Post by Zen on Sept 16, 2021 13:58:50 GMT -5
After Win My Vote
The pounding in her head and her dry mouth woke her midday and Nalyra groaned and turned in her bed, burying her face in her pillow. The pounding would not relent, however, and she was so thirsty she thought she might be able to drink the whole sharding lake. The after effects of too much alcohol always had her wondering how her brother did it every day… or near enough to every day. It was a miserable feeling. And thinking of him now only brought back the anger she’d felt for him last night, reminded her that he was due a confrontation.
She sat up slowly, rubbing at her head, and other pains throbbed in various places about her body. Another reminder of last night, the feeling like Asirikai’s hands were still on her both tantalizing and irritating. What a way to wake up. She growled to herself, slipping her feet to the floor and standing carefully, hissing softly at the rush of pain in her head. She had had far more drink than was normal for her, but it had been necessary to drown her rage, with no other outlet so late into the night… or early in the morning, depending on how one wanted to look at it.
She glanced down at herself, finding that she wore nothing but his shirt, and growled again, fighting her way out of it suddenly as though it had begun to burn. She threw the shirt away from her and curiously eyed her own skin and the bruising that had formed overnight, her fingers brushing lightly over a few of them. He had certainly left his mark. There was some satisfaction in what she had managed to drive him to and a small smirk settled on her lips as she set about finding herself a proper outfit for the day, wondering if he would have actually preferred to have been kind and gentle. It would not be lovemaking, he had warned her, and she let out a soft laugh at the memory. There was no love in her bed, and Asirikai might have made her his last night but she had made his bed her own. He had managed to subdue her, but she was not without her own small victories. The marks he had left on her flesh were a testament to that, even as they served as a reminder of her own submission.
Drinking greedily from her waterskin, she made her way out onto the deck of her ship, gaze narrowing at the brighter light that met her, setting off another round of pounding in her head. Shells, why did everything have to be so bright and loud? She let out another low growl to herself as she strode off the ship and down to the docks, taking another long drink of water, beginning to clear the feeling of dust from her mouth. She headed right for Treyjen’s ship, her irritation growing with all the echoed noise in the harbor cave, even though most of the men and boats were gone fishing for the day. She stalked to his door, and a man on the deck called to her, “Captain’s asleep, Nalyra!” She threw a glare back at him for yelling, and for the fact that she didn’t give a flying wherryshit. She was about to just fling the door open when he called again, a warning, “Pretty sure Pearl’s in there!”
She stopped, gritting her teeth at the thought of that stupid lizard. With another growl, she banged on the door instead, keeping it safely shut so that little golden menace wouldn’t come screeching at her face, “Treyjen! Send that beast away so I can come in or I’ll stand out here banging on your sharding door all day if I have to!” The banging was hurting her own head, but she didn’t care, gritting her teeth and continuing to pummel his door until she had his attention.
After a short time her fist met air as the door swung open to Treyjen rubbing his hand over his face as he looked down at her, “What in the blazes do you want?” Clearly he had a hangover as well from the way he looked, but that wasn’t anything new. She pushed past him and he groaned as he shut the door behind him, “What are you throwing a fit about now?”
She whirled back around and shoved him, catching him off guard, and he stumbled, his back hitting the door. She was right there in front of him as if he couldn’t just throw her over his shoulder and toss her off his ship at any time if he wanted to, acting like she had him cornered, “You told him!” she hissed, and confusion flitted over Treyjen’s features, “You told him what we are! You told him about us, about me, and you didn’t even ask… didn’t tell me! What were you thinking?”
Treyjen’s hand waved as if trying to catch the meaning in her questions, “Wait… who? Who did I tell what?”
“Asirikai!” she snarled, shoving him again, “You should have told me! Why did you tell him? You told him about father.”
He rubbed his hand over his face again, trying to take in all her accusatory words and process why she was so angry. He had been up late and he had had quite a lot to drink, his brain was hardly functioning at its best. “Asirikai? Shells, Nalyra… what did you do?” he groaned again, looking at her through one eye, the other still covered by his hand.
“As if you really want to know,” she spat back, and he grimaced at the thought, “Answer me.”
“Can’t this wait-”
“NO! You had plenty of chances to tell me what happened between you two and I’m not letting you slip off somewhere to continue keeping me in the dark. You brought me into it. I deserve to know. Why did you tell him!”
“He won the truth!” Treyjen growled. He hadn’t been entirely happy having to answer that particular question, and he had given Asirikai only the bare minimum required to keep his word and answer truthfully.
Won? He won it. Nalyra’s bright amber gaze narrowed up at him. So Asirikai had won her brother’s game as well? Shells. Treyjen was often an idiot, he was still a man, after all, but he was smarter than most. Just what game had he played with the Lord hopeful? “You should have told me,” she growled again, turning from him and making a frustrated noise in the back of her throat. If she had known Asirikai had managed to beat Treyjen at something she might have been more wary… maybe. “How?” She looked back at her brother, “What game did he win, exactly?”
Treyjen’s gaze shifted away from her, which told her immediately she wasn’t going to like the answer. “Two games… of a sort…,” he started, sounding cautious, and sighed, “I underestimated him… he has a better constitution than I had imagined.”
“A drinking game,” she stated flatly.
“Aye… I told him if he kept up with me, drink for drink… I’d support his bid for Lord Holder.”
“You what? How could you just gamble that away!? Had you even spoken to any of the others yet? What-”
“He’d already given me the most important answer I needed. It was a calculated risk that had little downside,” Treyjen cut her off before she could accuse him of being more reckless than he had been.
“Oh, was it? What the shell was the point of that? Some idiotic cock measuring contest?”
“As I said… I wasn’t expecting him to keep up so well,” he ran his hand through his hair, “I underestimated him. I expected I’d win easily and have some fun with him while I was at it.”
She snorted and glanced away from him, “You and me both, it seems.”
His eyes narrowed at her as he tried to discern her meaning, “... What?”
“You said he won two games,” she continued rather than answer, her irritation plain, “What else did you do.”
“Mm…,” he eyed his sister suspiciously, “Well… I won our second game, in truth.” He folded his arms over his chest as he looked at her, “But he did win some truths from me. We played several rounds of dragon poker… betting questions with truthful answers.”
“And you actually told him the truth? Shells, Treyjen, why didn’t you just lie? It’s not like he’d have known. Wasn’t he drinking? What sort of pirate are you, honestly? You could have passed off anything-”
“If he’s going to be Lord of Mavros, Nalyra, I want him on our side, and I want his trust, which will be difficult to build-”
“Only because you told him we’re pirates!” she snapped.
He sighed, “Don’t you think he would have found out on his own? If he had asked me and I had lied, and he had found the truth later, I very well could have lost all possibility of his trust. You are far too short sighted, little sister. The actions we take today have consequences far into the future that need to be considered.”
It was like a slap to the face, the reminder of what she had nearly done in her short sightedness, and she took a step back out of reflex as if Treyjen really had reached out to strike at her. She shook her head lightly, groaned at the pain it caused, and rubbed at her forehead, “I… I know that!”
“Do you?” It was his turn to sound accusatory and she looked up at him stubbornly at his tone, “How do you know what I told him? What did you do, Nalyra? … You didn’t break him, did you?”
She gave a sharp, cold bark of laughter, “I don’t think he can be broken.”
Treyjen’s brows drew together in confusion, “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Oh? Did you really want all the details, big brother?” she asked in a very obviously false innocent tone. He grimaced again and she laughed, “Yeah, I didn’t think so. All you need to know is he managed to convince me you’re right in supporting him, even if you went about it in by far the most moronic way possible. You should have told me.”
He sighed again and relented, “Aye… I should have. I’m sorry.” His tone was genuine, even as he continued to eye her suspiciously, “Whatever it was you did… it isn’t going to come back to bite us in the ass, is it?”
She stared up at him for a long moment, but finally looked away, slightly uncertain, “I… don’t think so.”
“You don’t think so? Nalyra-”
“He said he was satisfied! What more do you want from me?” she snapped back. She could only hope her submission had been enough to mollify him, that her actions didn’t have any lasting damage.
“Shells, Nalyra… he can give this crew something normal again, do you understand that? Do you care?”
“Of course I do!” she threw her hands up, “No one owes them more than I do!” Her hands slid up her arms to hug herself in a rare moment of vulnerability, and she closed her eyes, her voice soft, “If it wasn’t for me… none of you would have to live like this.” None of them would have died. It was all on her.
“Nalyra…,” Treyjen reached out, and she knew was going to try to embrace her, so she pulled away. She didn’t need his comfort.
She raised her chin, her arms dropping back to her sides, “Asirikai will win.” Between them, surely they could see to it. Treyjen was good with people, good at negotiating, convincing. And her? Treyjen had said it best. She was quite good at sowing strife, and sow it she would for any man that would try to claim what belonged to Asirikai.
She strode past her brother and he let her go, in a turmoil over their encounter, but grateful to finally be able to get back to his bed and be left in peace. Perhaps he would continue this conversation with her later, but right now he neither had the energy nor the desire. He sincerely hoped she was right and whatever she had done would not negatively affect them in the future. Returning to his bed after she had left, Treyjen lay there for a long moment. He said he was satisfied. He groaned in disgust and pulled his pillow over his face as if he could hide from the images his sister’s words conjured, sure he was going to have nightmares.
