Trouble is my middle name (smugglers, Ember &open)

Warning drums rang loud across the sleepy hold. Dawn was just about upon them and the few people who were awake then were the only ones not being rudely awakened by the drums. Guards began running this way and that, searching for something or someone. Captain Thatch, shoved the last weapon onto the loading ship, sending it off to the main ship with some of his crew. The Guards were not completely devoid of intelligence so he knew it would only be a matter of minutes before they made their way to the docks.

“Hurry up…I want you back here in exactly two candlemarks!” He said to them in an annoyed voice. He would have to wait in the large sea hold until things had died down. And he wasn’t the only one. A few of his crew members were unable to make it to the docks in time to get on the last loading ship. IF they hadn’t pilfered as much as they had, there would have been more room for the crew. In the meantime, the Captain walked slash ran to the Tavern, where he could certainly pay off a woman to come up with an alibi for the evening.

Covertly Thatch moved through the nearly empty streets, finally making his way to the Tavern. He didn’t bother talking to anyone when he came in. He used the place for a cover more than once. He was on good monetary terms with the owner of the establishment. He looked at the dying hearth fire and figured he might as well sit next to it until someone came to restart it. The noise from the waking people outside and the clatter of the Guard’s mail as they ran about, created a smug smile on the Captain’s face.

He was thrilled, waiting for the men to come looking for him. Though he sat like h was relaxed, Thatch was in fact anticipating the Guards coming. If he couldn’t out-charm them he was going to out-fight them. His eyes were staring at the entrance of the Tavern, waiting and watching, watching and waiting, he wondered how long it would take the idiots to figure out that the goods were already on his ship. One of these days they would be dumb enough to board his ship and when that happened, he might not be so generous with their lives as he normally was.

Having stayed behind while much of the rest of the crew loaded conveniently disguised weapons onto the Red Star's Revenge, Kyo had slipped cautiously through the streets, from where he'd been assisting the rest of the crew package ill-gotten goods for transporting, to where he knew that his Captain made a habit of coming. The Guard was getting a little quicker at reacting to the smugglers' presence so things were starting become a lot more exciting as of late.

Kyo happened to arrive just prior to the Captain, having in the mean time gotten his hands on a mug of ale and a piece of bread, which he was shoving into his mouth with the opposite hand, leaving none free for anything else but consuming something for breakfast. Turning from the bar just in time to see his Captain take a seat near the cold hearth, Kyo went to join Thatch then, but had yet to take a seat as he spoke through a half-full mouth, "I take it those drum alerts are for you?"

Grinning lopsidedly with an arched brow, Kyo took a seat across from the Captain, taking a long drink from his mug to wash the bread down with.

Smiling at Kyo he answered, "Could be. Sadly I'm not in the know when it comes to the Fort Hold Guard. I do happen to know they are missing a few things..." He was completely unapologetic about it. "Could be for another reason entirely." He had put himself into an interesting situation earlier which no doubt would upset the Captain of the Guard unit stationed here. Personal vendettas were much more interesting.

"Honestly I think it has nothing to do with me and everything to do with the Captain of the Guard's wife." He had a sly smirk on his face now as he recalled the lovely young woman. "I don't suppose you've seen her. The Guardsman is convinced his wife has stepped out on him. In the meantime we were able to store everything we needed on the ship..."

He was no longer looking at Kyo, more interested in the door, "We'll be able to make a quick getaway."

Emberlynn was rather blearily making her way down the stairs to the kitchens when she heard the drums. Mid-yawn, she stopped moving to listen, recognizing the cadence immediately. It wasn't the rhythm that warned of an approaching storm, but rather the one that summoned the guards. Sure enough, there were the faint shouts and running feet, the clanging of weapons and armor as they hurried towards the docks.

Though there were several seafaring men on the guards' watch list, ones she'd been asked about on occasion since a fair number of them liked to visit the Wild Green when they were on land and she was almost always looking after patrons, she rather thought she had an idea just who the guardsmen were looking for today. It wasn't intuition, necessarily, but there were few sailors as bold as the ones she knew best.

A few more steps down, and from her vantage point on the landing the young barmaid could easily see the 'guests' sitting by the hearth. Of course, they'd choose to hide out here, wouldn't they? She just hoped they'd take any ruckus outside if the guards came looking and things got physical. It was too early in the morning for her to have to clean up after them. Again.

Smoothing her skirts and brushing her hair behind her ear as she made her way down the last of the stairs, Ember aimed a bright, charming grin at the men seated by the hearth. "Captain. Kyo," she greeted each with a nod. "Keeping the guards on their toes, are you?"

Out of habit, she moved automatically past them to the wood stacked on the other side of the hearth and grabbed the nearby poker. It wouldn't take long to get the fire going again, and then she'd see about breakfast for herself and possibly her patrons-- assuming Kyo hadn't already found something for both himself and his boss.

Rumors spread faster than wildfires. The Guard had been working on spreading their forces and concentrating on areas of Fort which seemed to have the most problems. So Bladen was being transferred to Fort Sea Hold where the biggest issues had to do with smugglers. He doubted it would be as bad as it was made out to be. Of course he had arrived to the bustling hold last evening only to find the place to be quite entertaining. No wonder there were so many reports of issues. There were distractions everywhere for the Guardsman which he found inconvenient. He was a serious person when it came to missions and his was very important. He was there to make sure the rumors concerning danger to the Lord and Lady Holder were false.

He awakened several candlemarks into his sleep to the sound of the drums. Bladen dressed quickly, equipping his weapons and armor with the speed of a well trained Guardsman and was out of the Barracks quickly. They were paired off and sent into the Hold to investigate the missing weapon’s shipment which was now in the hands of someone who went by the name of Captain Thatch. If the other Guardsmen were to be believed, the man was the only one with enough of a crew to pull such an endeavor off. Surely though if the man was responsible for the missing shipments he would no longer be around.

He was the new guy, what did he know? So he went with the man who was paired with him to the part of the Hold they had been sent to scour for the man known as Captain Thatch. Seeing the smoke rising from the chimney, Bladen suggested they check out the Tavern.

Banging loudly on the door, he didn’t wait for permission to enter the premises. Places of disrepute such as this would likely have little respect for a man of the Guard. No matter what his rank, he would be treated badly. So he steeled himself for what would be a somewhat ugly situation, opening the door to just the opposite. Bladen had been very careful in his young life not to allow himself to get entangled with women in establishments like this one. He didn’t know the woman who was getting the fire going. He probably looked dumb, having lost his ability to say more than one word at a time and deciding it was better not to speak at all for the time being, he simply stared at the beautiful young lady. She was shorter than he was by about a foot but that didn’t seem to bother him. He was used to being one of the tallest people around him. He couldn’t seem to focus on any one attribute as he stared. When he finally did find his voice, he said,

“Excuse us, we are investigating the missing shipment. I hear Captain Thatch is a regular…” He and the other guy had both recently transferred and had never met any of the smugglers. So to their eyes the two men by the fire could simply be patrons of the Tavern.

Never fail, Captain Thatch would have some smart remark to off-shoulder the blame of his mischievous activities to someone else. Of course half of the time he was at least half right, so Kyo never blamed him. Kyo found himself nodding at the curious details about the Guard Captain's wife. "His wife? Indeed."


Kyo was just taking a second or third drink, something like that, from the mug in hand when two rather serious, astute looking Guardsmen walked through the door. The drums having been sounded several minutes ago, he wasn't surprised to see the soldiers about, properly conducting their search. The fact that the guards were here now did not alarm him -at least not yet- as he was pretty good playing it off cool.

So when Bladen came in, Kyo was turning to more or less square himself toward the two newcomers, taking a sip of the dark beer in hand. Bladen and his companion eyeing himself and Thatch, Kyo raised his mug to them in greeting. "Can't drink all day unless you start early, gentlemen. Would you like to join us?"

By the way the two looked at them, there was no sign of recognition in their eyes, so Kyo breathed an inner sigh of relief, taking one more drink and a bite of his breakfast roll. After that, showing no sign of nervous body language that might give them away, he half-turned back toward the fire that was just beginning to be re-stoked.

At the knock on the door, Emberlynn glanced towards the portal, fairly certain she knew just what sort of man would be walking through. Not surprised in the least at the gleam of mail and the sound of heavy boots on the floor, she went back to tending the fire as if nothing was amiss.

It hadn't taken long for the guards to come to the tavern, but then again, it wasn't as if Captain Thatch made any secret of frequenting the Wild Green when he was on land. Pinning whatever he'd done on him would be the difficult part, from what she'd heard. Then again, maybe they'd have proof already-- one of his sailors could have been caught red-handed. Or perhaps there was an actual witness that the Captain hadn't seen?

She doubted it. At least from the rumors that reached her ears.

And it looked like she was right-- the guards clearly didn't realize they were looking right at the man they were looking for. Then again, she knew one of them had been staring at her as she worked, instead of their quarry, so it was possible he'd yet to see the Captain. Trying not to smirk or otherwise betray her amusement, Ember glanced at Thatch out of the corner of her eye to gauge his reaction.

Having finished stoking the fire, the barmaid straightened and replaced the poker in its holder. She smoothed her hands on her skirts and smiled brightly at the guardsmen. "Clearly you can see these gentlemen are on a mission," she told Kyo, stepping around the benches where he and Captain Thatch sat. "I'm sure they're not interested in drinking on the job. You're certainly welcome here, though, good sirs, and I'm sorry it took me a few moments to come see what I could help you with." She'd been prepping the fire, after all, and really, they hadn't waited that long-- of course, she'd deliberately finished what she'd been doing instead of tending to her guests when it was clear she would easily provide a distraction should it be necessary. "Now, you said you're looking for a missing shipment? And a Captain Thatch?" She glanced between both guards, but mostly met Bladen's blue gaze, since he'd been the one to speak.

Thatch allowed himself to smile at the entrance of the Guardsmen. How quaint… newbies. He didn’t say anything as the two youths seemed completely at a loss for words. One for less obvious reasons than the other, which almost made him chuckle. Poor boy, that was not going to end the way he wanted it to. From what Thatch knew of Ember she didn’t entertain men the way her cohorts did at the Tavern. Maybe her purity was something men desired but he, himself, cared little for virginal prudes. Still he had to commend the young man on his taste for other reasons. If Ember were so inclined, she could make a fortune selling her body because it was a body that men desired.

He almost put the young guard out of his misery but he seemed to finally gather his wits. And while there were two men in the room, besides his comrade, the guard only seemed to address Ember. Thatch was thoroughly amused. Allowing Kyo to say what he liked without any hindrance on his end. He remained seated comfortably, watching the men.

Meanwhile, Bladen responded to Kyo with a respectful nod. “I appreciate your offer sir but the lady speaks truly.” He found her voice as beautiful as the rest of her and tried to push the thought out of his mind. There was a foolishness in feeling this way upon seeing someone only one time and he had to stop it, somehow.

“Yes, we are milady.” She seemed to understand the importance of their mission. Or at least she might, although she could also be using them for information. Well they didn’t know much so he doubted if she was after information he would know much more than she did. “I’m Bladen and this is Zandrew, recently transferred from the main Hold. Obviously, we have never met the Captain but I have been told he is the only one with a crew capable of stealing as much as was stolen in the amount of time it would have had to be stolen in.”

He wondered a moment longer about the two at the fire, he might want to talk to them in a moment. Once he had discerned if she knew anything at all about what was going on. “We would be grateful for any information you might have concerning the smuggler captain, his crew or his ship.”

Meanwhile Thatch found himself smiling. This was going to be more fun than he had anticipated. He loved it when they sent the new boys. Although there was something in the way the one who was speaking looked over at him, that made him feel…unnerved. That boy wasn’t the typical dumb guard, despite acting like a complete stick in the mud, he could see the intelligence behind the youth’s blue eyes. If he remained in service to the Fort Guard he would likely go far. Crossing him now might be a bad idea. Thatch continued to think about the situation while Ember dealt with the two Guards.

'Milady?' Emberlynn mentally chuckled, though her grin outwardly widened just the slightest fraction as well. She wasn't referred to by such a title very often-- neither the Holdless, nor the usual patrons of the tavern used such formalities. And even if they did, they weren't usually speaking in reference to her or the other barmaids.

Clearly, this Bladen took his position seriously, given his formal manners. Then again, he was new, as he'd admitted, and maybe such an attitude was necessary at the main Hold, where he and his friend had reportedly come from. She idly wondered just how long it would take him to realize the job wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

With a curtsy, Ember bobbed her head at both guards in turn. "I'm very pleased to meet you, good sirs. Emberlynn, the humble barmaid at your service." They might have missed the extra little glint in her eye as she straightened and sidled a bit closer to Zandrew, though Kyo and Thatch would most likely recognize it. Approaching the as-yet-silent guard was a deliberate move on her part, since it seemed like it might fluster both of them at once. Then again, it was always possible she was reading the two young men incorrectly. "Most people around here just call me Ember, though," she said, pitching her voice a bit lower and lightly laying her fingers on Zandrew's arm. Her lips curling up just that little bit more, she gazed up at the young man through her lashes for a second longer than necessary before turning back to Bladen.

"Your source certainly had it right-- Captain Thatch is, in fact, a regular here. Might I ask what was in the shipment he's supposedly stolen, and how long it's been missing?" The guards might catch on that she hadn't actually given them anything other than confirmation of their original assumptions. But she was having too much fun yet to spoil things, if Thatch and Kyo didn't take it upon themselves to reveal their identities. She'd wait and see where things went, and in the meantime, she'd enjoy teasing this Bladen a bit-- he seemed like he could use a little loosening up.

Kyo went on to finish his breakfast, but took a little longer to finish the drink in his hand while he continued to watch between the officers and Ember. He didn't need to say much since Ember seemed to be handling the Guardsmen well enough, so he just loitered in his spot near the hearth, wondering if the Captain would purposely reveal anything to them.

While they were distracted by the beautiful bar maid as she introduced herself, Thatch seemed to pay little attention. There was no point in saying anything just yet. Ember’s questions might create a situation in which he would need to reveal himself. The two young Guards seemed oblivious to the other people in the room besides Emberlynn so it was easy to act like he did not care.

Bladen’s eyes were fixed on the young woman as she focused her attention on Zandrew. He was more jealous than he thought he would be. These feelings needed to go away because he wasn’t prepared to deal with them. He had never thought to have a connection so fast with a person where he felt this strange need to protect them. Not that she needed protecting at this moment, as she seemed to be in complete control of the situation. She was toying with them.

He came to this realization just as Zandrew was opening his big mouth over what the shipment was. “It was a large shipment of …” At which point Bladen cut him off, shooting him a look that pretty much said, shut up. “That information is classified.” He could see how easy it would be for someone to give in to her. Zandrew had trusted her enough in five minutes to tell her anything, which concerned him. Maybe she was used to people telling her things they didn’t mean to say. “I can tell you the shipment went missing in the last few candlemarks.” Bladen could see clearly how charming she was though it didn’t necessarily prevent him from being charmed.

Nodding at her affirmation that Captain Thatch was a regular he said, “Great. I don’t know how the commander knows him or why he is suspected of being behind this but I don’t intend to arrest a man without proof. Do you mind my asking a couple more questions?” He figured she wouldn’t but then she might not be completely honest with him now that she realized they couldn’t give her all the details she wanted.

“Do you know anyone with enough connections other than Captain Thatch, who could have moved a sizeable shipment in that short of time, somewhere far from the Guard Barracks and quite possibly onto a shipping vessel.”

Emberlynn shrugged when Bladen overrode his fellow soldier's words, as if not knowing what the shipment actually contained was of no real consequence to her. She was curious as to what it was, but if the young men weren't willing to spill, she knew she would hear the rumors later. They may not be as accurate as what the guardsmen would describe, but still, even overly exaggerated gossip usually held an element of truth.

Then again, if the soldiers weren't willing to reveal the information, perhaps what was missing was something important to them. Or to the Hold itself. Just what had Captain Thatch and his crew stolen?

"I don't mind at all," the young barmaid nodded in response to Bladen's query, gesturing to indicate that he should proceed. "I'm not sure I can provide the answers you seek, but I'll do my best to help you in your search."

Being able to honestly answer was a bit of a surprise. Ember preferred not to lie, though she wasn't above evading the truth, as she'd already done by not telling the guards that the men by the hearth were who they were looking for. She hadn't actually been directly asked about them, or if Captain Thatch was actually here, but that was beside the point.

Cocking her head to the side and considering the guard's question, she had to shake her head. "There are a couple of other captains who might have crew enough to handle something large quickly, but I'm not sure they'd be bold enough to move goods so important to the Guard." No, that reputation was saved solely for the man near the hearth.

"Thank you Emberlynn. You have been most helpful." Bladen said, as his gaze left her to the men near the fire. "If its not too much trouble, we'll need to talk to the patrons here as well." He said, indicating with a head tilt that he meant the two men by the fire.

He wasn't really asking permission as he had all the permission he needed being a Guard to question anyone within the Hold when it was necessary. He approached Kyo first, looking the young man up and down as if to make out his character simply by looking at him. He was in fact taking in the clothing Kyo was wearing, whether there was sand on his boots from the shore and also gauging whether or not the other man was nervous.

"Good morning sir. You may have overheard us talking to the lady. What is your name and position here at Fort Sea Hold?" He wondered briefly if this whole thing was a set up by the Hold captain to get them used to the types of people they would have to deal with but quickly rejected the idea based on the fact that the captain had seemed completely irrational with concern.

Meanwhile Zandrew had approached Thatch telling him not to go anywhere until they were finished questioning him. The Captain nodded. The amusement of the situation still dancing in his brown eyes. The day was getting better and better!

Well, there was no more than the usual dirt on his boots being that Kyo had been away from the scuffle of activity on the shore, keeping tabs on other people and places for Thatch, play messenger and catch up on local gossip, while the Captain carried out his plans. In truth, Kyo found the whole situation rather funny and nearly laughed when Bladen approached him. Because his mouth had been full of ale though, Kyo was saved -by nearly choaking as he swallowed. The young man coughed, clearing his throat, going about picking food from his teeth so as not to be grossly impolite. Given his profession, Kyo was a tidy person and appreciated orderliness.

"Sorry about that. My name is Kyo. And I guess like the Captain Thatch you're looking for, I'm a periodic regular here. Seacrafter by trade, born and raised, and the owner of this here Inn was kindly enough to take me in when my father was killed at sea in a storm on his fishing vessel. Helped me get my apprenticeship started, too, when I reached the proper age." Pausing in his speech, a thick brow arced in Bladen's direction, leaning forward as a rather knowing smirk lopsidedly appeared. Kyo spoke lowly, between the two of them, "I seen how you was looking at the Lady. The Miss Ember's an' I been around here together long enough if you are interested, I might be able to help hook you up with her. She's feisty, but you seem like you can hold your own. You'll have to be able to..."

Suddenly he was glancing sidelong toward Ember, looking like he was fully prepared to duck out of harm's way if she came at him for the comment. He was smiling over at her then though, wondering how difficult she'd make it for them.. maybe if they tag teamed her she'd have to give in and go out on a proper date wtih the man. Hmmmm. After pondering that though for a moment, he wasn't certain the likeliness.

"Of course, good sirs." Ember gave a little curtsy for the soldiers at their thanks. It was hard to do without laughing, but she'd had turns of practice keeping her poker face on.

She did, however, wink at Kyo when Zandrew and Bladen turned away from her and towards the men by the hearth.

Figuring it would seem suspicious of she simply stood around when the soldiers moved on from questioning her, the young barmaid moved back towards the bar area. She grabbed a rag from a shelf under the counter top, wet it in the bucket someone had carried in and left most of the night on top of the wooden counter, and headed back out past the hearth and towards the closest table.

This way, she'd at least appear to be doing some work while she was listening to their conversations. Having tasks to do-- or make up to do-- while keeping a sharp ear out for gossip certainly made the task of gathering information easier.

Bladen really did not know what to make of the man’s assessment of Ember. Why were they talking about her anyway? They were asking Kyo the questions and while the man had in fact answered them, he seemed a little eager to move the conversation topic off of himself and onto the barmaid. Raising his eyebrow he said, “I see.”

Then took a moment, trying to think of a way to say what he wanted to without offending Kyo. He didn’t know how obvious he had been earlier but then he tried not to look at women that way when on duty. Even when off duty, he tried to be respectful and not stare like he had. He supposed he had not been expecting someone so beautiful to be in an establishment like this one.

“I appreciate your offer but it won’t be necessary.” He didn’t specify why it wouldn’t be. He could mean that he would not be pursuing her at all or it could mean just the opposite. Bladen preferred to be vague on that point. There was a process to these matters just like to his investigation.

“And you sir what is your name and your business here?” Bladen asked the other man. Who now had a smile a mile long on his face.

Standing slowly, he said to the men, “My name is Thurisian, former sea-crafter. “ He winked over at Kyo. It was time to work on their escape. It was about time for their boat to be back at shore to take them to the ship. Timing was everything. “My life and name are different now. I’m the Captain of the Red Star’s Revenge, a smuggling vessel and I go by Thatch. Captain Thatch.”

Bladen was taken aback for a moment trying to adjust to the strangeness of someone telling the truth even when it condemned them.

“We’re going to need to board your vessel and search it Captain.”

“I had a feeling you might want to do that. I hate to disappoint you but I don’t see that happening. I’m going to leave this fine institution, go down to the beach where one of my loading boats will be waiting to take me to my ship.”

The young Guard swung his axe out from behind his back as though it were lighter than any sword. “You may want to rethink that Captain. You are under arrest and will be taken to a holding area where you will remain until you are sentenced.”

At this point he fully expected both Kyo and Ember to be on the side of the Captain and hoped Zandrew had drawn his weapon as well. Maybe Ember wouldn’t get involved… in fact he kind of preferred his odds if she didn’t.

Well, if that didn't just surprise him. How unlike the Captain to given them away when they could have played themselves off cool and inconspicuous like...

What was WRONG the man that he had to go giving them up to the Guard like that? Then again, that would take all the fun out of getting out of here. Maybe that was one reason Kyo continued to live as a member of Thatch's crew -the entertainment never ceased.


Even as Captain Thatch talked, Bladen drawing his weapon, Kyo watched between the two of them, in no obvious hurry to finish his mug of dark ale. It was still nearly half full.

When the Guard began spouting off to them about being detained and the like, Kyo wondered what his problem was. Bladen was in such a rush. They'd given him no reason to suspect them of anything. After all, any number of like-minded sea-folk could have smuggled away those goods they were on the lookout for. Denying the Guard an initial search of their vessel wasn't enough evidence to suggest they had the stolen goods in their possession.

Anyway, it was no use now. Kyo would let his Captain make the first move. He would have to follow suit, whatever happened, because the boat waiting for them would be the last to take men back to the Red Star's Revenge before they hit the high seas and made way to Telgar coastlines.

Emberlynn was curious as to what Kyo had said to Bladen privately. Given the seacrafter's sidelong look her way, she was guessing it might have had something to do with her-- she doubted he'd revealed his own role in the matter being discussed, otherwise the guard would probably have reacted far differently.

Then again, leave it to Captain Thatch to take matters into his own hands and do just that.

It had been clear since the man had come to the Wild Green that he was just waiting for the guards to arrive. His amusement now was quite obvious, though she wondered at his audacity-- surely it would have been a smarter move to answer the guards' questions without revealing himself? From what she'd heard, though, the Captain was not one to hide. So why start now?

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes in Kyo's direction-- he clearly thought the situation was as entertaining as his captain did-- Ember had stopped cleaning and was watching the by-play with as innocently surprised a look as she could muster. When Bladen drew his weapon, she blinked and fluttered her hand, fanning herself in the beginnings of feigned hysteria. "Oh dear. You aren't going to fight in here, are you?" she asked, her voice shaky. "Surely a weapon isn't necessary..."

If nothing else, she might yet provide enough distraction Kyo and Thatch could get away.

Captain Thatch was still amused by the young man's assumption that he would allow them to search his ship. "Fort's Lord Holder nor any under his command have a legal right to come aboard my ship. There is no proof that I or any of my crew have taken anything from the Barracks. If my Ship were docked it would be a different thing entirely but as the sea is owned by no man, my ship is not on Fort property and is not bound by her laws."

Bladen didn't really care if it was legal. They had already confirmed there were no other people with the right vessel and crew to get out the shipment in that amount of time. Still at Ember's protest, he suggested, "We'd better take this outside."

Thatch gave Kyo a specific look when Bladen mentioned them going outside. That would be perfect, then they could run...faster than the Guard could because they had much less to carry and knew exactly where they were going. Thatch had it all worked out.

"Indeed, we better not upset Emberlynn or her employer." Thatch would rather not ruin anything inside the building, it would come to cost him more than he wanted to pay. The trouble with people knowing you made a profit off of what you sold was that then they expected more from you.

Bladen watched, waiting for Thatch to walk past him, as the Captain walked by, he pivoted, never allowing his gaze to leave the man. Meanwhile, Zandrew was doing the same to Kyo. Expecting the man's cooperation. No doubt he would do whatever the other man wanted and since Thatch wanted to go outside, there wouldn't be much of a fight to go out there.

He was being diligent in his duty but Bladen did allow himself a moment, when the Captain was about to reach the door to turn ever so slightly, and say, "Thank you, Emberlynn. We are sorry to have disrupted your morning." He acted and sounded as if she were classes above him rather than below because it was how he treated all women. He wanted to kick himself though for allowing chivalry to get in the way of doing his job one hundred percent accurately.

When he followed Thatch out, having taken his eyes off the man for a few seconds he was too late to notice that the man had taken off at a full out run. He was fast for his age although considering the Captain had no idea how far he could throw his axe, it was probably a very good thing he had taken off so quickly. Kyo too was faster than he imagined.

They could go running after them but to what point? They'd just end up laying in sand on the beach, watching the men sail away. Instead he would report back and explain the situation. He was irritated with himself and with Zandrew as the other man had obviously not been watching either.

"We better go report this. I don't think we will ever catch them on foot." The other man nodded and walked with Bladen back to the Gaurd's main hall where their leader was waiting for them.

Well, that rather confirmed that something had been taken from the barracks. Ember was still left wondering what it was exactly, but it was an affirmation of sorts. The Guard must have taken a good size hit in supplies, or weaponry, or something. From what she'd heard, any items they might have on hand would probably be worth a decent amount in trade, so to pilfer and resell them would garner a good deal of marks or services. And Thatch definitely had a good eye for what would get him the biggest return. He didn't take indiscriminately from what she could tell, nor did he move without careful planning. No seafarer could get away with what he did for as long as he had without some sort of method to his madness. And his words were only further proof of that-- he knew that once he was out at sea, the guards held no jurisdiction.

Continuing to fan herself as she digested that bit of information, the young barmaid watched the guards for their reactions. She couldn't help the faint thread of disappointment that curled through her as the one named Bladen mentioned going outside. It would have been much more fun to pretend to swoon on him, shake him up a little. But, it wasn't meant to be this particular day.

Then again, maybe she had provided just the distraction Thatch and Kyo needed, she thought, keeping her smirk well hidden as Bladen turned back to say farewell. "Oh, no, not at all, sir. I'm sorry I wasn't more helpful. And that you'll be--" Too late? Missing your chance? Just a bit too slow? All things she wanted to say as she continued to hide her amusement. But she didn't, instead finally finishing with, "--unable to stay," as Bladen went out the door.

Oh, he would be angry now, she imagined, knowing Kyo and Thatch would be just far enough ahead that the young guards wouldn't be able to catch them. But the guards should have known better than to take their eyes off of the two men-- hadn't they paid attention to just how slippery the Captain was? Clearly, they weren't well-versed enough in the personages to watch here at Fort Sea Hold, as compared to the main Hold. But she was sure they would be soon-- they'd probably get an earful for having let the Captain slip through their fingers when they had actually been in the room with him. And for that she felt a little sorry for them. But not too much, considering they should have known who they were dealing with, and should have believed the tales about him.

Knowing what they did about him being a regular here, Emberlynn was sure the young men, or others of their kind, would be back. Whether Thatch was here or not when that happened would depend on his own schedule. But she was pretty sure that at some point, he would be, and when the guards came calling, she'd find great amusement in watching the confrontation play out.

Until then, she'd just have to keep herself busy with the daily routine of keeping her patrons happy. And if she got lucky, Thatch had just inspired a couple of new ones to come visit. Surely young guardsmen would tip well, after all, wouldn't they?