“By order of the Lady of the Ice Garden, Witch of the Northern Waste, High Sorceress of Glacks Island, Lady of the Fire, the Enchantress of--” Spymaster Timshard loudly announced.
“Get on with it!” My-re of the Health Alteration Squad shouted cutting off the litany.
“Lady Greywand has decreed no more hunting for the Lake of Mist’s monster with her vessels!” Timshard called out prior to an uproar from the crowd.
My-re folder her arms as she stood on Willow Beach near the docks with a large group of Lord Protections waiting their turn to board several crafts. Spymaster Timshard, better known as Timmy the spy, stood on a crate on the docks looking down at the Lord Protectors below. His youthful face with a splattering of freckles had a hard look of stone after issuing the decree from his aunt. He rolled up the scroll and left the docks, head held up high, as the wind blew his blond hair, and ignored the other protectors as he moved through their mumbling ranks to leave.
My-re couldn’t blame Lady Greywand for spoiling the boys’ fun, as the past two weeks has seen boat after boat head into the Lake of Mists with Lord Protectors each eager to claim the head of the Lake of Mist monster and the 1,000 gold bounty. However, all returned empty with the results usually being more injured Lord Protectors needing Greywand’s healing, than from a Grand Tournament with a style change potion as a prize. In addition, their boats, normally used to ferry new inducted Lord Protectors from the other shore, were even worse for wear, as they came back badly damaged from the other creatures in the lake agitation from their passing. She had to admit any invader would have cause to pause in attempting to cross the Lake of Mists with an invading fleet. The creatures in the lake were a formidable deterrent.
“Ah, the nine hells. I was looking for some fun and sun out on the water and a shot at that bounty,” Anusha from the Skull Squadron stable commented to My-re, as she adjusted a full wine skin around her shoulder. “I guess we can lie out on the beach.”
My-re too was itching for the bounty. It would put a large dent in the funds needed to secure passage on the Great Eastern Trade route and return to her old family’s ranch near Rocanis. She then glanced at Willow Beach, which was rather rock-strewn for a beach, and said, “I’m not lying out there without anything short of padded leather armor.”
Anusha snorted in acknowledgement and said, “The docks?”
“Splinters?”
“What do you want to do then?”
“I want to go out on the water and after that fish. Today’s my day off and I don’t want to hang out at the Broken Swords with General Pol. ” My-re said.
“Why not, I saw Hungry Peasant was working today? He’s a nice dish.”
My-re glared at Anusha and said through gritted teeth, “HP is not my boyfriend. How many times—“
A purring female voice interrupted. “So, you ladies want to head out on the Lake of Mists? So do I.”
The two women turned and saw Ssskah of the Castaways stable. She was an Aruaki, also known as the Catfolk. My-re heard stories of them from growing up in the Rirorni Empire and of their Pride in their ancestral home in the southern reaches of the Rirorni plans and Old Ratan. However, she knew little else of their culture. Ssskah, who was shorter than My-re, looked like a bipedal tuxedo cat with black with white on her face and down her front and thought it still looked odd for a cat dressed in simple, but functional human clothing. My-re resisted the urge to reach out and scratch under the creature’s chin.
“I didn’t think cats liked water?” Anusha slightly elbowed My-re.
“No, but we do like gold.”
“Splitting 1,000 gold three ways doesn’t sound like a good deal,” Anusha said and grabbed My-re’s arm to go.
“No, splitting four ways,” Ssskah said.
“That’s even worse.”
“The fourth person has a boat,” Ssskah countered.
My-re stopped and studied Ssskah. She had a cunning look on her face, but it seemed most cats did, so it didn’t tell her much. However, with all of these Lord Protectors, many of which were vastly more skilled than herself, why would she need two random women encountered on the beach? Something didn’t add up.
Anusha boasted, “Well, I can see why you’d want a Rirorni warrior--
Ssskah interrupted, “I’ve never cared for the Rirorni. They overbreed, exhausting their food and natural resources of their land, and then move on. In fact, I’m surprised you aren’t pregnant now.” She then paused, looked Anusha up and down and her eyes stopped at her mid-section, and then continued, “Are you?”
Anusha’s eyes went wide in fury, “Did this fur-ball just call me fat or a slu—“
My-re interrupted Anusha, “We don’t like being toyed with cat, much less insulted. What game are you playing at?”
“I’m going to spay this cat,” Anusha said under her breath and shaking her head in anger.
“Apologies, as I don’t have, what you humans call…a filter. However, I do like to play. But no, I’m not seeking out the Rirorni. I’m seeking out you My-re,” Ssskah said.
“Why me? There are plenty of men--”
“Women.” Ssskah interrupted. “I find men to be somewhat untrustworthy and all they want to do is eat, sleep, and f…fight. At least the ones I’ve met. Anyway, due to my appearance some thought they could easily outsmart me.” Then trailing off muttered, “I always thought humans knew cats were cunning. Oh well, they didn’t get the better of me, so now I’m looking for women to be part of my crew.”
“Women can easily be as untrustworthy as men,” My-re countered.
“Yes, but I’ve read your book, so to speak. I sense I can trust you,” Ssskah said.
“What do you mean ‘read my book’? The nine hells, what did Corg say?”
“Nothing…a bit. However, I’m not here to discuss that. I’m here to see if you’d like to be business partners,” Ssskah said.
“To catch the Lake of Mist monster?”
“More than that. Follow me to the Nightie and I’ll show you,” Ssskah said and started to walk down the beach without a sound over the rocks. She looked over her should after several paces and asked, “Coming?”
My-re and Anusha looked at each other.
“A cat might be handy in catching a fish. Besides, she has a boat,” Anusha said shrugging.
My-re nodded to the logic and they both followed Ssskah. The three traveled some time and distance around the beach. Rounding a bend their goal came into sight.
“This, my friends, is the Nightie,” Ssskah said as they approached an orange painted craft tied to an aging dock.
Getting closer, the Nightie was about 150 feet long with the main deck about 30 feet wide. Long oars jetted out from the midsection of the craft, which made it about 20 more feet wider. The observation deck at the aft section of the ship had an oversized mounted telescope. The front of the ship had a marble figurehead of a naked mermaid with extraordinary long hair, riding an enormous seahorse.
Anusha commented, “How old is this thing? It looks like something my grandfather, maybe great-grandfather, would have taken to cross a river.”
Ssskah snorted, “Yes, it’s old and it’s not as sleeker as the newer ferries Lady Greywand uses today, but over the decades she’s tough enough to meet the challenge of any creature in the Lake of Mists. ”
My-re noted numerous patches along the hull, indicating it has seen a long service of ferrying Lord Protectors of old back and forth to the Isle of the Eye. Looking at the large number of oars, there is no way four people could get that thing moving.
Ssskah must have seen her skepticism and said, “We are going to rent out the craft and charge Lord Protectors ten gold to board and hunt for the Lake of Mist monster for the day. They will do the rowing. So, an average of forty protectors times ten gold calculates to 400 gold per day.”
“What if they catch the Lake of Mist monster and the 1,000 gold bounty?” Anusha asks.
“Ideally, they won’t catch it the first time out and we can keep this going for a while. However, if they do then the one or protectors that catch it, get the bounty.”
“I’m presuming we won’t be part of catching the monster?” My-re asked.
Ssskah shook her head.
“So, what is our purpose then?”
“You’d be serving our guests tea, biscuits, and crumpets. That sort of thing.”
“Can you see Conan the Barbarian sipping tea and eating crumpets on a boat?” Anusha asked.
Ssskah held up her paw in understanding. “Yes, human gladiators tend not to have refined tastes, so My-re, I was going to use your connections to have General Pol supply the ship with his drinks. I’ve heard rumor of a Mushroom Mead that has become quite popular.”
My-re placed her hands on her hips. “I’m a servant now at the Broken Sword Tavern, why would I want to trade one job for another on the Nightie?”
“Yes, you and Anusha would server the drinks, but you’d also get a commission of course. I put my order through you to purchase the drinks from General Pol. He pays a percentage, typically ten percent, of the cost for bringing the business to him.” Ssskah continued calculating with her paw in the air, “I think our first order will be for around 1,000 gold, so that’s 100 in commission for you. After another ten orders, depending on how long it takes to catch the monster, which I’m in no hurry mind you, you ladies will have already made 1,000 gold.” Ssskah then reached out, scratched My-re under her chin, and added, “And you wouldn’t have even gotten a single…toe…wet. So, what say you?”
My-re and Anusha looked at each other, turned to Ssskah, and said in unison, “Where do we sign up?”