The wolf gazed at her with impenetrable eyes of steel.

He was beautiful, Aveline thought: the bleak tan and beige of the desert captured into thick, soft lines of fur on his muscled form. Dark whiskers tickled his muzzle, encasing a mouth that, if he wanted it to, could pierce her skin with little effort.

A predator through and through; there was something both stunning and dangerous about such a creature- especially when his teeth, gleaming and sharp at the points, currently hinged into her palm in an unrelenting grip. He could take her hand off, easy-

Aveline had to laugh at herself a little bit; at her own dramatics. Because he wasn't a wolf, he was a stray dog- one of many in the desert plains of Apreuna, and he wasn't actually about to bite her hand off. Rather, he'd playfully hooked his teeth around her wrist, and she gave it a little shake, grinning as she watched his tail swing back and forth at a quicker tempo.

"I'm glad you think this is funny," she told him, sighing. "I'm not even supposed to be here."

Actually, she was expected to be in the palace courtyard, at the moment. There was some sporting match going on.

Ari would say it was stupid, and Lyla thought of these things as more of an obligation, but Aveline didn't mind them as much. She figured, if there was a palace event, it was an excuse to wear a pretty dress and eat good food— but she considered herself a bit more optimistic than her two friends.

Anyway, it wasn't as if anyone would notice that she and Ari were absent. They weren't nobles (thank God). If anything, Ari and Aveline were just a moderately useful nuisance to the monarchy.

Sometimes, on an off day, Aveline could admit to herself that she missed her ship.

Ari's ship— he'd correct her if he was here. But even though Ari had salvaged The Merchant from the depths of nowhere himself, Aveline had been with him- and the vessel- for so long that somehow, it had become hers too.

Sometimes Aveline felt that- because she was born in the ocean, she'd kept being drawn back to it.

Aveline didn't like to think of herself as a mermaid, former mermaid, or anything close to it. She'd left the ocean. She had legs, period.

Now, Aveline wouldn't even know what to do if she suddenly had a tail again. Just sort of flop around, like a landed salmon?
Gross. She shuddered at the thought.

Aveline Dimitri, first mate of The Merchant, was more of a co-captain than anything. At least, she had been: up until a few months ago, she'd spent a significant number of her life years in piracy. Now, she and Ari were taking what could only be called a self-imposed "break."

It wasn't as if they could continue pursuing illegal activities now that they had a palace job, for Heaven's sakes.

The pay was great, and Aveline enjoyed it, but... She didn't know. Sometimes she thought there was something more she needed to be doing.

She knew this, actually. Agh, she'd had this argument with Ari hundreds of times, she couldn't go over it with herself again.

"What do you think we should do, hm?" She asked the scruffy creature in front of her.

His ears perked up for only a second before he returned his attention to chewing on her wrist.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Enjoying yourself?"

Aveline chuckled, unhinging her finger from the stray's teeth. The dog trotted away, his tail wagging cheerfully.

Aveline smoothed her hands over the silk of her dress as she stood, glancing towards the source of the voice. Her closest friend was leaning against a marble pillar - artfully, with his arms folded and an amused expression curving one side of his lips upward.

"I was," she said pointedly. "Shouldn't you be off making mischief somewhere?"

Ari's smile grew as he unlatched himself from the pillar and approached her. "Ah, but it's much more fascinating to watch you entertain yourself frivolously."

Aveline nodded seriously. "Of course."

She took the arm that he offered as they walked down the garden pathway side by side.

Ari was the only person in the world who truly understood her. Without Ari, Aveline thought, she'd be completely alone.

She bit her lip at the thought. Unless, if perhaps things had gone differently with Eli last summer-

"Did you hear the news?" Ari inquired, grinning as he nudged her with his elbow. "We're to watch the royals fence this afternoon."

Aveline groaned, gratefully allowing her friend to distract her. Her feelings for the Kaidian palace guard were complicated, at best. But she hadn't seen him for months, and, truth be told, she was grateful for it.

"Actually, we're supposed to be watching them right now," Aveline corrected her friend, bending over to examine a lovely desert poppy. "Haven't you seen all of the commotion in the courtyard? Everyone's here."

"Didn't notice," said Ari absently.

Aveline paused. He was lying, and that meant he was up to something. (Then again- some might say he always was).

She said nothing further towards the subject, letting her hand brush the petals of the flower for a brief moment.

"We should hurry. Lyla will be wondering where we are."

"Doubtful. She's likely busy running laps around the courtyard for the Grand Duchess." Ari stepped up beside her, uncrossing his hands from behind his back to pluck the poppy from its stem. He seemed distracted, thinking about something else. "We can just steal some food and make fun of the nobles, hm? That's always fun." Ari tucked the blossom behind her ear, absently arranging her curls around her shoulders.

Aveline clucked her tongue. "You killed it."

Ari's gaze returned to her, his eyebrows raising in surprise. "For your hair."

"But it's dead now."

"Hush. It looks pretty on you."

Aveline giggled, continuing to bicker with her friend as they headed towards the courtyard.

She took a moment to enjoy the silence. Usually the castle was bustling, filled with busy servants and courtiers, but everyone was outside. The marble walls were so finely polished that she could see her and Ari's reflections walking arm in arm down the corridor.

They looked different to her; almost like they fit in with the nobles. The buttons on Ari's vest gleamed with expensive thread, and his black overcoat was soft like velvet to the touch. Aveline's chestnut daygown was heaped with layers of shining satin, the neckline edged in lace. And she'd pulled some of her hair up to highlight the rose in her cheeks- she looked like a lady.

But Aveline knew better. She knew that, beyond the fine materials and palace manners, they were still the same people they'd always been—

Pirates. Through and through.

She thought they'd much improved- Aveline could walk through the palace and not feel a sudden urge to steal the golden frames off of the paintings- but it was sometimes funny how the court seemed to think she and Ari could simply just brush off years of habit and become model citizens.

As if they'd want to.

The thought made her snicker.

"I'm looking forward to today." Ari's tone weighed heavy with sarcasm. He squinted in the noonday sun as they wandered into the open courtyard. "Watching a bunch of royals in too-tight pants chase each other around a field."

Aveline scanned the busy pasture for Lyla; but the blonde royal was nowhere to be found among the throng of people. "Yes, well, all part of the hazards of palace life, I suppose."

"Right, and- Oh! Look, there's Lady Mejia, by the flagstaff. She's wearing her bird hat again."

"Ah!" Aveline spotted the older woman by her magnificent feathered hat. It swayed from side to side in the gentle desert breeze. "Classic yet timeless."

Ari laughed.

There was only a minimal amount of nudging and staring from the guests- it had been a few months, but Aveline and Ari were still somewhat famous in the Apreuna kingdom. "Reformed" pirates, and all that.

"What are they doing now?" Aveline wondered aloud as they approached the field, craning her neck to see above the perfectly coiffed hairdos. The two opponents bowed to each other in the middle of the field; each wearing silver training outfits. Beside the pasture, a team of horses snorted and stomped their feet as they were tacked up by their riders for the equestrian race.

"Prancing around with swords." Ari grinned. "I can give you a lift up if you'd like."

She elbowed him in the side.

As the match continued, Aveline let her eyes wander around the prettily decorated courtyard, scanning for faces she knew. Everything was as it should be; people milling around, sipping champagne from tall glasses and gossipping, but three months of her recess from piracy hadn't quite broken Aveline's inability to ever fully take her guard down.

Even now, sometimes Aveline felt as if someone was watching them, like some dark, unseen force was lurking over the palace, waiting for the right time to inflict something horrible. Which was obviously ridiculous- but she couldn't ever be too sure.

Aveline reluctantly dragged her gaze back to the field. She'd never much cared for fencing; but Ari suddenly seemed oddly fixated on this particular contest. Aveline wondered if he was finally beginning to show some interest in palace activities.

Ari suddenly sucked in a breath beside her, and she glanced up. "Aveline-"

"Miss Dimitri?" A shrill voice cut into Ari's whisper, and Aveline turned around, the sound intermingled by Ari's immediate grumblings near her ear.

"Don't turn around. It's that little brat from the palace."

Aveline ignored him. "Lady Clarette," she said courteously, picking up her skirts to approach the young woman, who was surrounded by other guests her age. Ari said nothing in greeting; he was watching the tournament and frowning.

See?" Lady Clarette folded her arms across her tightly strung bodice and flicked a strand of raven hair away from her forehead. "I told you; Lady Dimitri, Lord Carondolet-" she lowered her eyelashes at Ari briefly before continuing- "and I, are dear friends."

"Are we, though-" Ari began.

"In fact, I've been teaching them proper manners." Lady Clarette beamed at her admirers; they were ogling Aveline and Ari slightly fearfully.

Proper manners? Ari briefly took his attention from the fencing match to openly gape at the brash young noble. Aveline tugged on his sleeve, hastily interrupting her friend before he could say something shocking.

"We're hardly savages, Lady Clarette," she giggled politely. "Have you seen Lyla?"

"She's with her mother, finding good seats for the horse race," a stern voice entered in the fray. Aveline's shoulders dropped in relief. Inez had materialized beside Ari, one hand on the blouse that bloomed neatly over her hips. She wore simple breeches and her hair in a braid- still refusing to wear gowns after living at the palace for three months. "May I have a word?" Inez murmured to her, taking no care to spare Lady Clarette and her companions even a glance.

Aveline's eyebrows furrowed. "Right."

"But you'll miss the race!" Lady Clarette protested. "It starts in five minutes. You can sit with us," she beamed, joined by murmurs of enthusiastic agreement from her cohorts.

Aveline was about to respectfully decline before Ari muttered something about needing food to escape the horrible company, and Aveline glanced over her shoulder just in time to see him disappearing into the crowd.

She frowned at his tall, flickering figure, while Inez cleared her throat.

"Shall we?"

"Of course." Aveline nodded briefly at the annoying courtiers before strolling away from the gardens with the most skilled sailor on their ship.

She and Ari had been working on the ship with Inez for many years, but since their brief retirement, she'd kept busy by running errands and doing jobs around the palace.

"How are you, Inez?" Aveline began, letting her eyes stray to the punch table. Ooh, they had the strawberry tarts that she liked-

"Fine." Inez was curt and to the point, as usual. "I just wanted to tell you and the Captain not to be surprised if the Queen calls an audience with you sometime this week."

Aveline felt her brows raise. "Why?"

"I'm fairly sure you're getting an assignment."

"An assignment?" Aveline repeated. "What- a real one?"

This was new. Most of her and Ari's 'emissary' job had consisted of needless paperwork and playing friendly with the nobles. Aveline had been fairly sure that Queen Rowena had only offered them jobs to keep them in her sights and out of trouble.

A wave of shouting rose up from the other side of the field; Apreuna had scored. Aveline leaned closer to hear her friend better. "Do you know what it is?"

"That's all I heard from the servants."

"Hm." What could this mean? Aveline stopped herself from chewing on her bottom lip before she could get lip color on her teeth. "Thank you. Tell me if you hear anything else."

Inez nodded, and Aveline started to turn away, feeling the brown swish of silk at her ankles as she did so.

"Oh, and Inez?" Aveline paused as she faced the other direction, letting her gaze rest on the dewy grass in front of her. "Did you do what I asked?"

Inez slowly straightened, brushing her bangs from her eyes. "Yes."

When Inez glanced up again, The Merchant's first mate was gone, as if she hadn't even been there in the first place.

Aveline went to go find food and a place to sit down. It suddenly felt as if she had a great deal to think about.

**So.. looks like both Ari and Aveline are up to something.  I wonder what that could be...
Next chapter will be up on Tuesday, if not earlier... still trying to figure out how to balance posting 2x a week with my classes. We will see!**