“Yes, milady,” Star replied, smiling a bit more as she inclined her head. Hopefully this wouldn’t be too difficult.
“Ah, Lady Fiallis, is it not? It’s a pleasure to meet you in person!” Thomas Vega said, flashing them a brilliant smile, and Star resisted the urge to show her irritation.
Thomas looked an awful lot like a couple of the people who’d been at the party where she and Moon had been kidnapped, and that smile and easy manner… she didn’t like salesmen to begin with. Even if the black-haired, brown-eyed man was attractive, and wearing a suit that cost at least as much as her own. Likely more.
“Ah, are you the Mister… Vega, was it? Zel, darling… was that the name?” Fya asked, her voice almost a lazy drawl now, and if Star hadn’t known it was her, she’d never have put the beautiful, arrogant human before her together with the djinn she knew.
Zelirana bowed her head slightly, looking at Thomas with a charming smile as she spoke. “My apologies, Mister Vega, I am Zelinda, Lady Fiallis’s chief of staff, and I contacted you on her behalf. Milady, this is Thomas Vega, head of sales here at Halcyon Yards.”
“Ah, I should have known. My apologies, I didn’t realize that the letter sent with your header was sent by another,” Thomas said, bowing deeply as he continued. “It is a pleasure to meet one of your distinguished grace, Lady Fiallis!”
“Mm… I like him, Zel. He has a pretty smile,” Fya said, giving a sleepy smile of her own, and Star saw him stand up straighter. “Are you sure we can’t just buy the yards outright?”
“That exceeds the budget that was set, My Lady,” Zelirana replied gently. “We are here to replace your yacht, not start an entirely new business.”
“Yes, yes… well, on with it. You know what I want,” Fya replied, waving at the succubus idly while she drifted over to the windows allowing her to see the ships outside, taking a puff from the long-handled pipe she held in one hand as she moved.
Zelirana bowed her head slightly, then turned to Thomas, speaking politely but firmly. “My apologies, Mister Vega. First, I should introduce these two. Moon is Lady Fiallis’s chef and is here to examine the kitchens to assure that they will be up to her standards, and Star is here to deal with financial matters.”
“It isn’t an issue, Zelinda.” Thomas assured her, smiling as he looked over Moon and Star with raised eyebrows, but didn’t say anything about them. “No, the question is what you’re here to examine? Your initial inquiry was about one of the Astral Divers, yes? They’re lovely frigates, and I believe that they will—”
“No. Not one of the small ones,” Fya interrupted, instead gesturing to their right, where the largest ships were docked. “I want a big one.”
For a moment there wasn’t a response, but Star could see how Thomas and Zelirana exchanged looks, him with a slightly more predatory look in his eyes, yet the two seemed to understand one another.
“Very well, Milady, as you wish,” Zelirana said, and turned to Thomas fully. “I did examine your catalog before we arrived. I believe the largest ship capable of planetary landings is the Astral Sojourner class?”
“That is correct, though I must caution that they are large for such. Most landing pads, even in the core worlds, cannot support their weight,” Thomas replied quickly. “That being the case, all of our vessels are designed to easily set down in water, at least of those which can enter atmosphere.”
“Excellent! Which one is this… Astral Sojourner?” Fya asked, nodding to the window again.
“You can pick it out by its sleek, graceful lines,” Thomas replied smoothly, stepping up next to the djinn and pointing the ship out. “As you can see, it’s a beautiful ship, capable of outrunning the vast majority of ships in its class with ease, and warding off those who would dare injure such a beautiful work of art.”
As he spoke, the man offered Fya an arm as he smiled, asking. “Would you like to see her interior in person?”
“That would be lovely,” Fya said, giving him a lazy smile.
Something in Star’s stomach turned, and she whispered to Moon, ever so quietly. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
“You said it,” Moon agreed.
“He senses an easy mark.” Zelirana said, glancing at them as she added, a touch wickedly. “I think that in any other circumstance, he’d have ended up face-first on the deck. Now, back to it. We have a ship to examine.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Star agreed quickly, and they followed the salesman and djinn, who’d already started down the corridor toward the docking arm that extended to the ship’s access port.
She wondered what it’d be like aboard the ship, since she’d never seen inside a truly expensive ship except in vids.
As it happened, the ship was both more luxurious than the ones Star had seen in vids, but also less. There was plenty of gilding and fine paneling intended to mimic wood or stone, while being far more durable than either substance, but it didn’t have the ostentatious paintings, sculptures, or the other things vids had trained Star to expect. That could just be due to the ship being straight out of the yards, she supposed, but if Star hadn’t been trying to pose as a noblewoman’s accountant, it would’ve been everything she could do to avoid gaping at some of the things that Thomas said were available.
Moon hadn’t been much better off, as the kitchen had been filled with equipment that Star only vaguely recalled her sister drooling over after they’d gotten into college. The sort of equipment which would have cost as much for a single piece as for an entire year of their tuition.
At least none of the crew berths appeared to be as bad as what was in many of the vids. In those, the parts of the ship where the nobility walked were all glamorous and spotless, while the crew sections were dank, cramped, and designed to suck the life out of those aboard. Here, they might not be as amazingly spacious and well-appointed as the captain’s cabin, or the penthouse, a room that had boggled Star’s mind, but they were much better than any of the quarters aboard Daggerhound.
“May I ask what sort of crew you’re intending to bring aboard?” Thomas asked, a wide smile practically permanently affixed to his face at this point.
While Zelirana had been careful to mention that the ship was a bit on the expensive side, she’d also hinted at potential further purchases in the future, which Star suspected would be useful for getting at least something of a discount. She was mostly filing away the demon’s strategies for future use, if she went into business herself. And, she admitted, as information about what to keep an eye out for.
“Dolls. Top of the line, of course,” Fya said lazily, making a gesture as if throwing something away as she sniffed. “They need hardly any rest compared to most crew and can follow instructions exquisitely. If I wish to own a ship of this sort, I don’t need most crews scuffing the decks. It must be flawless.”
“A lady of exquisite taste,” Thomas assured her. “The question is, is this a ship you desire?”
“It meets my requirements.” the djinn said, a lazy smile playing across her lips as she nodded slowly. “Not perfectly… the pool is too small, as is the garden, but for an interim solution it is adequate. Zel, darling! You handle the business matters.”
“Of course, My Lady,” Zelirana said, and turned to Thomas, smiling warmly as she asked. “Perhaps we should retire to your office with Star, that we might look into this properly.”
“That seems like an excellent idea,” he agreed, and gestured back down the hall as he offered. “Would you like to stay aboard while we discuss business, Lady Fiallis?”
“I believe I would,” Fya agreed, glancing back at him with a smile.
“Then do so,” he said, nodding in satisfaction.
“Moon, make certain that Her Ladyship has anything she requires,” Zelirana ordered, and Moon bowed her head in acknowledgement.
Then Star followed them, wondering just how Zelirana was going to handle this situation.
“I can hardly believe that you managed all of that,” Star said, shak
ing her head slowly as they relaxed in the plush quarters attached to ‘Lady Fiallis’s’ penthouse.
Apparently, the number of nobles who had personal servants was large enough that there were penthouses with rooms for them. Not that Fya had kept up the pretense once they were in private.
“The thing about bargaining with someone like him is that while you might get a slight discount, which I managed, it’s far easier to convince them to throw in extras,” Zelirana replied, sitting back with her glass of wine, a grin on her face. “A pair of shuttles, which they usually offer anyway, enchanted filtration systems, things of that sort. They’ll get prickly if you try to cut too far into their direct profits, so try not to target that. Go after the extras you wanted anyway.”
Star nodded, nibbling on the cookies that Moon had made in the attached kitchen, enjoying every bite. She thought as she did so, then nodded. “That makes perfect sense. So, since we closed the deal today, how long do you think it’ll be until we get back.?”
“Three days,” Fya replied instantly, her legs over the edge of the sofa and her head resting in Moon’s lap. Star’s sister looked more bemused by that than anything else. “It’s going to take them time to get everything in order, and we’re going to be pampered within a millimeter of our lives. Plus I’m going to have Thomas trying to get into my bed for the entire time… it’ll be interesting to see how far I can string him along. I wonder if I should curse him with bad luck…”
“I think that would be a little… extreme,” Moon chimed in. “What if they figured out you’d done it? It could make life difficult in the future.”
“True enough,” Fya admitted, letting out a sigh. “I can dream, though!”
“Sure. Do you think Evelyn’s going to be impatient?” Star asked.
“Nah. I’m sure she’s keeping herself occupied. Maybe she’s catching up on her reading, or doing programming,” Fya said, shrugging. “You wouldn’t know it to look at her, but she has a subscription to a huge library of books, and she likes reading romance novels in particular. She’s a softy… as long as you don’t provoke that temper of hers. If you do… oof. You’d best be an elder dragon, or you’re probably toast.”
“Fair. I’ll have to ask her for recommendations,” Star said, pondering the thought, then shrugged.
She was sure they’d get back to Nald soon enough. Besides, how much trouble could Evelyn have caused in four days?
Chapter 32
“Um, Evelyn? Are you not coming back to the base… is it a base? I’m not sure what to call it,” Ilyra asked, though her mind obviously wandered about halfway through the question, which made Evelyn resist the urge to laugh.
“Not yet, no,” Evelyn replied, grinning slightly.
“Is that a good idea? I mean, you had to have spent an enormous amount of mana moving the ley line, but the sensors show you going toward the poachers,” Ilyra said, fretting so visibly that Evelyn didn’t even need to see her to realize what she was doing. It was a bit adorable, Evelyn thought, and her smile widened a little more. “Shouldn’t you rest?”
“There isn’t any need, Lyra,” Evelyn replied, clicking her tongue as she continued. “If I’d mostly run myself out of mana, yes, it would be important to rest, but I haven’t. I used… oh, a third of what I have available? Beyond which, I’m regenerating it slowly, less so with how I’m flying, but fast enough that I’ll have recovered a bit by the time I reach them. There’s no reason to delay. Maybe they’ll even have noticed what I did and take me seriously. I doubt it, but it’d be nice not to have to kill all of them.”
“I… you have that much mana?” Ilyra asked plaintively. “Keeping the anchor in place drained both me and Vaneryth completely! I don’t think I could light a candle right now!”
“Assuming you could find a candle. I doubt that they have any, so the only way there’d be one is if you brought it with you,” Evelyn replied teasingly, then let her voice grow a bit more serious. “That said, yes, I truly have that much mana. It didn’t take as much as you might think to move the ley line, the key was the amount of force it took, and I’m very good at focusing on force. Subtlety… that’s harder for me, which is why I don’t tend to use it. I want to get this done, so that we’re not stuck on the planet for a night. I don’t think I’d enjoy the experience.”
There wasn’t an immediate response, and Evelyn took the moment to enjoy her flight again. The weather was distinctly worse than it had been earlier, and this time there were fluttering motes of light in the air where some of the mold had been kicked into the atmosphere, and—
Evelyn dodged instinctively, and a winged, scaly form came screaming out of the sky through the space she’d occupied a few seconds before. She only caught a glimpse of the surprised-looking drake, but what she saw made her eyebrows rise. It’d had opalescent, shimmering scales that blended in with the snow far too easily, and it’d been about three meters long, at a guess. Maybe more, as she hadn’t gotten a good look at its tail.
“Also, you can inform Elric and Doris that there’s at least one adult drake out here still. It tried swooping on me,” Evelyn said, grinning broadly as she quickly added. “I didn’t injure it, rest assured, and I’ll be gone before it can circle around.”
“Elric says thank you, and is wondering which one it is,” Vaneryth chimed in after a moment.
“I couldn’t tell you. The drake was only in sight for about a second, then was gone. I’d guess it was about three meters long, but beyond that... not a clue,” Evelyn replied, shrugging as she continued on her way. With the winds the way they were, the chances of the drake getting into position to try again were virtually non-existent. She figured keeping going was her best bet to avoid having to kill the creature. Besides, if she wanted a fight, the poachers were far more likely to give her what she wanted. She didn’t like fighting dumb beasts, it just wasn’t fair to the poor creatures.
“They seem to have an idea based off that? I don’t understand most of what they’re saying,” Ilyra responded after a few seconds. “You’re getting close to the poachers, though. Do we need to do anything?”
“Not that I can think of. I’m sure I’ll be able to manage,” Evelyn said, shrugging. “It isn’t like I expect much out of them, anyway. Even if they’re former military, there’s whole different grades of military, from those that absolutely suck to those who’d give me a rough time. The latter… I just don’t see them as the types to hire out as poachers for months on end. It just isn’t worth it.”
“Alright, but be safe, please? I’m nervous about all of this,” Ilyra told her.
“I’ll be fine. Signing off, Lyra,” Evelyn said, cutting the line as she shook her head. It wasn’t like she was that worried. If a few dozen enemy soldiers could kill her, she’d have died before even taking over Peldra.
She descended through the snow slowly, looking for the ship in question. It almost certainly would have running lights, and… ah, there it was.
The ship emerged from the snow like an immense, beached whale. Compared to the rest of the landscape it was so much darker that it stood out, though some snow softened the image. Evelyn examined it for a few seconds before nodding in satisfaction. It was definitely no more than a frigate, and it was nestled in against the back of a hill. That was interesting, and she lowered her gaze to where she could see a couple of hatches set into the snowy hillside. Those weren’t natural, which meant the poachers had set up camp to stay for a very long time.
As she came in for a landing, Evelyn paused, her eyes narrowing, and she changed course slightly as her helmet systems picked out the signs of anti-personnel mines. Oh, they probably couldn’t breach her armor, but that was rude. She landed in a safe spot, then examined the two hatches curiously.
One of them was much larger than the other, and it was a meter off the ground, which made her think that it probably was for the hunting skiffs that Doris had talked about. That was interesting, but the other was a simple hatch about two and a half meters across,
large enough to admit most common intelligent species, and she shrugged to herself as she approached it. It looked like the ice had been partially melted to make certain the hatch was sealed, which she thought was an excellent idea in this environment.
Evelyn walked up to the hatch and rapped on it, then took a step back, folding her arms in front of her. The question was mostly whether anyone would even hear her.
For a few seconds there wasn’t a response. Then a full minute. Just as Evelyn was pondering ripping the hatch out of the hillside with magic, or maybe just cutting it open, there was a faint hissing sound, then the hatch cracked, and slowly split in half as it swung inward.
Beyond the hatch was a well-lit cavern. Evelyn immediately saw why the ship was placed against the hillside the way it was, the poachers had set it up so that an exit hatch opened straight into the cavern, and they’d placed a large seal around the edges of the cave to keep the cold air from infiltrating that way. It still wouldn’t be warm, but it would be more tolerable than it might be in most circumstances.
There was a variety of equipment in the cavern itself, along with a few dozen crates, what looked to Evelyn like a pile of bones… and at least a dozen men and women in armor, each of them armed. The one in the doorway was a large, imposing troll woman, who stared at Evelyn through a clear, bubble-like helmet. She sneered, showing off her long fangs.
“What d’ya want?” the woman demanded. “We ain’t hiring.”
“No, you aren’t. In fact, you’d best find a new job,” Evelyn replied pleasantly, smiling coldly at the woman, though she couldn’t see that. “I am Evelyn Esendria Tarth, and I’ve been hired to serve your eviction notice. Either all of you pack up and are gone within two hours, or I will remove you from the planet. I don’t care which way it goes.”
Chosen of Chaos (Eve of Destruction Book 1) Page 21
