Headed by a Snake

Footsteps approached the door from the opposite side.

With so much noise that they'd been making, Coraline found it odd that neither Tychon nor Lone had emerged until then.

The young, green-haired noble opened the door, his yellow eyes reflecting the dim lamplight, "Good evening... ladies and gentlemen. Is something amiss?"

At the same time, the groaning growls from within his room intensified and grew clear.

"I apologize for interrupting your rest, young master," Nikandros bowed his head.

"No... there is no trouble..." Tychon raised an eyebrow. "I have been working on a certain puzzle box... though it should be quite obvious why I would not have heard any commotion in the halls."

"That..." The Captain put on an embarrassed smile, "Is... your companion, Mister Lone... in good health?"

Mister Lone?

Were the sounds in the room from his snoring or his death rattles?

"I see..." Tychon opened his door wide and gestured towards the sleeping boy taking up the bottom bunk. "Mister Lone is... quite lively, as I'm sure you can tell."

Coraline spied the most subtle of movements. The noble had flicked his wrist... as if he was a sleight of hand artist in the middle of a trick.

...It was incredibly suspicious.

Tychon placed his empty hand on his chin-- "I will gag him with a bundle of cloth to reduce your worries."

"Thank you for understanding, young master," Nikandros nodded.

"Hmph. That guy's got some strong lungs," Ramon shrugged. "Nothing more to see here. Let's head back. My head's KILLIN' me..."

Coraline stood on her tiptoes to look into the mysterious young master's room, the dim lamplight in the halls enough for her Elven eyes to see everything clearly.

They had no luggage... She recalled that she hadn't seen the duo with any when they boarded. Were their belongings sent ahead to Cersei's Rest?

A painting on the wall had been taken down, revealing one of the ship's spell formations... too complex, even for her to decipher.

As Tychon had said, there was a wooden puzzle box resting on his desk, but...

Coraline pursed her lips, "Sir Tychon... why is your lamp off?"

Tychon loomed over Coraline, his eyes narrowed to thin, judgmental slits. It made his pale yellow eyes look even more insidious...

"The moon is out, Miss Coraline. The additional light would be redundant, no?"

That would make sense... but the noble's room was on the same side of the ship she was on.

...The light of the moon didn't shine through her window.

But why... would... he lie about that?

A piercing scream split the night, causing Coraline to whip her head to look down the adjacent dark hallway.

Ramon turned to Elladan, his eyes serious, "Let's move."

"Right."

Immediately, the two sprinted down the hallway, their third, Felicity, trailing behind them without a word.

"Sea god's socks," Nikandros cursed. "That was Maisie's voice!"

"Of course you'd recognize that whore's screams," Olesya grumbled. Grasping her sword scabbard, she ran off in the same direction.

Coraline quickly hurried after. Her heart thumped in anxious anticipation... she had a bad feeling about this...

...

It was strange how quiet Mister Ramon's chain shirt was as he ran. It made more noise than Mister Lone's gambeson, but there must have been a slight enchantment on it... not enough for Olesya's detection tool to catch it, but still there.

Coraline caught up to Ramon easily enough, but as expected, the half-elf Elladan had quickly sped ahead of them both.

"Oh, what the HELLS-- come onnn!!" Ramon groaned.

An oil lamp had fallen onto the floor, causing a small fire, which the tiefling hurriedly stamped out with his boot.

Elladan dragged Miss Maisie away from an open door... the door to one of the larger passenger rooms on the ship.

"Oy. What's wrong?" Elladan snapped his fingers in front of the human woman's face.

"I... I-- I just.... he was-- I saw 'im there, an'--" Maisie was crying, choking on her sobs. She had both hands cupped over her mouth while she stared past Elladan with wide eyes.

Coraline needed to know what was in there.

In her heart, she already knew. There was only one passenger that had not gathered to complain about the noise... and that person would have most certainly resided in the most expensive of the Golden Eagle's suites.

But the most damning fact... was that one of Miss Maisie's hands was covered in blood.

Coraline slipped past Ramon and stepped towards the door to Arod Highblade's room.

"(Do not enter, Sapling,)" Elladan warned in Elven. "(We must wait for the Sky-Captain.)"

Coraline pursed her lips, "(Lord Highblade was my friend, elder brother.)"

She used the term 'friend' very loosely. Their relationship was certainly positive... but she didn't want Elladan to realize that her curiosity got the better of her.

She pushed the door open, lifting her lamp to illuminate the room.

Sure enough, Arod Highblade lied face-down in a growing pool of his life essence. Blood had marked a back wall at thigh level, stained downward...

She sensed Elladan standing at her back.

"(A tragedy has befallen the Ancient...)" He whispered in awe.

Guilt took hold of Coraline's heart. Lord Arod was arrogant and rude and was a generally terrible person to everyone but her. Still... he was an Elven warrior... and he didn't deserve to die without a blade in his h--

The Blades of the Forgotten King!!

They were gone!!

This wasn't just a murder! The Ancient was robbed!

With wide, incredulous eyes, she turned back to Elladan, the grimacing Ramon, and the hyperventilating Maisie.

Someone on the Golden Eagle was a thief... and a murderer.

"Seven hells take the bastard," Ramon scoffed. "He'll have all the burnt meat and brimstone he could get, down there."

It seemed like Ramon had, in-fact, both heard and understood Lord Arod's earlier sentiment.

Elladan placed his palm over his eyes, tilting his head back towards the ceiling, "Gods damn it, Ramon... I *told* you not to take the Ancient's blather seriously. You only know-- what, ten words in Elven?"

The demonblood crossed his thick arms, scowling, "Well-- shut up! You could tell by the way he said it, that the prick meant what he said!"

",