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Nearly four days since Vinie left for Moaan, and every hour felt like an uphill battle for Gideo. Progress was slow, but at least the sighting of the warship off Danitesk's coast seemed to have made some impression on Kuman. The contrary old LawMaker remained slow to act on Vinie's recommendations for a militia and a watchtower; every time Gideo brought them up, Kuman fretted and fumed and pointed out a thousand nonexistent reasons why they couldn't be done. Naanti, the town's shaman, was thankfully at least willing to discuss what Danitesk's future would look like as part of Undor. If it weren't for her and the increasingly reliable enthusiasm of Kuman's son, Jalatu, Gideo reckoned he might have given up the stubborn little fishing village as a lost cause.

Their most recent and pressing undertaking was to organize a scouting party. The more Gideo heard about the rumored royal shipyard at the tip of Auli's Inlet, the more convinced he was that it would inevitably pose a real threat. With most if not all of Undor's livelihood and travel reliant on the sea, a naval attack from the capital would be disastrous. A still not-so-small part of Gideo piped up from time to time, reminding him of the collateral cost of striking first. In those moments, he would pause to think of Margalee - the Blue Obad who had lost her both home and her eyes to help him escape capture - and wonder if she was alright. The memory of her and Zaneo was usually enough to override Gideo's quiet concerns. If Mahir was building warships on Undorian land, then he would have to be stopped. There was no two ways about it.

The members of the scouting party had been chosen; hunters who knew the jungle and footpaths around Danitesk well. The date and time were set; they would leave tomorrow morning, a group of four traveling light and quick. With any luck, they would reach the tip of Auli's Inlet and return within a week. The final decision as to what exactly would be done with the information the scouts brought back was just being made as the sun set beyond the window of Kuman's home.

"And you can promise that any attack on the shipyard, if there is to be one, will be staged from Moaan, not Danitesk?" Kuman was saying for the hundredth time.

Gideo sighed. "Yas Kuman, you have my word." Moaan was further away from Auli's Inlet than Danitesk, with no immediate road between them. The best and only route would be a narrow, obstacle-laden canoe trip through the jungle; not ideal, but doable. At least basing an offensive out of Moaan would be easier logistically in terms of weapons and people. It was also the only way that Kuman would permit Danitesk to act as the staging point for this first, crucial scouting party.

At last, Kuman settled back in his chair looking at least somewhat appeased. Jalatu and his friend Balik exchanged a glance across the table. Mugs of ginger beer sat untouched at everyone's elbows, except for Naanti who was currently nursing her third. Outside, the barking of dogs and the ever-present crashing of the surf made a strangely ordinary counterpoint to their talk of war.

"Well, I suppose that's that then." Abruptly, Kuman snatched up his mug. Tipping back his head, he drained the whole thing in a series of dramatically loud gulps. Then, pushing back his chair, he stood. "I'm off to bed. You all can do as you like, there's plenty of drink in the cellar downstairs. Just so long as there's no more Factionist business under my roof tonight."

"I should be getting home too." Gathering up her skirts, Naanti slid off her stool with remarkable ease for a woman with three mugs of ginger beer in her. "You should too, Kaulo. You're leaving with the other hunters before sunrise tomorrow."

Kaulo, a broad-faced fellow seated next to lanky Balik, patted his still-full mug. "Soon, SeaShaman. I'm not so rude as to leave Kuman's beer to the flies."

Jalatu raised a meaningful eyebrow at Gideo, already halfway out of his chair. Wincing at his own untouched drink, Gideo relented and sat back down.

"If you weren't all too old for it, I'd scold you for not getting enough rest. There'll be time enough for sleepless nights soon, I expect." Naanti shrugged and, picking up her arm-basket beside the door, bid the four of them goodnight before stepping out into the still-warm twilight.

With the two elders gone, Gideo and the other men fell to discussing all that had been done throughout the day, as well as speculations for what might come of the scouting party's foray. As the level of ginger beer began to sink in their mugs though, talk turned to more casual, personal subjects.

"This is honestly your first time ever in Danitesk?" Balik was asking Gideo, almost incredulous enough to be insulting. "But our towns are on the same peninsula!"

"I've never really had cause to make the trip. Vinie has some family here I think...cousins, maybe. There's nobody here I knew before though, my life was in Utunma."

"And Vinie BlackPearl is your...wife? Sorry, I just couldn't help but notice the knot on your hand." Jalatu gestured to where Gideo was loosely grasping his mug, the marriage-knot tattoo visible. Still fresh, it stood out starkly white at the base of his thumb.

"Yas."

Jalatu, having finished off his ginger beer, stood and held out a hand for Gideo's near-empty cup. "Here, there's still some sun on the sea yet."

When Gideo hesitated, Kaulo was quick to down the rest of his own drink. As he handed the cup to Jalatu, he flashed a wink at Gideo. "I can drink five of these and still be first awake with the morning. Kuman's cellar has some of the best grog in town."

"You don't have to get up to see the hunters off, it's fine." Leaning across the table, Jalatu plucked Gideo's mug from his hand. "I bottle most of this stuff for my dad anyways, so consider this one on me."

"Thank you," said Gideo, resigning himself to one more drink before calling it a night. "Are any of you married?"

"I am," Balik nodded. "So was he, before he went and got fat and ugly."

Kaulo's face screwed up in mock indignation "Otch! That had nothing to do with her leaving, and you know it!"

"So you say, so you say."

Balik and Kaulo's banter fell silent when Jalatu returned with his and Gideo's mugs, refilled right up to the brim. The four men sat for a moment in comfortable silence, each lost in his own thoughts as they sipped at their beer. The lamp flickered on the table between them, and Gideo found himself briefly homesick for the scent of strawberry-imbued wax and skin painting ink.

"So, any children then?" Draping one arm across the back of his chair, Jalatu shifted to focus more directly on Gideo.

"No...well, actually, yas. I suppose you could call them ours, although we haven't made anything official. Their parents died in the Uprising."

"Oh...sorry to hear that," said Kaulo.

"How many?" asked Balik.

"Two boys, just young pups. Zaneo's nine, and Tani will be eight in a few weeks here."

"And where are they now?"

"They're in Utunma, staying with-" Gideo wasn't entirely sure what stopped him. The ginger beer and late summer air had him wrapped up in a blanket of calm warmth. Between that, the candlelight, and the crashing of the surf outside, the atmosphere was one of relaxed fellowship. How many nights had Gideo spent just so, talking about everything and nothing with Bakko and Vinie? There was an intense, eager gleam in Jalatu's eye though, and suddenly Gideo felt his guard rising. "...Why do you want to know?"

Jalatu raised his hands pacifyingly, but even before he opened his mouth Gideo caught the flickering glance that passed between Kaulo and Balik. It was the look of two conspirators, caught in the midst of a plot.

"We were just making conversation, Gideo. Stars, you Factionists are jumpy fol-"

The second Gideo rose from his chair, he knew that something was wrong. The straight lines of Kuman's cupboards swerved alarmingly, and the floor lurched like a dhow caught in a storm. What Gideo had earlier thought to be the pleasant warmth of the ginger beer now weighed like lead down the entire length of his arms, right down to his suddenly tingling fingertips. He felt sick, numb, and dangerously, dangerously tired.

"What did you do?!" he gasped.

Jalatu, Balik, and Kaulo were all on their feet, circling around the table toward him. The edges of Gideo's vision blurred, bringing the faces of the three men into abrupt, tunneled focus before him. Every movement felt wrong, somehow weak and dream-like as he turned and tried to run for the door. The floorboards pitched again beneath his sandals, and Gideo tripped. Even falling didn't quite register as it ought to; the weathered floorboards felt more like a stuffed mattress even when they skinned Gideo's knees and elbows.

"Stay...back...!"

Surprisingly, Jalatu did just that. Stopping outside of arm's reach, he squatted down on his heels to look Gideo in the eye. The look of smug triumph there was horrifying enough to momentarily force back the dark fog smothering Gideo's mind.

"Don't worry StarGazer, no one will harm you. At least, not here. The king's bounty says that you're wanted alive." Jalatu raised an eyebrow. "You specifically. The BlackPearl he'll take alive or dead, so I can only figure he must have something truly awful in mind for your sentence. I would not for all the pearls in the sea want to be in your place right now!"

"Wh...why?? You're...one of..."

"One of you?" Balik snorted. "As if. You got nearly four hundred people killed at Utunma, you Factionists. We had peace before you and your BlackPearl went looking for war."

"But...Ma...hir..."

When Gideo tried and failed to push himself upright off the floor, Jalatu jerked his head at Balik and Kaulo. The two of them closed in as Jalatu produced a length of thick twine from his pocket.

They had not waited long enough. Gideo was still conscious enough to feel it when Balik and Kaulo took hold of his shoulders, intending to roll him onto his front. The second they touched him, panic summoned up the last dregs of Gideo's strength and gave it direction.

Rolling all the way from front to back, Gideo lashed out clumsily, but with force. He kicked Jalatu's feet straight out from under him and, caught unawares, Jalatu pitched forward onto his face. Balik and Kaulo seemed taken by surprise too; they lost their grip on Gideo just long enough for him to reach down and wrap near-useless fingers around the hilt of his belawa. Drawing the blade took near superhuman effort, as did one last desperate shove against the floor with his feet. The end results left Gideo half-sitting, back to a corner, the point of his sword wobbling drunkenly in midair as he pointed it at his attackers.

Jalatu's nose was bleeding. Thumb and forefinger clamped down to stem the flow, he glared at Gideo.

"No'd bad. How long do you think you can stay awake 'dough?"

Already Gideo's strength was faltering, his belawa drifting further and further downward. The darkness was creeping further and further in around the corners of his vision; this time it would not be denied. His tongue felt heavy and dull in his mouth. Each gasping breath came out longer and slower than the last. Even his heartbeat felt slow, increasingly sluggish as it thudded in his chest.

"Please," Gideo begged. With a thud, the sword fell, his limp hand hitting the floor only seconds after. "Please...Vinie..."

"Oh, your precious BlackPearl will be in the king's dungeons right alongside you soon enough. I have faith that even Moaan won't protect her forever. In the meantime..." Kaulo reached down and took hold of Gideo's wrists. This time, Gideo was as helpless as a newborn kitten to stop him. "...you have your own problems to worry about, don't you StarGazer?"

That was the last thing Gideo heard before the heavy, silent darkness pulled him down into oblivion.

OoOoO

"You didn't mix enough of the roots into his beer, Jalatu! He should have been down the instant he left his chair."

"Yes, Balik, I noticed 'dat," Jalatu sourly scrubbed the blood off his face before turning his attention back to the task at hand. "The brute is too big for a normal dose, and 'by nose paid the price."

"Is the boat ready?" asked Kaulo, glancing toward the upstairs where Kuman slept.

"Yas yas, but we aren't! Come on, help me get him secure."

It took all three of them to carry Gideo's deadweight between them. After having seen firsthand just how strong the Factionist was, they took no chances. They tied not only his wrists together, but also his knees and ankles. With the darkness of a new moon as their ally, they lugged their unconscious prisoner out into the streets and down to Danitesk's beach.

"You said...(grunt)...that your contact would pay us the bounty...(grunt) on delivery?" Sweat beaded across Balik's brow; as the thinnest of the three, he was having the most difficulty.

Jalatu's eyes could nearly be heard rolling in his skull. "No, of course not! I have to go with him as far as Heart Lake. We'll go by way of the shipyard, and from there paddle inland up Lilypad Lane. An armed guard and an Obad will meet us at the lake. Once they've seen that it really is Gideo StarGazer, then they'll give me the reward."

"As agreed, then?" There was a flinty gleam in Kaulo's dark eyes. "The lordship for you, the coin for us? Ugh he's heavy!"

Jalatu nodded. "As agreed. Now hurry, it's got to look like he left by cover of night himself! No one can see us!"

OoOoO

Unbeknownst to Jalatu and his accomplices, they were seen. Having heard some commotion in the night, curious eyes which were meant to be sleeping watched in disbelief as Gideo was carried down the beach and bundled into a waiting canoe. They were joined by a fourth, indistinct figure who had been sitting inside the canoe, and together the Loyalist group secured their prisoner. Jalatu joined the stranger in the canoe, and after Balik and Kaulo got them pushed out to sea they slipped away into the night.

For many long, indecisive moments, Kuman stood watching in the dark, chewing the inside of their cheek. He did not agree with Vinie BlackPearl and Gideo StarGazer; their actions were rash, reckless, fueled by personal emotions instead of concern for the greater good. From the moment the two of them had arrived in Danitesk, Kuman had been plagued by nightmares of his beloved hometown falling under the capital's sword just like Utunma.

That did not mean, however, that he felt the Factionists deserved to die. For good or ill, they were sea-folk, a fact which meant something to Kuman. What was he to do though? His boy – clever, conniving Jalatu – was gone, paddling away into the night with Gideo StarGazer as his prisoner. Whether he thought he was protecting Danitesk, or simply pursuing the capital's reward, Kuman couldn't say. He hoped it was the former, but in his old, pessimistic heart, he knew the truth lay with the latter.

Scrubbing away tears, Kuman made his decision. Picking up a handful of nuts from a bowl by the window, he leaned out into the night and whistled softly. It took only a few minutes for a rustle of feathers to reply. The yellow-billed parrot, a faithful old friend, hopped onto the windowsill and nibbled sleepily at the offered nuts.

"I wouldn't ask you to do this if it weren't important, Dabi," said Kuman. "It's dangerous right now, I know, but you're quick and smart. Think you can get a message to Moaan for me?"

Dabi the parrot cast a calm eye up at Kuman. Disregarding the rest of her snack, she held out a leg.

"Good woman. Give me a moment, and I'll have your note. Take it straight to the State Hall, y'hear? Go as quick as you can, and come straight back. A man's life depends on it."

Kuman could only imagine just how true his words of warning were.

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