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OF GODS AND MEN
Chapter 13: A Respite and A Warning

             Time passed very quickly on the Defiance.  Tarsus, Cecily and Finnian were growing accustomed to life on the high seas.  They had grown so much a part of the crew, in fact, that they were given the traditional black and gold uniforms of Defiance sailors.
            “Thank you all,” Tarsus said.  “I feel very welcome, and we haven’t been on this ship long.”
            “Sailors have to learn to be a crew very quickly,” Maurice, the sailor who had handed the three of them their new clothes, said.  “We stop so frequently and change out crew so often, that we have to be open to working with all sorts of folk.  This isn’t the life for someone who can’t be comfortable around other people.”
            “It’s funny, I am never comfortable around other people,” Cecily said.  “But it’s very easy being around all of you.”
            “Many thanks,” Maurice said with a smile.  “Especially since not all of us will be going on with you to the Under Isle.”
            “What?” Finnian exclaimed.
            “Tomorrow, we arrive at the last port our map shows, before venturing into uncharted open waters.  Some of us, including myself, will be taking our leave of the Defiance.  But don’t you worry, new crew will be brought on,” Maurice finished.
            “If this port is the last marked haven.  Then after tomorrow we must be heading straight for the Under Isle,” Cecily concluded.
            “Cassius says he knows the way,” Maurice agreed.
            “What are you leaving for?” Finnian asked of Maurice.
            “My wife,” Maurice answered.  “She gave birth to our first child.  She needs me.”
            “That’s fair enough, I suppose,” Finnian said as he surveyed Maurice up and down, as though reading the man’s answer on the man himself.
            “If you three didn’t have a quest of your own, I’d try to convince you to come with me.  But I know you would not.  Truth be told, I don’t think you’d be allowed to.”
            Maurice’s smile receded.  He turned his gaze on Cecily, giving her a heavy look and a small nod.  She nodded back. 
“Take care of yourselves,” Maurice continued, shaking hands with all three of them.  “Especially around Cassius.  I have sailed on this ship long enough to know that he can’t be trusted.”
The next day passed as Maurice said it would.  The Defiance dropped anchor in the morning.  Many sailors, including Maurice, left the ship as a batch of new ones came onboard. 
            Tarsus shook hands and talked pleasantly with the new men and women as they boarded.  He enjoyed it.  It occurred to him that he had been a crew member of the Defiance longer than any of them had.  They looked at him as though he belonged on the ship; like he was part of the original crew.  He realized how comfortable that felt, and for the first time since leaving, he was reminded of Briarden.
            A few days on, that feeling of perfection turned to one of pure bliss.  The sun was beginning to set on yet another perfectly clear day.  The ocean, living up to its namesake, was so reflective that it looked to Tarsus as though they were sailing on a mirror.  The blue sky and the yellow sun were perfectly recreated in the face of the Crystal Sea.

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