Journey of Flame

Chapter six

The next morning passed by fairly uneventfully. I continued cleaning up bird droppings. It was tedious work, but if it got me to Ventura, I'd do it a million times over.

But around midday, I found that there wasn't anything left for me to clean up, so I was allowed a break, during which the captain called me up to where she stood, at the wheel.

I smiled politely at her. "Find something you need me to clean, Captain?" Though I knew her name, I didn't think I knew her well enough to call her by it, despite what Heinrik had claimed last night.

"No," she said to my surprise. "I was wondering if you'd like to try your hand at sailing."

The man who always stood to her right, Faxon, blinked. "Uh, with all due respect, Captain-"

She turned to him, and by the way he stopped mid-sentence, I imagined the look she gave him wasn't pleasant. "Last I checked, Faxon, you were not the one in charge."

"I'm not," he said. "And I'm not trying to be. I'm merely saying-"

"There's nothing here she could possibly crash into," Zai interrupted. "It's open waters."

"Yes, but-"

"Faxon." I couldn't deny the warning in that tone. And apparently, neither could he. He backed down, and Zai suggested, "How about you go check on the crew. See if you could help them with anything."

Zai then turned her gaze back to me giving me a look that said, well, while Faxon stalked away.

"I... I've never sailed before," I said. "I wouldn't want to mess anything up-"

She scoffed at that. "Please, you wouldn't mess anything up. There's nothing to mess up when all the sails are down."

"I could get us lost."

"Not with me here you wouldn't," she said. "I could navigate these waters with my eyes closed."

"Are you sure?"

"Well, I do captain this ship, so I'd certainly hope so."

"Well... if you're sure, I guess."

She stepped aside, and I stepped closer to the wheel. It was almost as large as I was and well made, with a beautiful copper ring around a ruby center, and the wood had been polished to a shine.

"It's beautiful," I remarked.

"That it is," she said. "Hand-crafted by a famous blacksmith in the Principality of Sulia." She admired it for a moment before adding, "It's not as pretty as you, though."

I laughed softly and said, "Well, I'm glad I am prettier than a wheel, at least," even as a blush crept to my cheeks.

I thought I might've seen her wince a little. "That was meant to sound much nicer than it actually did. It's, uh, been a long while since I've spoken to another woman for this length of time, so forgive me if my compliments are a little rusty."

I gave a small smile. "It's okay. I imagine that was a high compliment coming from a pirate captain."

"Indeed, it was." She cleared her throat. "So, all you have to do is take the wheel and keep it straight. It's a lot harder than it looks," she added.

I grabbed onto the handles and, sure enough, the wheel turned, and I had to grit my teeth to hold it steady. "Gods, you do this all day?"

She nodded. "Aye. It's not always this hard, though. The wind's really blowing today, and it's not working in our favor."

"I see." My arms were already shaking. Gods, was I really this out of shape?

There was a large gust of wind, then the wheel jerked to the right, and I stumbled, nearly falling, but then-