Honor Among Thieves

Bon Voyage

Her nose crinkled at the stench. Ugh that smelled awful. She now realized why her father kept her in the palace all the time, and that was to keep her clean of the filth and muck of the peasants and dockworkers.

"Montgomery, please inform me what that nauseating stench is," Kitery ordered her personal cabman.

"Certainly Miss. That would be the sea, the fish market, and the manure of the horses."

Definitely why she never associated with the local peasants and rabble of the lower classes. Their dirt and filth disgusted her, and she found the idea of such foulness repulsive.

The carriage continued down the dirt street, slowing or stopping when another cart moved in front of them. Montgomery yelled at the people who wouldn't move or the cart drivers who moved too slowly for his liking. Kitery quickly grew bored of looking at the storefronts and the crowd moving by her cab, so she moved over on the seat and looked out at the docks and boats, and sometimes, when she could see past the tightly-packed ships, she caught a glimpse of the sea.

Kitery sighed. She used to love the sea. The smell of the salt, the waves crashing against the rocks, and the birds calling to their significant others. The tales of pirates and brigands enthralled her, and her adolescent mind made up all kinds of fantasies and stories about heroes of the four seas. But ever since her father told her of the bloodlust and terrible atrocities committed by pirates, and how pirates destroyed the lives of people like hers and her father, she grew to become repulsed by the very word 'pirate'. They were awful men, men who killed the innocent, laughed at bodies-usually their victims- hanging from masts, and men who adored a good mug of rum and pretty women. Pirate- synonymous with thief, adulterer, murderer, and highwayman. The very idea that people like that actually sailed the seas, tainting it's pure beauty with blood made her angry.

The clamor of the markets drew her out from her thoughts, and she turned her head away from the docks back toward the stalls that lined the road.

"Hooves for sale! The hooves of the mightiest centaur! Said to cure a thousand kinds of diseases!"

" Have you ever seen a gryphon egg? No? Well take a look! Makes the best kind of meals, said to sustain a full man for a week!"

"Chafferon feathers! From the farthest islands and shores of this world! Make for lovely decor, and are particularly in fashion with high-society!"

Her ear latched onto the merchant's voice. Kitery had always heard tales of the Chafferon. They were supposed to be like humans in every form except they had four wings coming out of their back. They looked like humans--two legs and two arms, a head, the usual human features. From the books and fairy-stories they were ancient long before the dawn of humanity on this disc of a world. Children's rhymes and tunes often depicted them as a mythical creature to be feared. When a child misbehaved, their parents told them that a Chafferon would come swooping down and take them to sit all alone on a deserted island at the edge of the world as punishment.

This stall keeper captured her curiosity, but unfortunately for her she had a ship to catch. Maybe she could buy one after further inspection when she returned.

"Fairies in a jar! Captured right out of the meadows behind the city! Make great night lamps if you're not fortunate enough to have electricity! "

The calls of the merchants selling weapons, medicinal items from creature parts- chimera venom, sea serpent scales, anything and everything- faded as Kitery's carriage neared the Navy docks. The Royal Navy was the top navy in the whole world. They had the newest ships, newest technologies, such as the new rapid-fire repeating cannon, and they had the bed and toughest sailors-straight from the naval academies.

Peering out the window Kitery saw a mass of sailors dressed in their Blue's and moving around, rolling barrels, moving crates, and directing cargo nets to loads of cargo and back onto the ship decks. The general hustle and bustle of the wharf excited her, and for a moment she forgot all about her mission and her father's wishes. But only for a moment.

The cab drew to a halt. Kitery collected her purse and few small belongings together. She heard Montgomery getting her chest off the roof of the carriage, and the thump-slide of the stool being placed at the door. She rose as the door was opened by Montgomery, and stepped down into the sunlight.

All around her moved the sailors, but what really captured her attention was the massive ship, mast reaching to touch the sky, that sat in front of her. While she was gazing in awe at this massive ship, surely the one her father intended for her to sail upon, Montgomery came up beside her.

"Miss, your ship awaits you. The luggage is being loaded as we wait."

Kitery tore her gaze away from the ship, and saw her trunk being carried toward a different ship. A smaller ship. Much smaller.

"What's the meaning of this?" Kitery protested. "Shouldn't I be on that ship? The tall grand one?"

"No miss, his Highness instructed that you and your luggage be placed aboard His Majesty's Caravel Seer ".

Ugh Kitery thought. Why couldn't she at least enjoy some comfort before being put aboard a ship full of drunk stinking men who probably would try to take advantage of her, since females rarely traveled on ships.

She looked at the ship again. It seemed awfully small. But maybe that was just because it was next to the really big ships. She hoped that was the case.

"This way Miss," Montgomery said.

Kitery followed him across the wharf, past all the sailors - more than a few gave whistles and cat calls- and onto the dock that boarded the Seer. Looking up at the deck of the ship she saw a large man in a blue trench coat with gold stripes and a red officer's hat step onto the gangplank and walk down toward them.

"My Princess, it is a high honor to carry you to your destination, wherever that may be. I promise you the comfiest rooming and the choicest foods will be prepared for you. We endevor to make this trip as smooth and comfortable as possible, especially to please His Royal Highness."

Impatience for bumbling fools crept into Kitery.

"And you are?"

"Oh of course! Forgive my manners, or lack there of! I am Captain Larson, captain of this vessel. That is to see the Seer. Yes ma'am this ship will take you. . . "

Kitery held up her hand, silencing the talkative captain.

"I'd like to be shown my quarters now, if you please."

"Why certainly Your Royalship. Right this way." The captain ambled off up the plank, and Kitery followed behind. She glanced back and a knot formed in her stomach when she saw Montgomery and her coach pulling away, leaving her totally alone.

Well, at least she wasn't totally alone. Her father had said that there was an inside man here to protect her. Maybe she would discover him at some point. Her eyes would be open.