by Kat Mandu
“Then I must insist, we shall have to share some of our wine, in the meantime I shall make sure we have the requested items.” He smiled before heading out with the List.
“I swear that man’s smile just weird’s me out if looks so forced,” Boss commented, as Richard waved him off.
“This guy has to deal with a very rich client the poor man probably has that smile stuck to his face, pissing off noblemen especially a cruel one could get you killed,” Richard frowned before pushing away his sympathy.
The two waited as they were served a glass of wine each as the pair thanked the seller before sipping it. “Feel free to stay as long as you need,” The man stated as they both took a sip of the wine before glancing out at the sunny coastal city.
“So why share the wine?” Boss asked as Richard took a sip of it taking his eyes of a pair of lovely ladies walking down the street.
“In case we get in contact with other rich people, we have a place to recommend. It’s not a bad business call to invest in possible clients especially they travel a lot.” Richard said as he sipped at his drink.
“Captain Richard?” asked a familiar voice as they both turned to see an unfamiliar woman walk in with long curly blonde hair that was almost mane like, as a pair of friendly ice blue eyes locked onto Richard’s with a slight wink. Richard smirked as he elbowed Boss
The blonde woman was about Spark’s size at full height. With a long red dress under a light brown leather chest plate, which expanded over her shoulder, arms, and hands, her lower half seemed to layer under the breastplate and carry on covering the sides of the dress in protection. The style was very rounded and while it looked light something that shouldn’t weight her down too much. She approached using a spear as a makeshift walking stick as Richard spotted a small buckler shield strapped to left arm.
“Hello, Captain Richard I presume?” she greeted as Boss drowned and raised an eyebrow.
“Aye,” Richard nodded as he smirked, “And who might you be a young lady,” Richard smiled as Boss frowned looking between the pair.
“I would like to join your crew I hear you were recruiting, I am Lagertha Fey,” she introduced as Richard let out a silent laugh as Boss frowned harder realizing he was missing something.
“If you want to keep your cover you may want to drop the last name,” Richard sighed out with a smile gracing his lips. “And Lagertha, what are you eighty?” Richard joked as the woman frowned, at him.
“So glad you approve, Hi Boss,” she waved, as Spark lifted up the wig showing briefly her dark short hair.
“Oh Hi Lagertha, should we fully commit to that name I worry it may get confusing,” Boss admitted a bit concerned.
“Commit or don’t bother at all, Spark no longer is on our ship just our new recruit, a Mage Daughter with the ability to shot beams at people. So Boss just me and you are going to know for now we may make it a more open secret but for now, Lagertha is in and Spark is no longer with us.” Richard said in a hushed voice as he eyed the door. “Well Lagertha welcome aboard, I could always use the extra set of hands.” He kicked over a chair as she sat down.
“Now that’s taken Care of I think it’s time to deal With Morgan, the Pirate Lord needs to be dealt with but we need to do it in a way that will not implicate Madison, or hamper the family in the future. Or are working relationships in the future.” Richard whispered,
“I say we just break the door down and slight his throat,” Boss shrugged, Lagertha frowned at the action. “We have Stephano, his skills should be up to the task he is an assassin after all.”
“I say we force his ability out into the open using his sword skill and ruin his chances of success, before bringing him down, by slicing his throat we could leave a trail, in the world of magic blood is not hard to follow,” Lagertha brought back around looking at Boss.
“He could pass his ability of as a Mageson ability, if he has any noble blood in him he could make that claim, just like you,” Richard pointed out, “While I don’t like it Boss’s idea would be the fastest, we already put up a lot and I have let that fucker get away with too much as it is. It would be risky either option.”
“So when and how?” Boss continued as they watched the two frank speakers making sure they couldn’t overhear them.
“Sooner the better, and even better if we can put the crew as a whole someplace where they can all be spotted. To limit suspicion, even better if we could tie his death back to the cult we just finished dealing with.” Richard plotted.
Richard swilled the wine in his glass as he looked over at Lagertha and motioned his glass. She took a sip and frowned clearly not caring for the taste. Richard shrugged finished the drink off before setting the glass down. “I say we get moving I have a few things we need to check up on.” He sidestepped onto the streets flanked by the two.
“So what now?” Boss asked, “It’s going to take some time for them to get everything together, and batten down in the hull.”
“Well not sure, to be honest, I am not really in a Drinking mood, I should keep going on my little experiments and maybe start interviewing crew members to get a broader understanding over everyone’s skills. Also, remind me we need to take a trip to Ardothian Eagle Eye needs to be brought home. I feel bad putting that off but I got a lot more than I expected when I signed up the government.” Richard said,
“Sounds fair,” Boss admitted, “Still I have to admit there is a lot of sitting around broken up by life-threatening peril.”
The three closed in on the ship as the crew was in the middle of unloading cargo as Jill rushed of the ship moving past people as she quickly weaved around his legs rubbing her head up against him as Richard knelt down and scratched the brown and black dog behind her ears. “Good girl,” he smiled giving her a final scratch as he stood up.
The three headed upward, and spotted the ships Sergon monitoring the operation, as another crate was being lifted up from below deck “So how did go? And who is the new girl?” Laurella asked looking at the disguised fairy.
“Lagertha,” Lagertha introduced, as the pair shook hands as the Doctor eyed her,
“Laurella have we met before?” Laurella asked, frowning as she studied the newcomer.
“Just one of those faces,” Lagertha smiled cheerfully, the Doctor frowned clearly not fully buying into it but not bringing it up.
“Is Nathan back yet? I asked him to see if he could drum up some more hands.” Richard inquired as Laurella shook her head.
“Have not seen him, I think Tobi went off with him, how did the wine buying go?” She asked,
“We found someone who should be able to provide what we need, Did Madison and Audwine get back from their leap out I think they had a regular they wanted to try out in person.” Richard carried on.
“No sign yet, I don’t think they are going to have much luck, I wouldn’t trust’s Morgan’s recommendations.” She sniffed at the name as if it were a curse word.
“If they take much longer we should head after them just in case,” Richard said,
“I’ll start putting people on alert.” Boss interrupted heading off to occupy himself, as Richard nodded.
“Should have sent more,” Richard frowned, “But Audwine seemed to think I was insulting his skill,”
“That’s why I asked Stephano to trail them, honestly I feel you forget his unique skill set,” Laurella commented as Richard looked insulted.
“He was following me around, and was one of my aids during my investigation,” Richard frowned, “I just didn’t think about that option,” He admitted under his breath, as Laurella shook her head.
“You may want to get out of the way,” She warned as her attention returned to the task at hand. “Also if I may make a recommendation if Sam is going to remain as your cabin boy hire in a tutor these days an education will open more doors.” She advised.
“Not a bad idea, I’ll add it to my growing list of things to do,” Richard replied with a sigh escaping his lips.
&nbs
p; “Being in charge not stacking up the way you thought?” Boss chimed in as Richard didn’t respond as he sat down on a Barrel.
“I may have relaxed a bit too much, on our first trip, Hey Tray, you got some time I would like to start getting some paperwork taken care of, also everyone!” he shouted getting everyone’s attention. “This is Lagertha she will be a new addition to the crew, also we put this off long enough I want a decision on who is going to be Quartermaster,” He declared before he and Tray headed into the Captain’s Quarters.
“Okay,” Tray said as Richard got out his files finding Tray which only had the bare minimum that Richard knew after they left the island.
“I originally wanted to do the least amount just in case someone got into the archives, but since this is more personal, in terms of overall skills. Boss and I struggled to get to the winery since neither of us could speak Frankish,”
“Oh I know Frankish,” He admitted “C’est le meilleur que je puisse faire,” He said as Richard frowned, “My brother knows some Forge as well, my father built a lot of ships and had us learn the languages to make it easier to deal with foreign buyers.”
“Curse you hindsight,” Richard sighed as he looked at the papers in front of him, “I am not really sure what the best way to organize this information is or even how to move forward on all of this.” He thought to himself before just shrugging. He spent the rest of the day adding to his papers, finding out who could speak what combat experience, other jobs, and skills people may have picked up while setting up a vote and finally making the push for a Quartermaster who would be the voice of the crew in case of complaints.
“…Look I can’t tell you who to vote for, I don’t know who the preferred pick is, they have veto power over my decisions, and are responsible for discipline, assessing punishments for crewmen who transgress the rules, the rules and punishments will be set up soon, but anything the good book is already in the rules.” Richard explained his eyes felt like they were ready to roll up into his skull as the day was extremely frustrating to do to the need to repeat the same questions over and over. “Yes I have crew members written down with a symbol set up in case you can’t read if you need help just ask Sam,” Richard pointed out. He got out of his Chair and looked out on the other ships, the sun was starting to set as he linked his fingers and stretched out his body sore from the lack of movement, as he ignored the hushed town from the last crew member placing their vote.
“Still not over,” He sighed as the door closed and Richard walked forward, he glanced at the bowl they were using as he sighed, he put some Tea on putting off his last job. He glanced over at Sam, who was signing something, Richard waved from him to slow down as he focused in on the finger placement.
“Why have a Quartermaster?” Richard repeated, “So the crew has a voice, the last thing I want is everyone just up and leave or worse decide my life and the ship is not worth dealing with me. I would rather not ignore a problem to such a degree, next will be rules, and sadly making an example of someone when the times come.” He explained as Sam tilted his head in concern or confusion Richard wasn’t sure what would work.
The tea whistled as poured out a cup as he sat down next to the bowl and started to glance over the votes, “A vote for me, yeah that’s not gonna happen,” He frowned already feeling “Huh Lagertha,” Richard blinked in surprise, he glanced over at Sam, “New crewmember,” he winked as Sam’s eyes went wide as Richard confirmed the kids thought with a silent node.
Richard walked out, with the crew gathered on deck as Richard stepped forward with Boss to his right and Nathan standing a bit more casually to his left. Laurella was among the crew and Richard frowned noticing that Madison and Audwine were not present but they didn’t need to be due to the nature of the events taking place, even if their absence brought up was a concern.
“So?” Boss asked as Richard cleared his throat with a slight cough and to make sure everyone was ready.
“Well this a bit of a surprise on the overall winner of the vote, also after this we are going to have a meal down in the mess hall for everyone I personally will be stuffing my face after this long day.” He let out a small chuckle and thankfully got a few laughs. “Now onto who will be dealing with you guys, the winner and our new Quartermaster are Lagertha! Congratulations on your promotion,” he smiled as everyone clapped and gave a hearty cheer as the disguised fairy looked rather sheepish. The rest of the night was rather uneventful as Richard talked about the important rules and conduct expected of everyone as well as dealing with the above-average number of woman, Richard urged not to involve each other for the sake of the nature of their work but wouldn’t spot anyone so long as it was not an issue. The sticking issue was punishment, but rather than the normal beatings with only a single exception all punishments were an exile from the Golden Eagle.
“What about sex!” called out a voice cutting through the conversation, on the harshness and looseness of the rules, everyone started muttering again as Richard arched his neck as his fingers rubbed his forehead. “I mean if we are going to risk the luck of some many women on the ship what if someone wants to fuck?”
Laurella moved to open her mouth only for Lagertha jumped in, “Well I can honestly say I will not be sharing a bed with you.” A slight pause as the mocking of the man came up,
“But anyone who tries a thing that is not welcomed by the woman will be case by case.” Richard interrupted as both women glared at him. “However if anyone give a single female on my ship any unwanted attention or Shaper forbid, forces themselves on anyone, I will personally rip that person apart bit by bit letting them bleed out before dumping the fucker in the ocean for fish to feed off,” Richard informed in a cold dead voice as his eyes scanned the crew.
Everyone went silent, as Richard eyed everyone the discussion the murmuring never picked up, nobody said anything as the waves broke against the ship and the gulls cawed above them, “I will allow a lot of things this ship runs itself, as such I will hold all rules put in place with the highest of regards that one specifically, and if you don’t like it, you more than welcome to get the fuck off my ship.” Richard turned and walked away from the meeting before stopping. “Lagertha any concerns or complaints be it fiscal or private may be brought to me but I will not budge on that last one, good day, and good luck,” with that Richard vanished back to his room.
Chapter 59
“So what do you think?” James asked his brother. Tray sat on the deck as he inspected his latest carving.
“I think it can use more detail, maybe we could make toys in our off time, make some coin,” Tray mused as he eyed the small knight in his hand, the pair had carved out a sizable block out of the railing allowing more interact creations. “Maybe a fox next time,” Tray pondered out loud.
“Were you even listening?” James sighed as he toyed with his hook hand.
“Yeah you wanted to know how long we as Gentlemen should hang around before we head off for home and restart are fathers company,” Tray waved off, “I say we hang around for at least a few more mission, maybe get a few paychecks, I heard Eagle Eye is getting dropped off in Usona soon so it shouldn’t take too long.”
“Good, glad you were paying attention, I can see that, with things the way they are getting employment may prove difficult, but dead men cannot build boats,” James nodded sagely at his own words.
“I wouldn’t worry about, big brother,” Tray smiled fondly, “We got plenty of time to weigh our options now.”
“Tray, James we need some help,” Laurella called in as the two got up noticing the carriage that was waiting. Eagle eye waved down at them as the ropes were readies.
“Everything is good everyone watch out!” he waved as the growing number of crewmen started getting ready. The two brothers headed down as they spotted Goliam the crane system slowly blotted out the light before it made it down, as the crew started to load up the crane. Then just as slowly was raised up.
The process took a lot of time and
even despite the lack of sun it couldn’t prevent everyone from dripping with sweat. Tray paused as he whipped his brow with a rag as he glanced around. Richard had tossed off his coat and was helping load the carriage as he spotted the scar on his chest. Sam was trying to help as well. Boss had taken over letting Goliam take a break. “How much is he selling?” Tray asked himself.
“A pretty sizable amount, her have some grog,” His brother tossed him a bottle as he pulled the cork of his own with his teeth.
“That’s some good grog,” Tray commented as he down the drink and tossed the bottle.
“Grog?” Boss asked as Tray glanced over at him,
“Drink of choice for all Pirates,” Tray laughed, “Who brought the stuff in?”
“Richard ordered some in, even hired in a temp cook meals being made up since it’s taking so long to get everything up.” James brought up as he set his drink down and tossed one to Boss who got into his.
“Not bad,” He commented,
“Try not to take to many of those while you’re working,” Nathan commented he walked past the three, James rolled his eyes, but the three didn’t comment as the sound of work rumbled along at a steady pace.
When everything was finally done a good chunk of cargo, but nothing the Eagle couldn’t survive without. Tray sighed as he slumped up against the railing as his brother lowered himself, “Not a bad days work,” Tray sighed with a satisfied grin on his face.
“Yeah nothing like making another man wealthy,” James frowned as he rolled his shoulder, as Richard walked past them tossing two purses, the pair paused. “Hey, it’s not the end of the month,”
“Call it a signing bonus,” Richard waved back as he continued to pass out cash as Sam raced after him holding a bag on his back that Richard would grab more purses out.
“Damn,” James counted out, the pieces of eight and counting it all up. “That’s at least three months worth of pay, did he split the value of what we sold off?”
