Voidhawk - Lost Soul (13 page)

Rejinal’s lips parted. He stared at the fuming former Empress for a moment then stepped around them and made his way to the door. He slipped through it and all but ran up the stairs to the main deck. Dexter let go of Jenna a moment later, then hurried after her as she took off after the elven captain.

When they made it to the deck he’d already departed. The small skiff was barely past the railing of the stern castle but far enough that Jenna wouldn’t risk leaping the distance to reach him.

Dexter turned to Tasha, who was standing nearby with a look of confusion on her face. “As fast as you can, get us out of here. Under the New Winds, they’ve got no weapons beneath their hull. I don’t expect they’ll follow us into the Federation, but be ready in case they do.”

“Sir?”

“Do it!” Jenna snapped, turning to glare at her.

“Aye!” Tasha turned and started barking out orders to the crew.
She had no idea what happened below deck, but it didn’t matter. It was a welcome reminder of what life had always been like on the Voidhawk.

The next several minutes were beyond tense. Jenna and Dexter stood on the deck watching the New Winds as the
y passed under it. It fell behind them slowly, but it wasn’t until their atmosphere separated from that of the elven ship that he began to feel the knots in his shoulder loosen.

“Might not be a terrible thing if our travels never cross into Elven void again,” Dexter mused.

Dexter’s wife let out a short lived chuckle. “I left once before, never to return. You brought me back.”

The Captain grinned. “Aye, so I did.”

“Serves them right, bickering amongst themselves,” Jenna added.

“Don’t suppose they’ll go back to being all high-and-mighty again, do you?”

“With the elders present? I doubt it. They may not be as all knowing and all powerful as they wanted us to think they were, but they’re still a powerful force the elves can’t compete against without destroying themselves. The Federation is a balancing power, the elves wouldn’t dare risk letting the Federation sweep in afterwards.”

Dexter stared ahead into the void, wishing he could bridge the distance and see Port Freedom already. A shape blocked out the stars
, moving slowly from port to starboard. “Speaking of which, I think Captain Tellurim was being shadowed.”

Jenna’s eyes narrowed and a sailor’s oath slipped from her lips. She turned her head and picked out the shape moving in the void. She repeated the curse with added vitriol before adding, “We’re never going to get there at this rate!”

“We can try running, this is the border of Federation space, too. Port Freedom is beyond both elven and human realms.”

She turned to look at him, her eyes uttering words beyond what ever her mouth could manage.

“That dose of stink eye tells me I’d best go and find some captain-y things to do.” Dexter smiled and turned. “Tasha, the First Mate’s got the deck. Keep everyone ready, though. We’re to be having a chat with some old friends.”

“Sir, the elves didn’t follow us?” Tasha asked after checking off the ship’s stern.

“Aye, these are new old friends.”

She blinked as she stared at him, then shook her head as though it could help settle her confusion. “Aye, Captain.”

Chapter 8

“Everything looks in order. Strange, a ship sailing the void without cargo,” Dekleem, the first officer of the Federation vessel, Ora’s Bounty, opined. They’d finished a thorough search of the Voidhawk, a standard procedure for any Federation ship when they’ve reason to suspect something suspicious.

“Aye, and there are few things more suspect than a human ship sailing out of the elven void,” Dexter answered. “Our cargo’s not in goods, it’s in information. Information the Federation might take a liking to.”

“What are you saying, Captain?”

Dexter shrugged. “Might be I’m dangling something shiny for you, teasing you a bit. Or it might be that I’ve got something the elves don’t want to be letting go,” he smiled as Dekleem’s eyes narrowed. “Or maybe I’m just headed someplace too out of the way and difficult to control for the Federation to have an interest in, even though it would suit them well to keep the elves from having their scrawny fingers in it.”

“You’re a peculiar man, Captain Silvercloud.”

Dexter grinned. “Peculiar? Don’t think I’ve been called that before, have I, Jenna?”

“No, sir,” she responded. “Peculiar has a nice ring to it. Folks mostly grab the four letter words first.”

“So Mr. Dekleem, we’ll be taking our leave then. Our
freedom
, you could say. I’m sure we’ll find a
port
soon enough.”

Dekleem stared at him a moment longer, then nodded. “Very well. Swift sailing, Captain.”

Dexter blinked, concerned that his thinly veiled message hadn’t been delivered. Before he could add anything the man turned and boarded the skiff sent from the Federation warship. With the other six sailors from the Ora’s Bounty already aboard, the small boat untied the lines and sailed back across the short span between vessels.

“Was that wise?” Jenna hissed.

“Haven’t I always been wise?” Dexter asked. He held up his hand, “Don’t answer that. Instead think of this as me hedging my bet.”

“Sounds like you’re inviting trouble to me.
I can’t believe they didn’t press for more details about Jia. If an elven ship accepted that she was just sleeping I’d have the Captain’s head!”

“We’re at or just past the fringe of Federation void. Strong arming us won’t do them any good out here.”

“You’re mad,” she sighed.

Dexter
grinned. “What you’re lacking is a vision. I ever tell you what I did as a boy?”

“I thought you were more or less a homeless thief?”

He nodded again. “Aye! Got to be pretty good at it too. I took what I need and what I felt should be mine.”

“Quite the role model.”

“I’m not saying what I done was right, but there’s no undoing it now,” Dexter said. “Point is, I learned important lessons back then. Lessons that I use to this day. Lessons like sometimes it’s a lot easier to do a thing when nobody’s paying attention to what you’re doing.”

“You mean to start a war?” Tasha gasped.

Jenna turned, startled by the interruption. Dexter gave the black skinned woman a smile of recognition. “Not a war, just give the elves something to keep their eyes elsewhere. Remember they don’t have a sizeable force on Port Freedom, just enough to secure the port and insure the behavior of the wealthy merchants that run the place.”

“How do you know that? We barely got away before the elves took it over last time we were there. No doubt they’ve had reinforcements since then,” Jenna said.

“Remember, Empress, that I had information on troop numbers and locations throughout the empire and beyond.”

“Oh!” Jenna fell silent while she mulled his words over.
“I thought regional commanders handled such things.”

“They did, I made a few changes to the way the elves did things.”

“Changes that will make them more difficult to deal with?”

“I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve yet.”

Jenna sighed. “I think we’re done with the Ora’s Bounty, shall we be underway? Or do you want to tie a rope to their prow and guide them in?”

Dexter laughed. “At least they didn’t threaten us
.” He judged her ire to be regarding the constant interruptions they’d been facing. He felt it too, each day that passed seemed to make their chances worse for recovering Jianna. Or worse, they might save her soul only to find that the prolonged disembodied isolation made her lose her mind. For Dexter the days he’d spent alone with himself had seemed endless and he’d begun to wonder how long he could go before he went mad. How would she fare?

Jenna turned away to get the Voidhawk moving again. Dexter watched the Ora’s Bounty fall behind them. It stayed still until they lost sight of it amidst the star field. Dexter yawned.

“Get some sleep, I’m rested,” Jenna advised.

“We’re outside of where most patrols would g
o. Keep an eye out, this part of the void’s like as not to have pirates in it.”

“Dex, I know. Get some sleep.”

“I’m just w—”

“Sleep! Now!” Jenna snapped at him. “Tasha, would you please escort the Captain to his cabin?”

Tasha smirked. “Should I force him into bed, too?”

Jenna’s eyes narrowed. Tasha gasped in turn, realizing what she’d said. “A guard at his door should suffice.”

Tasha nodded stiffly, then turned to Dexter.

“It’
s a mutiny. I should have you all cast overboard,” he muttered before turning and heading for his cabin.

“Captain?” Tasha asked outside of his room.

Dexter chuckled. “Go get some rest, Tasha. We’ve all been running with too much wind in our sails. Don’t worry, I’ve every intention of heeding my wife’s advice.”

Tasha offered him a smile. “She’s quite a woman, your wife.”

“Aye,” Dexter agreed.

“It’s good to see her back aboard the ‘Hawk. She was being suffocated in the court room.”

Dexter hadn’t thought of it like that before. He nodded. “I reckon you’re on to something there. Easy to get caught up in doing what you think you ought to be doing.”

Tasha waited until Dexter shut the door then turned and headed for her own quarters. Dexter pondered his wife and the various roles he’d seen her fulfill. She could do just about anything, he figured. He poured himself another tumbler of the dwarven brandy and wondered which of her roles she preferred.

* * * *

Dexter’s eyelids snapped open when he felt a breath of cool air across his skin only moments before the bed vibrated slightly as someone crawled into it. The blanket descended, covering him and his new guest just as an arm slipped lightly across his naked hip. A faint aroma of lilacs teased him, bringing a smile to his lips. He started to roll back but the hand on his side stopped him.

“Jenna.”

“Hush,” the elf admonished him. She let her hand glide on his skin in random circles. Her progress brought a gasp from him when she found what she was looking for. “Miss me?”

After six years of seldom finding time for themselves,
Dexter wasn’t to be denied. He turned and kissed her, using aggression to show his passion for her. She let him roll onto her, clinging to him and letting him dominate her in a way that they’d never experienced. Dexter paused, the oddity of their roles forcing its way into his consciousness.

“What’s wrong?” he dared to ask.

She shook her head, pulling him to her and pressing her lips against him anew. Dexter relented for a moment, then grunted and restrained himself again. Jenna, not to be denied, reached between them and used her hand to coax him and inflame his senses.

“Who’s sailing the ship? Is Tasha in charge?”

Jenna’s eyes widened at his words. She bit her lip before nodding. Dexter stared into his wife’s eyes, not understanding the sudden twinkle he saw in her beautiful green eyes. The twinkles rivaled the golden flecks in them, but he knew her well enough there was more to it.

Dexter opened his mouth again but she would have no more of it. She pushed herself up and pressed her lips to his. He was silenced with a muffled protest, then found himself rolled over with a lithe elven warrior queen atop him. She grabbed him again, and rubbed herself against him before pausing. She stared into his eyes, looking for something the confused man couldn’t understand.

Jenna sighed and rolled off of him onto her side. Dexter turned his head to stare at her, thoroughly confused. He rolled up behind her, pressing himself to her, and tried to pull her back to face him. She resisted for a moment then gave in. Dexter saw the sparkles had been moisture. Tears were gathered in the corners of her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

She blinked and shook her head, then looked away. Dexter was at a loss for what was wrong with her. She sat up, sliding her legs out from under the blanket so her back faced him. Dexter reached out, trailing his hands along her smooth skin and tracing the lines of her muscles and bones.

“Do you still love me?”

Dexter coughed, choking for a moment on his own spit he’d inhaled at the surprise question. “Yes!” He blurted out as soon as he recovered. “I’ve never stopped!”

Jenna remained quiet long enough to make Dexter think he’d given the wrong answer. “And if we can’t get her back? Will you still love me then?”

“We will get her back,” Dexter sat up and reached out to put his arm around Jenna. “There’s no power in the void that’ll stop me.”

“From getting her back?”

“Or from being in love with you.”

“It’s my fault. I was the Empress. I wanted everything to work out for my people and for us. I didn’t pay any attention to the dangers.”

“Is this about Jia?” Dexter asked, trying to make sense of her mercurial behavior.