The room smelled faintly of roses, a result of the now empty bathtub that still held wet single petals in it's base. The bathroom door stood ajar, a trail of clothing emerging from it and snaking it's way towards the large bed that acted as the room's centerpiece. A canopy affair, the bed was draped in soft linens and fabrics that caught the moonlight and filtered it into an almost mist-like appearance. Basking in the blue light, the two lovers sat against a fortress of pillows, still intertwined.

Kathy giggled and pointed to Gabriel's naked chest. The Ventrue looked down and returned the chuckle, only now noticing that in his passion he had completely neglected to heal Kathy's bite marks. The tiny puncture wounds that had brought him so much rapture sealed in upon themselves until the smooth curviture of his skin was in tact once more.

Pulling her closer, he turned his attention to the scene that lay outside his window. Framed marvelously by a procession of stars and celestial bodies, backdropped against a night sky as intense as he could recall the lay the sole port of the village. Old fashioned rickety wooden structures peeked out from a forest of masts. The white-washed poles of boats dotted the seascape like tiny blades of grass.

But Gabriel and Kathy watched quietly as the final fishing boat, the others having returned long ago, pulled into port.

Kathy watched him as he lay sleeping, his head nestled against her breasts and his arm wrapped loosely around her slender waist, his pale skin a stark contrast to her st. tropez tan that made her fel almost human.

Kathy sighed softly as she ran her fingers through his hair, he gave her everything she wanted so why couldn't she tell him about Nerov and ask for his help, she knew she was getting in too deep and it was bound to cause trouble in the end. She shifted her postion slightly and Gabriel murmured her name and tightened his grip around her.
[i:9bdc19c002]" shhh baby...go back to sleep"[/i:9bdc19c002] she said softly as she leaned against the soft feather pillows and looked out of the window remembering the conversation she had had with Nerov earlier that night.

He had not been pleased that the money she had transferred to his account had not materialised and it had taken a lot of persuasion on her behalf to stop him contacting Gabriel and making more of their relationship that was actually there.

Connor had said she would not be able to commit herself to one person when she had told him about Gabriel and she had thought that it would be a short term thing , but now things where different and she grew increasingly angry with herself for allowing obstacles to get in the way of their relationship. She was finding sleep very hard, the nightmares that plagued her dreams meant that she no longer willing went to sleep, makeup was a beautiful thing though, it concealed the dark rings that had begun to form around her eyes and the ever increasing thirst she had for blood to keep her going.

A leaflet lay on the bedside cabinet and she idly picked it up and flicked through it, until something familar caught her attention, making her perfectly formed eyebrows raise in surprise.

Laptop....where was her laptop....biting her lip she moved his arm carefully and slid a pillow in her place, not that her taut lithe body was any comparision to a pillow she mused but it would do, he was in a deep sleep and wouldn't notice she had moved.
The internet was a beautiful thing, her fingers moved rapidly over the keys as she sought the information she needed. Connor's accusation that gabriel was not whom he seemed to be had been praying heavily on her mind and although she loved him with her whole being she just had to know, and maybe this would be the key to the answer she sought.

Gabriel moved in his sleep and Kathy pulled the silk sheet back over him, she didn't need distractions right now and the overwhelming desire that she felt for him would have to wait, she would have to appease him later no doubt, that was if he woke up and caught her on the laptop and not snuggled into his arms.

Kathy brushed a tendril of her hair away from her face as she watched the screen, the glow from it giving her face a faint green tinge, but nothing could mask the look of delight on her face.It was as she thought and although the search engine only gave very brief details just one name had confirmed her suspicions.
Knossos the home of legends, shrouded in mystery and of deities from ages ago, but perhaps the one thing that stuck in most people's recollection's was the minotaur, the bull god, the one to be feared or indeed pitied if the stories were true to how he came about. Although he interested her greatly is was not him that drew her to the small near uninhabited island, but another by the name of Erianthe.

Gabriel's finger's gently brushed against her lower back as if he was reaching out for her and she turned to look at him and smiled warmly at the still sleeping figure lain prone in the bed, the love she felt for him knew no bounds and she only wished she could truly let herself become one with him, but something stopped her all the time, maybe it was the independence in her, but then what would she be giving up, all apart from her stubborness if she gave herself to him for eternity.

Kathy checked her emails and was just breaking the internet connection as she felt arms wrap around her from behind.

[i:5a91747328]" Uhuh....what you doing kay.....kay?"[/i:5a91747328] His voice was laden with sleep but still there was the questioning tone within it as if....as if he didn't trust her.

Flipping the laptop lid shut and resting it on the cabinet she wriggled in his arms until she was facing him and kissed him deeply, moaning softly as he returned it with such passion that it made her gasp.
[i:5a91747328]" Baby Ive got something to tell ..."[/i:5a91747328] she started to say as she broke the kiss.

Gabriel silenced her words with another kiss and pulled her on top of him, his hands travelling her breasts as he pushed up into her.

[i:5a91747328]" later baby ....later ...no more talk...just this"[/i:5a91747328]

[i:5a91747328]" gabe...no now.....oh god.....mmmmmmm....look I really have to...ohhhhhhhhhhh...talk to you ..."[/i:5a91747328]

Gabriel's eyes flashed, not with anger, but with sheer wild animalstic needs and she knew it was no good arguing and gave herself to him freely and with wild abandon and a passion that burned deep inside of each of them.

The darkness that shrouded the room was no comfort to her whatsoever, it stifled her, the candle smoke laden air seemed to form thin tendrils that gently caressed her thin lips then forced her mouth open and slipped down her throat making her wretch violently.
[i:2ae1186d66]" You still hide in the shadows Miss belvadere? How childish,perhaps you are afraid of stepping into the light, perhaps then you will be seen for what you are"[/i:2ae1186d66]

Steadying herself against the damp moss ridden wall she looked around the room frantically for the source of the voice. Kathy pulled the cloak she wore tightly around her figure as she furtively began to step into the centre of the room.
[i:2ae1186d66]" Pray....tell me what is it you seek Toreador, more social graces perhaps....ah I know, a wider circle of influential friends maybe.....or is there something else that you desire....[/i:2ae1186d66]

The voice trailed off and she looked around in confusion, the room appeared empty, yet it felt like there was a million eyes watching her, waiting for her to make the wrong move.

Kathy shut her eyes tight...it's a dream ....just a dream, she told herself as she heard shuffling noises around her. Never had she dreamed so vividly before Nerov came along and it was if he had the power to punish her through her dreams for her shortfalls.

A vile stench drifted on the already acrid smelling air and her fingers felt for the short dagger that she somehow knew would be concealed in the lining of the cloak. Kathy bit her lip as she slept trying to wake herself up, not wanting to know what was going to happen next.

Her hands clenched and unclenched the now saturated sheets that wrapped around her body and Gabriel stirred in his sleep and reached for her, only to find her body bathed in blood sweat.
[i:2ae1186d66]"kay?[/i:2ae1186d66]

He watched as she bit her lip hard and the thin stream of blood ran down her cheek to form a crimson stain on the white pillow.A worried look spread across his face as he watched her face...she was dreaming ....but what the hell was making her bite her lip like that, she had been known to do it while they had both been at fever pitch, but he could tell this was no erotic dream, her body was taut and the muscles on her face were rigid.

[i:2ae1186d66]" Kay ...come on sweetheart wake up"[/i:2ae1186d66]

A Hand touched her shoulder and she turned around and raised the dagger pausing only for a second before she plunged it into.....nothing ...thin air ...nothing there, but she felt resistance to the blade and plunged it down nonetheless.

In the late 1890's, fencing had made something of a resurrgence in the South, at least among the social elite. A much younger Gabriel had become enraptured with the sport, in spite of his lack of potency and natural skill. His crude swordplay became something of an obsession, and sparring partners were dispatched on a nightly basis by the over-enthusiastic mogul.

Whether it was the danger the art entailed, or simply immortals refusing to embrace the future, swords retained their popularity amongst Cainites, even in modern nights. And so Gabriel found he had well over a century to hone every thrust, parry, and side swipe he had ever come across. It became to him as natural as breathing had once been.

But he still couldn't anticipate the butterknife jab of a sleeping Toreador...

As the dulled kitchen utensil that had only hours before buttered their scones sat protruding from his chest, oddly enough these were the thoughts that fluttered through his mind. The realization that his beloved had rammed a dull blade into his person came only moments later. The bedazzled look in her eyes indicated that she was as equally surprised as he was.

[i:b03f55d459]"Oh my God!"[/i:b03f55d459] she cried. Sticky black blood seeped from the cut, unpressurized from a lack of a beating heart. A pregnant silence passed as Gabriel wrenched the blade from his chest, setting it upon the night stand. He concentrated for a moment and the incision sealed itself neat as could be.

He looked at her, rogue bits of hair plastered to her forehead by sweat. The natural kind oddly enough.

[i:b03f55d459]"Nightmare love?"[/i:b03f55d459]

Kathy simply nodded as she glanced at where the wound had been and then looked away, her eyes aghast at what she had done.

[i:d1907f004e]" Want to talk about it?"[/i:d1907f004e]

Kathy sat up against the soft feather pillows and pulled her knees up,wrapping her arms around them she interlocked her fingers, all the time her stare not leaving the large candle that flickered in the breeze that they had lit and stood on a marble plinth just a short time ago.
As he waited for an answer he noticed that she was rocking ever so slightly as if to comfort herself and her lips were moving softly but no words were coming out.

[i:d1907f004e]" kay....what you saying...I can't hear you"[/i:d1907f004e] his once shocked face was now full of concern for his beloved.

[i:d1907f004e]" A dream....It's just a dream.....if I stay awake it will go away...he can't hurt me then....or you....he doesn't like you"[/i:d1907f004e] the voice that was normally full of emotion was now flat and monotone.

[i:d1907f004e]"Who kay?"[/i:d1907f004e] He dreaded asking the question but maybe his growing suspicion's were true, maybe the guilt she was feeling was making her have bad dreams and he had to know.

[i:d1907f004e]" Kay please...come on....baby...awwwwwww shhh come here"[/i:d1907f004e]

The impassive look that had been on her face had now crumbled and blood tears streamed down her face.

[i:d1907f004e]" I didn't....mean...to do it....it just happened.....and now everything's a mess and ....I don't know what to do"[/i:d1907f004e]

Gabriel frowned as he cradled her in his arms and kissed the top of her head. He longed to ask questions but dared not to and she wasn't exactly in a fit state to cope with him doing that.

[i:d1907f004e]" It's ok, it was just a dream, and I'm not hurt at all and the sheets will wash, won't they....what you need is to sleep"[/i:d1907f004e]

[i:d1907f004e]" Yeah ...but...what if it happens...again?"[/i:d1907f004e] she sobbed against his chest.

[i:d1907f004e]" I'll stay awake, and the butter knife is out of reach"[/i:d1907f004e]

His attempt to lighten the situation only brought a weak smile to her face as she looked up at him and gently caressed his face.

[i:d1907f004e]" I love you"[/i:d1907f004e] she whispered as her eyes slowly closed.

Kathy had slipped into a deep sleep willing, although she feared the dreams that would haunt her, Gabriel's insistance that he would watch over her had lulled her into a state of tranquility, so what if he would'nt be around every time she fell asleep, the point was that right now he was and as she felt the waves of sleep washing at her tired body she let them sweep her away and drag her into the darkness that enveloped her body and wipe away the fatigue that she had felt for nights.

The sun was setting as she woke and she untwined her body from Gabriel's and walked towards the bay windows that overwhelmed the room and threw them open, letting the warm air blast her chilled skin. She watched as the fishing boats left the tiny harbour, their lights acting as beacons as they drifted out to sea to catch their nightly haul.

Why such a beautiful picturesque place should be tainted with sadness was a mystery to her, but she knew that his visit was going to be a brief one and she accepted that, but if that was the case, why did she know she was going to pine so much for his company when he left her.

Her feet had been silent as she walked back over the marble floor and slipped back into the bed and once again entwined with his, her hands wandering over his chest as he slept and then drifting down as she heard him moan. Tiny bite marks appeared over his stomach as she bit and kissed her way down to his growing hardness.

[i:4e371f41c6]"Kay?"[/i:4e371f41c6]
[i:4e371f41c6]"well if its not me you are in big trouble baby"[/i:4e371f41c6] she giggled as she slid her body between his legs and started to bite and lick his thighs,effectively drawing blood then sealing the wound as she felt the passion mount inside her.

It was a love story that had been told many times over the years, one between Theseus, one of Zeus’s favourites and Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos. She had become a high priestess to ensure that the god’s looked kindly upon her father’s people and ensured them a bumper crop every year of the vines that they tenderly cared for all year. It was through this position that she met Theseus and the love began to grow between them.
Two totally different people, one mortal and young, one a god and eons old, but their love for each other was strong and unbreakable no matter what obstacles came in their way.

Kathy sat on the stone steps of the ruins of King Minos’s palace and looked out over the blue waters of the Aegean sea. She had avoided the guard’s with ease and had been free to tour the site without the hustle and bustle that the many sightseers through the day brought to the spectacular palace. Although it was necessary to refer to the many archictectural plans to be able to close your eyes and conjure up how it once looked there was still something very mystical about the place, maybe it was the way the stars seemed to be brighter directly above it, or was it the calmness that seemed to descend on Kathy as she had sat down, letting the atmosphere seep into her mind and imagining what it would have been like to live then.

The night before had not been easy for either of them, Gabriel had been reluctant to leave her and although she longed for him to stay by her side, she didn’t beg and insisted that he leave to go assist Julius.
[i:436b69b835]” Anyone would think you are trying to get rid off me, your not are you....Kay?”[/i:436b69b835]

There it was again the unsureness in his voice, his need to be reassured that she wasn’t going to leave him.

[i:436b69b835]” I’d love you to stay, but you can’t leave Julius when he needs help, and I have matters to attend to too you know and I don’t want any distractions”[/i:436b69b835]

[i:436b69b835]” I wouldn’t distract you I could help...what sort of matters Kay”[/i:436b69b835]

[i:436b69b835]” Loads of parties to go to,the men here are divine, oh then there’s the shops they have some darling little boutiques here all one off designs I simply must buy something”[/i:436b69b835]

Her voice was exaggerated and she raised her eyebrows as he watched her , his face stern looking them crumbling into laughter as he realised she was teasing him.

[i:436b69b835]” If you must know, I want to explore the ruins and let myself become emerged with the history of each and everyone of these glorious islands, in other words, I’m on holiday, I need to relax, unwind and you “[/i:436b69b835]

She let her lips meet his and kissed him warmly.
[i:436b69b835]” Need to go see what Julius wants, if you don’t you will pace round like a caged tiger, I know you far too well, soon we will have real time together, but until then snatched nights will have to do”[/i:436b69b835]


And so she found herself sat on her own in one of the most beautiful awe inspiring places she could be in, very much in love, but feeling very alone and scared for what the future held for them both.

The air around her became still, even the sound of the sea gently lapping against the rocky shore became silent. Kathy pulled the hooded sweater she wore tighter around her body as the chill of the night air seemed to seep into her already cold body.

[i:4d059a97e7]" what is it you seek?"[/i:4d059a97e7] the voice was almost angelic and it washed over her body taking her into an almost euphoric state as she felt a presence probing her mind, her hands reached out to steady herself against the steps, fighting the overwhelming desire to sleep.

[i:4d059a97e7]" I seek guidance, nothing more, I would be honoured if you would grant me the permission to see you"[/i:4d059a97e7]

The voice returned nothing more than a deep sigh and once again the night air was silent.

[i:4d059a97e7]" I see two sides to you, one is filled with love and the need to please, the other is far more darker and quite disturbing, I ask you again...what do you seek?"[/i:4d059a97e7]

[i:4d059a97e7]"If you can see that much then you will know whom I feel the love for, all I ask for is reassurance that his future is safe"[/i:4d059a97e7]

A sudden gust of chill wind whipped around her and a smell of deacay tainted the air around her.

[i:4d059a97e7]" Arrogance is not a trait I like Toreador, but it's been awhile since I had a guest to entertain me "[/i:4d059a97e7]

Kathy didn't even hear anyone approaching her but she felt the dagger that entered her body from the rear and pierced her heart.

[i:0f772c0706]"Kathy......kathy......he lies to you"[/i:0f772c0706]

Kathy tried to force her eyes open and dispel the nightmare but she couldn't.

[i:0f772c0706]" Your beloved...he lies....he's with a woman.....very beautiful by all accounts.....kathy......he's lying to you, he doesn't want you......he uses you.....kathy are you listening?"[/i:0f772c0706]

Although she was in torpor her hand still instinctly went to the cross she wore around her neck...Gabriel's cross and she moaned at the revelation.

No surely not....not her gabriel.....he wouldn't would he? but then they were hardly ever together....and god no she thought....he wouldn't do that to me....what if he did though.........oh please god no....I would die.

The knife was pulled out of her and she fell into the arms of one posessed with such beauty it was unimaginable.

[i:0f772c0706]" It seems you have many nightmares and dreams to deal with....perhaps I can help dispel some of them"[/i:0f772c0706]

((I apologise to Gabriel here for taking something of a huge leap forward in the plot. But all will be explained, in time.

It began as it always did. Every night the dream was the same. And every night Porter rose screaming drenched in blood-sweat.

He stood in a clearing. Although it was a random construct his mind had generated, the clearing seemed familiar. Had he been there? He couldn’t recall. But nevertheless, the sensation made him uneasy in his slumber. The clearing seemed to flex, opening to accept visitors. He looked up at them, a shiver of dread flooding his brain.

The Five stood cloaked in shadow. Whether a trick of the light, or some power stolen from an enemy, he couldn’t see through the blackness that shrouded them. As they coalesced, standing in a rigid line, a 6th figure crept into view.

Gideon smiled cruelly, his gaunt but raptor’s features creased with loathing.

[i:f4338e9859]“Porter. We’ve been looking all over for you.”

“You’ve been looking in the wrong places.”[/i:f4338e9859]

One of the Five answered before their feral gentry-man could.

[i:f4338e9859]“Evidently. However now we have found you, will you answer our question?”[/i:f4338e9859]

Porter, his hair bristling both with anger and fear nodded.

[i:f4338e9859]“Was that a yes to our proposal, or an affirmation that you will answer it?”

“I will answer it. I just want to think about it a little longer.”[/i:f4338e9859]

The speaker began to retort angrily.

[i:f4338e9859]“How dare...who do you think you...”[/i:f4338e9859]

Porter smiled. The effect was as he desired.

[i:f4338e9859]“My answer. If you’ll be so kind as to wait....”[/i:f4338e9859] He raised an eyebrow quizzically.

[i:f4338e9859]“Is no.”[/i:f4338e9859]

Gideon sneered joyfully. [i:f4338e9859]“I’d hoped you’d say that.”[/i:f4338e9859]

The Five sighed.

[i:f4338e9859]“Very well dog. Gideon, do as you see fit.”[/i:f4338e9859]

And he did.

From this point on it became nightmare. Gideon moved impossibly fast. Porter couldn’t evade his attacks. He couldn’t defend himself. It was like his body had betrayed him, leaving him to the slaughter. Gideon whirled and danced, pulling rope-like clots of blood from Porter’s chest with his serrated talons, whooping and cheering as he destroyed his masters’ enemy.

Porter watched. He could do nothing else you see.

Then he died.


Like we said. The dream was always the same. It terrified the Gangrel. Not least because of the detail and the “pain” he suffered. But because deep down, he was starting to think it was true.

It was becoming all too frequent for it to be coincidence. The dream of his death seemed to be expanding, like the petals of a water-starved flower opening after a fresh shower. He would “die” as before at the hands of his nemesis, Gideon. Then he would awaken, his eyes opening to be bathed in sickly yellow light. As realisation flooded his dream, it became apparent that he was suspended in an ovoid, transparent case. His body held bouyant by an almost amniotic fluid that refracted the incoming protons, giving his field of vision, however restricted, a yellowed, stained appearance.

He would try to look through the case, his eyes straining to see the world just beyond, and thus seeing he would gag as he gasped, drawing in the thick mucosal liquid.

On the other side of the case a labyrinth of duplicate cases stood in regimented and exact lines. He would squint, daring the dream to show more and Morpheus being, at times, a considerate fellow would oblige the predatory curiosities.

Within the cushioning surrounds the cases represented, were figures. Each naked, lithe and long haired. Each, it seemed, asleep. And each, to Porter’s unquestionable horror and confusion, a perfect physical facsimile of himself!

Morpheus would then lead the mind of his troubled guest upwards, showing him the true splendour of his nightmare. A chamber, hundreds of feet in diameter, hundreds of feet high, bathed in sun-rivalling light. The floor covered in cases which glowed a dirty yellow. Pollen awaiting the arrival of a maddened mind before it could fertilise it’s cacophony of children.

A field of Porters. Awaiting the attentions of some unseen, unknown gardener.

Porter shook himself awake, tugging at the restraints around his arms and legs even before he’d seen them. There he hung. Suspended from a stone wall by chains. His body looking drained and gaunt and beaten. He opened his eyes, wincing at the heat that blasted them in the low light of the huge fires.

[i:8045bebd04]My name is Porter. And I am a slave....[/i:8045bebd04]

The smell.....it was the aroma that enshrouded her in the nightmare that she seemed to be having with regularity. The face that looked down on her however, was not from such.
It was if it had been sculptured out of marble, as if someone had spent days even weeks carving and chipping away until they had the face of a goddess in their hands. This was no sculpture though, Kathy could feel the damp coldness of their skin as they sat her up and brushed a tendril of hair away from her face.

[i:a2a90d2ab1]" Argus does not take kindly to visitor's, and thought you would make a fine trophy for his abode, I however am curious as to why you seek me out and eager to find out what you have brought me"[/i:a2a90d2ab1]

Kathy looked around at her surroundings. The curiousity growing on her face as she marvelled at the grecian statues, and the endless walls that seemed to lead off into the distance then turn suddenly.

[i:a2a90d2ab1]" Its as it once was, how it should still be but alas "[/i:a2a90d2ab1]

Kathy merely nodded and whispered [i:a2a90d2ab1]" The maze ...the minotaurs maze"[/i:a2a90d2ab1]

A shuffling noise behind her made kathy turn around quickly and look upon him, his body was gnarled and twisted with age and a brown dirty shroud covered his modesty. One black eye peered out of his face and the other oozed green slime which dripped down onto his cheek, forming a crusty scale like appearance.

[i:a2a90d2ab1]" Argus my love....you may leave us"[/i:a2a90d2ab1]

[i:a2a90d2ab1]" Ive dream't of him, he haunts me...I thought it was "[/i:a2a90d2ab1]

[i:a2a90d2ab1]" You thought it was nerov's doing.....no little one.....you may think you came searching for me .....but in fact it's the other way around......I have been looking for you"[/i:a2a90d2ab1]

[i:2c22aea85b]“I saw it again this evening
Black sail in a pale yellow sky
And just as before in a moment,
It was gone where the grey gulls fly

If it happens again I shall worry
That only a strange ship could fly
And my sanity scans the horizon
In the light of the darkening sky.”[/i:2c22aea85b]

Jack Ketch stood lookout over the rolling vista before the prow of the ship. Tattersail was stirring in his cabin deep within the bowels of the creaking, timbered craft. The sails rustling in the north wind made Jack look up, squinting for the briefest moment as unrestrained moonlight struck down upon them, it’s fat cold orb resplendent in the cloudless sky. Jack sighed, kicking a belaying pin until it was secure again, pulling the rigging tautly again.

[i:2c22aea85b]“Jack me bucko!”[/i:2c22aea85b]

Ketch looked round somewhat surprised. But Tattersail wasn’t addressing him. The imposing, cloaked, cyclopean figure signalled to the [i:2c22aea85b]other[/i:2c22aea85b] Jack on board his boat.

Jack Tar smiled through crooked teeth, the bandana over his balding head greasy with a day’s sweat.

[i:2c22aea85b]“Aye cap’n? What be your orders?”

“Orders, Jack?”[/i:2c22aea85b] He smiled shark-like.

[i:2c22aea85b]“Lad. Tell the crew. We’ll be having us a little conflagaration.”[/i:2c22aea85b] Tattersail watched for Tar’s spirited but uneducated reaction.

[i:2c22aea85b]“Aye cap’n. But errr what be a conflagerr....?”[/i:2c22aea85b]

Ketch explained things for him.

[i:2c22aea85b]“We’re going to be fighting, Tar. We’ve got a former shipmate needin’ rescuin’.”[/i:2c22aea85b]

Tattersail stepped up onto the poop deck, his bellowing voice awoke dozing sailors and shook those already awake into alertness.

[i:2c22aea85b]“Me buckos! You remember our friend, Porter? Of course you do! Well it so turns out, our whiskered little sea dog is in need of a little aid. What say you? Shall we oblige?”[/i:2c22aea85b]

The answer should have rocked the ship.

[i:2c22aea85b]“AYE!”[/i:2c22aea85b]

Tattersail’s spectral face smiled. He scratched at his eye-patch before shouting.

[i:2c22aea85b]“Then do it handsomely men! Be smart about it! Jonesy, Guido? Man the guns ye cowardly swabs.”[/i:2c22aea85b] Guido snorted. His hunchback making him wince as he slid down the pole into the cannon hold. [i:2c22aea85b]“Aye sir!”[/i:2c22aea85b]

The wind seemed to get up as the sails were fully unfurled. Tattersail slapped Ketch on his shoulder as he stepped up to the prow, looking out over the rolling expanse before him.

[i:2c22aea85b]“Winds getting up, Tattersail. We should make good time.”

“Aye lad. Weigh anchor and let’s make full sail till dawn.”[/i:2c22aea85b]

Ketch nodded, a satisfied but grim look in his eyes. The ship began to move forward, pushed ahead by the winds above and below the hull. Tattersail watched as the clouds parted, like incorporeal icebergs being pushed apart by unseen hands.

[i:2c22aea85b]“Aye lass.”[/i:2c22aea85b] He spoke fondly to the wooden prow, his weathered, white fingers caressing the timbered beams. [i:2c22aea85b]“Aye. I know you are. I am too. Let’s hope the wind is on our side, eh?”[/i:2c22aea85b] He chuckled idiotically, drawing a warm smile from an eavesdropping Ketch.

Tattersail so loved his ship. The Orion’s Favour made the other ships in Tattersail’s illustrious piratical career look positively dull. Not everyone had a ship that....

------------------

[i:2c22aea85b]“Flew? You said it flew?”[/i:2c22aea85b] The fishermen mocked their crewman as he described how a Brigantine seemed to flow out of the dusk clouds. [i:2c22aea85b]“Too much grog methinks, Lowrie!”[/i:2c22aea85b]

But Lowrie, Tattersail, and the “Favour’s” crew knew better.

------------------

[i:2c22aea85b]“We’re making good time, Cap’n. The headlands of Spain are two hours away.”[/i:2c22aea85b]

Tattersail stared out into the ether. His mind returned to the events in Paris. Darkening as Gideon dominated them. Fingers worn by centuries of swordplay, tightened on the grip of his cutlass.

[i:2c22aea85b]“Aye. Aye.” [/i:2c22aea85b]

The air was filled with the heady scent of jasmine from the incense sticks that Erianthe had lit, each one of them placed symmetrically around the circle that Kathy sat in, her face tight and drawn with worry. Although neither spoke the air was filled with questions to be asked and answers to be given.

[i:d80e9bc50e]" Katherine, you need not fear me or anything that I tell you,all that I ask is that you take heed from my words, I can not advise you what to do, I cannot steer you down the right path....this is your destiny and only you can decide which way to go"[/i:d80e9bc50e]

As Erianthe spoke she knelt in front of kathy and touched her forehead and Kathy gasped as she felt heat emitting from her cold fingers.

Kathy's hand instinctively rose up to knock Erianthe's hand away, but the black eyes that stared back at her stilled the fear she felt and she simply gave in.