Ruck Up And Get Settled

All of his worldly possession’s fit into one not terribly large bag. Well, that wasn’t accurate, Noah actually owned a lot of things and had a good sized home to keep them in, but since home was distant enough that it may as well be on the other side of the world this one bag was pretty much everything to him now.

Since taking the steward’s job two nights past Noah had spent much of his time in the public offices of what passed for the local government. The old woman in charge of record keeping had seemed sternly indifferent to his strange requests for shipping manifests and reports of ships lost on the river, but after a few hours she had brought him some tea and even agreed to pull out some dusty boxes to help him in his studies.

It had helped fill in the blanks on some aspects of his theory, and now he was even more sure that the Empty City would have his answers.

The bag was packed, and the tiny closet of a room was as bare as when he arrived. He had a few changes of clothes, a small bag of personal effects, and some coins in a moneybelt. As well as some valuables and coins hidden away in case he got robbed. Again.

Most importantly, Noah had his books. One contained his own notes, and no one would be able to read them if they tried. Another was a collection of myths and stories of the Northlands, put down by a visiting scholar decades ago, as well as some dubiously accurate maps. Those went into a waterproof oilskin container with a small pouch of tools.

Noah let out a deep breath. It was just past dawn, and the ship was leaving in an hour. Part of him still didn’t quite believe what he was going to do, and even now he wasn’t sure if he was resigned to the unique nature of the work or excited by it.

A final thank you to the innkeeper, who had been more than helpful to a man travelling alone, and Noah was back in the streets. Anglet wasn’t so big that you couldn’t walk across it three times in an hour, but no reason to not be early for ‘shipping up’ as Hannah had called it.

After the three of them had toasted to his new job, Amaruq had declared that Noah was free to do what he pleased of course but she would not be soliciting his services except on the ship, if she did at all. Hannah had taken the hint and Noah was sure that the captain had noticed how surprised he had been at the offer and given him an out. He found both women attractive, but he had to be honest and admit that being propositioned like that had been a new experience for him and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

Regardless, he had to get to the Empty City and he was no eunuch, so he was sure he could, er, service some lonely sailors in order to get there.

The sea-side of Anglet had the large jetties for docking the whaling ships and the big cargo vessels. The latter was what carried goods from the central plateau to markets all over the hemisphere. The river-side of the town had slightly smaller piers and quays for the craft that mostly did the trade route up and down the river. The Nawyet was docked river-side, and Noah stood nearby and watched as a dozen women swarmed around it, coiling ropes, loading cargo, shouting and laughing the they readied for another trip.

After a few minutes, he noticed that a few rough looking women from another boat were smirking at him and he wondered if they thought he was looking for a client. Time to get on board.

“Ho, don’t fuckin’ tell me you are the steward!” A young woman organizing the Nawyet’s cargo on the dock paused in her work to stare at Noah as he stood next to the ramp (gangway?) wondering if he was just supposed to board the ship. “Hitty swore that cap’n had a stew for us, and that Hannah said he was a fucking peach like out of a dream and no mistake, but I didn’t believe them!”

Blushing, Noah could only say, “Uh… I guess I am? Thanks?” The woman had the long, braided black hair, ochre complexion and hooded eyes common to the Kuniq people of the Northern Islands. She appeared to be a few years younger than Noah, on the short side but her loose sailor’s tunic showed broad shoulders and muscular arms befitting her physical labour.

She had some strong lungs too, Noah almost jumped when she turned her head and yelled in a booming voice, “Hail the boat! Steward’s here early!”

A few of the women on the deck had already noticed him and were staring openly, some smiling politely and a couple smiling like a cat when a pitcher of milk is spilled on the kitchen floor.

“Back to work, ladies, try to act like you’ve seen a man before in your lives, neh?” The captain walked out from the cabin area at the back of the boat, and at her appearance everyone began quickly pretend-working again. Amaruq looked over the ship as if to find a deckhand slacking, but after a second continued to the gangway. Noah could sense she was pleased he showed up after all. “And good day to you Mr. Noah. Are you still looking to join this crew and sail with us upriver, as our steward?”

The women who had so quickly snapped into motion all froze again, a few glancing at him to see if he would reveal that this had all been a strange joke. “Uh, good day to you Captain Amaruq. Yes, I would like to join the crew. As steward. As, you know… we discussed.” As he often did in these strange lands, Noah couldn’t shake the worry there was certain things he was supposed to say that he was ignorant of, or his words would be less formal than they should be.

But the captain gave a very slight smile and nod just as a few of the sailors started excitedly whispering to each other. She ignored them and instead said, “Then come aboard. We are a small ship, but you honour us with your service and we will all remember that.” Clearly, she was speaking to the crowd. “And as a smaller crew we don’t stand on formality as much as others might, so you can call me Captain or ma’am if you please. The rest of these lazy curs you can just call them by their names, as I’m sure they will you. Being ‘Mister’ and ‘Miss’ gets old quickly. Now, Ipellie, take his bag and bring him to the stewards room. Hannah will be by to show him the ship.”

She frowned. “And I am quite sure everyone else has something they should be doing?” Her rising voice had the crew snapping back to work, and she returned to her quarters.

The young woman standing next to him gave a wide grin, then picked up his bag. “My name is Ipellie, like the cap’n said. Welcome aboard Noah! I’ll get you to your quarters; we cast off soon, so time to ruck up and get you settled before you come to your senses and go find a bigger ship to work on. Uh, is it rude if I say I can’t bleeding wait to tumble ya? I’ve never had a boy before, and you’re so my type I must be dreamin’! But not on duty, or Hannah will skin me alive, of course. But why are you stewarding anyway? Man like you should be working a baby farm or be pumping a rich old woman.”

Her cheerful banter, so open and honest, made Noah laugh. This was such a surreal situation, but he was committed now. God knows, having sex with a bunch of women wasn’t the worst job he’d ever had. “I’ve never stewarded before, but I hope I live up to your expectations at least! I want to travel upriver, and this job seemed like a good choice.”

Once up the gangway and actually on deck, Noah looked around. With the deck rocking slightly beneath his feet, it felt real now, that’s for certain. One of the sailors, a pale blonde woman maybe a decade older than him, approached Noah with a gleam in her eyes. “Ipellie, stop scaring the new hand! I’m called Macha, I’m the ship’s clerk, so we’ll be talking salary and rotas and so on when you’re settled. Don’t be alarmed by the virgin girls, some of us have been around and know how to treat a man.” With a last wink, she slowly let her eyes drift down to his crotch and then sauntered away.

Ipellie rolled her eyes and muttered, “Whatever, I won’t be a virgin long. Not with my new best friend Noah here, hah!” She elbowed him in his side jokingly and he couldn’t help but laugh along as she brought him to his cabin.

On any working ship, the only thing more endless than the chores is the gossip. A few of the deckhands naturally found themselves coiling rope close enough to share a conversation, which had the clerk and cook wandering over, and soon most of the crew was standing around.

“Ok ok, I admit, I thought you were all full of viper’s smoke, but deep hells a real steward on the Nawyet,” the speaker was a large combat veteran named Lisa, the left side of her face showing the lasting damage of the Widow’s War.

Shirisha rubbed the black stubble on her scalp, saying in her thick mountain accent, “Not just a steward, but so fine! A man like that you’d expect the cap’n to drop him on deck all gagged and in chains, then we’d be pulling oars to get away before the guard show up.” A few women chuckled at what they hoped was a joke - the mountain clanswoman had a habit of making comments that made you wonder about the past she didn’t speak much about.

“So, what are we doing? Dice?” asked Kireama bluntly. The Kuniq woman wasn’t much for joking at the best of times, and she wanted to sort out the steward’s duties sooner rather than later.

“For Noah? You mean, who gets him tonight?” Macha asked. “I’m fine with that, or we could put a few merms in a pot and whoever bids the most gets him all to herself and the rest get to split up the coins.”

None of the crew saw the newcomer until she spoke. “Leave it to the clerk with a bag full of coins to suggest that solution.” The speaker’s voice was playful, but some of the sailors twitched at having an officer walking up on them lollygagging about.

Macha shrugged, “Well that or we roll dice, whatever. Can’t imagine you’re putting your name in Hyvin?”

Hyvin Odhiambo was the midship’s mate, and as second mate in the hierarchy was watchstander in charge of the night watch. A middle aged woman from the far west, she had married a man along with her sister and cousin and kept to her vows.

“I think, for a new steward’s first night on a boat that hasn’t had one in years, you should let the maidens who are interested draw straws,” the dark skinned woman said. “But it’s up to you as the crew, neh?”

One of the maidens in question, the youngest woman on board, tried and failed to hide a gasp. She stood, stock still, trying to pretend she was worldly and experienced - that she wasn’t desperately hoping to be picked.

Looking at her scarcely hidden eagerness, Macha sighed theatrically. “Fine and fair enough. Any girl who hasn’t been with a man, but wants to, gets first crack at our stew? Gods know most will never find a man as fit as this one. My own first man was 60 years if he was a day, took me an hour to get his mast up and then it was over in 5 pokes.”

Now all eyes fell on the youngest trio of women, who were all glancing back and forth, tongue-tied. All three were Kuniq, from the same nation as the captain, with the youngest freshly turned 18 and none older than 20 years. “Anyone else not been with a man but wants?” asked Lisa brusquely.

“Aye.” A few eyebrows were raised as Yura pushed her way into the crowd. She was older than the youngsters, but had been working on the ship for a few seasons and many of the crew had just assumed she had been bedded. Or maybe it was just that she was always standing beside her twin brother, glaring daggers, that made you think that she wasn’t a virgin.

But the draw was held quickly, and as luck would have it the youngest girl won. Even Shirisha had to nod approvingly, and she said, “Hitty is the lucky lass. If you want a poke with something other than a finger or piece of ivory, here’s your chance. Moon’s blessings on you, maybe you’ll catch a bachcha first try.”

Kireama, trying to move past her disappointment by telling herself that she’d get the steward soon enough, looked confused. “A bachcha? Ohh, you mean a miki? Yeah Hitty, maybe you’ll get catch a miki! Wouldn’t the elders back home, especially your mam, be happy with that!”

“What is miki?” Lisa, never great with context, was still confused.

Macha grinned, “They mean a bairn, ya silly bint. Took too many biter clubs to the head did ya?”

Shrugging at the insult good naturedly, Lisa said, “Bairn? Miki? Bach-whatever? Pfft just say baby if you mean baby, you bitches. My word.” Chuckles as the group slowly split up, a few women congratulating Hitty on her luck as she stood, all but dancing in excitment.

A virgin? Hells, she had never even seen a man without pants on before. Never seen one of the naked dancers who travelled the islands and performed in the small villages with no men. There weren’t even any boys in the village her age to show her their thing, all she had to go by was descriptions and the shape of the ivory pricks some of the women had. Something deep in her stirred, and her mouth went dry. Sex? With a man? Just like that? Finally!?

They said a woman’s first time was lucky. That you got a baby boy out of it if you prayed to the moon. Just superstition, of course, but still… Hitty made a promise to visit the small Kuniq shrine on board before she saw the steward. Her grandmother would appreciate the gesture, at least.