Chương 52: Day Fifty-Two

Dear Diary, Saffron woke me up for breakfast this morning; I opened the door sans clothes, as was my wont, and while she got a little pink, she stepped in, pushed the door about a finger width from closed, and then pulled my chin down to look me in the eyes before giving me a quick kiss on the lips.

"How've the nightmares been?" I sighed.

"Nothing Sunday night. A couple Monday night. Three last night. Four if you count the boring one that lets me sleep." She shook her head, but just asked, "do you want me to stay with you tonight?" I smiled my relief; I'd still had nightmares the nights she stayed, but I'd had fewer, and gotten back to sleep way easier.

"Please?" She smirked at me.

"Okay. You know you'll owe me for this." I slapped an exaggerated leer on my face and said, "I could pay in kind?" She just snorted, "Like you weren't going to try that anyway. Besides, I had something else in mind."

"Do tell."

"Nah, I think I'll show." With that she shoved me back towards my bed, and I flopped onto my back at the foot, catching myself before my head hit the wall. Saffron hopped on the bed, her boots up near my pillow and her head down at my waist. Despite my suddenly fevered imaginings, she moved up rather than down, putting her arms around me and laying her head against my belly. Given how I'd crunched to avoid decorating the wall with my hindbrain, even I could see my six pack showing through.

She lay there for a while while I enjoyed the warmth and closeness. Of course, I had to screw it up.

"Isn't that a little, I dunno, uncomfortable hard?"

"Shush, you. It's softer than our beds, and it's warmer too." I'm a screw up, but I'm not that big of a screw up. I held myself up with my left elbow and my abs, using my right to stroke her hair. I swear she started purring at one point. After a while she shook herself and sat up.

"Yeah, that'll do fine." I gave her a bit more of a kiss than she'd given me earlier, then stood up and got dressed as a fast as possible. I wouldn't miss time alone with Saffron for the world, but... Spicy eggs. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. I'd made the right call. Breakfast had trays of spicy eggs and spicy scrapple. Pop quiz in Geography and World Cultures today.

I kinda bombed it, because while I did okay on the part about Dan and Bag and Aesir and Vanir, I might as well have been asleep on my feet last week for the lesson about Saint Boltophsberg. I asked a few questions as we reviewed the quiz, and it turns out Saint Boltophsberg was settled by Russians. Whole different set of supernatural races there, too. I made a mental note to ask Saffron about it; she'd aced the quiz. Today's lesson turned out to be about 'Rich Man's Port'.

I'm not sure, but I think it sat right in the middle of Virginia back in the US of A. The big surprise came with who had settled it; the English. Doc DeLeon called on me when I raised my hand.

"I thought you said the English weren't really, I dunno, a political force." He nodded.

"That's true, in general. They're too disorganized to have any kind of centralized power structure, which means they don't really have much influence during times of peace. However, what they do have is a disproportionate number of fighters for their overall population, combined with the odd advantage of owing their allegiance to no particular City or Family."

"So how'd they manage a colony?" He shook his head.

"It's not so much a colony as a pirate base. In this case, one with a very powerful magical Overlord."

"So why don't the other cities get together and take them out?" He opened his mouth to answer, then paused before he said, "why do you think?" I cudgeled my sleep deprived brain, but couldn't come up with anything.

"I got nothin'." He looked around the room; only two hands had shot up. Saffron and Lancaster.

"Cadet Lancaster?"

"No one with the power to do anything about them has any fear of them, and those who fear them lack the will to band together and attack." I swear, he could sneer his way through an entire sentence. Doc DeLeon raised one hand and wobbled it in a 'so-so' gesture.

"Not entirely wrong, but missing one key factor. Cadet Aetos?"

"The House of Orange."

"Yes! Who remembers why they're relevant?" He scanned around the room before nodding to someone behind me and calling out, "Cadet Aetos?" Raven spoke from behind me.

"They tried to get the Cities of Europa to band together and destroy the Thames pirates, and got themselves beaten so badly they had to leave Europa entirely."

"Excellent!" We spent the afternoon mostly studying the various types of 'Fae'; apparently while some of the Bag are related to Fae, who hail from 'Underhill', the Fae proper owe allegiance to one of the courts of the Sidhe, and the Overlord of Rich Man's Port is a Sidhe. Apparently nobody cares much about the name of the Overlord, because it's not always been the same guy. Every now and again some other Sidhe lord decides to promote himself.

If he loses, nobody cries, and if he wins, Rich Man's Port has a new Overlord stronger than the old Overlord, and the Fae, Humans, and Hybrids just roll with it. Shoe leather beef for dinner tonight. Couldn't complain too much, what with Saffron cheesecake for a late night snack.