The Factor’s House

In his new fancy jacket and trews (tight white shirt beneath cream jacket, matching pants with a pale green accent strip down the right side to match the Kuniq Cooperative’s corporate banner) Noah stood outside the Voyageur Hotel while some of the crew clustered around him, waiting.

“You look amazing, Noah,” Ipellie said, for perhaps the fourth time, as Yutu, Yura, and Ipellie alternated looking up and down the street fussily and mumbling amongst themselves. “You have nothing to worry about!”

“I wasn’t really that worried until you all started telling me not to worry,” the steward groused, some honest social anxiety creeping into his voice.

“It’s just… you know, these meetings are a big deal, and the ‘Kin ambush and all. And Cap’n Amaruq going with you is gonna be a whole thing, and everyone knows the political landscape is changing-”

“Get a load of Pel, ‘political landscape’! You just heard Hyvin say that Hanna last night,” Yura snickered.

“Well, it’s true!” Ipellie replied, irked.

“Ladies!” a familiar voice cut through the growing angst, and everyone turned to see a pair approaching from the side street. Lisa, her arm in a sling and her face bandaged, hobbled up and nodded to all before continuing, “And gentleman, I see you wringing your hands like an arthritic fishwife there Yutu. I hear the Captain is coming to pick up her escort, so maybe no one needs half the damned crew here gossiping and milling around like nervous schoolgirls when they meet their first boy, neh?”

Lisa had arrived with Hitty, and Noah had the sudden thought that Hitty had in fact collected Lisa so the older veteran would disperse the rest without complaint. The youngest of the Kuniq sailors was, ironically, calm and composed, her long black hair freshly washed and loose down her back as she studied Noah silently.

He was about to say hello but suddenly couldn’t. Even as Lisa shooed the rest of the sailors away from the sidewalk and into the hotel lobby like she was wrangling a group of excited puppies Hitty only gazed deeply into his eyes.

Finally, she stepped forward, leaned upwards and whispered in his ear before kissing him once on the cheek, then she followed her mates into the building and left Noah blessedly alone to wait.

A scant couple of minutes later a cabriolet arrived, a light two-wheeled passenger carriage pulled by a single horse. Captain Amaruq gracefully stepped off and swept her arm, bowing politely to Noah while removing her hat.

“Mr. Anders, thank you again for agreeing to accompany me.”

“Oh, thank you for asking, Captain.”

The woman was in her formal attire, which consisted of the Kuniq Navy dress uniform that was modified to also carry her corporate and civilian shipping rank and honours. Instead of her normal officer’s pants she wore a slinky, long green skirt, another holdover from the **** decades past when women had joined the armed forces in droves and were given the uniform bits that would fit a woman clerk or a teenage boy cadet. Her long hair was braided into thick coil that hung over her left shoulder, along with a small-brimmed modern hat rather than the older style bicorne fitting on top.

Noah thought she looked incredible. Lovely, competent, smart, confident. A natural leader, a canny manager, a skillful sailor, and a damn brave warrior.

‘I am going to miss her so much. I’m going to miss them all.’

The man banished the thought even as Captain Amaruq looked at him and smiled, “You are always a pleasure on the eyes, Mr. Anders, but allow me to say you look stunning today. I’m not normally one for fancy dress, but looking at you… well, let’s just say I suddenly see the appeal.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Noah found himself blushing, “I have to admit that Yutu and the rest deserve a lot of credit for making me presentable.”

With a gesture the Captain had Noah climb onto the small carriage. The driver sat behind and above the half-roof that covered the narrow bench, and they were off.

Currielle was not a large town but it spread along the West bank of the Radisson. Being arguably the edge of the Agassian Duchy the sturdy limestone buildings of the Duchess and her government dominated the rocky hills. The corporate shipping berths and warehouses stood along the water at the northern half, where the river boats could dock just before the crumbled ancient bridge that blocked their path. Merchant houses maintained large compounds on the crushed gravel roads that connected it all, along with the saloons, hotels, hostels, and shops that serviced the several hundred transient workers that would be in town at any given time.

Agassiz, wrapped around the mountain plateau that dominated the center of the continent, was very rich in minerals but poor in access to foreign markets. This relative remoteness was why the river was so important, it let the Duchy trade with the south without paying duties and tolls to ship through the markets of their immediate neighbors.

“You can see it there, just where the river splits into the smaller streams upriver,” Captain Amaruq explained, pointing out the fallen bridge a half mile away. “South to the lake the river is split into rapid, narrow channels littered with rocks. No place for a proper ship, the barges and keelboats do that section. There are even some carts.”

“Hmm, I may wander down to that bridge, just to see it,” Noah mused.

The hired cabriolet continued uphill until it pulled into the driveway leading to the largest building at the very top. Several people were exiting another carriage at the doors, and servants dashed around.

As the carriage came to a halt the captain quickly dismounted and disappeared for a moment. Before Noah could ask, she briskly walked to his side and held out her arm for him, to help him. Taking her hand, he felt oddly shy about the gesture, but none of the servants or guests took note so he imagined it was the norm.

The Factor’s House, as it was known in the common tongue, was as much an administrative compound as it was the home of the governor. A number of smaller buildings were arranged around it like tents on a military bivouac, but the main house dominated, a true mansion in the Agassian style.

At the door, an aged man in a black household staff uniform nodded at Amaruq as she gave him the invitation, which he looked at briefly. A short walk into the mansion lead to a double door, from which the din of a dozen conversations wafted.

“Captain Amaruq, master of the trade ship Nawyet; and her guest, Noah Anders, steward of the Nawyet.” His voice was loud enough to gain the attention of most of the roughly thirty figures standing and sitting as it echoed in the large banquet room. A majority, naturally, were women, with perhaps half dressed in the blue uniforms of the Agassian army. Rich clothing in formal styles dominated the rest of the women present, running from expensive looking ball gown dresses to masculine suits and trousers. One younger man stood in a blue uniform, and a half dozen men were scattered about, many dressed in brightly coloured, almost risqué outfits to Noah’s eyes.

One man who did not dress in military blue or as a wealthy woman’s date sat at the head of the main table. Noah did not need anyone to tell him this stern looking man, edging past middle age, in a sober dark grey suit, was the Governor himself.

Half the crowd was still looking at Noah and Captain Amaruq as they stood in the door way. With a crooked smile Amaruq said, “Sorry Noah, I didn’t know what to put your title or position as, and everyone would just see you as our steward regardless, but I meant no imposition.”

The distraction from the weight of dozens of eyes - judging, weighing, assessing - was welcome, and Noah followed the captain as she walked into the room. “Absolutely Captain, no worries.”

“As I’ve said, this isn’t my favourite task as a captain,” Amaruq said, quietly while they were still out of earshot of the others, “but thank you for coming. The shipping companies and river boat captains squabble and compete for contracts, but we are also a sisterhood. Usually. Whether the Duchy is content to leave that be, to let the Northlands be independent, well, I guess this evening may offer a hint.”

A pair of women approached, one wearing an expensive suit and her larger companion in plain but well tailored clothes.

“Captain Amaruq, as I live and breathe!” The suited woman had a wide smile on her face, but as she stopped, she reached a hand out to shake and her expression shifted to one of concern. “We heard you had trouble on the river, of course. Some injuries to your crew, but none serious?”

“No, no one seriously injured,” Amaruq replied. If the woman expected to hear more details, she was disappointed, but her countenance settled on a polite smile that Noah felt did not quite match her eager eyes.

Amaruq turned slightly to Noah and said, “This is Noah, our steward, as you doubtless heard. Noah, this is Nemastikov, an independent trader. Her second is called Harrier, how are your sisters, by the way? While we were in Anglet I saw Kestrel get into a… disagreement with one of her partners.”

The taller woman shrugged her muscled shoulders, and Noah had the strong impression that she would be more comfortable with a cutlass in her hand than not. “Ossie is sailing on the Rapio, doing a whaling season. Kes is taking care of family business in Anglet.”

“Noah, you say,” Nemastikov clearly did not find the talk of her bodyguard’s family nearly as compelling as the man in front of her as she reached out her hand to him. “Well, Noah, Amaruq is lucky to have you. Truly! It is very rare now for a river boat to have a steward at all, and you - well let’s just say you are not a man who needs to be settling. No offence, Amaruq! I mean, being on the river at all, naturally!” A quick, unconvincing laugh from the merchant as the captain looked on, impassive.

While he did not care much what this glib businesswoman thought of him, Noah found he was rather protective of the Nawyet, her crew, and his captain. With a smile just as real as hers, Noah shook her hand, ignoring the way she held on too long and rubbed his skin with her thumb and said, “I was lucky to sail on the Nawyet, truly. The crew is exceptional, in all ways. It hardly felt like work at all, if I’m being honest. I would sail with Captain Amaruq anywhere and consider myself blessed.”

“Indeed,” the merchant purred, her eyes narrowing. She was about to say more when a chime sounded.

“I suppose we were the last to arrive; it seems dinner is served,” Captain Amaruq said, mildly. She held out her arm and Noah gratefully took it. Several long tables were arranged in a U shape, with the governor and a quartet of military garbed women with the most medals and pins on their tunics at the top. Noah was unsurprised to find that he and the captain would be sitting in the seats nearest the head table.

Captain Amaruq let her hand rest on his for a moment, then she gave him a slight squeeze and murmured, “Thank you, Noah. Let’s go see what the Old Man wants.”