On the calm, quiet river, the ship was floating along peacefully. By some miracle, the guards hadn't caught up to them, and none of them recognized the princess, but it had been way too close for Amyann's taste. It had been a while since they had to escape in such a hurry, and she still couldn't understand how the port was targeted so quickly. The head of intelligence, Lord Mekoziel, was a smart and effective man, but she knew due to conflict with the crown, he wasn't exerting his office with the best of his abilities. She could've chucked it to unluck, but she preferred to stay on her toes, at least for now. The Princess, down in the cabin, was still sleeping, as was most of the crew. It was just her and Kredz up, and the marksman wasn't exactly the most talkative company. For the whole night, he had been up on the crow's nest, ready to shoot at any potential danger approaching. On that, she trusted him with her life. When he joined the Six, she saw him land a shot at a target so far away she couldn't even see it, with an accuracy greater than she could achieve from up close, and she never saw him flinch once. At some point, it had become a game in the Six to try to scare Kredz, surprising him as he opened a door, placing traps, even Shemna tried her hand at it with the Arcane, but nothing had worked, the man was made of stone. Of course, his life as an elite sniper of the Ivultisian army had trained his instincts, but he was an exceptional man on his own. All of them were, really. She chuckled softly looking at the Drenin twins, sleeping in hammocks next to each other. The youngest and rowdiest of the group, they were also the newest recruits. Exceptional duelists, scrappy fighters, and incredibly proficient at criminal activities, they were also their main contact point with the underworld. But almost more importantly, they were the soul of the group, always making them smile and laugh, even in the hardest times. A particularly funny joke from Akkhalia had even managed to get an amused rictus out of Kredz, which was a feat for the ages. The leader's eyes slid from them to Shemna, sleeping on a blanket next to her. Of all the members, she was by far the most talkative, and also the friendliest, and she remembered fondly many deep conversations they had late in the evening about the nature of the universe, of the Arcane, or the existence of the Divines.
"One ship incoming." said a voice calmly above her head. Taken out of her meditation, she got up on her feet and looked in the direction Kredz was pointing to. It was a small warship, pretty far away, but faster than them, and catching on. It was flying Marbellian colors, and she quickly ringed the alarm bell, waking up the crew.
"We got incoming. Marbellian colors, so be ready for a fight if we can't talk out way out of..." she said, interrupted by the loud thunderous rumble of a cannonball being shot, making a giant splash barely a couple of meters from the bow. "To arms, everyone! Vennst, Akkhalia, you're on cannons, Shemna, make sure they don't hit us, Kredz, take out their navigator." she quickly ordered. It took only a couple of minutes for everyone to find their place, but the enemy ship was already shooting at them again. This time, the cannonballs found their target, but the Arcanic Matrix Shemna had built held strong, stopping them mid-air, spinning and vibrating in a strangely satisfying sound, before they fell slowly on the deck for them to reuse. A loud explosion sound indicated that Kredz had fired his first shot, his large hand-built rifle propelling a large metallic slug way faster than any cannon, loudly impacting with the protective shield the enemy ship's Arcanist had put in place. It broke immediately, testament to how powerful the weapon was, but was rebuilt in a second.
"They have multiple Arcanists." said Kredz in a cold voice, before reloading his rifle. Amyann groaned. This was placing them in a complicated situation. Shemna was without the shadow of a doubt more powerful than them, and Kredz's bullets were devastating, but them working in tandem to rebuild their defenses so quickly was certainly placing them at a disadvantage. The first salvo of cannonballs left the ship, and the Marbelliese ship's shield held, as it did against Kredz's second bullet.
"Their second Arcanist is stronger. Shemna, can you do something about it?" she asked, and the red-haired woman nodded, focusing an instant. The enemy not having any marksman was to their advantage there, allowing her to focus on another Matrix while they were reloading their cannons, especially with her extraordinary speed. After only a minute of concentration, a shimmer of light appeared in-between the two ships, and their shield fell. Kredz immediately took the shot, and one of the Arcanists' head exploded, covering the ship's deck in blood and flesh. That was all they needed, and it only took five minutes to finish the battle. Without their second, strongest Arcanist, they weren't able to negate all of their attacks, and quickly, Kredz took down their defense, their navigator, and their sails, and they were left stranded in the middle of the river.
"Good job everyone." said Amyann with a sigh of relief. They were lucky this was a fairly standard battleship, and not a hunter of Section Six, but she knew it wouldn't last. They needed to get away from the kingdom's territory, and cross into international water as fast as possible. "Sorry to ask that now, Shemna, but can we get a bit of speed going?" she asked. The Arcanist smiled, and after a couple of seconds, the wind picked up behind them, propelling them forward.
"I won't be able to hold this for the whole day, but it should be fine until we reach the sea, at least." she said. She was impressive in many ways, but conjuring wind to move a ship, and do it so casually was a tour de force not seen from even high-grade Arcanists. The Princess, only now getting up on the deck, woken up by the sounds of battle but kept safely under by Zelina, Maddala and Mexxia, all experimented fighter but without practice in sea combat, looked around and frowned.
"Did they catch up to us? What happened?" she said, and Amyann quickly explained the situation to her charge. She could see in the eyes of the Princess she was feeling guilty that her escape had provoked the death of people, even enemies in service of her father, and that they had to protect her, but she quickly put her hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture.
"I know this is tough, Princess, but this is necessary. As much as I want you to get there safely, and to get you away from the fate your father had prepared for you, this is not the only reason we're doing this. In taking you away, your father is dealt a humiliating blow, both on his international relationships and his ego, and he loses in you a valuable asset he wanted to trade for war equipment. Not to mention, we get to leave Marbellian with a big pile of money and the contacts that go with it." she said, and the Princess sighed softly.
"I know, but it still feels wrong. One of the reasons I wanted to get away was because my father wants to give royalty so much power and influence, and this feels like I'm using my position to get away..." said the Princess, and her sister joined her, smiling.
"Hey, don't worry, sweetie. In the Southern Islands, they don't care about royalty and such. If anything, being from Marbellian means you'll have to work extra-hard to make your place. But I know you, you're resilient, you'll do great. And I'll be here to help." she said, and Amyann saw the younger sister soften up, putting her head on her shoulder.
"Thank you, Dala. I'm glad I do. And you'll see, I'll earn my spot." the Princess said, making the whole crew smile at her determination.
"Well, if that's how all the Princesses are, I'd say it's not too bad" said Vennst, and his sister laughed.
"Fortunately, they didn't inherit their father's ego..." she added, and the crew relaxed a little. They weren't out of danger, yet, but they knew that together, they could get there.
