Ch - 24 Is she FL?

"This way! Stay with me!" urges a strained, feminine voice in his ear. Small yet firm hands steer him swiftly between shouting patrons towards what he gauges to be the rear exit. After a long, disorienting journey they burst into the relatively quiet alley behind the drinking house. His diminutive rescuer urges him to keep going before finally slowing their frantic pace some minutes later.

"Here... I think we've gone far enough..." she pants, gently pushing on his shoulders. "You'd best duck down in case any of those drunks come this way." He complies, hunching down beside a rain barrel as his breathing slowly returns to normal. Her grip may have been light but the girl led him unerringly from the tavern fracas with the sureness of a seeing person.

Hearing only slightly winded breaths from above him, the bandaged figure deduces she cannot have led him very far at all. Before he can speak, hurried footfalls approach from the direction they had come. But to his surprise, instead of rushing by the hidden pair they slow nearly to a stop just past their narrow side alley. The lightest scuffling of dirt reaches his ears - the girl has possibly peeked around the corner towards the street. He waits in patient caution for this strange sighted waif to explain herself and why she risked a tavern brawl to rescue a blinded castaway.

The bedraggled waif sighs deeply in what sounds to be relief before addressing the blinded man in low tones. "I beg your pardon for dragging you out so frantically sir. When I spotted those ruffians drawing blades, I feared things might end poorly for yourself caught amidst it all."

She pauses, a note of sympathy entering her voice. "Especially considering the... disadvantaged state you are currently in. When that sailor paid me to keep watch on your table, I took his coins thinking it merely easy money. Had I known real fighting would break out..."

Another weighted sigh. "But no matter - at least we escaped unharmed." She moves closer and the bandaged man hears faint rustling as the girl smooths out her skirts. "That sailor said you arrived here recently. I don't suppose you know why those rogues started attacking your shipmates?"

When the man gives no reply, she continues hesitantly. "I happened to overhear some talk earlier... whispers that some old loyalists to the late Captain Bell have been stirring trouble lately for King Samuel's crews." Her words drop to a near whisper. "They must have spotted you lot come in loaded with plunder and seen their chance perhaps..."

The unlikely pair remain tucked in the shaded alley conversing in hushed tones long after the clamor from the waterside drinking house fades. The waif - who reveals her name as Aesa - asks a few tentative questions but the sightless man deflects each query, instead turning talk towards the feuds and politics ever-simmering beneath the island's lawless veneer.

She in turn describes snippets of Captain Bell's final chaotic days ruling Pirate Isle and the subsequent fractious power struggle after ambitious Samuel and his fleets stormed the island battlements.

"Some say Bell yet lives, biding strength in hidden places and plotting revenge upon those who stole his kingdom..." Aesa whispers. "Though none have seen him these three years now since Samuel claimed the throne."

Their furtive discourse carries on as bells toll faintly from the citadel towering on high. But all chatter ceases at the approaching crunch of boots over dusty stone. The gruff-toned commander rounds the alleyway corner, visibly battered but still standing.

"There you skulking rats are... damnable Bell-loyalists fled soon as we put down their leaders." He glances about warily before beckoning them out. "Back to the ship now boy. We've lingered here overlong."

The barmaid helps lift the blinded figure to his feet before surrendering him to the weathered sailor's charge once more. As the pair shuffle off without another word, Aesa watches their fading forms pensively.

Aesa stands pensively for several long moments after the bandaged stranger and gruff commander disappear from view. She wonders if their brief acquaintance was simply a chance crossing of fates or if someday their paths shall intertwine again.

Her musings are interrupted by a shout - she turns to see one of the pirate crewmen from the recent fracas waving her over. As Aesa approaches warily, the man informs her that the fleet commander has requested her presence back at their ship.

Unease stirring in her breast, the barmaid allows herself to be escorted through the bustling portside streets. Her mind churns with speculation as to why the captain would summon her so abruptly.

Upon arriving at the weathered vessel, the crewman leads Aesa over the gangplank to where the imposing commander stands near the mast. To her surprise, she spots the bandaged figure there as well, facing in her direction despite his sightless gaze.

With a start, she realizes it was the blind man himself who asked for her. The commander confirms as much, stating bluntly that the strange passenger has requested Aesa be hired on as his personal caretaker and guide.

Flustered by this sudden favor, the barmaid glances between the two men uncertainly. But the bandaged figure steps forward, head tilted in expectation. "Well girl?" he finally rasps, "Do you accept the charge?"

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As the commander ushered the blind man along roughly, he questions gruffly, "The waif? Why request she join our company?"

"I wish for a personal guide as we sail," comes the reply. "The girl served capably back in that wretched tavern."

The commander scoffs. "A mere hindrance to have some wench underfoot. My crew are a hardened, volatile lot - unlikely to tolerate some mewling female stray..."

But the bandaged figure stands firm in his entreaty. With a long-suffering sigh, the sailor spells out his objection more bluntly.

"She'll face worse perils than a taproom brawl if my men get deep enough in their cups. Like beasts they turn, you know..."

At this the blind passenger lets out an eerie, cackling laugh. "Your men shall not lay a single uncivil finger upon the girl; else they forfeit their own." He taps a gnarled walking stick meaningfully. "For now, at least, I have captain's endorsement in protection, do I not Commander?"

The commanders eyes his strange ward before acquiescing reluctantly. If the sightless oddity wants a nursemaid so badly, far be it from him to argue further...

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