The Queen of the Waves

12: a Scattering of Stars

Mara waited until Bayen revisited his former cabin as night began to fall before she hatched her plan. She walked over to the chest, she had become well acquainted with the contents and knew there were several rolls of bandages in there.

Pulling them out, Mara let her dress fall to her ankles. Her freed breast peaked in the exposed air of the cabin. She nonchalantly rubbed a palm over one as her other fiddled with the bandages.

Mara had never been well endowed with large breasts, so binding them into a disguise wouldn't take much effort. She would the thick cloth around her breasts until her chest appeared almost as flat as any man's, with a loose fitting shirt none would be any the wiser.

Satisfied with her efforts, she smiled at her androgynous form in the spotted with age mirror. After pulling on a tight pair of trousers, another unusual aspect of Bayen's wife, Calla, it seemed that like Mara, she was not opposed to leaving her skirt at the door.

Apart from her long hair, Mara would easily be mistaken for a man in the dark light of the night and the candle fire. A small penknife lay on the map Bayen had left in the cabin. Her fingers tingled as she reached out for it, but she changed her mind.

Not even the dancing of stars would be worth cutting her hair. Instead she fashioned her hair into a tight braid crown, in the light of the cabin, she looked plainly a woman. However, Mara was confident that the alcohol and the night would cover up any multitude of secrets.

The festivities had barely begun when Mara began to unpick the lock on the cabin door. If this plan was to succeed with herself unscathed, she needed to find a place to hide before the full throng of men appeared. She had no interest in the alcohol or the dancing, she merely wanted to see the stars.

The lock clicked and Mara celebrated with a silent squeal of triumph. Lock picking had always been her weakest skill so this was a small mercy.

Pausing before she opened the door, she listened for any movement nearby and when she found none she let the door creak.

Once she was satisfied that the opening was wide enough for her to sneak through, she held it still. Mara snuck through the doorway and stood in the hallway.

It was strange to see the wood coated in darkness but Mara did not wait to appreciate it a second more.

Earlier in the day, Mara had scouted a small collection of barrels in the quiet corner of the ship. They were stacked atop each other leaving a quiet place to hide from prying eyes.

With watchful eyes, Mara saw no traces of any men in the way of her path. She snuck along the edge of the ship, hidden in the shadows and found her barrels.

Still scanning for detection, Mara clambered over them and dropped down into the crevice they provided. It was a small, cramped space but when she looked up the stars were watching her peacefully, keeping her secret.

The celebration of the goddess were wild in Mara's ears. She had been hiding there for easily two or three hours and from the sounds of the men and their merriment she assumed they had been drinking for the last three.

She had seen only a scattering of stars falling into the ocean, but they were so truly stunning that Mara knew this enterprise was worth the bother.

After another hour or so passed, and the cold and aches of muscles snuck up on Mara, she began to regret her decision.

Her bones were burning from the confined space and she was bored. The darkness of the barrel gave little by way of entertainment and any music was drowned out by the laughing of the men.

Groaning, Mara threw her head against one of the barrels in frustration. It caused a spark of pain but Mara was grateful for the distraction. It was only when she heard calls for more ale that she realised her mistake.

There was a reason these barrels were above deck to catch her eye that morning, they had been bought up here with the intention of being emptied.

Her genius hiding spot suddenly cramped in her chest. She was to be discovered and tossed to the men without help from Bayen. And what had she said to Bas? I'll be damned if I need you. Or something to that effect.

It appeared she was mistaken.

Mara curled herself up into a tight ball, praying that if her face was hidden they wouldn't notice her dark form in the darkness.

Her prayers had apparently fallen on deaf, or bored ears as no sooner had she ended her prayer a face peered over the rim of the barrel, seeing her instantly.

"Well!" He exclaimed into the darkness, Mara couldn't tell if he was announcing it to anyone or just to himself but she knew it was bad.

"Looks like the captain's little stowaway has gone rogue!"

The man laughed triumphantly and grabbed Mara by the collar and the hair. She cried out in terror as her body was lifted from the limited safety of her hidden space.

"Let me go! Let me go!" She roared as her body thrashed in the air.

Her body was thrown to the floor, the impact ricocheted through her bones. She cried out, winded and frightened as his hands began to grope around her body.

"Get off me!" She screamed as she stumbled to her feet, eyes blurred with tears, chest burning.

"Come on, whore, we all need a turn. The Captain can't keep you all to himself."

Other men began to swarm around the sight of the tempting stowaway sprawled out on the floor. Mara assumed that her disguise would keep her safe, she was wrong.

The laughing of the men filled her ears and the horrifying realisation of reality began to burn into her brain. She should have listened to Bayen, she should have listened to Bas.

As the groping hands worked their way up over her bound breasts and towards her throat, her vision spotted with blackness.

"Let her go!"

A voice boomed and even the drunk men know to leave her where she is lying.

Mara's face is streaked with tears, she coughs as the air finally begins to find her lungs once again.

Bas cursed and reached down to lift Mara from the deck. She was still sobbing, her eyes pressed tightly closed.

He held her close to her chest as he walked her through the crowd of men and towards her cabin.

"Oh Mara, you stupid, stubborn woman." He cursed as he kicked open the door with his foot.

As he laid her on the bed, he could tell by her dazed mumbling that Mara was no longer conscious. He suspected that the terror had left her too overwhelmed to deal with thinking. It was often the body's biggest kindness, when it can no longer take what's happening to it, it simply blacks out.

"Oh Mara." He sighed once again as he pulled the covers over her trembling body.

He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, surprising even himself with his impromptu actions.

Mara hummed and rolled over, he suspected that the warmth and the familiarity of the bed had led Mara to relax after the night's events.

As he walked away, Bas couldn't help but hope that his contact had brought her the tiniest amount of comfort.

But he quickly banished the thought before it could take root in his heart.

He already knew it had failed as he slumped down on the floor outside Mara's door. The men were alerted to her presence and he knew that if they tried again, he would be there to protect Mara.