Pieter took the proffered shortbread, picked some lint off it, and took a bite, enjoying the sweet cookie. He couldn’t remember anyone making the desert recently, so he had no idea when or how the boy had some. Leaving the rest on the counter within easy reach of Rohaan, he covered the tuna with a terracotta lid and smoothly unlatched the oven and slid the tuna in. As he closed the oven, he said, “It was kind of Hana to give us these limes, she’s only been with us for a short while and she’s been very helpful to have around,” His lined face was tense around the eyes as he looked at the shifter, “Working with new people is what brought us this meal. Do you understand me, boy?”

——-

Kaga-met rubbed his face, although he preferred to keep it bare, it’d grown stubbly since he’d last shaved. “Nine to eighty and hundred. We’ll go down as hero’s taking 20 of them for one of us.” He looked wryly at the pirate, “Yes, I don’t think attacking them directly will get us far.” He spoke slowly, picking his words as he thought, “The [i]Swift[/i] can fly above a galley for a long while, and we could carry more of those bombs than what the shifter could manage in his dragon form. If the shifter drove a galley towards us, we could drop bombs and try and destroy it safely from the sky. It’d be difficult to know if there were prisoners on one of their ships, the last one we destroyed was leaving the flotilla to go on a raid, but there’s no telling what has happened since. Your ship could be close on hand to board, defeat the remaining scum and rescue any prisoners aboard.” 

His voice had picked up confidence as he spoke, “So long as we can isolate each galley and destroy it in turn, our control of the sky means that their numbers will be worthless. What say you, Berlin?”

——-

Uban’s nonchalance tripped Hana’s anxiety to such an extent that she wrapped around into being calm again, and she blinked confusedly, now more focused on explaining the justifications of her fear than feeling it directly herself. “Well,” she said, using the same tone she’d had when describing how the sigils that channeled Uban’s lightning, though with an edge of panic underneath, “We’re certainly outnumbered, and it would only take one lucky shot on their part and we’d be in serious trouble. And what if they have some hidden monster like the dragon floating next to us on their side? How are we supposed to do this? Why can’t we go into port and tell the authorities?” She squeezed her hand on Uban’s arm, feeling his reassuring bulk. When she realized what she’d done, her cheeks went hot and she stepped back, cradling her hands in front of her.