Have Mercy

After enduring a well justified and perfectly reasoned lecture on the irresponsibility of traveling with TWO pregnant women, as if one wasn’t risky enough, Cassie, in her signature way, hits me with some home truths.

“You are being naive. I love you, Quin, but that soft heart and softer head will be your downfall.” She lets go of my tunic, smoothing the area that her grip had crumpled. “Rosa should be our focus. You and me and Rosa and our child. Especially our child. Colly is one of us, yes, but she’s not…one of US. Family has to come first.” Looking up into my eyes she says. “I feel for her too but this is reckless. To free her legally, like you’re suggesting, you’ll have to visit a magistrate. That means paperwork. That means a trail that could be followed.”

“Who is going to think to search the archives in Athens? And that thing that chased us into town wasn’t chasing a paper trail.”

“You’re assuming it was the only thing hunting us.” She says. “But leaving that to the side, if she’s carrying young it will change you.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you.” She digs a knuckle into my abs. “You and that chivalrous spirit of yours. If you see Colly in trouble, and she’s bound to find trouble, it could cause an extra distraction or delay. Things she can handle herself you’ll be second guessing whether she needs you or not. You know it’s true. If Colly’s not staying with Grub or Grub’s not coming with us, and I hope to the gods he’s not, you’ll effectively become those sprogs’ father. And you’ll quickly start acting like it. Perhaps it would just be a second or two she distracts you but that is a second or two you are not focused on your own child. Rosa is blind, Quin, and she is with child. Your child.” Squeezing my hand she says. “Our child. She needs us attentive to her needs at all times.”

“Thankfully there are two of us to watch over her.”

With a sigh she rests her forehead on my chest. “Why did I have to fall in love with a damned hero?”

“Rosa’s talking to her now.” I stroke Cassie’s soft, wavy hair. “She’ll know what to do.”

“She’s as soft as you are.” Cassie says, raising her head. “If not softer. Our Lady is a goddess but she was a sheltered one.”

Laying my hands on her shoulders I say. “You might be the smartest of us, Cassie. But you know I have to do this. Rosa, Collywaddle, my daughter…I will see them live free. It’s the whole reason we’re leaving.”

Another sigh escapes her as she nods. “I know. And I get it. Rosa’s slave status is weighing on you. It always has.”

“Of course it has. That woman deserves a palace and a crown, not chains.”

“Says the guy who just donated his own palace to the gods.” She smirks. “You are a fool, Quin. But a good fool.” Patting my chest she adds. “Don’t ever change.”

***

Before Cassie or I could command the men’s attention again a perturbed Kreer sends us back below deck so the crew could focus on their actual jobs. Or at least I think Kreer was perturbed as it was impossible to tell by either his expression or tone of voice. After my time running a work crew on Cassie’s dad’s farm I could respect his desire to minimize distractions when there was work to be done.

Back in our cozy little hideaway we find Colly in the back corner beneath the the lower hammock on the floor. Her back is turned to us though her shoulders are moving. By the noises she was making and the pussy sweet fragrance on the air it wasn’t hard to guess that she had her hands between her legs and was masturbating like mad.

Rosa, reclining in the top hammock with Danae curled up beside her, tells us. “She’s still deciding what she wants to do. In the meantime she’s…working off some pent up enthusiasm.”

Cassie holds back a laugh as she rolls her eyes. Snatching up her pack she claims the bottom hammock. With the hammocks filled I make myself comfortable on the floor, back against the wall while stretching out my legs as far as I could. The ghostly blue light was a bit too dim to read easily, most of our reading material had been sacrificed to the road after that harpy attack anyway, so I just sit and listen to Colly’s muffled moans and Rosa’s soft lullaby that she sang to Danae.

Stretching out Cassie lays her pack over her body and pulls out a long, slender woven bag I’d never seen before the contents of which were clearly quite weighty. From the bag she pulls a foot long cuboid of…rock? It was hard to discern in this light but it appeared to be a dull black in color with veins of bluish-greenish gray running through it. Cassie pretends not to notice my curiosity as she inspects the item closely, though a twinkle in her eye tells me she knew she was being observed. She tests its weight and slaps the smooth sides then give it an approving nod.

Curiosity getting the better of me I ask. “What do you have there?”

“Hm?” She looks at me. “Oh, this? Just a bit of soapstone.”

Rummaging into the pack again she pulls out a folded leather kit. She passes her pack out to me just expecting I would deal with it for her, which I do, then settles in deeper in her swaying hammock. Unfolding the stiff leather she reveals a set of sturdy blades and files. Running a finger across the wood handled implements she settles on the thickest of the blades. She then pulls a square of cloth from the woven back and lays it across her belly. Inspecting the stone once more, tilting it this way then that, she focuses in on one corner and begin to cut.

With nothing else to do I watch Cassie work up and down one of the four corners of the stone, rounding it off. Every so often she would stop and brush the dust and excess away to inspect her work then rest it back on her tummy to continue. Her movements were deft and confident, particularly impressive due to the motion of the boat around us. She was no clumsy amateur, that much was clear, and I become enthralled in watching her work.

“I didn’t know you could sculpt.” I say at last.

Her eyes glance my way just for a second though her hands never stop. “Yes you did.” Above her Rosa giggles. Cassie smirks and pokes Rosa’s butt through the hammock, which only makes Rosa giggle again.

“I did?”

“You did.” She quips then pulls out a file to start smoothing off the curve she’d just cut into the stone.

I cast my mind back to our time together. Cassie. Carving. An old memory begins to filter to the surface. An early memory with Cassie. She was telling Rosa and I about her first forbidden crush, an older girl named Rhea who had gone on to become a farmer’s wife. Cassie told us how, in her youth, she had written Rhea anonymous love letters and left her little gifts such as flowers and erotic poetry. In her smitten puppy love she had even been so daring as to carve her a…

My eyes widen as I look again at the long, hefty chunk of stone in Cassie’s hands. Before my eyes I can imagine the squared off shape become something smoother and rounder and…cylindrical, with a rounded tapered tip. Though she had only just begun I could already tell this one was going to be a LOT bigger than the one we’d lost. Beneath my breath I whisper. “May the gods have mercy on my…ass!”