Project Empress 032

[Chapter 7 continued] 
On their way back to the ‘Ruhig Blut’ Cara was troubled by the conversation with the regionaria. But she kept her thoughts to herself for now. Natalie was her master after all and knew what she was doing. Right?

Back on the ship she was quickly distracted first by the enthusiastic hugs of both Wolfgang and Erika when she came back on board who for some reason were still all hugs and barely repressed tears seeing Cara alive and mostly well. Cara wondered why they were still so overwhelmed by her continued survival. The danger had passed, she had survived and was now back, safe in a civilised city, surrounded by friends. Where they friends? She knew Natalie for about a week and the Hartmann Serafini’s for a bit more than a day… consciously at least. But then, when it was time to act, when Cara had been in danger, when taking care of her was a burden, they stood with her, despite it having been easier to just leave her to her own fate. She was especially surprised by the love and care that she received from the captains of the Ruhig Blut as they were traders. In church she had heard over and over again that traders were suspicious people, who while beneficial to the people of the world, always carried the seed of greed, the ultimate of all deadly sins in their hearts. After all it was greed and how it turned the human mind into that of a degenerate demon that had destroyed the old world and had fed the fires of the tyrant lords that came after the fall. And yet, the Hartmann Serafini’s had been nothing but kind and generous to her. The world was a strange place. Which brought her back to Natalie who had also been nothing but generous to her, who seemed to be the one that was closest to this most malicious of seeds… Of course what Cara was doing was very close to the other seed of destruction, the seed of doubt that once it took root in your soul would turn you against your kin, both by blood and by merit, opening the gates to ruin. Now that she was outside her city, those sermons she had heard all her life began to sound far more foreboding than in the past, when she had wondered why anyone would ever be so dumb as to fall for such obvious traps. 

As these thoughts began to slowly spiral out of control, Erika appeared in her cabin, all broad smiles and kind words, moving her out of the cabin on deck to help with loading the new cargo. The rest of the day went by quickly, in a series of sudden instances of hard work interrupted by phases of slightly less hard work. When they went through the cargo for a last time that evening to make sure that everything was actually what it pretended to be, was present in the right amount and secured to its place, it was something that felt almost relaxing. 

It was all dark by now, a cold breeze coming up carrying with it the smell of the port. Cara’s body felt exhausted and hungry but her mind felt clear. Her doubts from earlier that had not vanished but turned into something more productive. ‘While I don’t understand what master Natalie is doing, she has never done anything to make me doubt her as a person’, she thought. “And the seed of doubt”, she told the water flowing through the canal in front of her, “cannot survive in the light of day and the fresh air.” After a second she added, “in the metaphorical light of day.” She looked up at the night sky, daring it to contradict her. The night sky remained unimpressed, but Cara thought that some of the stars were twinkling at her in an encouraging way. She would do what was to her now the obvious thing to do. Talk to Natalie. A growling in her stomach made her add an ‘After dinner.’ 

When she went to the small dining room of the ship she discovered to her dismay that the adjoining caboose was dark, cold and empty. There was also no one in the dining room itself. When she turned around she almost walked into Erika, who had somehow appeared out of nowhere. 

“Cara!”, she said, clearly happy to see her. “Food will arrive shortly. When we load the ship, it’s tradition that Wolfgang goes into the city to get us a proper feast.” She grinned as she said this, clapping Cara’s shoulder a couple of times. Cara did her best not to crumple under the friendly hammer blows of encouragement. It was no wonder that Erika was able to control the dead gods below deck…

“I’m going to prepare the table”, Erika said, “could you do me a favour while I am doing that?”

“Of course.” Cara said. 

“There is a last piece of Cargo that we have to take care off”, Erika said.

Cara’s smile was almost flushed away, it took all of her willpower to keep it in place. “Yes?”, Cara said, imagining having to direct another container into the already filled cargo hold, checking what it carried and securing it in place. She wasn’t sure she could get any of those steps done on her own.

“Don’t worry, this is the kind of cargo that takes care of itself. You’ll find it on the pier next to the ship. Bring it to cabin C. That is the one next to yours. 

“OK.” Cara said.

“Hey little ingot, haven’t seen you in a while”, Elisa Klein Cunningham said when she saw Cara descend from the ship looking for the cargo she was supposed to take care of. 

“Er… Hello Elisa, I’m also glad to see you”, she paused for a moment to look at the ranger. Elisa looked like a professional carrier in her sensible rugged clothes, boots designed to go almost literally toe to toe with the most hostile of environments. She was now also wearing a wide brimmed hat, together with her now openly carried blade staff. The blade was covered in a luxurious velvet covering and the steel ‘star over anvil, with crossed hammer and sword’ emblem of the forge fortress. Cara was impressed at how official and serious Elisa looked; she was even more impressed that the forge walker did not look like she had been in a life or death fight in her entire live, less only a few days ago. 

“I’m also impressed by how… normal?…you look”, Cara said.

Elisa’s eyes narrowed very slightly one of her brows quivering a bit. “I look,” she said, ”normal?” The threat carried in her voice flew right over Cara’s head.

“Yes, I feel like I was almost murdered by a horde of elephants.”

“Armed elephants”, she added after short pause, “mostly with clubs and a few with sabres.”

Elisa’s one eyebrow stopped quivering while her other eyebrow rose to join the first. “Elephants…?”

“Yes and you look like you just wandered out of some high academy or temple of science…”

“Ah…”, Elisa said, starting to nod very slowly, her eyebrows slowly returning to their original position but ready to jump into action the instant they were needed again. 

“Well I had a couple of days of rest and while I do not often crush a pirate fleet,” she added a small smile looking at Cara directly, “with help from my friends, that is part of my job.”

“That’s soo cool”, Cara said, “but I can’t get distracted right now. I have a mission!”

“A mission?”, Elisa looked around, dropping the large duffle bag, her now free hand moving towards her sword staff’s cover.

“Yes I need to find and secure the last piece of cargo.”

Elisa relaxed, so much so that entire expression of her face fell, her eyes rolling slightly… “Cargo…?”

“Yes, Captain Erika told me that there was still one piece of cargo left.” After she had scanned the dock for another container and not found one she stepped around Elisa to look if maybe some very small container or package was hidden behind the ranger.

“Does this ship also carry passengers Cara?”, Elisa asked sighing, her eyes completing their roll.

“Yes”, Cara said, continuing her search for the mysterious last bit of cargo. 

Elisa pulled her hand back from her weapons cover making a fist with it, shaking it very slightly. “And was there something special about that Cargo?”

“Special?”, Cara paused putting her index finger against her lips. “Erika said that it is a kind of Cargo that mostly takes care of itself and I should bring it to cabin C. The one next to Natalie’s and my cabin.”

Elisa’s brows knew this was their moment for rising high again. Her fist relaxing into an open palm swung in a graceful arc, indicating that a great revelation was reached.

Cara looked at Elisa, following her gesture into the dark of the docks. Elisa’s eyebrows managed to raise a little bit further while her hand fell limp to her side. 

“Cara.”

“Yes.”

“It’s me…”

“I know who you are…”

Before Cara could continue and after stopping her free hand to dart for Cara’s neck, she said, “I am the cargo Cara. I’m a passenger too.”

“Oh…”, Cara said still looking into the dark. She suddenly stopped, turning towards Elisa again. “Oh! Oooooh…”

“Yes little ingot… oh indeed…”