Rage and Rebellion (Histories of Havenhearth)

2.3 Wynemere

Tanden ducked out of the dorm room with practiced ease, and turned right, going back up the stairs and out onto what Wynemere learnt was called the half-deck. They continued towards the back of the ship, or aft, as Wynemere reminded herself, onto the poupe, the high section of deck right at the back where there also was the wheel. Below the poupe was the entry towards the capitaine's and higher ranking officers' quarters, including that of Overvalley. Wynemere looked forward, taking the whole vessel in.
"Wait until you see him in full sail. Do you know the names of the masts?"
"Main, fore and mizzen?" Wynemere silently thanked the cabby.
"Command material," Tanden said, and clapped Wynemere on the back. "Just need to work on the muscle! Won't take long, you'll be surprised."
Wynemere was quite slim, no fat on her at all really, but she also did not have any muscle. Wynemere hoped that would change soon, Tanden had visibly strong arms and legs and broad shoulders, a vision of strength, health and youth. She was command material.
"And the names of the sails?"
"No, I'll have to learn those."
"Well that's more than I knew when I started."
"How long have you been aboard then?" "About a year and a half- this'll be my fourth journey." There was the sound of pride in her voice. "I can start working up the ranks soon, if I want. Take the exams and such. Theoretical and applied." Wynemere followed Tanden's gaze up the mast.
"What's she doing up there?" Wynemere saw a woman climbing along one of the yards.
"All of the pulley work is done manually on Alvalerion, she's a hand." Wynemere, not wanting to admit she did not fully understand, just nodded. Tanden and Wynemere went fore, to the front, Wynemere reminded herself, past the quarter-deck, past the hatch where Overvalley was still making sure the cargo was safely stored for the journey.
"Prudena is the right name actually, stowing cargo isn't easy, but she normally gets it right, despite the anger it takes to get there. It'll be on the way back we have to worry about though, what with the corn and all."
"The corn?"
"Yeah, dried corn gets bigger when it's wet, so if any water gets down there, it can cause some major problems,"
"No I mean, where's the corn coming from?"
"The corn? Where it always comes from. You mean, you don't know where we are sailing to?"
"No I haven't been told anything,"
"Ah! Well it's no secret, we're going to Cassion!"

The drizzle did not stop the entire day, not that Wynemere noticed. After looking around with Tanden, (who showed her and the anchors, then the tweendecks and the trunkways to the holds, there were too many new words to learn), she was put straight to work scrubbing the decks. Buckets of water and brooms and brushes were provided and the decks were rid of all the dirt that came with having people and goods move from ashore on-board. She wasn't sure why they would bother scrubbing in the rain though- would have made more sense to wait until after she thought but then Overvalley then gave the call that the crew were free for the rest of the day. Most chose to go ashore. Wynemere however, was given different instructions. She was to present herself at the capitaine's quarters in an hour, with the other new trainee, one Kody Whitefalls, quite a good name for a mariner, Wynemere thought. But Kody Whitefalls did not appear to be very happy to be a marineforce trainee. In fact, she seemed to hate the ship already, let alone the prospect of going out to sea.

The trainees were summoned by a shout from Prudena, and they followed her to the capitaine's quarters, where Aima Pickforsdhelm sat in a cushioned armchair fastened to the timber floor in a small but comfortable-looking sitting room with a small table in it. One wall was curtained off, presumably behind it were the sleeping quarters.

A man was also inside, sat in a timber chair with cushions on it. He was handsome, with his light-hair and fair skin, and had been stitching something when the trainees entered, getting to his feet. He wished them both a good evening, and retired to behind the curtain. Kody looked at him with something that Wynemere thought looked like desire in her eyes, but she did not dwell on this for a moment because the Capitaine stood up. She had white hair, and must have been several years older than her husband. She walked over, stopped in front of them, and looked them up and down, finally extending a hand for them to shake. She was tall, and broad, and had fierce, piercing green eyes, which softened as she spoke to them in a quiet voice.
"Welcome aboard, trainees. We are very pleased to have you with us. We expect a lot from you both. I trust you have heard of Tascom?" She paused and both Wynemere and Kody gave small nods. "Let that guide you and you can go anywhere you want with the marine forces. Do you understand?"
More nods from the trainees.
"Now I am always available to you if you ever need help or information or guidance. But I am not here for your counsel, and will not stand for any complaints about the facilities, or other crew members. Those things are for you to deal with yourself. Except for this one time: as a welcome gift from me. Is there anything you wish for?"
"Thank you capitaine. There is not," Wynemere said. Pickfordshelm raised her eyebrows. "A girl who has everything she needs? A strange thing indeed. And you?" Kody cleared her throat. "Yes, thank you Capitaine. I am in need of a feather pillow, a down duvet and could I please be told where the washing facilities are? I am in awful need of a wash. My clothing as well," the capitaine laughed out loud. "A laundry service perhaps?" Not catching the irony in her voice, kody replied with "Oh that would be wonderful, thank you." She laughed again.
"Oh the ignorance! You'll soon grow out of that on my ship." Kody's face did not move a muscle. The capitaine spoke to Prudena, "At least she values cleanliness,"
"We've got our work cut out for us capitaine."
"And I am happy to leave it to you, thank you and good day."

They followed Prudena, who had resumed her normal resting mood of anger, out down to the main deck.
"A laundry service?" Kody shrugged.
"I'll give you a bucket." She cackled, as of she had made the funniest joke ever.
"Laundry service..." she said to herself, shaking her head.
"Dinner In the galley. Dismissed."
Wynemere heard Kody mutter something about idiot, and she stormed off to the dorm, not appearing for dinner.

Tanden was already eating when Wynemere appeared. The meal consisted of a muddy-looking stew eaten with some dry bread. While it did not look appetizing, it smelled good enough, and when she took a bite, Wynemere tried to appear as if she enjoyed it. Quite a contrast to my homegrown, homecooked Elsa farmhouse meals, she thought. "You eat what you can when you can, greeney," Tanden must have noticed her trepidation.
"I wish you wouldn't call me that," Wynemere said.
"Out of luck on that one. New trainees are always called that. Although I suspect you'll lose the title soon enough, lady Kody might keep it for a bit though." Wynemere laughed. "You've met her already I see!"
"Her royal highness? Yes indeed, a breath of fresh sea air," the two of them laughed.
"Lady Greeney! A fine sounding nautical name if I ever heard one," Having a friend with a similar sense of humour seemed to make the sludge taste better. Wynemere ate the rest of hers with relish, feeling like she was going to be ok.

She listened to Tanden talk to another crew member about the upcoming trip, which was to go south from tainland across the southern channel sea, along Fuchsjaegerland, around the arrow cape and south to the port city of Loutouse in Cassion.
Tanden pushed her empty plate away and yawned. "I'm packing it in, Wynemere?"
"I'll join you as well."
When they returned to their dorm, In a friendly way she asked Kody:
"'Where you from, by the way?"'
"Why you wanna know?" came the terse reply. Tanden flushed darkly. 'Just asking. if you don't want to tell me then that's fine." Surprised at such a reaction, she settled in to her bunk. A few moments later Kody apologised for her outburst; then she said slowly "I'm from Albion to be sure."
Tanden gave a slow nod, as though this admittance had given her some great insight. "Any connection to  the headquarters of the marine protectorate by any chance?"
"Yeah, family," she said, then with a conscious effort added, "it's not my choice to be here, if that answers your questions,"
Tanden replies, "You'd do best to keep both of those things secret, ok? And how about you Wynemere?"
She gave a simple asked, direct. "Always wanted to." Tanden left it at that, wishing the both of them good luck and a goodnight, closing the pirthole's curtain- being summer, the days were long, and the skies were still light.

For Wynemere, that first night on a sailboat was a memorable one, full of emotion and fear. She lay awake in her bunk, listening to all the new sounds which would make up her life in the next few months: the sleeping noises of  Tanden and Kody, and those of the ship, creaking and swaying, water splashing up onto it, the cries of seagulls, the occasional voice of the night watch, the footsteps along the deck of those returning from land, their money spent and their bellies full of food and alcohol and the foghorns of distant ships moving out on the last tide of the day. All of the doubts she had ever had, resurfaced. Those when she was leaving home, those when she entered the headquarters, those going aboard. They flooded over her, and she debated backing out the next morning, that night even. She could go straight to the capitaine's quarters: she knew exactly where they were and tell her she was off. She couldn't be stopped- the Capitaine would be relieved to be rid of someone who didn't want to be there. Better sooner than later for sure. But no. That needed even more guts than staying aboard, and she would regret it her entire life, always wondering what it would be like to go to sea.

As she finally started to drift off, she thought nostalgically of the rambling farm, of its well-loved garden enclosed by old, high walls, of her own bedroom of warmth and comfort and her own personality, a room she might not see again for a long ways and a long time. She thought of her explorations of the countryside around the farm, where the land was open and wild and free and windswept, not so different from the sea, in fact. And then she fell asleep.