“Erebus, and the magic of the seas don’t work like that,” he corrected me as he stared at the wall ahead of him. A contemplative expression slipped onto his face. “One of many rules you’ll learn if you’re on the water long enough.”
I took a seat beside the bed and lifted an eyebrow. “I’d like to hear about them if you’re willing to tell me. I’d like to know more about the Admiralty, too.”
“Why about them in particular?”
I pointed at my leg. “Because he told me they’d kill everyone aboard a pirate ship.”
Ramaro glared up at me. “I said no such thing. I just said they’d take no pirate prisoner.”
“Would they consider me a pirate?” I asked him.
“We don’t want to know,” the lizard mused as he crawled off my legs and climbed onto the bed. “Those fiends are worse than that monster on the island.”
I had to tamp down a grin. “Because they’ll throw you in a cage for eating someone’s cake?”
He wrinkled his snout. “Because they’re stiff with their rules. They’re almost not human in how they obey those stupid lists of regulations. They’d give up their mothers if she strolled down the wrong way of a street, and then be rewarded with a medal from the Dromos.”
“The Dromos?” I repeated as I looked between the pair.
“The five leaders of the Admiralty,” Torvus told me as he adjusted his position. “The name refers to their vaulted position of being the straight path on the stormy seas. They’ve worked their way up the ranks of the seamen to hold sway over one of the four parts of their empire.”
Something didn’t add up. “Four parts, but five leaders?”
“Four over the seas, and one to administer their ‘justice’ from their base on the island of Cathair.”
I rubbed a few fingers against my temple. “That’s a lot to remember.”
“Just remember that they’re trouble,” Ramaro advised me as he settled down on the sheets. “And to keep clear of them if you can.”
“Do they know about the Tempest?” I asked the pair.
Torvus flashed me a grin. “Ramaro isn’t the only one with notoriety among the Admiralty.”
The corners of my lips twitched up. “Did you steal the birthday cake?”
“And some of the wife’s jewelry,” he added.
There was something in the tone of his voice. “Anything else?”
“And the admiral’s new ship.”
I used a hand to gesture to the cabin around us. “That wouldn’t happen to be this ship, would it?”
His eyes sparkled with mischief. “It might.”
“How long have you had it?”
“Going on five years, and I can’t thank the admiral enough for the professional work. I heard he spared no expense when she was built.”
“You heard that before you took ownership of the vessel?” I guessed.
He chuckled. “Why else would I have taken this particular ship?”
Ramaro folded one claw over the other and rolled his eyes. “You make it sound like the job went smoothly. If I recall, even with your fancy magic, you almost got your head handed to you by the elite guard of the High Admiral.”
“I was inexperienced,” Torvus argued.
The agama scoffed. “You were an idiot.”
