Might be another upload today, we'll see ;)
I'm so happy y'all are fucking with the lore omg, this has been a blast to brainstorm and write
So without further ado
Enjoy, lovelies!
xoxo

Alistair

I sat next to Gaia, hearing the low music spread amongst the hums of men as her husbands were forced to play my drunkard crew another tune. The older rough looking men were beyond words exhausted, having been forced to play throughout most of the night, but that didn't stop the music my men were still demanding as daylight was close to breaking through the sky.

Caspian had retired for the evening, which by now I was drunk enough to admit I was the direct cause of. Coming to my own defense, the man could barely keep his eyes open regardless of how desperately he tried. He hadn't had a drop of liquor, so those spirits weren't keeping him alert like it had the rest of the crew.

I didn't understand what had shifted between him and Gaia after high noon, especially after hearing the laughter of them both, coming from the kitchen as Nalia finished setting the dining hall.

They were much more at ease around each other, which just made myself all the more uneasy. He helped the two women pour serving after serving as my men filled in famished and ready for a heavy meal. I was also drunk enough to now admit that the food this evening was incredible. Truly fucking incredible.

Which then of course angered me even more.

Caspian seemed to keep near Gaia throughout dinner and that made it difficult for me to get her alone, so I found myself ordering him up to our room to prepare my bed and his place on the floor. I needed time alone with this woman, especially after seeing how quick a bond she was able to create with Caspian in such a short amount of time. I wanted to know how... and why...

After a few more rounds of drinks, the only person I had my eyes set on chewing the fat with was Gaia. She seemed more inviting with the liquor coursing through her, her hand holding a very full chalice of wine as she sat near to the entrance of the kitchen.

"This was quite the welcoming." I noted. Gaia stretched her arms out across the wooden table, before her right hand carefully placed the chalice down.

"It's been a few years since you last visited. And you're quite the unkillable insect."

Well, I thought to myself... my assumptions of the wine coming with less insults was dead wrong.

"I am very thankful." I replied as an attempt at keeping the peace.

"As you should be." She countered

"What can you tell me about Caspian?" I asked her more directly. I had opted to eliminate the small talk, seeing as it was getting us nowhere, to which Gaia's arms crossed tightly over her shoulders.

"Not much at all." She countered.

"And if I were to wager for information," I continued, "what would be the price?" I watched as Gaia shifted her weight back in her seat, leaning her left shoulder against the stone walls now to steady her slightly swaying self.

"My son." I heard her voice say evenly a moment later. I scoffed, chastising myself for not having predicted that answer, but that still didn't stop me from giving her a firm no.

"Your son is not captive on my ship." I told this woman. "He never was." I found myself responding with a slight bit of aggression, which probably wasn't helping me with my request, but Gaia's own request had struck something in me. "I do not wager a man's free will, I have and will only ever give them a choice. And every time my ship drags against the sandy shores of this island, that's me giving him an opportunity to stay. Might do you good to ask yourself less of what what is is that cannot keep him here, and more about what it is that calls to him out there."

I knew I had struck that same chord in her that she had in me, by the way her face immediately tightened. Even in her drunken state, I knew I had crossed a line I couldn't come back from.

Maybe that's what gave myself this much courage to add "this island is beautiful, Gaia. I can admit to that much... but never underestimate the wonders of the sea. The very thing you yourself are surrounded by. Could you really hold blame against your son for wanting to dip his toes into those very waters?"

Gaia looked at me a moment, her lids lower from the drink, but those eyes were still as attentive as they always were. "I don't like the way you challenge me." She spoke plainly, to which I chuckled.

"You don't like that I challenge you at all." I replied. I was the only one on this island that seemed to.

"What made you take Caspian as a slave?" Her question was steering us back in a favorable direction for me, which I couldn't be more grateful for.

"He wanted to die... And you should know I've never been one to grant the request of a common merchant."

"But you don't believe him to be a merchant." She countered, to which I found myself slowly nodding.

"Anyone with eyes and a few tight screws can tell that man is no merchant. The callus on his hands are from work someone was forced into, not born into. His style of hair alone could give that away, but his lack of knowledge on entry level work only solidifies it. He's about as useless as he looks." I explained. Gaia didn't take kindly to those words, however, which somewhat surprised me.

"Then why do you keep him? Is that not more work for you than reward?"

"Time itself will reveal that." I replied, to which Gaia's eyes narrowed further. I didn't understand what had drawn her to Caspian so suddenly. Why she seemed to actually care what I did with my own slave.

"You plan to sell him then?"

I found myself shrugging my shoulders slightly. "Cael and I have plans to inquire about his bounty, yes. We still do not know who he is, but Sicoria would be the nearest region that would give us some kind of information before we make our way back to Azul." I leant forward, grabbing the almost empty canteen of rum, before I poured myself another drink I truly didn't need.

"Hmm." I heard her hum quietly to herself, before she took another sip of her wine. It left a slight tint on her lips, but I watched as her tongue slid out to lick the residue off. "I can wager a different price for information on who that man is."

I studied her a moment, marinating on those words before eventually replying "name your price."

I watched as the edges of her lips twisted up into a slight smile. "My price is Caspian."

The look she gave me was calculated. This whole preposition was calculated, and at a meticulous rate at that. "So your wager for information on Caspian, is that I allow him to stay here?" I clarified a bit uselessly. We both knew what she wanted.

"Well how desperately do you want that information?"

I laughed dryly, and a bit abruptly at that counter request. "That would defeat the purpose of me gathering that information."

All Gaia did was shrug. "Then I guess you aren't curious enough."

Drinking or not, nothing seemed to dull this women's sharpness enough. I wanted to knock that wine out of her hand and hand her the bottle of rum. Maybe something stronger would do it.

"I'll find that information out on my own." I was quick to remind her.

"And I'm sure you will," she countered, taking another sip, "I guess time will tell."

Our eyes held each others gaze a moment, with every bit of me finding it challenging not to respect this woman who'd managed to wedge me between a ship and its rudder. If the wager for this information was this high, I couldn't help but wonder whether Gaia had made this decision logically, or empathetically. Whether she was doing this for her gain or Caspian's... yet still, I found myself shaking my head no.

"Caspian isn't currency-"

"Yet he is property?" she cut in, to which I found myself pulling my gaze from hers, and looking down instead at the glass half filled with the nectar of the gods. She had cornered me once again.

"If I were to trade him, wouldn't that make him your property?"

Gaia laughed at that. "I could never claim a soul as a slave. I know just how non-complacent  a soul can be, and it wasn't meant to wear shackles... was it, Alistair?"

I took a sip of the once favoured drink which now felt like I was swallowing hot coal whole, burning my throat as it went down. Gaia's words had cut deeper than I thought possible, and revealed more of what she knew about my own soul. Things she shouldn't know.

"You're a hard one to break." I mumbled more to myself, but Gaia easily heard it.

"Your first mistake was thinking I had anything breakable in me." She replied.

That was what told me that this conversation- this request for information, whatever it was, was finished. I wasn't sure what transpired between her and Caspian, but I knew it must've been something great. Something that Gaia wasn't willing to disclose, unless I could give her my word Caspian would remain on this island.

And that was something I simply wasn't going to do. His bounty meant more than my own curiosity... and Gaia knew I had other ways to figure him out. Her confidence just told me that this information wasn't going to come easy, and how she knew that, was still a mystery. She herself was still a mystery, which forced me to remind myself that whatever dance I chose to partake in with this woman, meant that I would never know her footing.

I could never have the upper hand if I didn't truly know what height she was playing this dangerous game from.

"I guess it's time to retire the night then." I spoke finally, pushing myself away from the wooden table. I wondered if Caspian had still kept himself awake, but the way he had been dosing off, resting against one of the Inn's walls which made him look as if he was only taking a moment to gather himself, made me doubt that. My men thought that he had drank too much, but only I had known he hadn't drunk anything at all.

I had watched as he refused drink after drink as the night continued, only accepting the tea Gaia had brought out to him without him requesting. This was then when I understood that that there was an understanding between them that I hadn't been let in on. An understanding I hadn't seen plant itself, but was bombarded by how it blossomed as the night progressed.

Gaia made no protest when I excused myself, with me reminding my many remaining men who were still partaking in the festivities, that tomorrow would be a day spent on the ship. I didn't want to hear any protests come sunrise, when we were all tasked with getting the vessel ready for yet another long voyage. Our stop in Sicoria would be as brief as we could possibly make it. We weren't necessarily welcome there either.

I passed more of my men as I made my way towards the back stairwell, all of them conversing deeply with either another one of my crew, or one of Gaia's daughters. That was part of my reasoning for letting my men grow a connection with Gaia's direct lineage... they were well educated... and nothing could motivate a man more than intelligence attached to their own sexual urges.

It was good for them, and they of course knew how to respect her daughters. I found it weak to take advantage of anyone not willing to meet you with the same amount of ferociousness that you were, and I instilled these same principles with those who were an extension of myself. Of my ship.

Being complacent didn't sit well with my soul either, which may have contributed to why I kept Caspian aboard.

He was too complacent with death.

I found the stairwell with ease, using it to bring myself onto the second floor of this Inn. Some rooms had since been closed, revealing those few who retired early for the night, and that made me find our room even easier.

As soon as my hand pushed that door further open, I was met with a sight I wasn't expecting, which was rich considering this night had been full of unexpectedness. Laying in my bed was Caspian himself, with his position clearly giving way to the fact that he had fallen asleep unintentionally.

My mouth moved at first, these vocal chords fully ready to tell him to get up, but I caught myself at the last moment before the first word managed its way out. I wasn't sure if it was his position so close to the edge, so ready to stir himself awake if it was needed... or the way his left arm wrapped under the fluffed pillow he had laid his head on, creating  a sight I hadn't seen on Caspian's face yet. It was the look of stillness. Peace, really, if I were to go so far... and it settled into his features like it belonged there.

I looked from him, to the floor beside the bed. It was made, but it held no occupants...

Well fuck me, I thought to myself, imagining the unthinkable as I approached the thin sheet laid out on the floor. There was no way... and yet...

I couldn't bring myself to wake this man. Instead I found my feet skirting the perimeter of the sheet laid on the ground, before I finally bent a knee, adjusting myself to the false comfort beneath.

This night was full of surprises, I thought again, readjusting until I found a position that didn't feel like I was sleeping on fucking floorboards.

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