Midori sighed in exasperation. "I won't be gone long! I need more supplies. Not all of us can survive by catching rodents."
Ruisenor hissed at him. Until he had started traveling with her, Midori would have laughed himself sick if anyone had told him a snake could be petulant. If anyone ever laughed at him for saying it, he would punch them.
He rolled his eyes when she hissed again. "I really do need supplies. I will slip into town, purchase what I need, and be back to you in the morning, all right? It is not as though we can travel far in the dark, anyway. Not as cloudy as it has been. Unlike you, I need my eyes to see. Also, it does not help that you're black, and a black snake is remarkably hard to see in the dark."
She hissed again, rearing up to butt against his chest. Midori laughed and obediently petted her. "I promise I will be back at first light. Go do whatever giant snakes do when they take a break."
With a last soft hiss and rub against his chest, Ruisenor withdrew and slithered off into the dark of the forest. Midori waited until she was gone before he mounted his horse and rode toward the small town he could see. It looked big enough to have a half-way decent room to rent. He hoped it did.
The town was quiet as he entered, and he dismounted again to lead his horse through the streets, keeping it close. Midori ignored the looks people gave him, though he did smile at a couple of gawking children. So far inland, he doubted they saw many foreign visitors. It was saddening to him, always had been, that travel was such a rarity. He knew back in the old days, before the gods had been Lost, people had traveled much more frequently. Once, it would not have been so strange to see someone with green hair wandering around.
Though, if he were to walk around most of Kundou he would get far more stares: the disgraced captain of the Royal Navy had been quite the source of gossip for some time, especially since he had been so well known beforehand. Just thinking about those days made his stomach churn.
He was not happy to have more or less been thrown out because he did deserve it for failing Nankyokukai, but it had been a relief, too. It was hard to feel at home in his homeland when he was constantly reminded of the ways he had failed, the way nobody had stood by him when he fell.
At least in Piedre they only looked at him for his green hair.
Finding his way proved easy enough, and when he reached the large public square, picking out a tavern that offered rooms was just as easy. Someone came out to attend his horse, and Midori stepped inside the tavern itself. The warm dark was nice after being outside in the chill and hard sun, and it seemed to be a clean, respectable place.
He paid for a room and bath and ordered a meal while he waited for everything else to be ready. Leaving his bags for someone to take upstairs to his room, he walked into the dining room. He picked a table close to the fire, but not too close, and sat down with a long sigh.
It was definitely nice not to be outside, or sitting on the ground, or in a saddle. Storms, he would be glad for a proper night's rest before once more resuming Ruisenor's punishing pace.
The food when it came almost made him groan it smelled so good: red peppers stuffed with cheese, some sort of fish, no doubt from the small river he'd crossed earlier, and other things he did not recognize but which made him want to eat ten more helpings, and everything washed down with dark beer—a nice change from all the wine he'd been drinking since arriving.
When he was done, he made brief inquiries at the desk and then went out to purchase the new supplies. He was cheerfully haggling over the price of some nuts when he heard the sound of spurs.
They were an unusual sound, spurs. They rattled and jingled, in a way that nothing else quite did. They were also unique to the military of Piedre. Royal soldiers. Midori quietly drew up the hood of his cloak and went on haggling, eager to be ignored by the guards as they passed him by.
He nearly sighed in relief when they did. There was no reason to think they would recognize him, or care if they did, but he would not take any chances. Finishing his haggling, Midori purchased a small sack of nuts and tucked it away with the other foodstuffs he had purchased, and then followed several paces behind the guards for a short time.
There were only three of them, and from the stalls they paused at and the show they made of displaying their rings, they were resupplying themselves. But the bags handed over to the guppies walking with them were more than enough for three men.
If he had to guess, he would say it was enough for seven to eight men, which meant the others must have been either waiting outside of town so they could move quickly on, or they too had stopped in town to rest for the night.
He supposed they might not have been the guards sent to find Culebra, but he could see no reason that royal guards would travel so far otherwise. The guards assigned to the town would be able to address other issues, and something bad enough to require seven to eight additional royal guards would have been noticeable. The town was quiet, sleepy.
So likely they were hunting Culebra. What had drawn them in Midori's direction? If not for Ruisenor, he would have had no idea where to go. He had formed vague plans to head for the Azul, but more than likely he would have been in the more populated areas of the country still looking for clues.
Midori followed them as long as he dared, breathing an audible sigh of relief when they strode past the tavern where he was lodging and continued up the street to a more expensive looking place. Slipping back inside the tavern, he stopped at the counter to retrieve the key to his room and then went up the short flight of stairs.
There were only three rooms, and one had been let to someone else. His was all the way at the back, which suited him fine. Unlocking it, he stepped inside then closed and locked the door behind him. A pitcher of beer and a couple of fragrant smelling meat pies had been set on a small table by the single window in the room. His saddlebags had been left on his bed, and he laid all his little packets and sacks from the market with them.
There was a small washing tub in front of the fire, half-filled with water with two additional buckets beside it. Midori felt better just thinking about getting clean. He dug out his little cleaning kit before stripping off his clothes and setting them outside to be cleaned. Locking the door again, he fetched his kit and walked over to the tub.
A pity it was not a proper tub, but if it was he might have endeavored to stay in it forever. He opened his kit and picked out the soap, using it and a rough rag provided by the tavern to wash. When he was done, he did it all over again, removing every last speck of dirt and sweat and grime from his body. It would not take long before he was filthy again, but dragons take it, he would be clean for a few hours.
When he was done getting clean, he rinsed off and then pulled the razor and mirror from his kit and began to shave, then trimmed back some of his hair that was getting a little overlong in his eyes.
Clean and respectable again, he rinsed off with the last bucket of water and dried off with another, larger cloth. From his saddlebags he pulled out clean clothes and quickly pulled them on.
He settled on the bed and folded his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. What would happen if he did not find Culebra? Or found him too late? What was the purpose of all this kidnapping? Given the time of year, he dreaded learning the answer to that question.
He wished sorely that he had assistance because Ruisenor could only do so much as a snake. Someone native, someone he could trust to help, who was just as desperate to save Culebra, would have been useful.
Perhaps he was still just far too used to having a crew. On a ship, it was impossible to be alone. There were always people around, always someone to help, and everybody aboard understood what everyone else went through. He missed having that—people who understood without words.
When everything was over, what would happen to him? But that was an easy question to ignore when there was so much else to focus on—things far more important than his uncertain future.
Such as where was Culebra, how far away, and would he get there in time. The future would have to keep until present problems were resolved. Midori rolled onto his side and closed his eyes, willing his thoughts away so he could sleep. It was early yet, barely dark, but who knew when he would next get to sleep in a bed, and dawn was not nearly far enough away.
It was still dark when he jerked awake, and then the screams and shout registered. Downstairs. Midori rolled to the edge of the bed and sat up, swinging his legs over the side and bending down to fumble in the dark for his boots. Pulling them on and lacing them up, he snatched up his sword and hastily unlocked the door. Shoving the key into a pocket of his pants, he raced down the stairs and toward the sounds of fighting.
He stopped in the doorway to the dining hall, horrified. Four of the royal soldiers he'd seen in the market had destroyed the place, clearly in some sort of brawl. Tables and chairs were broken, lamps were shattered, food and drink were strewn and thrown about everywhere, and three servants cowed in various corners of the room.
Midori forced himself to get hold of his rage because a lost temper was a lost battle, but it was hard. "Hey, sharks!" he bellowed, slammed his sheathed sword down on a nearby table—one of the few left—as they turned toward him. "What in the Storms do you think you're doing?"
Definitely drunk, he noted with disgust. They reeked of it, and he'd seen men walk a straighter line on a storm-tossed ship.
"Well, well, look at that. It's a fish," one of the men said. He had only recognized them because he had followed three of them so carefully earlier. "You're out of water, merslut."
Midori ignored that. "You are royal soldiers, I saw you in uniform earlier today. Why are you down here behaving like sharks?"
One of the men laughed. "What is a shark?"
"A giant brute of a fish that will eat anything and cares for nothing," Midori said. "Why have you come here and caused all this damage? Where is the tavern master?" he asked one of the servants.
"They put him out," one of the two women said. "He told them to stop when they first started up, and they knocked him clean out. We took him to the back, and then all this. I don't think he's awake yet; they rounded him good." She said the words bitterly, but the soldiers preened all the same.
Midori place a hand on top of his still-sheathed sword. "Leave coin to pay for the damages you have caused and get out. Cause no one any further trouble tonight."
"I don't take orders from a merslut," the man closest to him said and lunged.
Hitting drunk people was so ridiculously easy that Midori almost felt ashamed whenever he had to do it. Not right then. He hit the man who came at him full force on the jaw, grabbed him, and slammed him into the wall, knocking him out cold.
Letting him go to fall to the ground, Midori whipped around just in time to catch the next one and shoved him back into the other two, sending them all to the floor where they looked like fish flopping in a net.
From there it was relatively easy to knock them all out. Looking to the servants cautiously creeping from their corners, angry all over again when he realized just how young they all were, Midori said, "One of you run down to that inn on the corner, the one with the crown on the signboard, and fetch whoever is in charge of these four. Someone else go wake up your master, and I'll start helping to get this mess squared away."
The girls curtsied, and the boy gave a hasty bow before he bolted out of the room to go down the street to the inn. Both of the girls then vanished, but one returned after a couple of minutes carrying all manner of cleaning supplies.
She flushed when he approached to help her. "Thank you for saving us, my lord. I don't know what we would have done if they had gone on much longer. Was afraid what they would decide to do next, you know? Soldiers like them , they're always trouble. Oh, no! You shouldn't clean, my lord. That's not—"
"It's fine," Midori said, smiling at her. "Cleaning a room is no harder than cleaning a ship, and I've done that more times than I can count." He winked and went to start gathering up all the pieces of broken furniture, piling them up near the fireplace for the owner to repurpose or throw out as he chose.
He had just started sweeping when the boy returned with two royal soldiers. "These are the men, then?" the taller of the two asked, sounding groggy and annoyed.
"Yes," Midori said and handed the broom off to the servant girl. Where were the other girl and the master? "They've caused quite a lot of damage, as you can see. I expect you'll make recompense? And learn to keep a better eye on your men."
"I'll thank you not to tell me what to do, fish," the man snapped.
Midori regarded him coldly, because really, enough was enough. "My name is not fish. I am Lord Midori Kawa, formerly Captain Midori of the Kundou Royal Navy and a guest of his royal Majesty King Pruebas, as well as a good friend to Prince Culebra. I suggest you adjust your tone."
The guard blanched. "What are you doing all the way out here, my lord?"
"Cleaning up your mess, apparently," Midori said in his lordliest tones. He hated it, but clearly nothing else was going to get the soldiers to do their duty.
He turned when he heard footsteps and saw the tavern owner had finally emerged. He looked ill and in pain. It was clear he had been beaten, rather than simply knocked out. Midori whipped back around to face the guards. "I suggest you make very generous recompense."
The soldier only grunted and gestured curtly to his companion to start dragging out their unconscious fellows even as he pulled out a purse of coins and dropped it at Midori's feet. Without another word, he helped drag the rest of the men out until they were at last all gone.
Midori relaxed and hoped that was the end of that. At least they had not seemed to really be aware of who he was, even though he had thrown everything important about him at them.
"Well, I'm glad that is over with," he said, and went back to work helping them clean.
By the time it was all done, the night sky was just beginning to fade. Midori bit back a groan, wishing he had been able to get more sleep. Ah, well. There would be time to sleep properly when the adventure was over. Hopefully, his reward would be to sleep curled around Culebra after they had fucked each other senseless, but he dared not get his hopes up about that.
He would be content just to save Culebra—from his kidnappers and his brother.
"Thank you for all you have done," the tavern keeper said, stopping him when Midori simply would have gone back up to the room. "If not for you, I am not certain this place would still be standing. Whenever you come here, you pay for nothing." He pressed three coins into Midori's hands, more than triple what he had paid for room and board.
Midori started to argue, but then just closed his mouth and nodded. "Thank you," he said. "I am only happy I was able to help. I am afraid I must be on my way, but I hope you are given no further trouble. Winds favor you."
"May you always gaze into friendly eyes," the man said and squeezed his shoulder.
Slipping away, Midori went upstairs. He scooped up the neat pile of clothes waiting outside his door then unlocked it and went inside. He set the clothes on the bed, stripped out of his current ones, and quickly pulled on the new ones. He sat down to put his boots back on. Not succumbing to the urge to fall back on the bed and sleep was the hardest thing he had ever resisted.
Pulling himself up, he packed his saddlebags, pulled on his cloak, threw the bags over his shoulder, and left the room. Downstairs, one of the servant girls waited with a large cloth bundle that clearly held food. "Thank you again, my lord."
"It is always an honor to help a pretty young lady," Midori said with a smile and chucked her chin before taking the bundle. "Farewell."
Outside, his horse was ready and waiting, and Midori rode out while the rest of the town still slept. He groaned, thinking of bed, but he would have to console himself with eventually being allowed to doze in front of a campfire. It was not a clean, warm bed, but it was better than not sleeping at all.
Ruisenor found him right where they had parted ways. "Hello, beautiful," Midori greeted, then yawned. Shaking himself, he asked, "Did you enjoy your evening? I wish you had been around for the fight I got tangled in. You would have been handy for teaching them fear and respect. Ah, well. Shall we continue our course, then?"
She hissed at him and then slithered off, moving with a speed that never failed to impress him.
They had been travelling for a few hours, and he had just finished the delightful meal given to him by the tavern when the sound of several horses came pounding up behind him. Midori stifled a sigh when eight royal guards rode up into the field where he had stopped to eat.
Dismounting, they surrounded him. Midori brushed off his hands and stood up. "Fair morning."
"You're the merslut that took up with his highness and got him captured," said the man who was definitely in charge of the group. Midori recognized him from the honor guard that had escorted him and the other Kundou delegates to Piedre. He had not liked the man aboard his ship. Of course he was the one put in charge of the men sent to murder a royal prince. "The merslut everyone says was tossed out of the navy because you lost your prince, too. Seem to be good at it."
Midori spread his hands. "I did not do it on purpose, and I am trying to find Prince Culebra. Better than you sharks, who are only out here to find Culebra and kill him."
The man's eyes sharpened for a moment before he carefully smoothed out his expression. "Where did you hear such a ridiculous story?"
"Me," one of the soldiers said softly, and while the others all rounded on him, Midori struck, drawing his sword and immediately stabbing the one in charge. Jerking his sword free, he went for the next while his unexpected ally turned completely on his fellows.
Still, two against six—five by that point—was not easy.
Then a long, dark shadow joined the fight, and faster than Midori could reclaim his sword from his most recent victim, Ruisenor had the last two dead. Midori stared in wonder at the way their blood turned black, some sort of strange side effect of her venom. "Thank you, beauty," he said and petted her.
"I can't believe we ran into you," the remaining soldier said. "You must have been sent by Maria and Felipe."
Midori nodded. "I wanted to save Culebra anyway, but they did tell me of this group. I had thought I was still behind them, given they had so much of a head start."
"Drinking slows them down," the man said bitterly. "I am sorry about the havoc they caused at the tavern where you were staying. I will make further amends today since I will be stuck here while awaiting further soldiers." He smiled crookedly. "I'll delay everything as best I can, just find his highness."
"I will," Midori said. "Thank you. I am happy to know that Prince Culebra has real support when it seemed at first that he had so little."
The man shrugged. "He has more support than he realizes. His Majesty does a good job of keeping all the different groups divided. I think if ever given a chance, the country would unite more than people realize."
"Good to know," Midori murmured. "Farewell to you. Winds favor you."
"Friendly eyes," the man replied. "Farewell, Lord Midori."
Midori lifted a hand in farewell, then mounted his horse and rode off, Ruisenor already slithering impatiently onward in the distance.