The sound of their footsteps echoed off the stone wall as Mea lead them through the short tunnel towards the spring. While the outer walls of the dome were made from mock ice crystals, the inside was made to resemble a naturally carved cave of stone. The walls were similarly covered in the same blue ivy as the exterior was, and the entire faux cave was dripping with condensation. While it was chilly outside it was considerably warmer in the tunnel, and Mea knew the moisture was intentional to make the aquans that visited feel more at home. However the speed at which the temperature changed found her taking her enchanted ring off to prevent over heating.

  In fact, as she pulled her gear off she noticed several heat runes carved into the walls. They had been hidden behind the plant growth and weren't immediately obvious, but seeing them now she realized they were the same ones used at the town hall in Saburn. The runes were a bit smaller and more spread out, they weren't intended to keep out a monster as large and dangerous as the warden here. It was likely to aid the comfort of aquan teens who came through that weren't used to Flolon's extreme weather.

  Though the tunnel they were in was dimly lit, they could see a faint blue glow coming from the chamber ahead. Mea could also hear some indistinct music, but it was muffled as if it were coming from under water. She looked back at her companions. Keizeron was taking in their surroundings with great interest, and Aka was retying their hair to get more of the white curls out of their face. They were both sweating a little, but if they also removed their heat gear Mea didn't notice.

  After a few moments of silence the area opened up and the party was bathed in a soft blue light. The main chamber was almost completely empty, with the walls being the same cobble stone as the tunnel. The center of the room was inclined slightly, and after a few feet the stones stopped and the floor became open earth. Most of the room was inside a shallow spring that gradually grew deeper the closer to the center it got. In the center was the only thing of note in the entire room; an incredible fountain made from carved crystal. It had a wide round base that was just peaking over the rest of the spring water, and a perfect opaque blue sphere floating in the center of it. The sphere looked like it was also carved crystal, but it wasn’t sinking, and instead was gently rotating as the water bubbled from the spring below it and over the sides of the fountain.

  Now that they were in the room proper, Mea could tell the instrument being played was a harp but she still couldn't discern an origin point for it. Several white orb like motes glittered around the air, but they scattered once Mea and her crew mates entered the room. She thought for a moment they might be water sprites, but with how quickly they pittered out she couldn't be sure.

  Mea took a deep breath as she approached the edge of the shallow pond. Hell, she could taste how pure the water was from here; nothing like the lake from her hometown. Not saying her home wasn't clean, there was a just a different quality to the magic of the spring since it came directly from the plane of water. She could feel the mana flow through her as she breathed, and wondered if her less sensitive companions were having the same experience.

  Mittens wiggled his way out of her hat and floated towards the center of the room. He dipped a paw into the spring, and chased one of the few sprites that hadn’t vanished yet before coming to rest on the rim of the fountain. He looked back at Mea expectantly.

  The aquan woman took an involuntary step back, before turning around to look at her crew mates. Aka and Keizeron were mystified by the wonder of the fountain just like she was, staring around the room but not moving any closer to the water. When her captain noticed her staring, he simply nodded her on.

  Mea took another deep breath, exhaling slowly before stepping forward into the spring water. Being an aquan all of her clothes were water proof, yet when she stepped into the shallow pond she felt it flood into her boots. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it was a surprise for Mea. In all her years she had never felt wet before. ((“Ha.” “Shut up Ren.”)) The water never got deeper than her thigh, and she found herself stepping on the sparse cobblestone to keep her heels from sinking into the earthy loam.

  After a few moments of wading silently through the water Mea reached the edge of the fountain and the sphere stopped spinning. And then, nothing. The muffled music continued, the water kept flowing, but nothing else of note happened. Mea shifted her weight from one foot to the other, thinking back to what she had been told. She needed to do something to let the spring know she was here, but it had been so long since she thought about visiting the sisters that she didn’t remember what it was. Mea put a hand on her hip, thinking of the guide her parents had hired to take her to the sisters. But it really hadn’t been long before she ditched him. He had said something about-

  She snapped her fingers at it came to her. Mea shuffled about in her ruck sack for a moment and pulled out a small golden harp. It had been many moons since she last played it, and she plucked at it a few times to remember the chords. Once she had refreshed her memory Mea stood still, taking in the song of the fountain. Once the muffled notes started to repeat, she played along with it, trying to match the chords she heard.

  The music of her harp resonated with the sound of the spring, and once she finished the song she heard deep mirthful laughter. The water of the fountain bubbled and surged, before it started to rise from the confines of gravity and take shape. The water morphed into the body of a woman, nearly seven feet tall despite the fact that her lower body was underwater and couldn’t be seen. The sister was leaning forward, holding the sphere in her hands and wearing a large grin on her face.

  She was semi opaque, as if she were solid but could still be seen through. Her hair flowed down her back and into the spring without ever disconnecting. The woman's large blue eyes were wide with excitement, and after a moment she settled into a reclined pose, setting the orb back in the center of the spring in front of her.

  ((“When I draw her for reference she will have on a little outfit, but Mea I want you to know that she is completely naked. No parts, its like a barbie doll I’m not trying to raise the rating of this podcast. But Annie Mea, there is a seven foot tall naked woman in front of you.”

  “Thank you for this gift,” Ren said, clasping his hands together in mock prayer. “Everyone else and their drama can shove it, seeing all the sisters is the only thing Mea cares about now.”

  “Senka rod who?” Blair laughed.

  “I do not give a shit about Aria, I do not care about the ship, I am now a good little aquan on a very important mission,” Ren cleared his notes from the table.

  “What is Mea doing now?” Caine asked, grinning wildly. Yeah this was about the reaction they expected.

  “Well, my name is Annie Mea is it not? She gets a nosebleed.” Ren laughed.

  “Wait wait,” Zenith interjected. “Isn’t the pilgrimage typically done by teens? Why is she naked when her job is to interact with minors??”

  “She normally has an outfit she wears, but she knew you were coming and you’re here after hours. All bets are off.” Caine shrugged.

  “Wait, so she’s doing this specifically for us?” Ren balked. “How does our ace captain feel about this?”))

  Mea felt her face flush hot as the water spirit grinned at her. She stole a glance behind her, and saw that Keiz was equally bewildered and trying to cover Aka’s eyes. Mea heard a muffled ‘I am an ADULT Keizeron!’ before she turned back to the woman of the spring.

  The sister looked up at her friends curiously, and then back down to Mea. “Oh?” She asked in a deep breathy voice. “You want to do this with an audience?” She winked.

  ((Ren covered his face, blushing in real life as he tried to hold back a silent scream.

  “Gee Ren, stop flirting with my boyfriend,” Zenith ribbed him.

  “Your boyfriend is flirting with me!” Ren wailed.))

  Mea waved her hands wildly, at a loss for words for the first time in her life. The woman laughed again, a rich sound as she crossed her arms playfully.

  “My name is Nydra, the spirit of the crystalline fountain and the sister of Flolon. Annie Mea Hurrican, I have been waiting so long to meet you!”

  “You- you know who I am?” Mea asked in wonder. Mittens floated back from his position on the fountain. He purred happily as he nestled back around her neck. Her sister had never mentioned it, but with how many aquans the sisters met Mea didn’t think they’d remember every person. Especially someone who had never been there before. Did they really know every individual connected to the plane of water?

  “Of course! It’s not very often we have to delay an awakening, we’ve all be so excited to meet you!” Nydra said gently.

  “I don’t understand,” Mea protested. “What do you mean you delayed my awakening? I thought not developing powers was a bad thing, you did it on purpose?” She tried not to feel hurt, but she felt a shard of the emotion slicing into her. Things had been so hard because she didn’t feel like she belonged, and it was done to her on purpose?

  Nydra frowned at that, leaning forward again and splashing a hand into the fountain. “Why, who told you that? It’s extremely uncommon for us to step in and delay someone’s awakening like this I will admit, but it wasn’t done without intent. You couldn’t use your powers sooner because they were too great for a child to handle without doing harm to your body. When your powers awakened the ripples were felt all across the plane of water, and they’re still developing now. It ‘s been so long we wondered if you were ever going to come visit! You are so special to us Annie Mea, and you’re only going to get stronger.” She explained.

  Mea felt her face warm. All this time of thinking she wasn’t good enough, and feeling like a social outcast. Now she had some semblance of reason for it, but she was still left with so many questions. “Why me?” Mea asked, looking down at the rippling water. This was so much to take in, and even harder to understand.

  Nydra shook her head sadly, her hair flicking around the room in gentle drops. “I can’t say for sure why some people are touched by fate, but I can see that you and your friends are all extraordinary. Aria’s light has changed your path, you all have great destinies ahead of you.”

  “Destiny?” Mea sighed. She joined an airship crew because she needed money for weed after her parent’s gold ran out. Coming to the crystalline spring had been an after thought, a choice she only brought up to Keizeron after they were already on their way here. How could she be destined for greatness?

  “I know this seems like a great responsibility, but you’re stronger than you think Annie Mea. And with a crew as unique and talented as you are you will go far.” Nydra assured her. “Now, would you like your blessing?”

  “Oh right, I forgot about that part,” Mea blushed. She nodded eagerly and Nydra chuckled at her.

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Nydra was silent for a moment, and the glow of the fountain all pooled within her body. It pulsed within her, before coming to a rest in her right pointer finger. She leaned over the edge of the fountain, giving Mea a light tap to her forehead. The light transferred over, leaving them in darkness for a few moments.

  Mea felt light as the magic coursed through her, seeing a blue swirling pattern blossom over her skin. She gasped, taking a step back but the effect faded quickly. Mea didn’t feel drastically different, just more confident now. But that could have been from Nydra’s assurance just as much from her magic.

  “Say hello to my sisters for me,” Nydra said, blowing Mea a kiss before sinking back into the fountain. The crystal orb bobbed in the disturbed water for a moment, before returning to it’s gentle rotation. After a moment the glow and the music returned to the room, as if Nydra had never disturbed it in the first place.

  Mea turned to her crew mates, her mouth agape. “I cannot believe I put this off for so many years! What was I thinking?!” Mea gushed as she made her way back to the edge of the pool. She was grinning wildly, twirling her tentacle on her finger. “She said I was special! Do you think she’s single?”

  “That was not what I was expecting,” Aka muttered, still looking a little flustered at the display they just saw.

  “What did she give you?” Keizeron asked curiously. He of the three of them seemed completely unphased by Nydra's unorthodox appearance. ((“So you’re saying the asexual pirate captain is uninterested in the booty?” “Boooo.”))

  Mea flexed her hands as she shook the water out of her boots. “I don’t really get anything tangible from the spirits, just a degree of control over my powers. Though I’m going to have to try casting a spell before I see exactly how much it’ll be affected. Also, I feel like super great right now, but that’s mostly likely because a hot woman was flirting with me.”

  “Yes,” Keizeron let out a short laugh. “I was there for that.”

  ((“Alright, so in game terms, you no longer have to roll to melt or freeze small quantities of water, or to control your own body temperature. Water over a certain volume will still need a spell check-” Caine started, before they were interrupted by Ren.

  “What’s ‘a certain volume’?” He asked as he furiously scribbled down notes on Mea’s character sheet. This wild scene was enough to make him sure playing a role playing game with his new friends was completely worth it. Couldn’t get this feeling playing magic the gathering.

  “Uh,” Caine hesitated. He flipped through his guide book, but Mea was a modified druid and most of her abilities were homebrewed. Instead, Caine googled something on his phone. “Ten gallons. That’s how much water is in an average human right?”

  “About,” Ren tiled his head up at Caine. “But I’m not a human, I’m a fish.”

  “Fifteen gallons then. And you have a permanent plus one to your spell casting modifier.”

  “What?!” Lucky exclaimed. “That’s insane, She’s going to be so over powered by time we’ve seen all the sisters!”

  “She’s not going to get that every time she visits a spring, each sister will have a unique power.” Caine explained patiently. Annie Mea would know this, they weren’t spoiling anything. Wait, Annie Mea didn’t really pay attention to that growing up, she might not know it. Whoops.

  “You gave me a stick,” Lucky pouted.

  “And you haven’t figured out what it does yet,” Caine pinched the bridge of his nose. “Let’s continue.”))

  Mea stepped out of the pond before promptly spinning around and kneeling next to the water. She wanted to see just how much her powers had improved, so she traced a small rune into the pond's surface and laid her hand flat. A ripple spread out from her palm and a thin sheet of ice started to form over the water. It didn't freeze solid, there was far too much movement to achieve that, but the spell frosted over a sizable section of the pond. Mea felt proud as she watched, only to gasp when she heard a muffled indignant 'hey!' from the fountain. She quickly withdrew her hand, it didn't occur to her using magic here might be disruptive to Nydra. Once her concentration on the spell was dropped the ice melted back into the water.

  “Sorry, so sorry, we should go,” Mea waved to Keiz and Aka frantically.

  The trio made their way back out through the tunnel they'd come in through, Mea reequipping her ring as they went so she wouldn't freeze once they were back in the cold winter air. She was unsurprised that Keizeron was looking at her with excitement, obviously wanting to ask about her experience. What surprised Mea is that Aka beat him to the punch.

  “Your last name is Hurrican?” Aka asked quickly. They seemed annoyed at this fact. “I thought it was Mea.”

  “No, Annie Mea is my first name, it’s just two words. You all started calling me Mea for some reason? It’s shorter I guess but I’ve never gone by that before.” Mea shrugged.

  “I’m going to have to redo some of my paperwork, your files are wrong,” Aka muttered. “Is Rea Sola’s last name? I’m going to have to talk to him too.”

  Keiz shook his head. Only Aka could just interact with a spirit from the plane of water and worry about how this affected their paperwork. Once it was clear Aka was done Keizeron turned to Mea. “I didn’t know you could play the harp, did they teach you so you were prepared for the pilgrimage?”

  “Oh, no, the type of instrument doesn’t matter. Aquans are usually pretty musically inclined, and we all learn how to play an instrument pretty young. I always wondered why my parents focused so heavily on playing music I heard from memory. I learned how to read sheet music too!.” Mea shrugged as she pulled her hat back on. They were already starting to feel the chill of the night air. “I just ended up with a harp because I liked how it sounded more than any other instrument my parents gave me.”

  “So you’re all just taught how to play music by ear as kids for this?” Keizeron asked. His old classmate never told him about the musical element of the pilgrimage of the sisters.

  “To be honest we’re not told what it’s for, I just assumed it was because music sounds better underwater. I should take you to an aquan concert sometime, do you have any water breathing spells?”

  “I don’t have any prepped, but I could find one in my spell book,” Keize said thoughtfully, before realizing it didn’t matter if he had one prepped at the moment. It wasn’t like they were going to find a concert to attend to that night. He cleared his throat. “Do you want us to call you Annie Mea, instead of just Mea?”

  “Oh, it doesn’t matter. Just because I’ve never had a nick name before doesn’t mean I don’t want one,” Mea shrugged. It was actually kind of nice. She had never had a group of friends like this before, it made her feel more included.

  They made their way back outside, the glow of the fountain fading as they closed the ivy curtain behind them. The dark path stretched ahead of them back into the city, but Mea saw instantly that something was wrong. All of the crystal lamps had been snuffed, and the path was now pitch black.

  “What time does the spring close?” Aka asked incredulously. They couldn’t have been in there for longer than thirty minutes, and it wasn’t even open before they went in.

  “It doesn’t” Mea said slowly. “It’s not guarded at all hours of the day since most visitors come when it’s light out, but the spring itself is open at all times since the sisters follow the same cycle as the plane of water.”

  “Then this is a problem,” Keizeron grimaced, drawing his sword. He heard something shuffle in the darkness behind them and he turned, looking out at the pathway. There was someone in the darkness, just out of his line of sight. Keiz narrowed his eyes, holding his hand up to create a light rune when sensed something behind him. There, at the entrance they had just come from, a second shadowy figure emerged from the darkness.

  Mea gasped as someone grabbed her roughly from behind, shoving a blade to her throat. Keizeron and Aka spun towards the noise, gun and sword raised. A large humanoid person was holding onto Mea, almost completely enshrouded in a dark brown leather duster. He gave Keiz a wicked grin before the area was completely encased in darkness. Keizeron finished the light spell he'd tried to make earlier while Aka hesitated next to him, but the magic fizzled out. This wasn't a normal darkness spell, and the captain's eyes glowed ominously gold as he adjusted to the magic.

  ((“Alright, which would you prefer, an ‘advanced darkness’ joke, or a ‘I have special eyes’ joke?” Zee asked.

  “Make your own jokes you coward,” Caine replied.))

  “Nobody move,” The man growled in a deep voice.

  Mea tensed in his grip. She had dark vision, most aquans did, but she couldn’t see anything at the moment. It was strange, she had at least been able to see her friends outlines and now she felt completely alone. Mea didn’t like it. She tested the man’s hold on her, from what she could feel he was tall, relatively strong. Mea stopped when the cold knife on her throat pressed in slightly, biting into her skin. She felt a drop of blood well and slip down her collarbone.

  “Put yer sword away captain, or I slit her pretty little throat,” The man commanded.

  “Aw, you think I’m pretty?” Mea asked brightly, trying to feel like she had some semblance of control.

  “Shut up,” The man hissed, and Keizeron hesitantly lowered his sword.

  The captain quickly assessed the situation. There was at least two of them, but he couldn’t be sure if there were any more lurking in the shadows. The one holding Mea was the muscle, the one who cast the magic darkness was hiding in the trees behind them. Aka had lowered their gun when the darkness was cast, they didn’t want to hurt Mea on accident. The crew of the fortunes favor had one advantage though, it was clear the assailants didn’t realize Keiz could still see.

  “What do you want?” Keizeron asked. He was trying to keep his gaze unfocused in case their assailants weren't affected by the spell, but he noted that Mea was slowly trying to draw a rune without her captor noticing. He could work with that, if nothing else Keiz knew he could stall the man.

  Though his vision was darkened, Keiz still had a pretty clear view of what was going on. The man appeared to be entalitan, but most of his features were obscured by either his coat collar or a large dark hat. The knife he was holding was rather mundane, but the way he held it screamed of his experience. The second figure had stepped into the pathway, no longer thinking he needed to be hidden. Keiz didn’t acknowledge the spell castor, he didn’t need to yet.

  “You have a pretty little price tag on your head that I aim to collect cappin Keizeron,” the man drawled.

  "Fuck," Keizeron muttered darkly. This was way sooner than he was expecting, and very bad for them. But there was one bit of silver lining. The man wasn’t after his crew, just him. That must mean no one else was wanted yet. It would certainly be nice if they could keep it that way, but Keizeron doubted it.

  Even though they couldn’t see, Aka took a step between where it sounded like the bounty hunter was and where their captain stood. The young faun held their left hand out protectively, while keeping their right hand tensed on their gun. Aka didn't say anything, but the gesture was very clear. They weren't going to let these people take him without a fight. Keiz could see their ears trembling with nerve but they held their ground. He had to admit, it was a strange feeling having someone else protecting him. While it was endearing, it was his job to guard his crew and he wasn't about to let Aka be hurt on his behalf. Keizeron reached out, gently grabbing their shoulder to steady them.

  “And you expect me to just give up and go with you?” Keizeron questioned. Aka's ears twitched, and they turned to try to look at them. He could tell they were completely blind with how wide and unfocused their eyes were, but they reached up to feel his hand.

  “If you want your companion to keep her head you will,” The bounty hunter grinned, his teeth were sharp. Hmm, maybe not an entalitian then. From the corner of his eye Keizeron noticed the second figure starting to encircle them. He would need to be dealt with, but for now he wouldn’t be able to cast a new spell without dropping his current one. Not that it would matter, it looked like Mea was ready with her spell. She just needed a chance to cast.

  “You probably should have grabbed someone else,” Keiz advised, taking a careful step back and letting go of Aka.

  The bounty hunter frowned in confusion, and Keiz saw him throw a glance at his companion. “What are ya talkin about?” He scoffed.

  “Surely you have to know what the sisters are? And you you’re just going to grab an aquan that just made a visit?” Keizeron berated him. Almost.

  “They only do the visits for kids,” The bounty hunter said, suddenly unsure of himself. “Right?”

  His grip relaxed as he doubted his choice for just a second, but it was enough. Mea reached back with her hand, slamming a heating spell into his stomach and boiling him. He screamed in pain, dropping the knife to the ground with a loud clatter. Seizing the opportunity, Keiz pivoted on his heel, sending a bolt of purple magic at the second figure.

  Caught by surprise the person didn’t even try to defend himself, and took the brunt of the attack across his chest. The darkness spell dropped just as fast as the bounty hunter did. All the light crystals came back on in an instant, starting Mea and Aka who had to cover their eyes. Keiz on the other hand darted forward, grabbing the dropped knife to disarm the felled man.

  The bounty hunter groaned in pain as he rolled on the ground and Keizeron almost felt bad for him. Well, if he hadn’t just assaulted his crew mate.

  “Mea, are you alright?” Keizeron rushed to her side after he made sure both of the men were incapacitated.

  “Yeah,” Mea coughed, rubbing her neck. “Captain what was-”

  She was interrupted by a ship gliding over them, coming to a short stop just slightly over the spring. Keiz relaxed when he noticed a familiar golden dragon figure head. He needed to give Sola Rea a raise.

  “What should we do with these two?” Aka asked, standing over the man with the burned stomach. They had their gun in their hand, but they had their fingers off the trigger at this point. It was clear the bounty hunter wasn’t going to be much of a threat anymore.

  “We don’t need to kill them, I do believe they’ve learned their lesson,” Keizeron pointed out. Besides, they technically didn’t do anything wrong other than grab Mea instead of him. Though it was a bit awkward listening to their would be kidnapper groan in pain as they waited for the boat to maneuver into a position where they could actually be picked up. While they waited Keiz dragged the second man over and tied them together with a rope Aka provided. Even if they weren’t going to kill them, it wouldn’t be wise to give them a chance to follow them. However he turned a blind eye as Aka frisked their pockets.

  The area they were in was just a bit too narrow for Sola to bring the boat all the way down, and instead he got close enough to lower a ladder. Once the rope was dropped Zero and Willow leaned over the edge to look at them. “Hello captain!” Zero called out. “Need a lift?”

  “Who are your friends?” Willow added, eyeing the tied up pair of bounty hunters. Someone would find them in the morning, they didn’t need to worry about it.

  Keizeron waited for Aka and Mea to climb the ladder first, before he made his way up behind them. “We should get going first, we’ll explain on the way,” Keizeron suggested as he hoisted himself aboard.

  Now that the whole crew was safely on the deck, Sola lifted the ship back up, and started to head north, skirting around the city. The lights of Eldence slowly grew dimmer as they sailed away, and Keiz was suddenly struck with the thought that he wouldn’t be safe in a large city until they could do something about his bounty.

  “Oh, Mea you’re bleeding!” Willow exclaimed in alarm. She had been waiting near the railing to check on them, and quickly noticed the red spot on Mea’s shirt. “Are you alright?”

  “I’m fine,” Mea assured her with a wave. The cut on her neck was shallow, and with the power of the rod so close it had already closed in the time it took them to get on the boat. Although, she decided it wouldn’t be the worst to have the injury looked at. Mea patiently waited as Willow and Zero fussed over her.

  While they chatted Aka headed below deck and Keizeron made his way up to the helm with Sola. Wordlessly the first mate handed over the wanted poster he had taken from the board in town. Keizeron read it over, frowning.

  “Only ten thousand?” Keizeron raised an eyebrow. “How much does the queen want the rod back?”

  “How can you joke at this?” Sola asked in annoyance, “that’s no small amount of money captain, people are going to be after you and if we’re not careful we’re going to be caught in the cross fire.”

  Keizeron looked across the deck to where Willow was casting a minor healing spell to erase the cut on Mea’s neck. He frowned. “You’re right. We’ll have a discussion about how we want to handle this the next time we stop.”

  ((“Sorry, sorry, sometimes Caine is sarcastic when Keizeron should not be.”))

  “Did any of you have posters?” Keiz added, flipping the poster over to check the back for any more details. It had the queen's official insignia on it, not a good sign.

  “No,” Sola replied curtly. He tapped the paper. “And I didn’t see anything about our ship name either. It’s just you.”

  It must not have been up for long, since tonight was their first encounter with a bounty hunter. They would need to be more careful going forward, but as of right now Keizeron was the only one who would need to stay out of the public eye. It made things tricky, but he could work with that restriction.

  “Can I keep this?” Keizeron asked, folding the poster over.

  “I don’t want it,” Sola shrugged.

  Keizeron nodded, Sola had the helm under control and Mea was looking fine so he headed back down to his quarters. He threw his jacket and hat into his open wardrobe and made his way to the desk. It was starting to get a bit cluttered, he had a few spell books open, his receipt from Aka, and a few other notes. Aka wasn’t the only one keeping a record of their journey. Keiz leaned over the desk, pinning the wanted poster to a board behind it, next to the copy of the world map he had been taking notes on. To be honest he was a little surprised it took this long for him to get a bounty. He had been openly criticizing the queen since he was eighteen, he couldn’t believe it took a dozen years after that for her to take notice. The high price on his head would be a problem, but Keiz couldn’t help but feel a little smug about it.

  He really was a pirate now.