^^ the Serpent ^^

— Reginald —

The eldest of the girls, Alex, adapted quickly to the rocking of the ship and the howl of the wind, even so far as to join the crew in the rigging during the worst of the storms to repair snapped lines and patch sails. Her mother had been utterly scandalized at all the girls being given pants to wear, and even herself, but had been forced to see reason, when the storms kicked up so much she couldn't even right herself, with her skirts.

So, with a great deal of dark muttering about propriety, she was convinced to wear the thick woolen leggings covered in a layer of waterproof sailcloth or leather that all the sailors wore; with one exception. She refused to wear anything but 'proper attire' when dining with Doctor Cole and Adrian, though she was again scandalizes that Adrian wore a man's petticoat, shirt, and neckcloth, instead of a dress and a girdle.

I smiled, watching her weak attempts at conversation with the Doctor for a bit, and interjected in a lull to the conversation. "So, Alex, how do you find the sea, so far?" I asked calmly, and cut into my steak without pause, even as we crested a wave and slid down it, which only Doctor Cole was able to do.

Seeing my unflappable attitude towards the rough sea, lady Minna gave me a cursory glance; confused, and intrigued. I could see her thinking, looking at Alex and then me, and I could tell her thought process. She was looking for a proper husband for Alex, hoping it would help tame the wildfire that was her spirit. A pathetic, insulting attempt, really, at squashing a glorious spirit; I made sure my facial expression told her I thought so, when she looked back at me, and smiled at her reflexive flinch.

Alex cleared her throat, and nodded. "It's actually rather fun! I know it's dangerous, of course, but there's something beautiful about a storm of this perpetuity... it's called nature's fury, in poems and literature, but it doesn't seem angry to me. It seems... playful?"

Cleo purred, and climbed onto Alex's shoulders, wrapping herself around her neck. "Indeed, little one."

Alex, unable to hear her, chuckled softly. "Well Hello, Miss Cleo! I must ask you to let me eat; I cannot properly do so with you on my neck."

"You will learn, as Benjamin did. You are to be the Captain of the Lyon, someday, and that ship is my Shrine. You, Alex, are mine." Cleo purred even louder, and laid her head down.

Minna coughed gently, setting down her wine, and glanced at Benjamin. "Speaking of the Lyon, why did we leave her in England?"

Ben shrugged. "We didn't. She's about eighty miles south of us, right now, almost to the bottom of France; it is a general rule of the sea, of course, that a smaller ship is a faster ship. She'll be waiting for us in Alexandria, running messages, passengers, and cargo to bide her time and collect pay. As a vassal ship to the IronHeart, she is free to take business unless Captain Adrian or Doctor Cole says otherwise."

She nodded thoughtfully. "And so it is not a very dangerous posting?"

"Well, there's always dangers at sea, but no more than there are on land; less, in fact, if you count in thieves and highwaymen on the roads. Why?" Ben raised an eyebrow, and caught the cup that lady Charlotte had nearly spilled trying to cut into the steak. He smiled at her and neatly sliced her steak into small bites, and kissed her head as she blushed and thanked him, though, of course, she hadn't needed any help, really.

Minna smiled. "Well, if Victoria is so endeared with this folly idea of being a Sailor's Wench, I see no reason she cannot be let to live aboard one, so she can see her failure and return. If it is not terribly dangerous, I see no reason for her to be halted; the experience itself will dissuade her more properly than I ever could."

I frowned slowly, making Alex, who was glaring at her mother thunderously, look at me curiously. "My father thought the same of my love of Art, Lady Minna, and I can only tell you that that type of close-minded thinking does not ever end well for anyone."

She sat up straight, glaring across the table at me. "Excuse me?!?"

"If you wish, though it is the doctor's table, I am simply the ranking member of our party." I raised an eyebrow.

She subsided, and frowned. "I... suppose."

"Yes, as do I. Now, on the subject; suppose you do manage to persuade lady Alex that the sea is not what is best. She will dislike and even despise you for your crushing of her dreams needlessly. Or, suppose you try this, and it backfires, and now she is irrevocably a Salt, and you will have dislike and anger for her and yourself. No path from that way of thinking leads to good end." I explained calmly.

She smirked. "It did for your father, did it not? You are not an artist, you are a Priest!"

"Who spends his days crafting items from clay, and barely speaks to his father except to report success or failure, and with little expectation of love or respect from him, as he thinks me less-than a Man." I added dryly, and her smug expression fell. "My point is simple; support your children's beliefs, do not belittle them. It can bring neither of you happiness."

Her mouth opened, and I raised a hand. "And before you spout that famous, sophistic line about happiness not being what you want for your child, but stability and long-life, I say this only; the two are not separate, and if your children must sacrifice happiness for life, you have failed in your duties as a parent, end of discussion."

The table was quiet for a moment, before Alex spoke softly. "Thank you."

"Think nothing of it, my dear. Now, as for the Lyon, she is a respectable ship, but no place for someone who doesn't know how to sail; you must gain some experience here, first, aboard the very best of vessels, and then take a position aboard the Lyon when you and Benjamin agree that you are ready. From there, I'm sure the Company would have expanded by then, and perhaps someday you might be made a Vice-Admiral in the Company. Captain Adrian is likely to be here long after I am gone, but we will all make sure you are well taught, if this is the life you wish." I nodded briskly, and smiled a little when she caught my eye to nod.

Adrian smiled widely. "Indeed! We could always use more women sailors!"

Ben laughed softly. "It's true, they do get things done with less lallygagging and complaining than the men do, nine times out of ten."

"And they more often spend their pay wiser, instead of on the alcohol or companions they see at dock, making them the rather wealthiest of sailors." The Doctor added dryly.

Minna blinked slowly. "So the female sailors... they aren't-..."

The doctor's eyes hardened fiercely. "The female sailors are not Camp Women, Lady Lyons, and any further thoughts of such should be immediately, and shamefully, banished!"

She blushed, and bowed her head a little. "It was rude of me to even suggest, I apologize."

Henry whispered to me, confused. "What's a camp woman?"

"A camp woman is a woman who travels with an army or some very crude navies, -never her majesties navy,- and are kept there for their companionship. Most often, they are slaves, and as such, and even if they weren't, the practice is barbaric as well as prohibited by the British Law against Slavery." I answered easily, knowing he was a very smart lad; even at nine summers, he could quickly do most mathematical and trigonometric equations in his head, though he had trouble with his Latin, preferring Norse, his mother language.

His mother shifted slightly at the blunt explanation, but he gazed up at me with clear, innocent eyes. "So it is a bad thing, to have slaves?"

"Yes, very bad; in England and Scotland, it is illegal, meaning you may be put in irons for it." I nodded.

"Oh... do you suppose father will be put in irons, mum?" He blinked at his mother, his head tilted.

She shook her head slowly. "No, my dear. His slaves are not bought or sold, as the law commands. They are inheritance from his father, and their children are free."

Ben snorted darkly. "He should've released them all, as soon as abolition was proclaimed. Keeping them makes only a villain of him, and a-..." he halted, looking at the girls. "-... a very poor soul." He finished lamely, stabbing his food with perhaps more viciousness than it deserved.

"Oh..." Henry hummed, drooping.

"Now, how about you, Henry? How do you like the ship so far?" I changed the subject, and he brightened instantly.

"It's so very famous!!! The sails are so big I cannot see them all, and, and, and, and I can climb the rigging, but they make me tie a rope around my belt when I do, in case I fall, but no one else has to wear a rope, and that's fucked-"

"HENRY FITZ-ALAN!" His mother snapped.

He grumbled. "Well it is!"

She raised an eyebrow slowly.

"Sorry, mother." He muttered.

"Hmph. We will speak of this later." She frowned.

I smiled, remembering my own interactions with my mother at that age. "Ah, mothers; fearsome opponents, no? Fights Best avoided, I'd say."

Alex smiled. "And what of your mother, then, Reginald? I have not heard much of her; is she a nun?"

I cleared my throat, considering how to answer. "No... my mother was a Hunter, as my father and Benjamin are. She died when I was seven, ten years ago, on a Hunt."

Minna snapped her gaze up. "There are women in the Order? And they Fight?" She sounded scandalized, and I smirked, happy for the distraction.

"I'm sure no one sane would say women are not incredible warriors, when they like to be. And yes, women are about a third of our Order, though most of those are Scholars and Craftswomen, preferring to retain some of the dignity that fighting allows no one. It also allows them to carry and birth children in peace, or raise another's, and once they are well enough or the children are old enough, they return to hunting." I nodded.

"I don't understand? What do you Hunt that's so dangerous, as a Priest? Boars?" Charlotte asked, confused.

"We Hunt Demons, my dear. Someone must." I nodded.

Doctor Cole cleared his throat in the perfect silence. "Well, I must say that my dinner conversations have become rather morbid, lately; I would draw your attention to the map upon the wall, instead. We are next to arrive in Lisbon, and then around the coast to Gibraltar, and Alicante, Barcelona, Marseille, Nice, and then Rome, where we will be parting ways. It will be about a month more, from now. But, we will be arriving just in time for Christmas, so that will be quite nice, Hmm? Christmas in Rome."

Henry hummed. "Will we get our presents then? Uncle Ben promised."

Ben grinned happily. "I've gotten you all very nice presents, Yes! I will not spoil the surprise, of course. But you will like the cities we visit, and it is a nice release after being in the ship for weeks at a time."

Dinner was this finished, and Alex and I joined the adults for a glass of port, while Lady Minna sent her younger children to bed. -Normally, Cigars would also have been part of it, but the doctor refused to allow them, citing many medical studies He had done and witnessed that claimed the varied and devastating adverse health effects of inhaling smoke.

Alex did not hold her liquor very well at all, however, and after only a single glass, Adrian escorted her stumbling and drunken charge to her bed.

Ben gazed at me for a moment, before nodding. "I thank you for biting at my sister, for her statements earlier. I love her dearly, but she was raised to privilege, and a great many foolish ideas got lodged in her head along the way."

I nodded back. "You'll remember that I was also raised to privilege, Ben, and I fully understand, though my raising was also full of the Order; their ideas of propriety are a different kind of foolishness, but no less potent."

He chuckled, and emptied his glass, setting it down on the desk. "Well, I will have to be off to bed a bit early, we put in to Porto in the morning, I think."

I sighed. "Yes, I suppose I should be awake for that as well... I'll stay with the doctor for a moment, though, to speak of some matters."

He put his glass away and exited with a lazy wave to the doctor, who gazed at me over his glass calmly.

"I was not very polite, tonight." I commented, staring into mine.

"No, you were not." He shook his head.

"It just-! No... there is no excuse. A grudge against small-minded people is no reason to dispense with manners and decorum." I sighed.

"True." He hummed. "But, that is not to say that I do not agree with you, only that there are better ways of checking small-minded people."

I smiled a little, and emptied my glass, the small burn of the dangerously smooth alcohol no real issue for me, after my harrowing experiences with Harsh and Grog. "Well, I look forward to my lessons, Doctor... but for now I have a hammock to go fall into."

He chuckled and nodded a dismissal, and I walked out, stumbling a little when a rogue wave decided to bump us a bit, but then I paused when it became incessant.

I waved some smelling salts under my own nose, to clear the alcohol from my brain, and rushed out into the deck, staring up at the massive creature that was latching on to our sides. "FULL BROADSIDE, LEEWARD SIDE!!!" I shouted, and the bosun carried the command even louder, causing the cannons to speak after a brief moment of surprise.

I was deafened briefly by the sixty-four cannons, but then I gazed up in horror, as the creature was sneering at us, hissing sharply. The cannonballs had either barely dented its heavy, draconic scales, or deflected completely, though I didn't hear anyone screaming about breaches in the hull.

"Non-Holy Metal will do fuck-all against that hide!!!" I heard Gerald in the riggings, barking down at me, and nodded. I rang the bell to the left of me for General Quarters, needlessly, as the sailors had heard the cannons and come of their own volition.

Cleo appeared on my shoulder as I ran towards the beast's coils, wrapped around the ship tightly, and hissed savagely. "Begone, Sea-Wyrm!!! My crew is not prey!!!"

The creature reared back, turning an enormous sea-green eye towards her. "And what business, pray tell, does a Storm Giant have in my territory?"

Cleo puffed up slowly, lightning cracking in the sky above us. "I go where I please!!!"

"Indeed. And you pay the toll, now." The creature struck out, at one of the crew members, intent on eating them, it seemed.

I leapt forward, and stabbed the side of the creature's jaws with my bone dagger, as soon as it was within reach. It was fast, of course, but not faster than me.

It reared back again, roaring angrily, and I drew my pistol, firing all six holy rounds into its open jaws, aiming up at its brain. A spray of purple blood came from the wounds, and I hissed in pain as some of it hit my face, burning like hot oil. The pistol spent, and no way to reload it, I tucked it away securely and drew my sword, measuring as best I could whether it was long enough to reach its brain.

Holding on as it thrashed around was difficult, but I knew better than to let go, even if it went under water. There was no question as to what would happen now, if it could see me or get ahold of me.

The sword wasn't long enough, annoyingly, as it was only a hanger, not a longsword; I needed a different tactic. Recalling my lessons on serpent anatomy, I waited until it opened its jaws again, screeching defiantly, and plunged my sword into a pulsing artery under its tongue, where a good amount of its blood instantly exploded outward from.

The boiling blood nearly dissolved my formal coat sleeve, and burnt the skin under it as well, but stopped short of the treated leather coat; apparently it was boiling-blood resistant, which was good to know.

The screeching had long since driven me deaf, but I felt Cleo licking my ear, and then heard her in my head. 'Stab its eyes, to kill it. I will leave you it's head as trophy, but it is mine, now. An offering, the body of one who insulted me.'

"Yeah, I'll get right on that, thanks!!!" I growled sarcastically, and released the dagger.

It whipped its head towards me as I fell to the deck, and lunged, as I'd predicted. With my sword and hip, I levered against its nose, rolling over its teeth as it struck, and drove my sword into its eye; dissatisfied with the depth, I grabbed one of its horns for further purchase, and pushed the blade even further, so deeply that my arm, already abused by all the boiling blood, was submerged in the yellow orb as it lost all its light.

We crashed to the deck harshly, and I slowly pulled my arm out, standing up and pointing the sword at a hazy image I could barely see, of Ben standing aside with his sword and pistol. "Your turn to one-up me, Ben! Elder Sea Dragon beats Black Dog!" I chuckled, and sat down heavily on the skull, easily twenty feet long and half that wide.

He laughed incredulously at me, and nudged Minna and Alex, who were clutching the young girls to them to keep them from running out towards the beast. "See? Total Legend, just like I said."