(Continued from Part 1)

  ■ ■ ■

  A week, Mandy learned towards the end of her second day of being a sapient ghost boat, consisted of only five days in this world.

  After Captain Vittorio had handed off the freshly sealed letter to be returned to the capital, and Tobias was dismissed, Mandy had asked the captain how they were looking, in terms of time remaining until they would reach the capital.

  “We’re perfectly on schedule,” Captain Vittorio answered as he returned to the wheel. “Maybe even a little ahead of schedule, but at this rate we’re still set to arrive on the morning of the fifth day, Serday the fifteenth. One week, as promised.”

  The comment had hit Mandy like a speeding truck, and she very nearly broke character to ask what the hell happened to the rest of the week she was supposed to have and what in the world “Serday” was. Taking a mental step back and thinking about it logically, she had no real reason to assume the calendar in this world shared any similarities with Earth’s calendar. It was already a miracle they spoke English and used the right measurements.

  So, alright, she had three days left to prepare. That was fine. That was totally fine.

  Mandy spent the rest of the evening alternating between pacing her projection back and forth in the captain's cabin and taking solace in the comfortable simplicity of sailing atop the water. Eventually, during one of her periods of restless pacing, she decided she needed some fresh air. In two quick blinks, she vanished from the Captain's cabin and reappeared up in the helm.

  “Who goes—oh, apologies, Lady Scarlett, you startled me,” said the woman stationed at the wheel, one Lieutenant Cooper, who was the “first mate” of the ship. Which, as far as Mandy understood it, made her Captain Vittorio’s second-in-command.

  “At ease, Cooper,” Mandy said with a small giggle, leaning against the back railing. “Don't mind me, I just came up to enjoy this peaceful night air.”

  “Oh, aye,” Cooper said, craning her neck back to peer up at the night sky, bright light filtering between the clouds from the pink-tinted moon overhead. “‘Tis quite the view.”

  Mandy nodded, leaning further back, propping herself up on her elbows and staring up at the star strewn sky as well. She could see patches of it through large gaps in the clouds, and wondered idly if one of the stars she saw up there was the one from her home.

  Probably not, she concluded with a sigh, shrugging her shoulders. Besides, so what if it was? What am I gonna do, strap rockets to the side of this boat and blast off?

  She enjoyed another little laugh at that, then turned over, gazing out across the water at the darkened coastline. She could make out the shape of a town by the distant lights and the silhouettes of buildings, as well as the dark masses of other ships gliding across the bay further inland.

  As she watched, one cluster of lights in particular caught her eye. They moved as a group, far off to the left of the sleeping settlement, flashing in and out of view in a thick patch of forest.

  Huh… looks kind of like… headlights?

  Blinking, and then squinting her eyes, Mandy focused in on the lights that were piercing through the night gloom. Now that she was looking, she could tell that they were nothing like the soft yellow lantern lights she saw dotting the town, but were significantly more bright and powerful, projected forward in a wide cone. They were attached to something huge and black, that weaved between the trees in a way that Mandy initially couldn't grasp, until it emerged from behind the dense woods and began speeding across the open countryside.

  “Is that… a train?!” Mandy blurted out, leaning even further over the railing.

  If it was a train, it was unlike any train Mandy had ever seen. The lights she saw were mounted on the front of a hulking metallic construct that, under the light of the moon, resembled some kind of massive ugly creature; a tapered, angular snout with several sharp, jutting edges that were either spines or teeth, one light in the center and two more recessed into the “face” of the creature like pale, burning eyes. As unusual as the front of the train was, there was no mistaking the procession of cars that were being towed behind it; huge metal boxes and wide, flat beds stacked high with logs and stone blocks.

  “Hmm?” Lieutenant Cooper had turned from the wheel at her exclamation, and was squinting at the distant shore. “I don’t…” She reached down to her belt, pulling a copper tube from her belt, expanding it out to reveal a spyglass, which she pointed towards the far off lights. “Ahh, I see… Soliel’s grace, you’ve got some good eyes, my lady.”

  Lieutenant Cooper collapsed the small telescope again and returned it to her belt, nodding. “Aye, that’ll be the Grand Imperial Thunderclap. She’s probably making a stop there in Cinderfield.”

  “I… see,” Mandy said, finally managing to tear her eyes away from the incongruous sight. She might have vastly underestimated this world and its levels of technological advancement. “It looks like quite an impressive piece of machinery.”

  Lieutenant Cooper visibly swelled with pride at that as she returned her hands to the ship’s wheel.

  “Aye, ‘tis quite a feat! One of the most successful projects the Illuminators have ever produced, if you ask me,” she said, nodding sagely.

  “Oh? Are there… many others like it?” Mandy asked, and felt an immense wave of relief wash over her when Lieutenant Cooper shook her head.

  “No, not yet at any rate,” she said with a chuckle. “First of its kind in the entire world, and only made possible through the power of the Empire!”

  Oh, phew. That meant that things probably weren’t too far off from how she’d been imagining them. Mandy wasn’t sure how she’d handle it if she pulled into port at the capital and found it to be full of cars and skyscrapers or something. Still, it was impressive.

  “You mentioned the… Illuminators?” Mandy asked after a moment, not wanting to let an opportunity to gather more information slip by.

  “That’s right,” Lieutenant Cooper said, nodding and glancing at a compass she had produced at some point, making some minor adjustment to the wheel. “It’s a, what do they call it… collective of the best and brightest minds the Empire has to offer. Scions of noble houses, state mages who excel above their peers, and, of course, many members of the royal family, all working together to advance the Empire’s understanding of magic and technology.”

  Huh. That sounded like another group of people Mandy wasn’t sure she ever wanted to meet, and not just because they sounded like a big bunch of nerds. She’d picked up a little bit more about “arsenal spirits” from some of the crew’s chatter during the first day. They were, supposedly, the ghosts of people who died but got sent back by the gods to inhabit some object that they were extremely skilled with in life. Apparently that usually just meant some kind of weapon or tool, but one sailor mentioned hearing stories about spirits that appeared attached to rings, or books, and in one case, an entire set of paintbrushes.

  But never something like an entire boat.

  Mandy really hoped her ruse held up. She very much didn’t want to end up dissected by a bunch of dumb wizard scientists. Or, should that be deconstructed? Disassembled?

  Right, that’s enough of that. Time to think about something else.

  “Very… fascinating,” Mandy said, distractedly, turning back to the railing and watching the train finish its approach to the village. The dark shape glided to a slow roll, becoming partially obscured by the surrounding buildings, until it disappeared entirely. Mandy could imagine droves of late-night workers waiting at the station, ready to rapidly load and unload cargo before sending the train off on its way again, similar to what had been done with her at the start of the journey.

  “Please forgive me if this is too forward, my lady, I know it is not my place to pry,” Lieutenant Cooper spoke up again, and Mandy looked back over her shoulder curiously. “But… is everything well?”

  “Of course,” Mandy said automatically, and she could see the way Lieutenant Cooper’s face flinched, though she tried to hide it by bringing a hand to her neck.

  “Of course, of course,” Lieutenant Cooper repeated. “I knew it was nothing, just my old mother’s instincts playing tricks on me, I suppose. For a moment there, if you don’t mind me saying so, that look on your face reminded me of my daughter, but I must keep reminding myself that you’re likely nowhere near as young as you look.”

  All across the ship, wood creaked. Sails flapped as though a strong crossbreeze had blown in from the side. Down in the crew quarters, amidst dozens of snoring figures, one sat up, pointed ears twitching.

  “You have a daughter?” Mandy asked politely, turning to fully face the older woman.

  “I have several, aye,” Lieutenant Cooper said with a tentative smile. “My eldest, Ann. I can always tell when she has too much on her mind, no matter how well she tries to hide it, but of course it’s improper for me to assume—”

  “N-no, no!” Mandy cut in, then caught herself and cleared her throat. Steepling her fingers together in front of her, she forced a soft smile onto her face. “I mean, it is alright. Your concern is… heartening. Honestly, after all the trouble I’ve had trying to get anyone on this boat to have a normal conversation with me, it’s nice to have someone just ask me how I’m doing.”

  “I am… glad to be of service, my lady,” Lieutenant Cooper said hesitantly. “So… you are faring well, then?”

  Mandy did a quick scan of the area. There were soldiers stationed on the main deck below, but they were all more concerned with staying warm amidst the night’s chill than eavesdropping on the helm.

  “I won’t say that I’m not experiencing some amount of unease at the prospect of our fast-approaching arrival at the capital,” Mandy admitted, turning sidelong and beginning to—slowly, and casually—pace along the outer edge of the helm.

  “Well, that’s very understandable,” Lieutenant Cooper said sympathetically. “A whole city’s worth of people turning out just to see you, all those eyes on you at once? I’d be shaking in my boots.”

  “Oh, psh,” Mandy scoffed, waving a dismissive hand. “It’s not them I’m worried about, I can deal with adoring crowds all day. It’s the important people I’m worried about meeting.”

  Lieutenant Cooper made a noise of understanding at that, shaking her head. “Oh, heavens, I can’t even imagine. I certainly don’t envy you, my lady,” she said, then seemed to immediately think better of it, adding, “b-but I am certain you have nothing to fear from the royal family! You were sent here by the goddess herself, right? The royal family has given birth to numerous aspects of the goddess throughout the years, so surely they will gladly welcome you as one of their own, yes?”

  Mandy’s pacing stalled and she looked up, blinking. Could it really be so simple? Well, no, because nothing to do with family was ever simple, especially hers, but still, would the royal family really see her as one of them, just like that? It sounded too good to be true, and she wasn’t willing to put all her hopes on it, but she liked to think of herself as an optimist.

  “I… had not considered that, but I suppose that’s possible,” Mandy said, letting a small but genuine smile spread across her face. “Thank you, Lieutenant Cooper. I think I can rest a little easier now.”

  “You’re most welcome, Lady Scarlett,” Lieutenant Cooper said, half-turning from the wheel to smile back at Mandy. “Do let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you.”

  Mandy hummed in thought. It was easy enough for her to think of something she could ask for, but less so for her to tell if it was something she should ask for. It ultimately wasn’t something she needed, and yet…

  “Well…” Mandy began, her voice casual and her tone measured. “If you could, perhaps, try dispelling some of the… apprehension regarding me amongst the rest of the crew, I would be most grateful.”

  It was a bit embarrassing, she knew, having to ask what was basically the vice principal of the ship to order the crew to chill out around her, but time was short and she didn’t have a lot of options. Mandy knew how to talk to people, she knew how to get on their good sides, and she knew how to be charming and likeable, but that required her to be able to get her foot in the door, and she just couldn’t manage that when the most she had to work with stiff salutes and visibly rattled nerves.

  “Oh! Oh, of course!” Lieutenant Cooper said, nodding enthusiastically. “That should not be too difficult, and in fact, I have just the thing in mind. By this time tomorrow evening, I guarantee I can have the entire crew seeing you in a much fonder light.”

  Oh, well. She wasn’t expecting such a quick turnaround. She would be curious to see what the woman came up with, but part of her wanted to allow herself to be surprised, so to that end she would do her best to purposefully not observe her that closely the following day.

  “I’ll be looking forward to it,” Mandy said, and again the smile came easy. “Well, I’ll… leave you to it for now. Have a good night, Lieutenant Cooper.”

  “And yourself, my lady,” Lieutenant Cooper replied, and just before Mandy could stop focusing on her progression, the woman lifted one of her hands from the outer handles of the wheel and placed it atop the wooden outer rim, giving it what Mandy could only interpret as a few affectionate pats.

  “I’ll hold things down out here,” she said, then returned her errant hand to the handles.

  Mandy… was not sure how to process what had just happened. She’d had several dozen people “aboard” her for the past two days; walking here and there, tugging on ropes and raising and lowering sails, and, of course, holding on to the steering wheel. But that was the first time anyone had directed a distinctly human gesture towards her, the boat, instead of her, the human-shaped projection she talked to them through.

  It felt weird, wrong and right in equal measures, and something Mandy was definitely going to need some time to think about before anyone did it again. She was thrown so off balance by it that she didn’t even notice she’d left her projection just standing there, staring off into space, until Lieutenant Cooper turned her head, noting her lack of departure.

  “My lady?”

  The projection winked out, and Lieutenant Cooper furrowed her brow, but then shrugged and returned to her duty, looking down at some point near the center axle of the big wooden wheel and smiling.

  “Suppose you must be busy.”

  The ship did not respond. She was, indeed, very busy.

  So busy, in fact, that it was more than half a day before she fully emerged again.

  Mandy materialized in the captain’s cabin, wearing her best recreation of her favorite pair of pajamas, yawning and stretching her arms over her head. It was entirely for show, of course, because she hadn’t been asleep before, merely deeply absorbed in the sensation of sailing. It wasn’t quite the same as falling asleep, more like deep meditation, but it was just as refreshing, especially after the day she had yesterday.

  She knew that something was in store for her later, but as promised, anytime Lieutenant Cooper approached a group of sailors, Mandy turned her metaphorical all-seeing gaze elsewhere, so as to not spoil the surprise.

  “Sure hope nobody ever tries to throw me a surprise birthday party,” Mandy muttered to herself, dropping into the high-backed captain’s chair and leaning over the desk with her arms crossed.

  That would require anyone in this world to know when her birthday was. Hell, she didn’t even know when her birthday was, because the calendar here was all screwy.

  “‘Serday the fifteenth,’ my foot,” Mandy said, chuckling and rolling her eyes. Frowning, she sat up straight in the chair, letting her head fall backwards and sink into the cushioned upholstery.

  “Can I really keep this up?” she asked the empty air. Scoffing, she crossed one leg over the other and held up a hand. “Psh, what am I saying, of course I can. I’m me!”

  That wasn’t the real question though, was it? The real question was: to what end? Did she really think “divine emissary for a kingdom at war” was the kind of job you could just fake it till you make it in? If she succeeded in impressing the royals and they deemed her legitimate, were they just going to sail her out into the ocean and expect her to start helping them hunt down pirates and win fights? She didn’t know the first thing about naval battles! Or worse, would they think she was too important to be let off on her own, and she’d spend the rest of her life tied up to some dock while people flocked to her asking questions she couldn’t answer or demanding help she couldn’t give?

  Or, even worse, would they see right through her and realize she’d been lying to them all along, and have her turned into firewood or—

  Someone was knocking on the door to the cabin.

  Blinking, Mandy sat up, having been leaning over the desk holding her head in both hands, and extended her view to the short hall outside the door. It was Chase; looking nervous, as usual.

  “What the…”

  Mandy rose to her feet and took a moment to compose herself, and to shift her clothing and appearance back to something more presentable. Crossing the room, she pulled the door open, and sure enough, Chase was standing there looking like a shriveled snail.

  “What?” Mandy began, before realizing how curt and rude that sounded, and quickly added, “—can I do for you, Private Chase?”

  “O-oh, uh, w-well…” Chase stammered out, and Mandy sighed, resting her hands on her hips and waiting for him to find his tongue. “The thing is, you see, I thought… well, I suspected…”

  “Chase,” Mandy cut in, dropping the title and causing the dog-eared young soldier to look up from the floor. “A word of advice: If you have something to say, just spit it out.”

  “O-oh…” Chase said, blinking a few times and hunching his shoulders. “Apologies, my lady. In that case, well… I could tell you had, uh, ‘woken up’ as it were, and I wanted to speak with you about some… concerns I’ve been having..”

  “You could tell, huh?” Mandy said, narrowing her eyes. Shrugging, she stepped out of the doorway. “Alright, come in, no sense in making you stand out in the hall.”

  “Oh, my lady, I couldn’t—”

  “Shut up and get in here,” Mandy snapped, and Chase let out a soft yelp before scurrying into the room. Mandy shut the door behind him and turned around, crossing her arms behind her back and strolling back into the cabin while Chase stood there fidgeting a few feet from the entrance.

  “I should not be here…” Chase muttered under his breath, his ears splaying out to the side and his tail curled around one of his legs. “This was a mistake…”

  “Mistake or not, it’s already made,” Mandy called from across the room, sliding down into one of two red velvet couches posted at opposite ends of the room and crossing her legs. “Might as well just see it through.”

  “A-ah!” Chase stammered again, then shut his mouth with a snap. With concerted effort, he followed her deeper into the cabin, standing before her with a knee-high serving table between them. “You’re right… I’ve come this far… I’m already risking a few lashes just by bothering you without leave from the Captain, what’s a little divine punishment on top of that?”

  Mandy raised an eyebrow while Chase chuckled nervously, filing that away for later, but otherwise not interrupting in case the young man lost his nerve again.

  Taking a deep breath and standing up straight, Chase appeared to finally collect himself. “Well, that said, I beg your forgiveness if I am wrong, but I don’t think I am… Lady Scarlett, are you… distressed?”

  What?

  “What?” Mandy asked, crossing her arms in addition to her legs. “What gave you that idea?”

  Seriously, first Lieutenant Cooper and now this? She was an actress, damnit, and a damn good one for her age, how did these people keep figuring out—

  “I-it’s the ship, you see!” Chase blurted out, taking a step forward in his excitement but then scrambling back several paces. “I-I mean, I wasn’t certain, at first, I was ready to chalk it up to this just being a new vessel that needed time to settle, but… Well, to be frank, Lady Scarlett, I can hear you creaking and groaning and straining, all throughout the day, and considering this ship is your body, I thought you might… know…”

  Chase trailed off as Mandy continued to sit as still as a statue, her body literally frozen in place. All around the ship, her hull flexed like an expanding and contracting ribcage, and the lines securing her sails pulled more and more taut, until it was almost a certainty that one of them might snap. Inside the captain’s cabin, several of the desk drawers rolled themselves open before slamming shut again, jostling their contents, and Chase again yelped and jumped, looking around frantically.

  Mandy took in a deep breath through her nose, deeper than humanly possible, and let it out in a similarly physics-defying sigh, as the ship around them settled itself back down.

  “Fuuuuuck…” she hissed through her teeth, and Chase jerked in surprise, giving her a look like… well, like she’d just cursed, obviously. “So you can hear that, huh? I should’ve figured; ever since that bird guy told me you animal people have better hearing than humans, I’ve been worried you might start to pick up on that, but damn, you were on to me the whole time…”

  “M-my lady?” Chase said, clearly confused, and why wouldn’t he be, when she’d dropped almost all of her usual superior demeanor.

  “Alright, you got me,” Mandy said, throwing a hand up. “You’re right, I’m stressed. I’m stressed up to my eyeballs, dude, and it turns out that as much as I wish I could, I can’t just make that pressure go away. It’s gotta be expressed, whether it’s through this body”—she placed a hand to her chest—“or this body.” She lifted the hand and rapped her knuckles against the wooden wall behind her.

  “O-oh…” Chase gazed around the spacious cabin, nervously twiddling his fingers in front of him. “That… makes sense, I suppose. I’m very sorry to have pried like this, but my concerns were purely practical, I assure you!”

  “Oh yeah?” Mandy asked sardonically, propping her elbow up on the couch behind her and leaning her head against her fist.

  “Yes, well, my fear was that there was something… wrong that was causing this strain to the ship. Though it is comforting to know the source is so… mundane, the fact remains that you cannot continue to put such pressure onto your body, your real body, or you could risk injuring… er, damaging yourself to an extent that could prove fatal, not just to yourself but to all of us aboard!”

  Mandy stared flatly at Chase. Behind her, the wall groaned, and Chase’s eyes widened.

  “L-Lady Scarlett!” Chase barked, and Mandy groaned.

  “Ugh, fine!” she snapped, pushing herself to her feet and starting to pace, clenching her fists and grinding her teeth. “Fine, is this what you want? Congratulations, Mcgruff, you solved the case! The truth is, I’ve been a nervous wreck since I woke up on the docks with a bottle hurtling towards me, are you happy?”

  Chase’s brow furrowed, clearly confused at first, before he shook his head, putting his hands up.

  “I-I-I didn’t mean to cause you any further distress, my lady, but I couldn’t ignore what I was hearing!”

  “I knoooow, shut uuuup,” Mandy droned, running her hands down her face. “Technically you did the right thing. I probably wouldn’t have figured out that what I was doing was actually serious until I, I dunno, sprung a leak, so no more of that.” Turning around and halting her pacing, Mandy brought a hand to her chin. “The real question is: what to do with you.”

  “M-me?!” Chase started, eyes going wide again.

  “Yes, you,” Mandy said, crossing her arms and stepping towards the young sailor. “Or are you going to try and tell me you haven’t noticed that I’m acting completely differently than I usually do?”

  Chase opened his mouth to reply, but then closed it again, frowning and looking away. His ears started to droop again, and just like before Mandy couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy.

  “I did think it was a little strange…” Chase admitted. “But, I assumed it was just because I caught you off-guard, in private. I haven’t ever had the privilege to meet with proper nobility up close, but I have to imagine that even they act differently behind closed doors than they do out in public when they’re, say, addressing a crowd or hosting a ball.”

  “Eh, yeah, you’re probably right about that,” Mandy said, shrugging. “I probably came on way too strong, but I had to get that priest off my back.”

  “B-Brother Eugene?” Chase asked, cocking his head to the side. “Get him off your… Lady Scarlett, are you displeased with Brother Eugene’s conduct?” Like a jack-in-the-box, Chase’s ears had popped back up as he asked, and his tail was even starting to wag.

  “Huh, oh, no, no…” Mandy started to say, and the effect was an immediate one-eighty to Chase’s mood. His wagging stalled and his tail drooped, and Mandy had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes. Could this guy be any easier to read? And why would he be so thrilled at the idea that she wasn’t happy with the old priest?

  Oh, right, because he was kind of a racist creep.

  “Well, alright, maybe a little bit,” Mandy said, correcting herself, and Chase’s eyes lit up again.

  It’s like I’m dangling a treat in front of his nose, Mandy thought, before frowning. Wait, shit, was that racist?

  “But it’s not just him,” Mandy continued, sensing that there was still a chance to salvage this encounter. “It’s… everything. The Empire as a whole.” Mandy didn’t think Chase’s eyes could get any bigger, but he proved her wrong, and she couldn’t help but smirk. “See, part of my… purpose for being here is to observe and learn as much as I can about the true nature of the Empire, organically, so I was not sent with any prior knowledge other than what I absolutely need. That’s why I’ve been so careful to cultivate a certain image in front of the crew as a whole, you see. I’m only showing them what they expect to see.”

  “Oooooh!” Chase all but gasped, bringing a hand to his mouth. “Oh, yes, I completely understand that, Lady Scarlett,” he said, his tail standing up, not exactly wagging but not exactly sitting perfectly still either. It seemed that now that he’d grasped that he wasn’t about to be obliterated, the dog-eared sailor was finally starting to relax.

  “A lot of people in the Empire think dog-kin are dumb, so sometimes it’s easier to just let them think they’re right,” Chase said, and when Mandy arched an eyebrow, Chase smiled for what Mandy thought might be the first time ever since she’d met him. “Like how I let Beckart and his friends think I don’t know what they’re doing when they invite me to play cards with them.”

  Mandy’s eyebrows shot up at that, and Chase’s smile grew even wider, his tail starting to wag with force.

  “Wh… You just regularly let them take all your money?” Mandy asked, getting a nod from Chase. “Why? Why do you let them do that to you?”

  Chase shrugged his shoulders, to Mandy’s utter disbelief. “Like I said, it’s easier that way,” he said, sticking his hands into his pockets. “If I stopped playing games with them, they’d find other, less fun ways to rob me. They might even get violent. This way, they get to feel like they’re winning, and I don’t get hassled as much.”

  “But they are winning!” Mandy said, sitting forward in her seat. “They get to run off with all your money!”

  Again, Chase’s lips curled up, and he cocked his head to the side, giving one of his large pointed ears a flick.

  “Not all of it,” Chase said, shaking his head. “Just the little bit that I carry with me. They’ve managed to convince themselves that because I’m a beastkin, that I get paid a lot less than everyone else, and I just have not corrected them.” Chase’s smile fell a little at that, and he added, “I do get paid less, of course, but only by a bit. I just don’t actually receive my full pay; I have it set up so half of it gets sent to the orphanage I grew up at.”

  “Dude,” Mandy said, bringing a hand to her forehead. “You’ve gotta stop saying such sad shit like that without batting an eye, you’re killin’ me.”

  Chase’s eyes once again shot open wide, before he seemed to clock that Mandy had been joking, but that only seemed to make him more befuddled. He stared down at her with his mouth hanging partially open, as though seeing her in an entirely new light.

  “You… you truly are an aspect of the goddess, aren’t you?” Chase asked softly, almost dazedly.

  Mandy lifted her head, looking into Chase’s huge, hopeful eyes. There were very few times when Mandy found herself in a position where she actually felt bad about having to lie to someone. She was a firm believer in the power of little white lies to avoid annoying or bothersome conversations, or to spare the feelings of someone she actually gave a shit about, but usually she never thought twice when lying was simply necessary. So it was with no small amount of surprise that she suppressed a pang of guilt before putting on her best smile, cocking her head to the side and laying a hand on her chest.

  “I am, indeed.”

  Chase stood there, beaming, basking in her presence while Mandy held her breath, both of her bodies clenched so tightly it was a wonder she didn’t split at the seams. She was so focused on not letting anything slip that it was actually Chase who first noticed the approach of footsteps outside the door to the captain’s cabin, turning suddenly on the spot. Before Mandy could think to try and hold the door shut, it was pushed inward.

  “—know why he would be here, but that’s what Cadet Beckart—” Captain Vittorio was saying as he entered, looking up and immediately locking eyes with Chase, his mouth twisting into a frown. “Private Chase! What are you—”

  “Captain Vittorio,” Mandy said, speaking loud enough to cut across the captain’s words, causing him to jump and actually take notice of her presence on the couch. “It was my understanding that it is the most basic of common courtesies to knock before entering someone else’s chambers. Am I mistaken in that?”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “L-Lady Scarlett,” Captain Vittorio stammered out, quickly pulling himself together, clicking the heels of his boots and snapping to attention. “My most sincere apologies, my lady, I was looking for Private Chase, and was told when he did not report to his assigned post that he was seen heading towards this cabin.”

  “Well, congratulations, Captain,” Mandy said, making no effort to disguise the displeasure in her voice. “You found him.”

  Chase, meanwhile, was standing frozen on the spot, attempting to stand at attention while also shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. Captain Vittorio’s frown deepened, and he glanced from Mandy to Chase.

  “Private Chase, would you care to explain—”

  “I called him here,” Mandy said casually, pushing herself to her feet and strolling towards the doorway. Behind the captain, she could see another crewmember who she’d not yet managed to meet, one wearing a stark white apron in place of his uniform jacket, as well as two more who were craning their necks to try and get a glimpse of the inside of the cabin. “There were some things I needed to discuss with him. Is there some vitally important duty I have pulled him away from?”

  “Ah, well…” Captain Vittorio glanced back over his shoulder at the aproned sailor, and Mandy could practically hear him considering throwing the other man under the bus. “Not as such, no. He was due for a shift in the kitchens. Ordinarily a minor delay would not be cause for such alarm, but when I heard he was headed here, I…”

  Captain Vittorio trailed off, glancing over Mandy’s shoulders at Chase. Oh, so unlike Brother Eugene, the captain wasn’t comfortable coming right out and saying it when the subject was within earshot, eh?

  “Assumed the worst? Assumed he was sneaking in here to ransack the place?” Mandy offered, and Captain Vittorio’s stance grew more rigid, his cheeks taking on a rosy hue. Mandy smiled, turning her back to the man and holding her hands up, shrugging theatrically. “Well, Captain, as you can see everything is as it should be. Private Chase has done only and exactly what I have asked him to and nothing more.” She took a few steps forward, and when Chase managed to peek up from the floor and catch her eye, she smirked and gave him a wink.

  Captain Vittorio cleared his throat and bowed his head, and Mandy spun back around to face him.

  “I see,” he said, his tone oozing professional contrition, the voice of a senior executive being chewed out in front of his subordinates by the only person who outranked him. “I am deeply sorry to have disturbed you. In future, might I… humbly request you inform me when you divert one of my soldiers from their assigned duties, so that it does not happen again?”

  “I will consider it,” Mandy said, crossing her arms. She didn’t exactly plan to do this again—hell, she hadn’t even planned to do it this time—but it didn’t hurt to think ahead and keep her answer vague. “If that will be all, Captain, then you are dismissed.”

  “Of course, my lady.”

  Captain Vittorio kept his head down as he backed up towards the door, forcing the other sailors to scramble backwards as well. Once he was out in the hall, and before he could reach for it himself, Mandy flexed her mental muscles and, for the first time, tried to consciously cause part of the ship to move as opposed to letting it happen involuntarily due to stress.

  The door slammed shut in Captain Vittorio’s face with much more force than Mandy intended. He stood there, momentarily stunned, then whirled around, marching stiffly down the hall with the small crowd of sailors in tow.

  “Ah, oops,” Mandy said, shrugging and turning around. “Gonna have to work on—omph!”

  “Thank you!” Chase cried, throwing his arms around Mandy’s shoulders and squeezing her with such force she was surprised she didn’t pop, his tail wagging so hard she could feel it reverberating up the rest of his body. “Thank you, thank you, thank you so much! I don’t even want to think about what they would’ve done to me if you hadn’t stood up for me!”

  “H-hey, it’s fine…” Mandy stammered, her arms held out stiffly and awkwardly, suddenly unsure of whether she wanted to push the frantic dog-boy away while shouting “Down, boy!” or whether she wanted to pat his head and scratch behind his ears.

  I wonder if his leg would start kicking if I—

  Before she could complete the thought or come to a decision, Chase appeared to come to his senses and pulled away from her, looking even more embarrassed than Captain Vittorio had. His eyes even appeared to be glistening, and his cheeks were wet where they'd been pressed against Mandy’s shoulder.

  “O-oh, g-gods, I’m so sorry!” Chase said, and again Mandy was shocked at just how easily his mood could turn on a dime. Where before he’d been wagging hard enough to cause a breeze, now he looked like he wished the floodboards would open up and he’d fall through into the ocean. “I don’t know what came over me, I’m usually much better at… I-I mean, I don’t usually—”

  Oh, hell no, she didn’t have time for this.

  “Hey!” Mandy snapped, clapping both hands onto either side of Chase’s cheeks, forcing him to look her straight in the eyes.

  “It’s. Fine,” she said, pausing for emphasis between each word. “Okay?” Chase tried to nod, but she held his face firm. “Uh-uh, I wanna hear it. What is it, Chase?”

  “Itsh… fine?” Chase repeated hesitantly, slightly slurred due to having his face squished in.

  “That’s right, it’s fine,” Mandy agreed, nodding and releasing Chase’s face. He stepped back, rubbing at one of his cheeks and sniffling once. She let out a playful scoff and put a hand on her hip. “Geez, you’re such a drama queen. If you weren’t so timid, I’d think you were part husky.”

  “W-what?” Chase asked, furrowing his brow.

  “Nothing, don’t worry about it,” Mandy said, waving a hand towards one of the couches. “Just… sit down and breathe and get yourself together. You’re gonna have to actually head back to work eventually.”

  “R-right, thank you, my lady,” Chase said, nodding his head gratefully and slinking over to the offered couch, plopping down onto it and then falling over onto his side, being careful not to actually let his boots touch the upholstery. Mandy, similarly, pulled up one of the other chairs and slid down into it, resting in a most un-ladylike fashion, with her back hunched forward and her elbows resting on top of her knees.

  “What a day,” Mandy said wearily, chuckling. “And I haven’t even been up for an hour.”

  Over on the couch, Chase snickered softly, his tail making quiet thumps against the couch cushions. A comfortable silence fell over the room, broken only by the occasional sniffle. Doing a quick mental inventory, Mandy located a stack of folded cloth hand towels in one drawer of the desk, and stood back up to go retrieve one.

  “Lady Scarlett…” Chase spoke up while she was rummaging through the drawer. “May I… I mean, would you mind if I… ehrm…”

  “Chase,” Mandy said, turning around with towel in hand, putting her hands on her hips. “What’d I say, huh?”

  “‘J-just spit it out…’” Chase recited, nodding sideways. “Sorry. I just wanted to offer some advice, which ordinarily would not be my place, but… er, right, yes.” Chase cleared his throat, looking up when Mandy approached, holding out the hand towel.

  “Thank you,” he said quietly, sitting up and studiously wiping down his face before blowing his nose. By the time Mandy settled back into her seat, Chase was looking much more well put together again.

  “I’ve heard that you’ve been having some… trouble trying to bond with the crew,” Chase said.

  “Yeesh, is everybody talking about it?” Mandy asked, throwing her hands up.

  “Well, yes,” Chase said, chewing on his lower lip. “Pardon me for saying so, but you’re not that big a ship, as ships go. This is a small crew, and there’s only so many ways to kill time during downtime; next to sleeping, talking is the easiest, and all anybody could talk about over dinner last night and breakfast today was you.”

  Mandy cringed, slapping a hand to the side of her face. Ordinarily, she’d be ecstatic to hear something like that, but not when it was about her repeated awkward failures to break the ice.

  I knew I should’ve paid closer attention to those!

  To be fair, she had peeked into the mess the first two times the soldiers had gathered there for their twice daily meals, in the hopes of overhearing some more useful chatter, but there had been something incredibly disquieting about watching forty or so people eating and drinking while grappling with the still fresh realization that she would never do either of those things again. She must have just started reflexively ignoring them after that.

  “So I suppose you have some idea of how I should try to fix that, hmm?” Mandy asked, dubious but hopeful.

  Chase tilted his head back, shrugging. “Just a thought, really, but this… other side of you is much less intimidating than before. You sound more like the sailors I grew up running errands for than the high-class merchants and would-be minor nobles that I grew up dodging kicks from… sorry, was that too sad again?”

  “A little bit, but you thinking you need to apologize for it is even more sad,” Mandy said, leaning back into her chair and crossing her arms, mulling over Chase’s words.

  “It’s funny,” Mandy mused. “You basically just told me to ‘be yourself,’ but for the first time in history, that might… actually be a decent piece of advice.” She gave Chase a small smile. “Maybe I’ll give it a try at… whatever it is Lieutenant Cooper has planned.”

  “Oh, you know about that?” Chase asked.

  “I know something is happening, but not what it is,” she said, letting out an uncharacteristically sheepish chuckle. “I kind of… asked Lieutenant Cooper if she could help with this same exact problem last night.”

  “Oooh,” Chase said, nodding. “Well, I won’t spoil the surprise then, but you’re right. That would be a great opportunity to show the crew this more relaxed side of you.”

  “Hmm.” Mandy hummed, kicking her legs out in front of her. “It’s risky, but I’m willing to give it a try. We’re… two and a half days out from arriving at the capital, and I plan to do it with a ship full of allies at my back.”

  “Well, for what little it’s worth, you’ve already got my support, my lady,” Chase said, rising carefully to his feet before snapping a quick salute. Mandy giggled, and Chase laughed along with her and, for the first time, her future started to look a bit less grim.

  Eventually, Chase did have to return to his duty. Mandy didn’t have a firm idea of when this mystery event was supposed to take place other than “after noon, but before evening.” Which was ridiculously vague considering Captain Vittorio, at least, had a watch, but whatever. She didn’t want to jump the gun and emerge from her chambers too early, but she did want to keep an eye on Chase as he went about his work.

  “Oh my gooood,” Mandy groaned at the ceiling, her projection reclining on the couch while her vision hovered somewhere over Chase’s head as he toiled in the kitchen alongside several other crew members. “How many potatoes does it take to make a stew, seriously?”

  To be fair, those pots looked pretty big, and they did have an entire ship to feed, but Chase had been peeling potatoes for almost twenty minutes now. His fellow sailors, who had already been working when he arrived and were chopping various other vegetables, had plenty to say about his absence, but none of it to him.

  “Heard the Lady Scarlett ordered him to her chambers,” one man whispered to his neighbor.

  “What would she want with the likes of ‘im?”

  “Beats me. I reckon she don’t trust him and wanted to put the fear of the goddess into him. You know how them high-borns can’t stand the beastfolk.”

  Mandy rolled her eyes. Chase hadn’t been kidding; word of their impromptu “meeting” was spreading like wildfire, and the speculation was already getting out of hand. She stopped following the trail after a while because it was starting to get genuinely disturbing, the amount of people who assumed she’d called on Chase just to berate or threaten him.

  Chase, who Mandy was one hundred percent certain would be able to hear the other sailors even if he didn’t have superior hearing, just continued to peel his pile of potatoes, a pleasant little smile on his face.

  “Y’know,” Mandy said conversationally, thinking aloud to herself in what had become a habit she had all but given up trying to curtail. “He’s not half-bad. He’s definitely cute, and way nicer than basically any guy we’ve ever gone out with.”

  She let a beat pass, both to give her time to mull over what she’d said, and to formulate her “response.” She dismissed her projection on the couch and reappeared in the chair, fully decked out in Lady Scarlett’s finery.

  “Yes, quite,” Lady Scarlett agreed with a haughty laugh. “Who knew all it took to make a man infinitely more palatable was to make him part canine.” She continued to titter demurely for several seconds, before once again banishing her projection, reappearing on the couch, sprawled out exactly as she had been.

  “Tell me about it,” Mandy said, chuckling and shaking her head.

  Back on Earth, Mandy had lost track of the number of hours she’d spent doing almost this exact same thing; reading scripts aloud in preparation for a part, including doing the lines of the other characters as well. One director, early on, had tried to discourage her from doing this, saying that it was an unnecessary waste of time and she was only going to confuse herself. She then proceeded to act out an entire five character scene without misattributing a single line of dialogue.

  Now, okay, she wasn’t reading a script, so it was more like she was improvving with herself, and she also couldn’t rapidly swap positions and costumes in the blink of an eye back on Earth, but the principles were the same. It was also an excellent way to practice better control over her projection. She could already make her swaps instantaneous, but she got the feeling there was still so much more she was capable of that she was missing. She was sure she should be able to project things other than her own body, like props and special effects, because otherwise she wouldn’t appear clothed like she always did, but she just couldn’t figure it out yet. So, this would have to do for now.

  “What do you suppose this ‘bonding exercise’ Lieutenant Cooper has set up entails?” Lady Scarlett asked.

  Mandy tapped a finger against her chin in thought. “No clue. She's probably smart enough to know I can't really eat anything, so it's probably not like, inviting me to dine with the crew.”

  “Although, depending on how this goes, that may not be a terrible next step,” Lady Scarlett offered. “People are much more likely to be relaxed when they are eating.”

  “I think you might be right, unfortunately,” Mandy said, sighing. “I just hope it's not gathering everyone together to listen to Brother Eugene give a sermon.”

  “Mmh, that might still prove useful.”

  “It might also be boring as shit.”

  “You know, that handsome young man is correct, you do speak like a baseborn deckhand.”

  Mandy and Lady Scarlett shared another laugh at that. Refocusing on said “handsome young man,” Mandy found he had apparently finally reached his quota of potatoes peeled, and had now moved on to rapidly chopping them, and doing so with surprising deftness.

  “And he's good in the kitchen!” Mandy cried, throwing her hands into the air in mock exasperation. “He's, like, the perfect guy!”

  “Careful now,” Lady Scarlett said, holding the back of her hand up to her mouth and grinning smugly. “That’s exactly what you said about Chad.”

  “Okay, that’s not fair,” Mandy protested, holding her hands up over her head. “He was the perfect guy—in middle school. Then all that… stuff happened with his mom and his dad, and he just slowly morphed into more and more of a jerk.”

  “It’s probably not fair to blame him for that, don’t you think?” Lady Scarlett asked disapprovingly.

  “I know, I know,” Mandy said, now gesticulating in the air above the couch as she talked. “That’s why I kept giving him second chances! Every time I had to cut him loose, I always took him back, eventually. And in the end, he has the audacity to break up with me?”

  “Can you really blame him for that, either?”

  “Yes! Ugh, or, no…” Mandy groaned, slapping a hand to her forehead. “I don’t know, it’s not like what happened was even that big of a deal…”

  “You sure made a big deal of it at the time.” Lady Scarlett turned her head away, staring at the far wall. “Ruined that poor girl’s reputation...”

  “Well it was either hers or mine!” Mandy spat, bringing her other hand up and grinding her palms into her forehead. “Unlike her, my reputation was actually worth a damn! I mean, she was on the swim team for fucks’ sake, what’d it even matter if everyone found out she was a—”

  Lady Scarlett sucked in her breath sharply, and Mandy bit down on her tongue. This was an infuriatingly familiar argument, and one she’d played out several times now. It had a script of its own, one that Mandy had started following without even intending to. Frustrated, Mandy kicked the arm of the couch and huffed.

  “None of that even matters now,” Mandy said, letting her tired arms go limp, one hanging off the edge of the couch and the other draped across her face. “We’re not even on the same planet anymore. They’re both back on Earth, and I’m a ghost, in a boat, talking to myself because I don’t have anybody else I can talk to. So maybe get off my back and let my spy on the cute dog guy in peace.”

  For once, Lady Scarlett didn’t have anything to say. She just frowned and shook her head.

  Then, quite unexpectedly, Mandy felt heavy boots clomping on her floorboards, heading up the hall towards her cabin.

  Startled, Mandy sat upright on the couch. At the same time, Lady Scarlett gripped the sides of the chair and started to rise.

  “W-wha… huh?” Mandy said, blinking and turning her head.

  “W-wha… huh?” Lady Scarlett, which is to say, still Mandy but in her Lady Scarlett getup, spoke at the exact same time, meeting her own eyes.

  Both projections, both of them still very much her, both active at the same time, feeding twin streams of sensory information into her mind. At some point, without even noticing, she had simply stopped swapping places, and somehow spawned a second projection. She raised two identical but distinct left hands and held them in front of two identical, slightly slack-jawed faces, turning them over in mute fascination.

  Then, a knock sounded at the door, and Mandy flicked her vision out to inspect the hallway, finding Lieutenant Cooper waiting there. After knocking, she leaned forward and spoke through the door.

  “Lady Scarlett? Are you in there?”

  In a panic, Mandy dismissed both projections, leaving the captain’s cabin empty and leaving her with only one point of view instead of three. Nervously, she summoned a fresh projection right in front of the cabin door. As intended, only one projection appeared, and Mandy quickly glanced down at herself, dressed as she should be to answer the door as Lady Scarlett.

  “Yes?!” she blurted out, wrenching the door open in her haste, causing Lieutenant Cooper to jump back slightly in alarm.

  “Ah! Oh, Goddess above, you startled me…” the older woman said, laughing nervously while holding one hand over her heart.

  “S-sorry,” Mandy said, shaking her head. “I was… I was distracted for a moment. Can I help you with something, lieutenant?”

  Lieutenant Cooper frowned slightly, seeming confused.

  “Do you… not recall the conversation we had last night, my lady?”

  “Oh!” Mandy resisted the urge to slap her own forehead. Right, of course, she must have lost track of the time worse than she realized. “No, no, I remember, I just… would you give me a moment to collect myself?”

  “Of course, my lady,” Lieutenant Cooper said, and Mandy stepped back, closing the door again.

  She paced to the center of the cabin, running her fingers through her hair and taking several deep breaths. She needed to focus, to center herself. She had a show to put on, one that had to be carried out just right, and she couldn’t be distracted.

  Opening her eyes, she furrowed her brow in concentration, and tried to repeat the phenomenon she’d just achieved. No second projection appeared, and try as she might, she couldn’t even begin to figure out how she’d done it or how to replicate it.

  “Right, that’s that I guess,” she said quietly, brushing her hands together as though dusting them off. Now, at least, she wouldn’t spend the next who-knew-how-long obsessively wondering whether or not she’d figured out some new ability she had. Now she could focus.

  With a flicker, her overly elaborate gown with the rose motif was replaced with a more simple and downplayed plain red A-line dress, cinched with a black belt, and a lightweight red shawl draped across her shoulders. Her hair was less elaborately styled, merely held back out of her face with a simple red band. She looked more ready to attend a mid-sized school dance than a royal ball, and hoped that might also help soften her image.

  Blinking back over to the door, she pulled it open, giving Lieutenant Cooper a smile. Not her best smile, of course, but more like a… six out of ten smile.

  “Sorry about that,” she said, superficially adjusting her shawl. “Just needed another moment to get ready. What’d’ya think?”

  Mandy winced slightly. Whenever she showed off a new outfit, she’d always ask for opinions that way, and force of habit had taken over before she could stop herself. Fortunately, the other woman didn’t seem to notice.

  “That’s quite alright, my lady,” Lieutenant Cooper said, giving Mandy’s new outfit an appraising glance and smiling in return. “It looks quite splendid. I’m glad to see you’re excited; I think you’re going to enjoy this, and I think the crew will appreciate it as well.”

  “Well, lead the way.”

  With that, Lieutenant Cooper nodded sharply and turned on her heels, leading Mandy through the narrow corridor that led away from the captain’s quarters and the private cabins to the set of stairs that led up to the main deck. Since she’d been adamant about not letting her all-seeing gaze spoil the surprise, she had no idea what to expect when she emerged into the afternoon sunlight.

  Most of the crew had been gathered, that much was obvious. A quick scan of the ship showed only a few absent, either still sleeping or otherwise occupied. Even Chase and the other sailors who had been helping in the kitchen were being dismissed, with only the ship’s cook and two other apron-wearing assistants staying behind. In the rough center of the main deck, a large square mat of some leathery material had been unfurled, and two ridiculously wide rectangular trunks had been set up against the railings of the ship. With their lids raised, Mandy could see that both were absolutely chock full of weapons; swords and axes and clubs, all in various sizes, as well as other things Mandy wasn’t even going to try to identify. Several wooden stools had been loosely arranged at either end of the mat, with three actual chairs brought out and arranged side by side in front of one of the masts, one of which was already occupied by Brother Eugene, and another which had Captain Vittorio’s hat hanging off of it.

  “Huh…” Mandy said absentmindedly as she took in the entire spectacle, and several of the seated sailors who had their backs to her turned suddenly and jumped to their feet, which caused a domino effect to spread through the crowd. All the excited chatter abruptly came to an end as the entire crew stood and saluted her.

  Mandy sighed softly, and Lieutenant Cooper let out a small chuckle beside her.

  “Patience, my lady,” she said quietly, motioning for Mandy to take the lead now.

  “Yeah, yeah…” Mandy replied under her breath, stepping forward and raising one hand to lazily wave as she passed between the rows. “Please, don’t mind me, just go back to what you all were doing.”

  The mood didn’t exactly bounce back to its previous level, but at least most of the sailors stopped saluting, and several of them did sit back down. Lieutenant Cooper led her along the outside of the mat, which brought her past one of the wide open trunks, where several more sailors were arranged, inspecting the weapons inside. Up close, Mandy could tell there was something odd about them, and when she paused and leaned in for a closer look, it struck her.

  “No edges…” she said, reaching out and tracing her finger along the blade of one of the swords. “And no points.”

  Were these… prop weapons? She’d held her fair share of so-called “stage-ready weapons”, and these looked remarkably similar. She lifted the short sword she’d been inspecting out of its slot and held it up, finding even the weight was similar, and surprisingly comforting in its familiarity.

  “Ah, er, that’s right, my lady,” Lieutenant Cooper said, suddenly sounding nervous for some reason. “These are training weapons, you see. As much as I am sure the crew would be… honored to put on an exhibition with live steel, we must be careful. Our supply of healing elixirs is limited, and none of our mages are adept at healing magic, but I thought you would still enjoy seeing some of the crew engage in a bit of sporting combat.”

  Mandy had turned to stare at Lieutenant Cooper while she was explaining all this, and had not stopped staring at her once she finished. The gears in her head whirred, and she glanced from the blunt edged sword in her hand, to the mat laid out on the deck, to the rows of benches and the large empty chair placed at the head of it all, and finally back to Lieutenant Cooper.

  “Is it… to your liking, my lady?” Lieutenant Cooper asked hopefully.

  Mandy couldn’t help but smile as she asked, “They’re going to fight? For me?”

  “Well, yes,” Lieutenant Cooper said, some of the tension leaving her shoulders at Mandy’s apparent approval. “You are an aspect of the Goddess of Love and War, after all. I thought a display of war would be just the thing to lift your spirits.”

  “Well, it was either that or a display of love, huh?” Mandy said, jokingly, only for Lieutenant Cooper and several of the sailors who were within earshot to jolt in surprise, many of them suddenly looking uncomfortable and turning their eyes to either the sky or the floor.

  “Ah, yes, well…” Lieutenant Cooper said, momentarily at a loss for words, before she visibly forced the smile back onto her face and continued, lowering her voice as she spoke. “As… honored as I’m sure many of the crew would be to put on such a display for you, this crew is newly formed, and most of them will not have had time to forge their bonds, through battle or otherwise.”

  “O-oh, of course!” Mandy blurted out, letting out a demure laugh and waving her hand. “I was only joking! This should be plenty exciting enough already!”

  The relief was evident on Lieutenant Cooper’s face, and several of the sailors who heard her proclamation let out accompanying cheers of their own. Mandy laughed again and turned to return the sword to its place in the trunk, letting out a sigh under her breath.

  Okay, note to self: find out what a “display of love” means to these people and then never, ever suggest it again.

  After that, Lieutenant Cooper finished leading Mandy to her seat, and by then Captain Vittorio appeared, coming down from the helm as she arrived.

  “Blessed day to you, Lady Scarlett,” Brother Eugene said, rising from his seat.

  “Greetings, Lady Scarlett,” Captain Vitorrio said, standing next to his chair and bowing when she approached.

  “Good afternoon, Captain,” Mandy said, smiling and inclining her head. “You as well, Brother Eugene.”

  “About the incident earlier—”

  “Oh, yes, of course,” Mandy said, cutting the captain off and waving her hand. “Allow me to apologize for being short with you. I was merely upset at the sudden interruption, I should not have spoken to you so harshly.”

  Captain Vittorio looked momentarily taken aback, and in a way that was almost predictable. Of course Mandy knew that, as his “superior,” she was probably well within her rights to tell him off for anything and everything and never apologize for a single thing, but even she knew that leaning too hard on that kind of leadership style eventually produced diminishing returns. Better to show an ounce of humility and be the one to apologize first, and save her real wrath for those who actually seriously offended her.

  “T-there is no need, my lady,” Captain Vittorio finally managed to say. “It was my folly, I should be the one begging your forgiveness. I should not have barged in like I did.”

  “Perhaps, perhaps not,” Mandy said, shrugging and turning to dramatically drop into the chair prepared for her. “It is in the past now. Come, both of you, sit down, no need to keep standing around. Although, speaking of standing around…”

  Mandy turned in her chair, making a show of scanning the milling crow of sailors before lifting her eyebrows and calling out, “Ah, Private Chase, there you are! Come here a moment, would you?”

  Chase, who had moments before emerged from below decks with the others from the kitchen, blinked in surprise and looked back at her dumbly. Unbeknownst to him, but beknownst to her, Beckart and his cronies stopped in their tracks before they could reach him, having been on a direct collision course with him since he appeared.

  “Yes, you,” Mandy said, waving him over a few more times until he got the message and broke into a short half-jog through the attentively staring crowd.

  “Ah, ehm, yes, my lady?” Chase said as he arrived.

  Mandy tilted her head to one side, squinting slightly, before pointing to a spot just to the right of her chair, in the empty gap between her seat and Brother Eugene’s.

  “Stand here,” she said. Chase’s eyes, wide and confused, flicked from her to Brother Eugene, who had still not yet returned to his seat. Moving slowly and hesitantly, he shuffled into position in the spot she’d indicated.

  “Mmh…” Mandy hummed as if in deep thought, before flicking her fingers forward twice. “Take a tiny step forward.” Wordlessly, Chase moved ever so slightly forward and she smiled, holding a hand up. “Stop! Yes, right there, that’s perfect, now don’t move.”

  Silence hung over the deck of the ship like a blanket of fog. It felt as though nobody dared to so much as breathe. Eventually, Brother Eugene let out a polite cough and spoke up.

  “Ah, Lady Scarlett?” he began, and Mandy turned her pleased grin on him. “May I ask, why have you positioned this… this particular soldier so? It is most improper for one of such… low rank to stand so close to your divine self.”

  “Is it not obvious?” Mandy asked, her smile widening. Brother Eugene, rapidly becoming one of her favorite people to pose that particularly infuriating rhetorical question to, just furrowed his brow. Sighing dramatically, Mandy pointed at the sky, and in particular, the sun, hanging low over the western horizon.

  “The sun is in my eyes. I need him there to block the glare,” Mandy explained, pouring as much dismissiveness into her voice as possible.

  A wave of laughter rippled through the crowd at that, and even Brother Eugene seemed to approve, glancing from her to Chase and bobbing his head up and down.

  “I see, I see,” he said, turning and easing himself back down into his own chair. “A befitting task for one of his ilk, if ever I heard.”

  Mandy had to suppress a snort, and chanced a peek up at Chase, hoping her smug and self-satisfied smile said it all since she couldn’t chance a wink; Lieutenant Cooper, who had remained waiting in the wings while she spoke with the captain and the priest, as staring at her very intently for some reason. Seemingly catching herself, she softened her expression before Mandy could turn her head and see her, which of course she couldn’t know didn’t actually matter.

  Taking a step forward, Lieutenant Cooper asked, “Are you all set for us to begin, my lady?”

  “Indeed,” Mandy said, settling a little deeper into her chair.

  “Very good. Then, without any further ado…” Lieutenant Cooper turned, raising one arm over her head and cupping her other hand around her mouth. “Line up, you flea-bitten rascals! The lady is ready to see you prove your worth as soldiers of the Empire!”

  A cheer went up at that, and Mandy settled in as Lieutenant Cooper began going over the rules for the oncoming duels.

  “Alright, now listen up!” the older woman shouted, standing in the center of the mat and turning in a slow circle to address both sides of the crowd. “Fighters will be allowed to strike anywhere they can reach in an attempt to score a blow, but intentionally directing blows to the eyes, nose, ears, and mouth are forbidden! Choking is forbidden, but grabs, throws, and grapples are allowed! Bouts will go until one opponent has scored a total of five definite killing blows, at which point two new fighters will take their place! Have I made myself clear?”

  “Yes, ma’am!” the gathered crew replied as one, and Mandy couldn’t help but shiver a little at the force of their collective voices. She didn’t have a heart to start beating faster, but she was definitely starting to feel excitement building in her at the prospect of watching several people go at each other with swords. On the rare occasions that she’d been in a play that required her to learn the moves to a fight sequence, she always had fun watching the fight choreographers practice with each other during their breaks from teaching.

  “First two fighters, take your marks!” Lieutenant Cooper bellowed, and two crew members from the crowd who had been milling around the weapons chests stepped forward onto the mat. Both of them had swords, and Mandy supposed as first fights went you couldn’t go wrong with that. At least they were different kinds of swords; one was longer and sharply curved with only a single “edge”, and one was short and wide and straight as an arrow, with an edge on both sides.

  Mandy leaned slightly forward in her seat in anticipation as Lieutenant Cooper checked one last time that both sailors were ready, then raised her hand into the air, shouting, “Begin!”

  Mandy expected the two opponents to launch into a flurry of motion, to close in on one another and immediately begin a deadly dance of death, metaphorically speaking. She expected metal clangs to ring out across the deck in time with her pounding heartbeat.

  She did not expect for the two sailors to walk slowly towards each other and start taking timid, unimpressive looking swipes and poking at one another. Mandy found herself sitting back in her seat, the expression of surprise on her face melting into one of confusion as the “fight” went on. One of the sailors didn’t draw his arm back in time, and the other one stepped in, swinging her blade up and catching him under the arm.

  “Good strike!” Lieutenant Cooper called out, a phrase that was repeated by several other sailors in the crowd, accompanied by a few scattered applause. Mandy clapped as well, just to be polite, but her prospects of enjoying the next however-long this exhibition took were rapidly falling.

  The two fighters resumed their positions and started again, and it was more of the same. Mandy’s back sunk further into her chair as another uninspired fight played out in front of her, and she froze her projection in place lest she look as bored as she was feeling.

  After what felt like several agonizingly unexciting minutes, one of the fighters managed to rack up five hits on the other, and that pair was dismissed. Mandy felt a brief flutter of hope that the next two would prove to be capable of putting on more of a show, especially since one of them had chosen a long handled axe instead of another sword, but the ensuing first fight of the second match was just as slow and methodical as the last.

  By the third pair of fighters, Mandy was ready to start tugging out her hair. A groan built up inside her chest, and she blew out a puff of air through her nose, adjusting herself in her seat even though it was impossible for her to be sore.

  Beside her, one of Chase’s large ears flicked, and he lowered his head to look down at her. Nervously, he glanced at Brother Eugene, seated on the other side of him, then took a deep breath and opened his mouth, speaking under his breath in a hushed whisper that would have been impossible for her to hear if she were only listening through her projection, and definitely impossible for anyone else to hear.

  “You seem dissatisfied, my lady,” Chase whispered. “If something is not to your liking, perhaps you should… spit it out?”

  Mandy snorted. A very obvious and very undignified sound, and one that caught her off guard. Captain Vittorio turned to look at her, as did Brother Eugene, the latter one frowning when he realized that Chase was still positioned to block “the sunlight” from Mandy’s vision.

  “Is something the matter, my lady?” Captain Vittorio asked quietly.

  “As a matter of fact, yes, there is ‘something the matter’,” Mandy said, not bothering to keep her voice down. More eyes from the crowd turned towards her and, noticing the disruption, Lieutenant Cooper turned away from the fight, looking at her with concern. She raised an arm and the two fighters stopped, and when the older woman came over, she was looking positively stricken.

  “My lady?” Lieutenant Cooper said.

  “Well,” Mandy said, holding up a hand. “No offense or anything, but this is a bit… boring, don’t you think?”

  Disquiet murmurs broke out amongst the crowd, and Lieutenant Cooper’s frown grew even deeper.

  “A-as I said, my lady, it would be too dangerous for us to practice with edged weapons—”

  “Not that!” Mandy said, pushing herself to her feet suddenly. “I’m not saying I want you to start hacking each other's arms off for a few practice fights! I’m just saying you could stand to make the fighting look a little bit more interesting, couldn’t you? Y’know, make a proper spectacle of it?”

  Lieutenant Cooper’s brow furrowed, as did those of several other sailors, some of them exchanging glances with their neighbors.

  “A… a spectacle, my lady?” Lieutenant Cooper repeated, looking over her shoulder at the mat laid out on the deck. “I am not sure I understand… The fighters thus far have exhibited excellent form in both their footwork and blade control.”

  “Yes, yes, and I’m sure in a real fight that’s important or whatever, but this is supposed to be entertaining, isn’t it?” Mandy said, continuing past Lieutenant Cooper towards the mat. Quickly scanning both chests with her shipwide vision, she located what she was looking for and hurried over to the right side of the ship, kneeling down to choose a weapon she was actually familiar with, one she’d practiced with for hours on end in the months leading up to her lead role in The Thief and the Maiden. A three-foot blade, flat and wide, tapering to a blunted tip, featuring a crossguard with two upward-curving prongs and a handle large enough to be held in both hands—a longsword. She gave it a few experimental twirls, feeling the worn leather grip between her fingers and catching the waning sunlight on the polished blade.

  Standing up and turning around, she glanced down at her outfit and, after a moment’s consideration, raised her free hand and snapped her fingers dramatically. At once, her dress was replaced by a modified version of the costume she wore for the part, that of a rebellious princess who disguised herself as a young man in order to learn sword fighting, and eventually ran away from home to become a pirate.

  Mandy now wore a tight-fitting burgundy-red waistcoat with tails over a white shirt with billowing sleeves, and snug fitting black pants tucked into knee high boots. Several of the sailors gasped at that and many more clapped or let out cheers, and Mandy felt herself beaming at the attention.

  Maaaan, she thought as she tested the weight of the sword in her hand. This would be so much cooler if I had someone else who knew the sequence. Showing off just one half of a fight scene doesn’t seem very—

  With a jolt, Mandy realized she’d done it again. Looking to her left, and also to her right, she was shocked to see that a second version of her, dressed identically, had appeared at her right, while at the same time realizing she was now standing to the left of where she had been a moment before, and was looking at herself.

  Okay, focus, Mandy berated herself. Don’t think about it too hard, don’t psych yourself out. Just… go with the flow.

  Clearing her throat, the first projection, the one Mandy was still thinking of as “herself,” raised her voice again and gestured to the duplicate.

  “As you can see,” she said, speaking loud enough to be heard over the steadily increasing volume of the crowd, “I’ve brought along some help for this little demonstration! If you’ll all say ‘hello’ to my lovely assistant.”

  Her “lovely assistant,” which is to say, still her but standing a few feet to the left, let out an exaggerated giggle and made a shooing motion with her hand.

  “Oh stop!” she cried dramatically, and as she hoped, several of the sailors let out barks of laughter, seemingly despite themselves.

  It wasn’t as difficult as she would have imagined to get the hang of operating each projection individually. She just had to let go of the idea that either one of them was actually “her,” and pull a bit more of her mind back into the ship, allowing her to “zoom out” so to speak. Then, it was less like having two pairs of everything, and more like each projection was a single hand, making it much easier to move them independently.

  “Hmm.” The first projection hummed, standing with the tip of her sword poking into the mat, one hand resting on the pommel and the other coming up to tap her chin. “I think our audience might have a bit of trouble telling us apart.”

  “Oh, I’ve got just the thing!” The second projection gasped, clapping her hands together. Striking a little pose, she held up one hand and, like she’d done before, snapped her fingers loudly and dramatically. In the blink of an eye, the colors of her costume shifted, her waistcoat becoming a vibrant blue, her pants becoming bright, pearlescent white.

  “Well?” the excited projection in blue asked, turning towards the crowd and fanning her arms out. “What do you think?”

  More and more of the sailors were getting into it now, letting out whoops and cheers of approval. One sailor even cupped her hands around her mouth and called out, “Shall we call you ‘Lady Azure?’”

  “You most certainly shall, if you know what’s good for you!” the newly dubbed “Lady Azure” shouted back, earning her another round of laughs. Throwing a smug grin back over her shoulder, she said, “Hear that? I’ve already got them on my side.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” said the remaining projection, Lady Scarlett, rolling her hands and waving her hand dismissively. “Just go pick a weapon, while I still have some patience left.”

  Lady Azure stuck her tongue out playfully and trotted over to the other weapon chest. By now, the two fighters whose bout she had interrupted had returned to the sidelines, and she was free to rummage around for a suitable weapon. It was, as everything over the last few minutes had been, a show; Mandy knew exactly where the other longsword was, and had the so-called Lazy Azure draw it with a dramatic flourish.

  “Are you ready to get your butt kicked?” Lady Azure asked, voice brimming with bravado. As expected, the crowd let out a chorus of “ooo”s at that, but Lady Scarlett just smirked and gave her hair a theatrical flip.

  “I shall make you eat those words!” she countered, and then she launched herself at her opponent.

  Like the needle of a record player falling into the grooves on a record, once the “fight” began, it became second nature for Mandy to guide her projected bodies through the series of movements that she’d spent hours hammering into her muscle memory. She watched them from above, her mobile point of view swinging around like a camera on a crane as Lady Scarlett aimed a powerful thrust right between Lady Azure’s eyes, which the latter bent over backwards to dodge, transitioning into a backwards flip that had the crowd roaring.

  This feels almost as good as sailing does, she found herself thinking as Lady Scarlett pirouetted out of the way of a thrust, whipping her blade around so fast it whistled through the air, only for Lady Azure to catch the blow at the last second, drawing gasps out of the crowd as easily as it did when she performed back home.

  Maybe even better.

  Eventually, the climax of the fight arrived, and Mandy pushed more of herself back into her projections, ready to end this little impromptu performance on a suitably dramatic note.

  Lady Scarlett and Lady Azure stood opposite one another, both panting from the exertion of their battle. Both were artistically disheveled, and both had several shallow cuts across their outfits. These were, of course, opened manually by Mandy whenever one of the dull blades found its mark, but she was a bit annoyed that she couldn’t seem to make either projection bleed.

  “I’ve had enough games,” Lady Scarlett announced, raising her sword arm and resuming her battle stance. “Stand aside, and I won’t have to kill you.”

  She’d neglected most of the “stopping to talk” bits of the fight since, without the rest of the play around them for context, a lot of it would be lost on the sailors, but she figured the final words should be easy enough to follow.

  “You know I can’t do that,” Lady Azure said, a sad smile on her face as she also raised herself up, momentarily wincing and grabbing her upper arm before assuming her stance, her sword noticeably wobbling in her grip. “You know I can’t let you go.”

  “Then die!”

  With that, they brought their swords together, for the last time. They both struggled to hold the upper hand, grunting and straining, swords locked, until Lady Azure’s grip faltered and Lady Scarlett spun her blade so quickly and forcefully around the other that it caused it to go flying out of Lady Azure’s hand, leaving her wide-eyed and empty-handed.

  Rather than having Lady Scarlett step in and drive her sword home through Lady Azure’s chest, as the original script demanded, Mandy instead had the former raise her sword until it hovered inches from the latter’s throat and pause there, ostensibly to savor her victory, while she quickly surveyed the crowd.

  “Any last words?” Lady Scarlett asked, mostly to stall for time while she gauged the mood of the crowd. Although everyone seemed to have been pushed to the edges of their metaphorical seats, expressions varied noticeably from one person to the next, in a way that made Mandy uncomfortably uncertain. She needed to decide on an outcome for the fight, and fast, but she was no longer confident she knew whether or not the audience could handle seeing Lady Scarlett cut down Lady Azure, or whether they would appreciate an entirely different outcome more.

  Fuuuuck, Mandy lamented. Without any blood it’s probably hard to tell how injured they’re supposed to be. If only I had some of those little blood capsules, I could—

  Once more operating on one part alien instincts and one part deeply engrained memories, Lady Azure suddenly jerked her head forward, retching and hocking, and then spat what looked for all the world to be an actual mouthful of actual blood, that had just materialized inside her mouth, onto the mat at Lady Scarlett’s feet, giving her a defiant glare.

  “So be it…” Lady Scarlett said, with a note of finality in her voice. Gasps of alarm and sounds of dismay rang out from the audience, and again Mandy’s instincts screamed at her that she could very easily lose this crowd if she made the wrong move here. But what did they want? It wasn’t like she could just ask—

  Hey… Wait a minute…

  “Well, well, well,” Lady Scarlett drawled, inclining her head in the direction of the crowd. “Hear that? I suppose you really did have them on your side. Too bad their confidence was so misplaced.” Lady Azure didn’t have anything to say to that, and the self-satisfied smile on Lady Scarlett’s grew even wider. “Now, there’s only one question left: what to do with you? You’ve been such a thorn in my side, and yet it would be a shame to cut you down, here and now. I simply can’t decide…”

  Lady Azure’s eyes widened at that, as did those of several members of the audience, likely catching on to what was coming. Turning her head but keeping her blade trained on Lady Azure, Lady Scarlett raised her voice and called out, “What say you? What’s to become of our unfortunate guest? Shall I end her miserable life?”

  Almost immediately, a wall of very loud, very clear “No!”s blasted her from both sides, and she nodded internally. Yup, right, they definitely didn’t want the one to kill the other, that was pretty obvious.

  “No?” she asked, rhetorically, cocking her shoulders and letting her head roll to one side. “Then, shall I simply let her live and leave her to go on her way?”

  She didn’t think that was the answer, considering, but she wanted to double check just in case there was something she wasn’t getting. More shouts, still very much in the negative, and she wracked her brain, trying to puzzle out what other options she had left to her.

  Then, thankfully, the answer presented itself, in the form of one voice carrying over the rest, the first one to say something other than “No!”

  “Captive!” The voice, belonging to Chase of all people, cut through the noise and caused a momentary still as the crowd processed what they’d heard, and then suddenly that was the word on every lip.

  “Captive! Captive! Captive!”

  Huh… fair enough.

  “Well!” Lady Scarlett’s own voice overpowered the chorus, quieting the audience once more. “I’d say that settles it, wouldn’t you?” Again, Lady Azure had no reply other than to narrow her eyes and press her lips more tightly together. Finally removing the sword from her throat, Lady Scarlett stepped in, grabbing a fistfull of the front of Lady Azure’s coat and pulling her roughly off balance. “I hope you enjoy your time… in the brig.”

  The silence stretched on for several seconds, and Mandy realized, with a tiny twinge of annoyance, that without a curtain to draw closed or house lights to dim, she had no real way of signalling the end of a scene. Thankfully Chase, ever quick on the uptake, jolted as though snapping out of a trance and began to clap enthusiastically. Several seconds passed where he was the only one doing so, but then realization spread like wildfire through the rest of the crowd, and an absolutely thunderous round of applause rolled across the deck. Mandy could actually feel it in her floorboards, and it left her practically humming with pride.

  Breaking apart, both Lady Scarlett and Lady Azure turned to look out over the cheering crowd. In another move that was immensely comforting in its familiarity, both projections stood shoulder to shoulder and clasped hands, and then bowed at the waist several times to both sides of the mat, wordlessly offering their thanks to the crowd.

  As it always did, the applause wound down, and an expectant stillness fell across the deck. Taking a step forward, Lady Scarlett swept her arms out in front of her in a grand gesture, grinning like a maniac.

  “Now that’s an exhibition!”