"Fine," she said.
"We talk. But if I don't like what I hear—"
"Then we can go back to fighting," Jake said.
"But at least you'll be fighting with full information instead of partial stories."
Elisabeth was already moving toward the Darkwhale's interior, gesturing for them to follow, and after a moment's hesitation, both Maureen and Jake followed her below deck to a cabin that was clearly the captain's quarters—spacious by ship standards, well-furnished, with maps covering one wall and a large table dominating the center.
They sat around the table in an arrangement that was less a hostile meeting and more exhausted people taking a break from violence.
Elisabeth pulled out a bottle of something amber and three glasses without asking if they wanted it, pouring generous measures for all of them before settling into her chair with the weariness of someone who had been carrying something heavy for a very long time.
"Tell me the story you were told," Elisabeth said to Maureen.
