#jolnde

Yinn knew the Cloth Halls as well as she knew her own ship and had no need for the guide ahead of her. Still, it was a formality, so she let the young woman take her through the cloth draped halls to Jolnde’s room.

Inside the plaster walls and high columns, the quality and color of the fabric changed. Rather than the bright red of the rest of the place, Jolnde’s cloth curtains were a deep red, dark as wine and the sea at dusk. It was a testament to the wealth of her richest patron.

“My lady,” the apprentice said, stopping just next to the entrance column. Unlike most of the others which had simply been painted with flecks of gold, Jolnde’s columns had the precious metal pressed into it. “A guest has come for your advice.”

“Thank you,” Jolnde said, although hidden within the dim light of a room lit by candles, Yinn could not see where she was.

A moment later, the apprentice left and Jolnde stood up amidst the sound of sloshing water. Her silhouette was darkened by the fabric screen on the left side of the room, and Yinn sighed fondly at the familiar form.

“So,” Jolnde said, her graceful limbs moving in a dance as she dried herself off. “What gifts have you brought me?”

Yinn slipped her bag from her shoulder as she took a step forward, pulling a glass bottle from it in the process. “Rose perfume,” Yinn said, and watched the ever slight shift in Jolnde’s movements as she spoke, the paused as Jolnde realized she was there. “From the gardens of the Lady of the Rose.”

Jolnde reached for her clothes and wrapped them around herself.

Yinn set the perfume on a side table, and pulled out a metal box encrusted with blue stones and flowers. “A brick of tea from the Tea Valley and the Tea Lady herself.”

At that, Jolnde finished pinning her dress and stepped out from the curtain.

“Those are fine gifts,” she said as she walked across the room, idly trailing a finger along the wood back of the long bench. “But, I have been showered with finer before,” she added with a smile curved around a silent laugh as she met Yinn’s gaze just long enough for a loving hello, “carved wood from the forests of the Western Lands, a dye found only on the steps of the mountains at the edge of the world, a song in my honor written by Noddle Pannrig herself.”

The mention of previous gifts Yinn had brought Jolnde made her smile, and reach for the last gift in her bag.

“I have been spoiled by the pirate queen herself,” Jolnde said as she stopped at the end of the bench, resting against the side. Although she crossed her arms in fake disinterest, she completely failed to hide her smile and there was nothing but joy in her eyes.

“Well,” Yinn said with an over dramatic sigh of defeat and dropped her bag on the floor. “I do have this small trinket.”

“Oh?” Jolnde tilted her head to the side, losing her composure as soon as she opened her mouth to speak a second time, her words all flavored with loving laughter, “You think a small trinket will impress me after your other gifts have failed?”

Commanding a ship and maintaining her appearance made keeping the charade going almost easy for Yinn. Lifting up a small ring, she took a few steps forward, enough that she was close to Jolnde but there was still enough distance for them to lock eyes without either of them craning their necks. “A ring, with stones made of starlight, surrounded by the sea, and bound by metal of magic made solid.”

Smiling openly, Jolnde stood up, taking the steps required to reach Yinn, and took the ring. She looked at it for a moment, but when she spoke, she looked up at Yinn above her, “And what do you ask in return?”

Staring down at Jolnde, Yinn let herself get lost in the dark pieces of night sky that were Jolnde’s eyes. “A single kiss from your lips.”

“Is that all?”

With the ring in Jolnde’s hands, Yinn slid her hands along her lover’s waist. “All the love in your heart?”

Jolnde reciprocated the movement by grabbing hold of Yinn’s arms. “Then you shall have it,” Jolnde told her, and then pulled her closer for a kiss. When it ended, she asked, “And who am I to a pirate queen who flirts with spirits and is wed to the sea?”