You're willing to risk the quicker route

"I understand the risk, Captain, but we have to get to Gerlangen with all haste. We've already wasted a night... here in the lighthouse."

You feel your face warm at that thought. Thankfully, Rakins and his men do not seem to notice. He has a quiet conversation with them and they seem to reach a **** agreement.

"Very well, sisters, we will return to my ship, The Skirmisher, immediately. Gather whatever you need for the journey. Our larder is stocked so no worry there."

You and Glenda are heaped with blankets and spare clothing to take with you. There is a distinct lack of undergarments and Lahana's gowns all have the same problem of being fairly loose in the bust, but too short for you and Glenda. You can already imagine this piratical bunch of sailors is going to have quite a time stealing glimpses of your thighs and perhaps more. At least they are not daemons.

Erven and Lahana bid you farewell and best wishes and you and Glenda follow Captain Rakins down to the small beach. A launch and two more men of Rakins' crew are waiting. They help you aboard the small boat and begin rowing towards the ship anchored off the coast. It is a smaller vessel than you expected, more of an armed fishing boat.

"She is a beaut, isn't she?" Rakins asks, taking notice of your interest.

"Yes, she is," you reply. "A very handsome vessel."

"Vessels are for admirals and carrying wine. That's a ship. You're a poor liar, sister. That's alright, Skirmisher is meant to look unassuming. With the right rigging, those sails will beat any ship in the water, get us close in where our cannons will do the most harm. We've sunk more pirates than Spivy can count on his hands."

Captain Rakins gestures over his shoulder to the launch's lookout and you see the man has a hook in place of his left hand.

"We keep things lean aboard, which means not much in the way of accommodations. I'll give up my stateroom in this case, you being holy women and all that. Best you stay inside with all these men." He glances at his crew. "I can only control them so much."

You understand the warning as you and Glenda are helped up a rope ladder and onto the ship. The men in the launch are treated to views of your bare bottom and furred mounds and you hear appreciative muttering. The men up top get a treat of their own as your blouses hang open and expose an indecent amount of your breasts as you ascend. They get another look at your legs and bottom as you clime onto the deck. It's overall humiliating and you feel the eye of every man aboard slowly fucking you and Glenda right there on the deck.

Thankfully, Captain Rakins defuses the tension with a good bit of shouting orders to get underway. The launch is secured and the ship gets underway. Once the ship has caught a good wind and is making speed, Rakins shows you and Glenda to his quarters.

It is smaller than you expected, though it does afford a view of the rear of the ship. His room is even more overrun with trophies and trinkets than the lighthouse keepers and his bed, silk sheets and all, has the distinctive aroma of a well-worn whore.

"Spivy or Duullem will fetch water and food for you both, I can as well if I'm about, but open the door for no others. If we encounter trouble, you stay here. If it's dark out, stay here. Basically... if I'm not shouting for you to come out on deck, you stay in here."

You try to ask him a question, but Rakins is called to the deck by someone shouting his name. He promises he'll bring you an update when he has one and then disappears through the door. The waiting is miserable. Even opening the windows and inhaling the sea air, watching gulls whirl around the ship, does little to alleviate your boredom. It is worse than the sermons you endured at the abbey before you could feel your connection to the Burning Rose. You and Glenda have lived as sisters together for so long that there are few new stories to share between you.

In the afternoon, Duullem, a big, shirtless man with dark skin, slides in two plates of boiled potatoes, boiled meat, and something else boiled that might be cabbage or some sort of sea plant. The food is salty and filling and not much else. Mercifully, it comes with a full wine skin and two wooden cups. By the evening, you and Glenda are singing bawdy parodies of hymns from the abbey. You sit together on the bed, legs intertwined and leaning your heads together as the **** warms you.

The door opens without warning and Captain Rakins enters his room. A smile spreads across his face and you are acutely aware that your bodies are once again nearly indecent because of these traitorous gowns. You pull at the hem of yours to cover yourself. Glenda, further into her cups, makes no effort to do the same.

"Sisters," he smiles. "I wanted to check in with you. We are making good progress and will continue through the night. I know these waters well enough to avoid the sandbars and rocks."

"Why don't you have a drink with us?" slurs Glenda.

"Oh, my, I am a bit parched." Rakins walks over to a cabinet and takes out another bottle of wine. He pops the cork and pours a cup for himself before sloshing the rest out for you and Glenda. He raises his cup and looks to you. "Sister Sabine, what shall we toast? A safe journey or something more interesting?"

He raises an eyebrow and awaits your answer.