(Previous Chapter Nine) (Book Homepage & Chapter List) (Next Chapter Eleven)
12th Day in the 4th of Ründ’s Months, Dry Season, in the 29th Year of King Bornidin the Young’s Reign, 126th Reckoned Year
The Vánüm language, or the Elder Tongue: Dín, sometimes stylized as Din, or Deen, definition: to dwell, live, reside in or on, to house within (rare)
From ‘Captain's Log’ of the Painful Lady, written by Captain Chapel in the 115th Reckoned Year
The Painful Lady drops anchor alongside the ship they spotted. It is a larger ship than the Lady, but very plainly featured. The name painted along the stern is the Good Lend, and it bears the green sails of a merchant vessel. The Good Lend raised the flags of trade and distress, so Mavis brought the ship in close. The Big Man and Shushilah lay the gangway across to the merchant ship. Benafield is still grumbling over the postponement of the midday meal, but he is friendly to the ship hands that wave from the deck of the Good Lend. The Big Man, Shushilah, and Pet all cross the upward slanted gangway and step onto the main deck of the Lend. Mavis tasked both Shushilah and the Big Man with carrying out any trade they see fit. Pet is simply curious to see how this type of interaction unfolds, so he quietly follows.
The captain and the first mate greet the three of them, though they appear to be anxious. Petsune listens as the captain speaks. “Afternoon. Name’s Cap’n Tuss, an’ this here’s my first mate, Kremwin. We do ‘ppreciate your stoppin’. My first mate is a drowned dullard—”
“I ain’t the one—”
Captain Tuss smacks the back of his first mate’s head multiple times. “You shut it now! I’m tryin’ to fix yer mess. I oughta hand ye over to the Coldors, ye addlepated millie!”
Petsune is caught completely off-guard by the outburst. He nearly forgot the total authority a captain has aboard their own ship. Chapel is so kind and laid back that he forgot the kind of power he has over the crew. Pet tries not to scowl as he listens to the rest of the exchange. Captain Tuss speaks on, “As I were sayin’, my first mate left our ice box open an’ our ice is nearly all melted now. Do you have any to spare? We jus’ need enough to keep the fish cold ‘til we get Thune.”
Benafield doesn’t speak right away, using his size as a slight intimidation factor. “Aye, we do. And what will you be giving us for it?”
The captain winces slightly and shoots a scathing look at his first mate. “We’ll give whatever ya like, within reason. If them fish go bad, I’ll be out more than a few bones…”
The Big Man smiles suddenly, which does more to unsettle captain Tuss than anything. “Aye, and you are in luck! We are only needing two small things, just now. Coffee and fickwill ink. Oh, and a plate.”
Captain Tuss is first shocked, then skeptical. “That’s all then? Truly?”
“Aye, that is all. You have them?”
Captain Tuss shoos off his first mate to fetch the items and Shushilah begins walking back over to fetch the ice. “Yes, we have it, we have it. May the Saints bless you! We can’t thank ye enough!” Benafield scoffs slightly at this.
When the exchange is completed, the Good Lend sails off as Benafield waves. He turns around and hands the bartered-for plate to Pet. “This is for you. Bor does not like it when we show up to a meal with no dish.”
Petsune stares at the plate, surprised and grateful that Benafield thought of him. After the meal, Petsune stores his plate on his make-shift bed, then he returns to the main deck. Sprig is regaling Cheese with an exaggerated story of Petsune’s poor attempts at squashing pitmites, including dramatized reenactments. Pet watches, amused. The next few hours consist of tailing one or another crew member and performing redundant checks on various knots, crates, and pegs. When next he looks up, Petsune sees the Second sun descending rapidly toward the liquid horizon. The first and brightest of the three suns, the Saints sun, has already disappeared. Pet turns away from the bow and walks back down to the main deck. He descends the steps, and Bor comes out from the kitchen area below to ring a small bell that must mean mealtime.
The decking is suddenly swarming with scrambling crew members, each seeming to surface from holes and nooks. They all swarm toward the kitchen area where Bor stands ready to ladle out the day’s stew. Petsune makes his way to the back of the line and finds Chapel waiting for him with an extra bowl. Chapel winks at him and says, “Bor gets upset if you show up without a bowl.” Pet takes the bowl and says thanks. Despite this being his second night on the Painful Lady, this is Pet’s first dinner meal and it appears to be a vastly different experience from those he has had elsewhere. Meals in the Church of the Deep consisted of small portions eaten alone in some cold corner, sequestered away from anyone else. Meanwhile, mealtime in the Order of Loss was typically just bread broken in communion with all the other members. And the Sanctum of Souls always had large, lavish meals eaten in silence at long tables.
Aboard the Painful Lady, things seem much more relaxed. The entire crew is moving things into a large sort of circle, so that everyone can sit. After he receives a healthy portion of mouth-watering stew, Petsune finds a wooden pale and turns it over to sit on. Chapel sits down cross-legged next to him on the deck and starts talking to Sprig who is sitting on a large crate, slurping soup right out of the bowl. Petsune looks around at the groups of people talking to each other, not so much hearing but simply taking it all in. The setting is shockingly similar to his time in the Order; very communal and uplifting, but the food is infinitely better. Bor’s stew is one of the best things Petsune has ever tasted. He moves his spoon around and sees chunks of runnykit and lardfee, some red onions, potatoes, and other unidentifiable chunks, all in a delicious milky broth. Surprisingly, it doesn’t taste fishy at all. Looking up from his stew, Pet notices that even Harlan is sitting with the rest of the crew, conversing with Mavis. His eyes dart this way and that, though they seem to flick toward Sprig more often. Once everyone has a bowl, Bor comes over and sits next to Mavis and Harlan, listening to their conversation.
The groups that Petsune noticed at first seem to shift and meld with other groups. There is no clique or person that doesn’t talk with another, everyone seems very at ease and comfortable, friendly even. That’s when it hits him - what makes the crew so strange: it’s because they have treated him as one of them from the moment he was aboard. He has never felt like an outsider and that made him slightly uncomfortable. Yet, everything has been honest, and everyone has been kind. The Big Man comes by and talks with Petsune for a little, then Shushilah and Cheese. Sprig asks an unprompted question. “So, why’s there three churches?”
The Big Man shifts uneasily, and Petsune attempts to answer. “Well, there are more than three churches — but I presume you mean the main three that follow the Saints?”
“Yeah, them.”
The Big Man wanders off toward Mavis and Harlan, and Petsune scoots closer to Sprig. He quickly learned not to treat Sprig like an ignorant child, yet he still finds it difficult to speak with him, never sure if he’s joking or serious. Petsune takes a breath, trying to organize his thoughts. “The churches do all believe in the same figures, but they disagree about pretty much everything else,” Chapel laughs quietly, making Pet aware that he is listening too, “they each believe their chosen Saint is the foremost of them, and that their divine will has been revealed to their respective church.”
Chapel tilts his head slightly, then he asks, “So, isn’t it impossible to be a follower of all three?”
“Yes and no,” Pet says, “you can’t fully accept every tenet of every church, some are at odds. But I believe each church has something valuable in it.”
Sprig feigns a loud exaggerated yawn, then hops off his crate to join Pickett and Bor. Chapel nods thoughtfully. As Pet gazes around, he feels a funny warm feeling in his chest and throat. He realizes with a slight shock that he feels like crew, just as the rest of them do — like family.
Petsune finishes his soup and is told by Chapel that he’s on clean up duty. He wanders over to the kitchen area and Bor wordlessly gives him a towel for drying the pots and utensils that he’s washing. Pet stands next to Bor in the kitchen area underneath the foredeck and he looks out through the open double doors to where the crew ambles. Some members have begun a new game of Runnykit. Bungle is licking out a bowl of soup that someone set for him. A few other crew members have wandered toward the sleeping quarters below the main deck. Cleaning up doesn’t take long, and soon Petsune is also wandering his way toward the captain's quarters. He feels as though he has worked harder today than he ever has, and yet it is satisfying. The offer Chapel posed flitters into the forefront of his mind, and he briefly thinks that he wouldn’t mind the life of the Painful Lady.
Suddenly the Captain is there, appearing from nowhere as always, with an arm around Pet. “I wanna show you something.”
Chapel takes him up the steps to the quarter deck where the helm is. Mavis has just dropped the anchor and locked the wheel for the night so the ship won’t stray. Mavis passes by Chapel with a swift salute and then a tip of his large hat to Petsune. Now they are alone on the quarterdeck, though down on the main deck The Big Man and Bor are talking and telling stories. Chapel points out to the small sun as it drops to the horizon, the final sunset of the evening, and he says, “We’ll arrive at Ginders tomorrow.” Petsune isn’t sure what to say, so he doesn’t say anything. They listen to the sound of gently lapping waves against the hull. There are a few prattlebeak roosting in the branches and rigging.
Chapel turns to Petsune and says, “Have you thought at all about what I said?”
Petsune looks down over the railing at the surface of the water, eventually answering, “I am still considering… Can I ask you, how did you come to be, um, sympathetic with the Coldor Cleave? In my experience, there aren’t a lot of people who are.”
“Oh yeah? How many others have you met?”
“None, actually - you’re the first. Though some people are more kind than others.”
“I’m sure…” Chapel says regretfully.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“No, suppose I didn’t. Remember how I said I was in the business of righting wrongs?”
“Yes?”
“Well, It’s sort of a long story…”
“Well, I sort of have a long time.”
Chapel looks over at Petsune and smiles, “Alright, Pet. Suppose it’s fair, since I know quite a bit about you.”
There’s a silence that settles between them, though not awkward or tense. The only sounds are those of the sea and the ship, and the only witnesses, the stars. Chapel begins speaking softly, reliving the story, “My mother died when I was very young, shortly after I was born. You know about the Shot of the Straits?”
“How could I not… was your mother killed in the attempt?”
“No, no. But she died shortly after, in the fighting that started because of it. The Sunken Markets used to be in the Straits, but they were called the flooded markets back then, and she was killed there. It was a place where all four nations used to gather to trade, so there was already a lot of tension between the people. When the Cleave publicly attempted to kill Fellpost HelBenledore, the tension between the Fellbins and the Coldor exploded. That was the day the North War started, and it was what made my father hate the Coldor. He blamed them for what happened to her… My father reenlisted in the Royal Navy shortly after, and I was sent off to be raised by an aunt. I think he never wanted to leave the navy, never wanted me, but when he found out my mother was pregnant, well…” The Captain looks out at the sea, pausing for a moment in his story. “I didn’t see him again for years, not until my aunt passed. He came to say he was sorry and that I was being taken in by the Tapestry. That was the last time he saw me, though I’ve kept tabs on him. He rose through the ranks of the navy to the King’s Right Hand — the Royal protectorate.”
“Saints… I’m so sorry, Chapel.”
“It’s alright, whatever pain there was in the story has long been drained out by time. I grew up in the Tapestry, learning the storytelling art of the Finger Weavers. I left when I was still pretty young, 14 or 15. I sort of distanced myself, ran away from my pain and problems, but I kept an eye on my father…”
Again, a gentle quiet spreads itself between them, until Chapel speaks, “Anyway. That’s some of my story, and that’s why I came to sympathize with the Cleave. I saw the hatred in my father, and I knew that wasn’t the answer. I don’t think they killed my mother that day, the chaos did, and Coldor families have been hurt just as badly.”
“It’s quite the story. I’m sorry the Saint’s haven’t made it easy for you…”
“Ah, that’s alright. An easy life never made a good man, I’d wager.”
“But if you know the Coldor betrayed the Alliance, and caused your… caused everything, why do you sympathize with them?” Petsune asks partly to know the Captain’s answer, and partly because he wants to hear someone else say they believe Coldor is innocent.
“Well, one thing I’ve learned watching my father and sailing the world — people never do anything without what they deem to be a good reason. I don’t know why the Cleave betrayed the Alliance, so until I do, I’ll withhold judgment.”
“Hmm. I suppose that makes sense.” Pet says, slightly disappointed.
“Well, Pet, let’s call it a night.”
“But, didn’t you say you wanted to show me something?”
“Oh, right! Almost forgot.” Chapel reaches inside a pouch on his belt and draws out some sweet bread. “Do you know what a ghost fish is?”
“No, I’ve never heard of it.”
Chapel sprinkles the sweet bread over the railing. Within a minute, a faint glowing shape emerges from the depths. It reaches the bread and swims parallel to the surface. Petsune gasps in horror at the glowing shape below. It is 6 or 7 feet long and looks exactly like the pale ghost of some poor fallen sailor, wailing in pain.
Chapel explains as a few more show up and swim about, “Ghost fish are a translucent jellyfish, and they glow a pale green because they feed on gips, which are green.”
“But why do they look like people?”
“That’s their internal organs you’re seeing, the eyes are swim bladders, the nose is the heart, and the mouth the stomach. The placement just happens to give off the eerie effect of a face.”
“But what about the arms and legs? What are those?”
“They’re tentacles. The arms are actually shorter latching tentacles for mating, and the legs are longer grasping tentacles with stinging barbs on the end.”
“Amazing. It’s beautiful, in a haunting sort of way.”
“I think so too. You’re welcome to sleep in the chest again, by the way.”
“Oh? Isn’t that your favorite spot?”
“It is a good one, but the captain's bed is unbeatable. I'm usually up through the night anyway, so feel free to use whatever.”
Petsune bids Chapel goodnight, receiving a wink in reply, then drowsily makes his way down toward the captain's quarters. When he looks back, Chapel is staring out at the night sky. The firmament above is anything but empty. There are barely discernible swaths of deep blue and green and red amid the glittering black sky. The stars populate every inch of the canvas above, like a million drops of silver frozen in time. The Long Ships constellation shines brightly tonight, and Ründ’s dagger as well. There are silhouettes of flying things Petsune doesn’t recognize, each silently feasting on the myriads of buzzets and other insects. The tri-colored tailor’s moon shines brightly in the third day of its phase, the combinations of light dancing on the surface of the waves. Petsune sighs softly as he takes it all in, marveling at the beauty of the world. Then he enters the captain's quarters and falls comfortably to sleep in the chest of fabrics.
(Previous Chapter Nine) (Book Homepage & Chapter List) (Next Chapter Eleven)
