"The captain said you wanted to see me."

Virgil jumped at the voice. He stood up out of his chair and turned to look at Logan.

He was stood, immobile, in Virgil's doorway. He wasn't looking anywhere or assessing anything as Virgil might've guessed someone might. No, he was just... stood.

"I'm the captain," Virgil muttered. Logan didn't seem to have heard him. Virgil sighed and waved Logan over.

Logan crossed the room and his arms didn't move as he walked. It was unnerving. He stood next to Virgil and placed his hands behind his back. Virgil cleared his throat awkwardly and looked down at the map he was holding. He folded it over hastily and hid it under the cloth covering his desk.

"I can't read maps," Logan said bluntly. "You needn't worry about hiding it from me, its meaning is lost."

"Great to know," Virgil said automatically. "How long would it take us to sail down to Gyria's Southern coast?"

"Is the wind with us?" Logan asked. Virgil shrugged.

"It is for now, so I want to get going as soon as we can, how long will it take?"

"Two weeks," Logan said. Virgil blinked in surprise. He sounded very sure. "If the wind changes against us, it will add two more weeks onto our journey. I suggest you get Janus behind the wheel as soon as possible."

Virgil had never told him that.

"How did you-?"

"One hears things," Logan said, brushing the question away. "Is that all?" Virgil didn't reply, he was still trying to work out how Logan knew. Logan took his silence as an answer. "Then I shall retire." He turned and moved towards the door.

At the door, Logan stopped abruptly. He turned back to Virgil. "Your friend - Patton - he says we'll be sharing quarters. Is he correct?"

Virgil blinked. Why Logan had suddenly brought that up... Nevermind.

"Yes," he said. "We don't have enough room, otherwise. That's not a problem, is it?"

Logan looked at Virgil in silence for a few seconds. "That wouldn't change the arrangements, would it?"

"No," Virgil said with a ghost of a smile. "Just increase my enjoyment, that's all."

Logan's face fell into what could almost be described as an angry expression. He had a better poker face than Virgil, good Lord.

"No," he said coldly. "It's no problem at all."

Virgil checked his watch as the last beam of sunlight left the sky. It let out 7 tinny chimes and he closed it.

"Change over!" He called. He tapped Janus on the shoulder. Janus jumped. "Go wake the Dead Ones."

Janus had been squeezing the wheel until his knuckles had turned white all day. Virgil could guess what it was about. Sending him for a short walk before he went to his room would be the perfect way to get him to clear his head and keep Roman out of his way.

"I-"

"You're not staying up here," Virgil interrupted. "Roman's on night shift." Janus' face fell darkly at the mere mention of the Prince's name. "I'm not having a man overboard the moment we're out of port."

"He's not even a man," Janus muttered to himself. Virgil pretended not to hear and poked one of his hands that was still locked onto the wheel.

"Go on. Then you can go to Remus." Virgil hesitated. "Check on him." He didn't take it further. He didn't need to show any sign of weakness, especially not to Janus.

Janus seemed to understand some part of it, though, because he let go of the wheel with a sigh. "Alright." He blew a breath up through his fringe. "Alright."

And he was off. Virgil watched him go before yelling for someone to take the wheel.

Virgil hopped down the stairs two at a time and jumped down to the lower decks with a crash that was probably loud enough to wake old Sea Gods. At the very least, it should shake some of the Dead Ones awake.

Virgil made a mental note to change the Dead Ones over soon. No one wanted to be stuck on night shift forever.

He shoved his hands deep into his coat pockets as he walked along the corridor to his quarters. He remembered the look on Roman's face when he'd confined him to the Captain's Quarters with the order to not touch anything on pain of death. And, believe him, Virgil would know if anything had been moved.

Maybe that's what made him let his guard down. The small smile on his face as he kicked his door open. The lack of a defensive stance as he walked into his room and shut his door behind him with his leg.

Whatever it was, he got caught. Because the moment the door was shut, there was a hand at his throat.

A hand holding a knife.

Ooooh, cliffhanger~
I don't know if anyone cares anymore and I had no ideas for this chapter so... have fun
Bye,
Blaize