“Now you raise your head, Arcus! Advantage, Barbaros.”
Now that the pirate had drawn attention to it, Arcus realized the oppressive tension hindering his movements had vanished. For whatever reason, any intimidation he had felt coming from Meifa had totally dissipated.
“But how?”
“Oh, I know.” Barbaros sounded a lot more jovial than Arcus felt. “Those in the north say my heart runs cleaner than the Cross Mountains. That’s gotta be it!”
“‘The north’ is not a single entity,” Meifa protested. “Only those who wish to deceive portray it as such.”
The king burst into hearty laughter, unfazed by her admonishment. “You’re makin’ me sound like a sneak!” He was too old and experienced to change his ways over a minor quibble like that.
“Are you interested in Arcus Raytheft as well?” the Iron Rose asked.
“You bet! He’s already helped me out a ton. Pretty sure you had a front-row seat at the time.”
“I’d almost forgotten you were there.”
“Good thing I reminded you, then!”
Barbaros had seen Arcus’s Ohr Ein Sof up close, after which he’d immediately asked the boy to join his crew. Apparently the passage of time hadn’t dampened his enthusiasm.
The captain took Arcus by the shoulders. “Let’s have a little chat, man to man. Y’know I’ve been pretty patient with you already, right?”
“I’m afraid I’m going to need to ask you to leave things there, Your Majesty,” Louise cut in.
Unsurprisingly, Barbaros merely smiled. “Ah, the Lady of the National Razor. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna eat him! Weren’t you enjoyin’ a chat with him yourself just now? Why can’t I do the same? What else are parties for, eh? C’mon, lemme talk to him, seein’ as I’m here anyway.”
“Your Majesty’s position as King of Granciel risks eliciting needless misunderstandings. And my position, as an adult, means I must protect our children.”
“I get that, but what’s so wrong about just talkin’ to him? He’s just some viscount’s son, right?” Barbaros tried another line of attack. As far as outsiders were supposed to be concerned, he was just a nameless noble child. The captain’s logic was hard to refute.
Louise was looking at the king as though she considered him even more troublesome than Meifa. Even then, Barbaros made no move to let go of Arcus. The longest lever in the world probably wouldn’t shift him. After Louise shot Arcus a glance that promised she would deal with it, she withdrew.
“I’ll be borrowin’ him now.”
“Hmph.” With that, Meifa left them alone too.
Just as Arcus was starting to feel relaxed, Barbaros leaned down to look him in the eye. “You’re quite the ladies’ man, huh? Those young girls I saw you with last time not doin’ it for you anymore?”
“I would hope I don’t need to explain why your assumptions are incorrect.”
“But the Lady of the National Razor and that black leopardess?”
“Well, I can’t deny their beauty, but...”
While Arcus was struggling to finish his sentence, Barbaros tipped back his bottle of soma wine. He certainly seemed to be enjoying it.
“I’m just here to entertain you while you drink, am I?” Arcus asked.
“Yup. A good drink needs somethin’ to spice it up. Though this stuff’s pretty good on its own. You make it?”
“How did you know?”
“Craib told me.”
“Then I suppose I don’t need to hide it...”
Presumably his uncle hadn’t thought there would be much to lose by revealing that information. In fact, he may have been looking to force a sale or use the wine in some sort of negotiation.
“How come you never told me you got such fine stuff?”
“How was I supposed to contact you? Speaking of, everyone’s been asking me that.”
“‘Everyone’ bein’ Shinlu and Craib, right? Sounds like them. And me.” Barbaros grinned.
“I wish someone would spare a thought for me...” Arcus muttered. Perhaps heavy drinkers were incapable of picturing the logistical challenges behind his ability to share that information.
“Anyway,” Barbaros finally said. “It’s been a while.”
“Indeed it has, Your Majesty.” Arcus bowed, drawing a firm line beneath their earlier small talk.
“C’mon, you don’t gotta be like that. We’re pals, right?”
“Your Majesty is the king of a major nation, and I am but a viscount’s son. It wouldn’t do to neglect the formalities.”
“You got a rod up your spine, kid. Though I guess that’s not a bad thing.” Barbaros patted Arcus’s tiny shoulder with a massive palm.
He couldn’t understand why the king of an enemy state had been invited this evening, but he supposed there was a lot he wasn’t privy to.
The way the boy’s body shook under his hand seemed to amuse Barbaros, who chuckled. “You get that treasure I sent you?”
Oh yeah...
Not long after the order ceremony, Barbaros had sent a great amount of gold and silver to Arcus’s home. It had been quite the ordeal, with one of the captain’s subordinates arriving outside the house and announcing himself in a loud voice. Arcus could only be grateful that his place wasn’t too close to any others. Who knew what sort of commotion or rumors would have taken root otherwise? Barbaros’s common sense was undoubtedly skewed.
“I am afraid to say that your actions inconvenienced me.”
“Oh yeah? I just wanted to celebrate your achievements. I mean, I heard you crushed the Black Panther Cavalry and showed up the lion.”
“It was His Royal Highness’s unparalleled power that dispatched the cavalry. I simply accompanied him at the time. My achievements are nil.”
Barbaros gave an interested hum. “I guess they’d be no match for Shinlu’s kid either. If that’s what you wanna claim, I’ll play along.”
“Play along?”
“I’ve seen the crazy magic you’re capable of for myself. As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing you can’t do.”
Arcus didn’t respond immediately. His destruction of the magic troops was common knowledge, but he hadn’t expected Barbaros to know about his encounter with the Black Panther Cavalry. Arcus could only assume he had quite the information network. Naturally, the cavalry’s defeat was mostly thanks to Ceylan’s work. Arcus would only attribute about a third of it to himself.
“It would have been more socially acceptable to give me some warning about that delivery beforehand,” Arcus said.
“My generosity wasn’t ‘socially acceptable’? There really wasn’t anythin’ else to it than me wantin’ to congratulate you.”
“Did Your Majesty not consider that it might have been better not to send me anything at all?”
Barbaros burst into laughter. “Now you’re overthinkin’ things!”
“Am I?”
“Listen, any guy who gets a taste of treasure never wants to let go of it.”
“Treasure?”
“Yep. It’s true.” The king gave a meaningful smirk.
Arcus put his mind to work trying to figure out what those words really meant. He couldn’t take them at face value; the fact that Barbaros had gifted some of his own treasure meant he was willing to let go of it. But if he wasn’t talking about himself, then whom? Arcus hadn’t the foggiest clue.
Just then, the seafarer crouched down so he and Arcus were at the same height. At least, that seemed to be the intention, but he was still several sizes bigger than the boy.
“So, about this aethometer,” the giant whispered into his ear.
Arcus flinched.
“It’s yours, right? I gotta say, it’s pretty nifty.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Barbaros laughed. “Don’t play dumb. I know I ain’t wrong on this.”
“I’m a child; I don’t have the ability to create such a device. I would expect it to be the work of a state magician.”
“That so, huh? How come you got an invite to this shindig, then?”
“Uncle believed it would be an edifying experience for me. A rare opportunity to witness history in the making.”
“I guess that makes sense. So, do you know who made it?”
“Not exactly. I do believe my uncle would be capable, however.”
“How come he’s not come out and said he made it then? Shouldn’t be anythin’ stoppin’ him.”
Indeed, if a state magician had created the aethometer, there would be no need to conceal his or her identity.
“It’s really obvious, if you think about it,” Barbaros went on.
“What is?”
“Lainur’s got better magicians than most places. That’s ’specially true on the individual level when these spellcasters rise up the ranks. But if they’re that talented, what would they need an aethometer for?”
“Sir?”
“Arcus. There ain’t many people crazy enough to invent somethin’ they’ve got no use for. But the aethometer’s perfect for a kid like you. What with your aether, you gotta save every drop you can in a fight, right?”
Arcus didn’t respond.
“So am I a genius or what? Maybe I oughta quit seafarin’ and become a detective.”
He was bang on. While the development of the aethometer had come about mostly by coincidence, Arcus had needed some way to measure aether. Without that necessity, he would never have put in the work to complete it, nor to send it out into the world.
Barbaros’s eyes took on a reminiscent shine. “Remember those guys you were chasing down? It’d make sense if you’re the inventor.”
“Wait, you heard what they were talking about?!”
“Probably better than you did. Gotta have good eyes and ears to take on the seas.”
“So you’ve known all this time?”
“Nah, I’m not that good. I just thought you were hidin’ somethin’. I was just connectin’ the dots every time some new info came out.” Barbaros gestured toward the aethometers. “This is gonna be massive for the magicians out there. I guess you got to Shinlu’s dream before mine. I guess the guy really does know you.”
“Dream?”
“What Lainur wants right now, more than anythin’, is to make itself rich and to beef up its armies. You’ve come up with somethin’ that’ll do both. I bet Shinlu’s over the moon.”