Silvertree Chronicles Bk. 02 Pt. 01

Brannar slid down to the head of the bunk and looked at him and pointed at the door. "You better go talk to Silver Moon and find a solution because us sharing a room is not going to work."

He began to reach for his pants and Brannar shook his head, "You want those you better just yell for her instead. I am not putting anything in your hands that will force me to do something rash. Like, explode this room in fire. Better yet, why don't we get a bigger audience."

He pulled out his communication crystal. "Hello, dear sister."

Brannar heard a voice, "Do you know what time it is?"

Brannar smiled, "No clue. That is what happens when you get stuck in a cabin on a sailing ship. I need you to contact Silver Moon."

Zaria interrupted, "Silver Moon is with you right?"

Zaria opened a crystal to Jarron and placed it next to hers. Jarron groaned out. "I got Silver Moon on another crystal at the moment. I am beginning to think he should not have been sent on this mission at all. I will talk with her."

Brannar smiled. "On the same boat, yes. Her 'Boy Toy Sutter' tried to take a leap at me. We have been forced to share quarters. I just did not expect him to be banging his horse cock into Silver Moon on MY bunk. At the moment he is naked in the corner of his bunk with my active Moon Blade pointed at him.

Silver Moon tracked me down a bit ago and wanted an apology for my comments on their genitalia. I told her to effectively fuck off. She was fucking in my room on MY bunk. I am not about to apologize for that. Do you want to get Jarron or should I have them give Sutter a burial at sea?"

She groaned, "I already contacted him. He heard the last half. He said to expect a knock any second."

He sighed, "Get some rest then you sound tired."

---

Jarron shut off the crystal to Zaria and looked at the one with Silver Moon, "What are the odds of Sutter attempting to attack Brannar?"

She sighed, "He can anger pretty easily and if Brannar says the wrong thing then I could see him trying to take a swing at him at least." She sighed. "Fuck!"

Jarron sighed, "Yeah, Fuck, Brannar has him at sword point in that room. You forget his blade has a danger sense function. Remember the leadership mission and Eldar volunteering because of that ability? Violence should be a last resort. Calm the situation and find a solution."

He ended the comms and thought, 'Brannar is going to be a problem and the Queen does not want us trying to control him after what we have already tried. All of these constraints just make this job harder.'

He sighed. "I will wait to hear back. Sleep is overrated."

---

Brannar deactivated the crystal and a minute later there was a knock at the door, "Who is it?"

She growled out, "Captain Silver Moon."

Brannar smiled, "You will have to wait a minute Sutter is naked. Not sure how long he is going to remain that way. Oh, to heck with it, come on in you have seen him naked. Just keep your blade put away. I know you can summon it."

She rolled her eyes and opened the door.

Brannar had his offhand ready to cast if needed.

She sighed, 'Fuck I could not disarm him even if I wanted too. He was attacked by Sutter and my code would have me choose him over Sutter. Gods I feel fucked in this situation.'

Brannar looked at her, "If you want an audience leave the door open."

She closed the door. He looked at Sutter, "Slide back this way on your bunk to give her room and then sit on your hands."

Brannar looked at her, "I know you're centuries older than me but have a seat and I will put the sword away. Then you can hand him his pants. I want to know what Jarron said?"

She looked at him, "He said to get you under control."

Brannar shook his head, "That is not what he said. Pull the crystal out and contact Jarron."

She sighed, "He said to find a solution quickly and violence should be the last option."

He nodded, "That sounds more like Jarron after his efforts to 'control me' failed."

Brannar pointed at his pants and she grabbed his pants. "Let me run this by the numbers. First, you only got berths where you could not get one to yourself. Next, you put your lover in the same room as me, the one person in your group you know who can unlock the door. Then you had sex on MY bunk. Then you come to me wanting an apology for me being upset that you were having sex on MY bunk.

Then Sutter here is expecting some kind of an apology and when I give him shit instead, he tries to jump at me. He is lucky to be alive! If I had pushed forward just a foot he would be getting buried at sea!"

He sheathed his sword, "You want to order Sutter to the dining area for the moment while we talk?"

She looked at Sutter, "Go to the dining room until I come for you."

He left quietly in just his pants.

Brannar looked at her, "I had no issue with you getting it on with Sutter or even this room. You crossed the line when you did it on my bunk. That was completely disrespectful. Which is why I am being completely disrespectful right back at you. I have a room at the Keep it is locked, magically locked, and warded. I have a stone set to shut off sound, and teleportation into the room. It is always on.

All because of the slut consorts my father had running around the halls dripping seed as they go. Sometimes completely naked as they went to the kitchen for food. I did not want to hear it when he had four of them going at the same time. He forgot to turn his crystals or one of the tramps shut it off to fuck with everyone in the Keep. I like my personal space. You violated that and then wanted an apology.

You should have LED with your own apology. Now, why don't we walk out of here? See the Captain and find out if there is another birth on this ship that is empty." She got up and opened the door and they walked out. They headed to see the Captain. "Ask him."

She asked the question and he played stupid and she told him, "There is one but it is reserved for nobles."

He smiled, "Show him your papers!" She rolled her eyes and showed him her papers. He looked at her and gave a price. Brannar looked at her before she can say anything, "I do not care about the cost. I am paying for it."

She looked at him, "500 gold pieces."

He counted it out and looked at her, "Now shall we go. You have some packing to do."

She walked out, "You are moving me there?"

He looked at her, "So long as you take your boy toy with you! Yes! That is as close to an apology you will get from me because I have yet to get one from either of you."

Brannar walked into the dining room, "Grab your gear and get it out of my room. You are being moved."

Sutter looked at Brannar, "Where?"

Brannar looked at him, "Where you should have been, to begin with! In a room together and away from the rest of us. I paid for it so get your ass moving!"

Brannar sat and waited for him to be gone.

Silver Moon looked at him, "Gather my gear and meet me up on deck."

Sutter knocked on the door before entering knowing that Silver Rose was in the room. He entered and she sat there staring ahead, "What happened? I heard her on a stone with Jarron."

He looked at her. "Brannar had me at sword point threatening to kill me. I am moving into quarters away from the psychopath. Silver Moon cannot control him and he is a fucking danger to us and this mission as far as I am concerned."

He looked at her after getting his gear, "I'd stay away from him if I were you."

He went next door and looked at his guys, "Say clear of the mage. Pass the word. He had me at sword point while I was naked. That elf is unstable."

He looked at Rollins, "That Paladin you have been eyeing. He is interested in her. I gave her the same advice. She might be more open to some outside company on this trip. She will have the room to herself even."

Rollins smiled, "She is a beauty but I'm not up for marriage and her men would likely kill me if I forced her to do something to lose her status as a paladin." Sutter shrugged, "There are still things she could do for you and your cock that would keep her chaste. It is a fine line."

Rollins chuckled, "You want to put me into that elf's path. That is not very nice of you. If he is as dangerous as you say and got the drop on you...I'm not sure I want to be in the middle of that."

---

Silver Moon thought about what he said and what he just did. She sighed, 'This was my mess to clean up.'

She went into Brannar's room, "I am sorry for invading your space."

Brannar looked at her, "I am sorry for letting it go that far. Having to call Jarron into the mix. You do not want them knowing what I am which means I could not show them my paperwork. You have also had your title a century or longer than me at least. You have seniority and you are in charge of these Knights.

I am just going after some family. I saw you nearly every day. You taught me so much. Trust me this pained me to do this with you. Tonight, you showed me about as much respect as my father showed me. I know you are better than that. We both are. You were the closest thing I had to a family growing up."

Those words were a shot in the gut to her as she did not fully realize it until now. She spent more time with him than any of his actual family members when she worked at the Academy. Daily even. She had just opened a rift with him that would take time to repair. She left him and took Sutter to the other, more spacious cabin. Suter nodded, "These are nice quarters."

She sighed, "I fucked up. I should never have stuck you two in the same quarters. He paid for this cabin. I have my papers calling me out as a knight. He could have done it himself and been here and moved out. Instead, he is keeping the cover in place of not advertising his skills. He is listening to me. I am just not listening to him. You were out of line in using his bunk, we were out of line, but I was oblivious to the fact it was his bunk. I was not thinking with my head at the time."

He sighed, "Still, he drew a sword on me." She nodded, "After you went to attack him. His sword has a danger sense function. He knew you were coming at him to hurt or kill him. He can spontaneously cast magic. Even while you are trying to pummel him, he could cast off a fireball in the room, destroy half the ship, and killed you instantly.

It would have done nothing to him. He took the least hostile action to stop things from progressing. I have known him most of the first 40 years of his life, when I left the Academy and went to war, he started teaching there. You need to understand. This would be as if a 10-year-old was teaching at a human Arcane Academy.

He can cast mythic spells. Spells above tier 9. I might manage one or two after all of this time if I invested the time to learn them. He, on the one hand, has some he can cast innately like a sorcerer. Some he can study and he has an archive of magical spells at his disposal. He is worth 6 full squads of fighters and paladins.

He is a walking arsenal. We run into that lich out here and he is likely the only one who could face it and live in a solo fight. The paladins have a better chance than any of your men. The team that tried to take down that wizard before he became a lich had 20 top of the line human mages and he killed them all.

You need to understand, he kept you from killing yourself and gave me a powerful reminder that I knew him better than most. Yet, I still treated him like that 40-year-old who graduated from the Academy and took over teaching a lot of my classes. He is needed and we caused the problems tonight. Not him."

Sutter shook his head, "I still do not like him. I will stay away from him but I already warned the others to stay away from him as well."

She sighed, "I don't think that was a wise move. I will let him work it out with them. They talk with me and I will set the facts straight. He reacted, he did not attack and he could have and it would have been a burial at sea for you. I warned you of my code. Don't go attacking him. I am honor-bound to help protect him. Keep your distance and try not to aggravate the situation."

Sutter got into bed and rolled over to go to sleep. He thought, "Rollins might do it. If he could not strike back at him directly driving a wedge between Silver and Brannar would just have to do."

---

Rollins did spend some time flirting and getting to know Silver. Usually at night. He eventually even kissed her and while she would not get undressed in front of him, he taught her how to suck his cock. On a couple of occasions. He really liked this girl but marriage was not his thing. She refused to lose her status as a paladin and give herself to him. He settled for what he could get from her. A release for his aching balls.

---

The next few weeks went by uneventfully. Silver Moon and Brannar slowly started to repair their relationship. Silver Rose had been distant since that first night. She came out to eat and stayed in her cabin the rest of the time, barely talking with her own men except to give instructions to keep exercising and praying.

He could hear her doing sword drills in her quarters but she refused to even look at him. He felt Sutter's hand behind the cold shoulder treatment he was getting from all of them. All of the paladins hated the leather armor but only a few of them knew how to swim at all and none could in the full plate.

The fighters were more pragmatic about it. They got free masterwork leather armor out of the deal. Most hated being on the water and only Sutter and one called Tracker knew how to swim out of Sutter's group. Tracker was a ranger type.

They hit dead water almost 4 weeks into the voyage.

Brannar looked at the Captain, "Let me get some rest so I can hold this for hours if needed."

Silver Moon translated as they continued the translator game. He nodded his understanding and Brannar went below deck, "General warning guys. When I get up the ship is going to jolt and go for a ride again."

He got rested and headed up top. Brannar looked at Silver Moon, "Now is the time to show off. Tell him to set the sails to lose most of the wind. He can bring them in line and take as much or as little as he thinks his ship can handle. I will show him my best on this.

She passed back his instructions and he took up his position and set his hands. This time he twined the spell-like last time and empowered it with his staff and his sword in hand.

To point the direction of the wind. The ship lurched and the Captain had them adjust the sails accordingly. The Captain talked to Silver Moon.

She came over. "He said we are running at five and a half knots. He is going to bump it to six as he has more sail left. He said with the load he would not want to go any faster."

Brannar nodded. "Just let him know I need to keep concentration on this to keep it going."

She nodded, "You are cutting days off this journey. They sometimes have to wait for days for the winds to come back."

Brannar nodded, "That is why you have me along. To be useful ONLY when needed."

She chuckled and talked to the Captain. 14 hours later and they picked up normal winds. The Captain waved him off. Brannar released his concentration and the crew stood around and applauded him.

Brannar smiled at them and put his hands together to let him know he would be heading to bed soon.

He went below deck and got to the dining area and pulled out more fruit for the bowl they had set upon the table. A few of the others wander in including Silver Rose.

She looked at Brannar, "You were gone a while."

The most she had said to him in 4 weeks. Brannar nodded, "I just moved this ship through dead water at 6 knots for 14 hours. Four horses pulling a full supply wagon could cover that distance and this ship is a lot bigger than a supply wagon.

That means I am a little hungry and tired. We got wind again so the Captain is happy we could have been sitting for days. The crew is happy with me. I just wish I knew what I did to each of you that you have all become so distant."

Silver Rose looked at Brannar, "We heard you pulled a Sword on Sutter."

Brannar nodded, "Did he tell you he was lunging at me at the time. If I had not and he got a hold of me what would happen as soon as he started hurting me? I would have started spontaneous casting fireballs in the room. I am immune to fire damage.

I would have set this ship on fire and possibly destroyed in an act of self-preservation. I kept him at bay until the situation was resolved without a punch thrown or a spell cast at him. Was that wrong?

Did he also tell you I paid to get him and Silver Moon moved to the new quarters they are in? Probably not. I didn't do it for him. I did it for her. We have a long history and that was a bad night. Did he tell you what started the whole thing?"

Silver Rose looked at Brannar, "Rumor is you caught him having sex in your room."

Brannar nodded, "That is true but not all of it. The part I was really pissed at was they were doing it on my bunk and he just finished and it was going all over my bunk. I have walked in on people having sex in a shared room before. No problem.

They respected my space and did things in their own space. I have done everything I can for you guys. Fixing armor straps, helping with seasickness, buying fruit for the voyage so that we always had fresh fruit, even out here. I have pushed this ship twice to save time on this journey.

I also go down and help feed all the horses. Next time Sutter opens his fucking mouth, confirm if it is the whole truth. Captain Silver Moon is a Knight in two courts and was one of my instructors at the Academy. I respect her. I was just very angry and disappointed in the invasion of MY space."

Brannar looked over at Brunt, "IF you caught them doing that on your bunk would you have been pissed Brunt?"

He looked up, "Yeah, I would have been upset. I might have even gotten physical."

Brannar nodded, "Well I am happy to have the air cleared of this. Talk with Captain Silver Moon if you wish she will confirm it all." He finished eating. "I need some rest now. See you all tomorrow."

He got up from the table and put a few more pieces of fruit in the bowl. He headed to his room and locked the door. He got some rest. The ice had been broken with the group.

---

Silver Rose hated being up on deck. She did not like looking at all of that water, she did not know how to swim. Jarron never talked to the men about their abilities to swim and going overboard scared her to death. She walked across and knocked on the door. Silver Moon answered and Silver Rose barged into the room and looked at Sutter. "Is it true? You lunged at him and forced him to hold you at sword point? After the two of you fornicated on his bunk and violated his personal space?"

Sutter went to open his mouth and Silver Moon spoke, "Yes, it is true."

She turned to her, "Everyone has been keeping him at a distance for 4 weeks! You could not set the record straight the next day? What kind of leader are you?"

She sighed, "One who thought when people wanted answers they would come and talk with me. I have not seen him much in the last 4 weeks. We had been giving each other space mostly. I did not know it was his bunk. Things went bad that night."

She turned to Sutter, "You are the loose cannon in this group. Now I know when I see your lips moving you are lying to me. Just like the rest of the men. You gave half-truths to everyone and set the rest of the team against him! What kind of man are you?"

She stormed out without an answer. Silver Moon looked at him, "Did you do that?"

He held his head down, "He was driving a wedge between you and me. I did not go back and change what I told the men after our conversation after the fact. I figured, like you, if they had questions you would set them straight. From what I hear Rollins has been getting to know the pretty paladin. She won't sleep with him but he said she was getting better at sucking cock."