Chapter Fifty

 

The family was sweat-slicked and resting when they heard the bumps and thumps of the riverboat docking. Doc exhaled slowly, his post-orgasmic haze slowly fading. “Need to thank whoever was piloting that boat. We’ll need to put them and the other guy ashore before we leave Pacifica. Maybe we could ask the captain to go north to another harbor for it?”

 

“Hmm… yes, we should,” Ayla murmured, shivering when Sophia kissed up her side. “Thank you, love.”

 

“Of course. You do the same for me,” Sophia whispered, then kissed Ayla once more. “We’re the ones closest to the edge of the bed. That means we have to move first.”

 

“Four people on one of these is a challenge,” Lia snickered. “But where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

 

“Thank you all for the feast,” Rosa sighed happily. “I’m not full again, but I’m much better. Later tonight should see me refilled even more.”

 

“I should ask Damir how long the trip will be to the Pale River delta…” Doc turned to watch his wives as they got up.

 

Lia rolled with him, planting kisses on the back of his neck as she watched Ayla and Sophia get dressed, too. “Ayla?”

 

“Yes?” Ayla looked back at Doc and Lia with a smirk. “Did you want a slow show?”

 

“As delightful as that is, I just wanted to thank you.”

 

Ayla’s expression was confused for a second, not understanding the specific reason.

 

“I want to thank you for accepting me last year,” Lia clarified. “Remember your old fear?”

 

“That I’d be replaced… because why would he need a half-elf if he had you?” Ayla snorted. “I was just jealous and insecure. Goddess, it feels like so much longer ago than that… You helped me see differently the day after the wedding.”

 

“We all had those fears when we wanted to join the marriage,” Sophia said. “My dear banker helped show me that I could be brave enough to ask.” She leaned over, kissing the tip of Ayla’s ear, getting a gasp and shiver from her.

 

“I didn’t have those fears, but I had some of my own,” Lia murmured. “What if I was marginalized because I’m… different? Doc might not have been okay with my proclivities, and then he’d mostly leave me to myself to have the rest of you. What if you all got angry because I want to control the moments we’re together? None of those came to be, but then the older worries came. What if you are taken from me? I can’t stand to even think about losing a single one of our family.”

 

Doc rolled to his back, pulling Lia to his side and stroking her hair. “I know that fear, Lia. You’ve experienced it before, which makes it even more poignant for you. We’re all doing our best to never let that happen, even when it hurts us by taking us from our loved ones.”

 

Lia sniffled against his shoulder. “It aches to be separated, even if it is for their safety… But with the inquisitors clearly hunting you, and in force, it’s for the best.”

 

“Rosa, none of those men survived, did they?” Sophia asked softly.

 

“Most of them drowned,” Rosa replied. “Two of the inquisitors would have made it to the surface if not for the sharks in the harbor.”

 

“They came to kill us,” Ayla said gently as she turned to button Sophia’s dress. “Defending ourselves is always okay, sweetling.”

 

“I know… I console myself with that,” Sophia sighed.

 

“What about that rod?” Doc asked as he sat up with Lia, who’d calmed.

 

“All of their Darkness-touched items sank to the ocean floor. I made a few small crevasses to swallow them. This way, Mother can purify them in her own time.”

 

“Good…” Doc murmured. “Those things worry me. It feels like entropy given will. Even when it went through my immunity bubble, I could feel it trying to pull at me. Those weapons are something to fear. Luckily, they seem to have a limited range, or else they would’ve been using them from the pier.”

 

“If they had, I’d have borrowed Ayla’s rifle and gone back onto the deck,” Lia said.

 

Ayla and Sophia, now dressed, took seats on the other bed so Doc and Lia could get ready. Rosa stayed where she was, kneeling happily as she watched all of them. Sophia was still conflicted over the deaths, but mostly accepted them as necessary. Ayla was worried for Sophia, but a deep desire was starting to grow in her. Before this time next year, Rosa was sure Ayla would be carrying a child. 

 

Lia was worried about having to become Death Flower again, but was thrilled that they all understood what she needed when that happened. She would willingly embrace that part of her if it meant keeping Doc safe. 

 

Doc was concerned about the trip and what the church would do. He also worried for Fiala and Sonya, but was hopeful that Ayla and Sophia would ask him and join the other two in Furden when it was time to leave Pale River. The fact that his wives wanted children with him had lit a bright flame inside him to give them each as many children as they wanted. The only thing that dampened that was the fact that he couldn’t be there with them all already.

 

“Weed,” Doc chuckled, “get your dress on.”

 

“Yes, Voice,” Rosa beamed. “I’m glad to be back to my simple dresses again.”

 

“We’ve noticed,” Ayla smirked. “Always the first one naked and the last one dressed.”

 

“Only because Doc won’t just let me be naked,” Rosa pouted up at them.

 

“Get dressed,” Doc laughed.

 

~*~*~

 

Ludwig was about to knock on the door when Lia opened it. Her hand shot out and grabbed his arm, and she’d started to twist before she suddenly let go of it. “Sorry! Reflex,” Lia said tightly.

 

“It’s fine…” Ludwig winced.

 

Lia extended her hand. “Luck, please heal my mistake.”

 

Ludwig stared at the green glowing hand before taking it. The slight pain vanished a moment later. “Thank you. The captain requests your family on the quarterdeck.”

 

“We were just about to head out there,” Doc said. “Thank you.”

 

Making it up to the quarterdeck, Doc grinned, as he recognized one of the two people speaking to Damir. “Sal, I didn’t expect you,” Doc greeted the secretary for Floating Safely.

 

The half-elf turned to give Doc a bright smile. “When Jamie asked for people, I was the first one to speak up. Matthew Deirkes was the other.” He hooked a thumb at the big man standing a foot away.

 

Doc gave the man a smile, trying to place why he looked so odd. Then it clicked in: dark skin and white patches with his black eyes screamed orca bestial. “Thanks, Matthew.”

 

“Glad to help. If the church gives you problems, I’ll help,” Matthew said. He smiled, showing off teeth worthy of an orca. “Though from the way Mother watches over you, I’m not sure you’ll need me.”

 

“Matthew will help handle the boat, and if you’re okay with it, I’ll pilot it. Jamie knew we’d be signing on for the whole tour, if not longer.”

 

“Can’t say I’m not flattered, but are you sure?” Doc asked. “We’re talking about a year or more.”

 

“I’m good,” Matthew said.

 

“As am I, so you have a crew for your boat,” Sal added.

 

“That answers my question about if we needed to find a port for you two,” Damir nodded. “The riverboat is secure, and we’re ready to go. Are you ready, Voice?”

 

“Take us out, Captain.”

 

“Helm, set course!” Damir called up to the aftercastle.

 

“Da, captain.” The dwarf at the wheel grinned. “Glad the sea has settled.”

 

“Boatswain, call the crew to order!”

 

Alexi blew a whistle in a specific call, and the crew got to work.

 

“Will you have dinner with me tonight, Holydays?” Damir asked.

 

“We’d be glad to, Captain,” Doc said.

 

“Three hours and we should be good. By then, we’ll be well underway.”

 

“We’ll head below deck until later. Will it be okay for us to relax on the aftercastle in the evenings?”

 

“As long as you give Josef, Alexi, or myself room to pilot.”

 

“We will,” Doc said. “Sal, Matthew, would you accompany me to the galley? I’d like to hear about what happened to Floating Safely.”

 

“Be glad to,” Sal replied while Matthew nodded.

 

A minute later, they were seated off to the side in the galley, mugs of tea in hand. Sal told them the story of how the inquisitor had stormed into the drydock to find Doc. Jamie held firm even in the face of the inquisitor’s screaming, calmly explaining that he’d paid for a ship for cargo that would take months to build. When pressed, he admitted that Doc had stopped by to say goodbye on the day he’d left.

 

“More inquisitors showed up then, and they scoured the city,” Sal said. “It came out that you’d boarded a train up the coast, but they didn’t know where until a telegram came in. We shipped out the next morning. The inquisitors were scrambling, trying to order the train to come and get them, but the conductor was drunk and they had to wait until this morning. We’d have been here a day earlier, but the inquisitor stopped all work the day he came to the yard.”

 

“Everyone was safe, though? No troubles afterward?” Doc asked.

 

“No troubles that I know of. It should be fine unless they sent word about your ship being built. That’ll be Jamie’s area to wrangle. He’ll make it work, even if he has to ‘sell it’ to someone who would then get it to you.”

 

“Good man,” Lia smiled.

 

“He’s one of the best,” Matthew chimed in. “Takes most of us who find it hard to get work for good wages, not the shit others try to get us for.”

 

“The tribes are friendly with him, too, as you saw,” Sal said. “If worse comes to it, he’ll just close up shop and go make boats with them. Everyone at the yard would.”

 

Ayla watched Doc’s face, then snorted. “I’ll work on getting the land where the delta is. If we get the approval from the tribe there, it’ll be easy to set up a town right near the river. Add in a shipyard and Jamie would probably be happy to move if things get tough in Pacifica.”

 

“We can work on the paperwork during the trip,” Sophia said. “It’ll all have to wait until later, though.” Her eyes dipped to Rosa, who smiled brightly. She knew that Sophia was thinking of using her to talk to David— he could purchase the land and get the deal underway.

 

“I’m glad the inquisitors left you all alone. I was worried they’d burn the yard down,” Doc admitted.

 

“No. They were intent on cornering you,” Sal said. “But with all of them dead, it doesn’t matter.”

 

“Not all of them; just the ones who could reach us here in time,” Lia said darkly. “We’ll have more work ahead of us when we get to our destination.”

 

“About that,” Matthew coughed. “I know it’s Alyseka. You are prepared for the cold, right?”

 

“We’ll manage,” Doc said. “Our supplies have the clothing we’ll need.”

 

“We brought winter gear with us, just in case,” Sal said.

 

“Glad you did, or that’d be a problem,” Doc chuckled.

 

“We hoped you’d agree, so we planned ahead.”

 

The galley started to get more crew in as dinner was getting ready to be served.

 

“We’ll talk more later,” Doc said. “Thank both of you for doing this.”

 

“You gave me back my leg and hand,” Sal grinned. “I figure this’ll help me feel better about the cost.”

 

“My family has longed for anyone to step up and stop the discrimination,” Matthew said. “I’ll help for that alone. If you can manage anything, I’ll be proud to brag about having helped.”

 

The family said their goodbyes, retiring back to their cabin until it was time for dinner.