The Bathrobe Knight: Volume 2 by Charles Dean Page A

pirates are assailing a village town with their stench and charm,” Eve finally said after a moment of thought. “The villagers who are actually wearing armor seem to be holding them off for the moment. They have a good defensive formation, but it’s not likely to stay that way for long.”
    “Then let’s hope they last until we arrive,” Qasin said, putting his hand on his sword. It’s itching again.
    “Qasin, we’re not going to arrive,” Eve said coldly. “We’re hot on Darwin’s trail. At this rate we’ll catch them before they reach shore.”
    “Your brother isn’t facing death; those people are. Are you going to turn your back on them so easily? Is an hour’s worth of chasing Darwin worth the lives of the people in that town?” Qasin’s grip on his blade grew stronger. She isn’t them; she isn’t the council, he had to tell himself.
    “No, it’s just, Qasin, this is about more than a village. This is about an entire world. You’re a King. You should know by now that wars require you to make the hard call and give up a few soldiers to save a thousand.”
    “I was a poor King as you were quick to point out. There are simply lessons I am too foolish to ever learn.”
    “Qasin, this is my boat if you haven’t forgotten, and I am not risking everything. I didn’t come this far to give up here. I am not changing the course.”
    Qasin had heard enough. His hand was itching and his patience was gone. There was a problem on the shore, and everything down to his bones told him he couldn’t let those people die. He walked to the edge of the boat where the railing was. “I signed up to help you, not to be your pawn. You turn the boat towards those people, or I will swim to shore on my own.”
    He watched Eve stare at him sternly, then turned to the rail. We don’t have time for this, he thought, about to jump off the boat, when she stopped him with a shout. “Fine! I’ll turn the boat, but we better still catch Darwin. Don’t make me regret this more than I already do,” Eve bellowed out angrily.
    “Saving lives is not something you can regret easily,” Qasin said, parting from the ship’s side and walking up to the wheel where Eve was steering.
    “You may be right, but I’m worried that the number of lives we save today will be incomparable to the number of lives that may die tomorrow as a result of this. Either way, we were set to arrive at Darwin’s port before he did with just wind alone earlier. If we’re going to make this detour and still be on schedule, we’re going to need to speed things up,” she said, turning around to face the back of the boat. Eve calmly raised one hand to the side of her head as a gust of wind began to creep out of nowhere, pulling ever so slightly at the ends of her black dress as it pressed against her. The gusts behind the sails became stronger and stronger with each passing moment until the boat had gone from a comfortable cruising speed to one where it tore through the water like a hot knife through butter.
    Qasin, momentarily mystified by the sudden effects of a magic he had not seen, caught on to what she was doing and quickly grabbed the wheel to steer the ship towards the town. What would have been a ten or fifteen minute venture was shortened to mere moments. Unfortunately, as Qasin quickly saw, there was nothing that would stop the ship from simply colliding into the docks and tearing them in half.
    “BRACE!” he yelled at Eve, whose focus was on the spell and not the impending crisis.
    Eve didn’t move though: whatever the spell was, it took all of her attention. Qasin didn’t bother warning her a second time. As the ship got closer and closer to ramming the dock, he simply tossed her over his shoulder and, using a fireman’s carry, rushed to the edge of the boat where he proceeded to jump into the water.
    As Qasin broke through the water’s surface in an awkward, feet-first landing, he felt Eve’s body slip off his back, buoyed by the