The bar was loud and hot. The smell of unwashed flesh choked the air. Butcher walked ahead of Kraken to a table in the front corner. Kraken took the chair next to the window, though the wall would have suited him better.
Kor stood watch.
“Come, now,” Butcher said. “All of us can sit and -“
”Mind your manners, sonny,” Kor said. “I do as I please.”
Butcher shrugged.
Drinks were brought.
The ruckus of the crowded bar couldn’t hide the tingle of power that probed Kraken. He said nothing, while he looked the other over. Butcher was young. He had a stern, hungry demeanor. Kraken knew he looked at a version of himself. Which he wasn’t sure yet.
Butcher slammed his tankard after a long drink. Not a drop was wasted. “Ahhh! Now, that’s the good stuff! Tell me about the foreigner on your ship. The one you’re fucking.”
Kraken smiled. “Tell me why I should.”
“I watched her defeat a full ship of wielders. Still not sure what I missed, but . . . there one second, gone the next.” Butchers fingers danced through the air in front of his face. “The crazy thing is, not one of my wielders could feel her power. Not a bit of it. We can feel you – nice reserve by the way – and we can feel the other guy. Your first? But not a wit of the woman.”
“Go on.”
“We think you may have more than you’re bargaining on in that one. My head Sorc says these foreigners, the Al’Ri, are at war with each other. She looks like one of them. She could pull you into a mess of hurt if she is.”
“And your magnanimous nature prompts you to warn me of this possible doom.”
Butcher laughed, a loud barking kind of sound. “Hell, no! I want to know what you did so I can get one for myself.”
Kor snorted and continued to pick Butchers crew out from the crowd. He played with the hilt of his dagger.
“I think what my quartermaster is saying is on Haven we are all free people. There are no slaves. We do not keep prisoners. We tolerate no subjugation. I did nothing.”
Butcher nodded, his eyes closed. “I heard as much. There is a lot of talk about the Haven and her tiny crew. About the Kraken Pirates. What do you think I should do?”
“About?”
“The bounty put out by the foreigners? The one on you and your crew. Dead. They only want the woman alive.”
Kraken leaned back in his chair. “Cause and effect.”
“Cause and effect?”
“Yes. Here is the one thing everyone should know about me. I don’t like to kill. I do. It isn’t hard, and I sleep fine. I don’t though, unless I have to. Leave me and mine alone, we leave you alone. Try in anyway to harm any of us? You get the idea.”
Butcher looked into his tankard. He took another long drink, then set the empty cup on the table. “I think we can take you,” he said in a whisper.
Kraken shrugged. “How many of yours are you willing to spend to find out? A free man who understands what it is to not be free is worth ten warriors in any battle.” Kraken leaned in. “Have you known the lack of freedom?”
Butcher leaned forward, and stared into Kraken’s eyes. Long moments passed. Finally, he relaxed back. “Your woman isn’t here.”
“So?”
The bar had gotten quiet. Every face was turned to the corner. Kor cleaned his nails with his dagger. Butcher’s crew waited for a signal from their Captain unaware that Kor had already planned his killing path.
Butcher shook his head. “Vermit! Come here.”
A small man with stringy gray hair bobbed over. “Aye, Captain.”
“If someone were to try to enslave you again, what would you do?”
“Everything I could to stop them.”
Butcher nodded. “Don’t ever say I don’t listen,” he said to the old man. “I’ve never been a slave. Some of mine have been. Cause and effect you say. Fine, we’ll give you no cause.”
Butcher waved for another drink, and the bar became noisy again.
Vermit took up a post behind Butcher, and eyed Kor.
Kraken felt the tendrils of power leave him. He stayed alert, though he believed Butcher’s word. Kraken’s instincts had never been wrong about another man. He also knew that this was far from settled.
“So,” Butcher said after a drink from his second cup, “tell me about the woman.”
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