It would not be easy to explain this to the crew. She could say that she had been betrayed in the middle of negotiations. While this was technically true, she couldn't just say that she had willingly entered any peace negotiations, no. She had to spin a tale that would convince every last man of her ferocious nature. One thing was for sure: no one could ever learn of the kiss.
That man - what a snake! What a serpent he was for betraying her like that! She did not understand any of his motives at all, in fact, she was not sure that she had ever understood them.
They went back and found the mostly empty harbor district full of Mariana's privateers. Unlike pirates, these men rarely got drunk enough to become completely dysfunctional. Even now, they partied with one hand on a weapon at all times.
"How was it?" Wolfe asked her, pulling her away from the dizzyingly large crowd consisting mostly of her men. "Where is Charlie?"
She could never lie to Wolfe.
She told him everything.
When she finished, there was something cold and hard in his eyes, but he still spole with kindness.
"Look, we can't mourn everyone all the time," he said. "It looks like you got a decent deal. Magic doesn't come for free, you know that."
"Have you kept the box hidden?"
"No one knows where it is but I have it with me," the first mate said.
"Good. We might still need it. Both as a part of a bargain and as an occultist's tool. The witch seems fairly competent."
Mariana didn't care enough to participate in the festivities. Besides, she had some banishing to do.
Roinar said that the Royal Standard was not the right thing to use now. The phase of the moon allowed for some rather interesting and potent witchcraft, and they would have to take advantage of the emptiness of the ship and get their magic working.
Mariana felt an underlying sense of unease as they locked the cabin door. Not even Wolfe was allowed to be present during the banishment.
There were thirteen candles burning in the cabin.
Roinar drew a circle of salt onto the floor.
The candles flickered.
"Prepare the dice," the man said, pulling out a piece of paper that had some writing on it.
Mariana took out the dice with the help of her scarf.
"I have written this magical contract with my own blood," the witch said. "This makes it far more binding, but there is a catch."
"Mh. What is the catch, Roinar?"
"The more valuable the sacrifice, the more the spirits will demand the same thing," the witch replied with grim determination in his voice. "You will need my blood now, and you will need it in the future. There is no way around that."
"Oh."
Mariana was quiet for a moment as the man drew another circle with fine salt. Perhaps Roinar was not horrible at all. Perhaps he was simply so much better than anyone else that regular people simply refused to get along with him. In any case, the banishment would need him to stay alive…after Mariana died, it would not be her responsibility anymore.
"And you understand my reluctance to haggle with you about this?" Roinar asked. "Captain Adams, I assure you that I do what I do because I absolutely have to do things in a certain manner that allows me at least some leeway with my life. I wouldn't do this for crumbs."
"Oh, I understand completely," Mariana said.
"Good. Be silent, for now, I have to concentrate."
Then the witch drew the symbol that had summoned Dars and blew out all the candles.
"Be ready to light them up again," Roinar warned Mariana.
In the darkness of the cabin, the scent of lavender lingered and a pale figure appeared in the rays of moonlight.
"What now, dear?" Dars asked.
Then he noticed Roinar.
Suddenly, the whole demeanor of the ghost changed. A terrible anger conquered his face, distorting his handsome features, but as much as he tried, he could not get past the circles of salt.
"See?" The witch chuckled. "The contract holds."
Dars roared. A terrible noise came from his mouth, like a million flies buzzing around a carcass that screamed an unholy scream from beyond the grave, but it was like all of it came backwards, somehow, a sound and an unsound at the same time.
Still, the ghost made no progress at all, and his anger seemed to grow more potent with every bump into the invisible walls of energy around him.
"What do you want from this woman? ANSWER ME!"
Mariana could have never guessed from Roinar's polished exterior that the man packed such a roar in his chest. The yelling made the very glass of the window shake and rattle. Even the ghost seemed to be a little bit upset by its strength.
"The life of the man who goes by the name Daniel Brandon," Dars replied. "That is what I seek."
"And why do you seek it? Answer me immediately!"
"He killed my father," Dars said flatly, with a concerning lack of any real anger. He had changed again, he was apathetic and did not move around at all.
"And why did you choose this woman to help you with this mission?"
"She hates him," Dars replied.
"You were wrong enough that she called for my help," Roinar said with a strange pride in his voice.
"So it would seem, yes."
"I am now the barrier between him and your anger. If she does kill him, it will be her own decision and nothing to do with you. You hear me, ghost Dars, you grievous abomination?"
"Yes, I hear you," Dars said.
It sounded like the ghost did not want to speak those words, they came out in a struggling vocalization that was oddly jumbled, not at all an enthusiastic plea for mercy.
Banishments were not supposed to be cathartic - maybe it was so, but the joy in Mariana's stomach was spreading upwards like an orb of golden light.
"Be gone, ghost," Roinar said with poignant determination. "We will not hear from you. You will sleep, whether it is a hateful slumber or the peace of death. Captain, please light the candles.
One, two, three…and the distinct shape of the pale man vanished like the shape of a drawing in sand wiped out by a wave.