you have little time, and I would rather spend it hearing from you how the transitions have been executed, the minutiae of the production schedules, and perhaps review the mana discharge process so that I can be assured of your satisfaction.”
Thorne blanched. “Yes, yes, all very important.” He smoothed down his beard nervously. “And while it is within your right to recommend such a review, I have done exactly that with both House Hydra and Chimera in the recent past, and plan to do so again with House Kraken when I return for the next shipment. Perhaps… Scorio, did I not promise you a tour of The Coffer?”
“You mentioned the possibility, yes sir.”
“Then perhaps—with Pyre Lady’s forbearance—I can do so now? You can show me the activation sequence, and then we can take a stroll about the deck while we prepare to cast off.”
Scorio glanced at Druanna, who smiled. “As long as the cup is delivered and the sequence conveyed, House Kraken is satisfied.”
Druanna then opened the chest and retrieved the small container which she handed to him. Scorio glanced at her curiously—didn’t she want to be there when the treasure was handed over? Apparently not.
“I’ll await you here on the pier, Scorio. Don’t take long.”
Scorio bowed his head and followed Thorne through the cordon and up the grand gangplank. They paused at the gunwale.
“The ship is shielded, lad. Take my hand. My pass shall extend to you.”
They clasped hands and stepped onto The Coffer’s deck. A wash of power flowed over him as he did so, and Scorio reached out with his senses to see that a great forcefield surrounded the entire ship, infused with a beautiful medley of Iron and Bronze. Sailors studied him, Great Soul guards watched him carefully. The ship was beautiful, a work of art, the deck made of white wood, every buckle and fitting gleaming, all of it looking polished and new.
Thorne led him and his two officers into the forecastle which proved to house four rooms; one was a parlor and miniature library both. There he rounded a table bolted to the ground and hooked his thumbs in his belt.