Yek It

“Oi! Watch it, Grub.” Says a crusty old crewman who was coming up the ladder from below as our goblin guide was just heading down.

“Watch it yourself, bilge rat!” Slubbergrub says with a slap across the man’s stubbly cheek with his bare foot. “I’m bringing down the passengers. Kreer’s orders.”

The old-timer grumbles and grinds his teeth but the mention of the first mate makes him retreat back down the ladder to cede the path. Grub looks back up at Colly with a glib grin and another wink. “Any stilts give ya lip, Colly-cakes, just lemme know and I’ll sort’em out.” He deftly slides down the remainder of the ladder to disappear into the dark hold below.

Colly giggles, jiggles then lets go of my hand to scurry down the ladder. Once below Grub helps her from the ladder and I hear Colly, for the first time ever, begin to speak in the kobaloi tongue. “Glint on ya.”

“Hoy.” He says. “Crack dry?”

“Wall tight, but gully nippin.” Colly replies. “Big walkin, duthty bum all time. Galumph!”

“Ha! Yer gander stilt near snicked his wick jabbin the thrum. Kreer and Big Mog sticky, proper root bound mates. Toves be proper drim vrindle.”

“Pff! Mine Mog Quin no glib gander. Iron thtilt. Iron Mog! Thcrag heavy ripper, eathy thcraggin hand of wing-fangth a’fore first munch no thweatin. Kreer be gluggin, ship Mog too and the retht. Glib-gab better though. Quin gab-gab glib, but iron. Heavy iron.”

“Iron strong, scrit stronger. Heavy scrit for deez swing pocks. Clink make the whole slithy deck glib easy, don’it?”

“Yek it.”

“Skarn! You puttin out thick, tater sweet?”

With a flirtatious titter Colly says. “Thmellin proper.”

“Rrrm! Pickin or just stirrin air?”

“Mine Mog keep tight.”

“Aw! Stilt softie?”

“Yek it, lessin Mine Mog mindin. Hard nuff?”

“Bendin iron. Yek it!”

“Heh!”

Cassie and I look at each other and then back down the hole.

“Sounds like Colly’s getting along well with the crew.” Rosa quips between us with a hidden smile.

“Sounds like we might be knee deep in kobolos pups if we’re not careful.” I quip right back.

“Wouldn’t that be fun.” Rosa laughs, her natural lilting laughter easing what tensions remained among the crew around us. I catch a few of them smiling at the joyous noise.

Cassie climbs down next so that Rosa could be helped form both above and below. I help my Lady to the ladder and once her toe touches the top wrung she has no issue descending the ladder, even with Danae clutched tight in one arm. I give Kreer one last wary glance before heading down myself.

In the span of that short ladder I am transported from the vast open skies, salty wind and endless blue horizon of the deck to the gloomy, cramped and pungent labyrinth of the ship’s underworld. I had no sooner felt my sandals touch floor when large loading hatch which had allowed a shaft of sunlight to illuminate the center of the long cargo area was slammed shut and locked down. The already dim space descends into darkness and somewhere in the inky gloom I hear Catalus let out a bellicose neigh.

“Eathy, Cat.” Collywaddle says, following Grub along the tight passage between stacked amphorae to disappear into the darkness herself. “We’re here.”

It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust and for me to realize that the cargo hold actually wasn’t completely dark. Swinging on slender chains were a series of clay oil lamps casting a wan flickering light from their blue flames. Slowly the space reveals itself to me. The hold was only half full of crates and amphorae, which was why Nikias had taken us on, but the racks to hold many more of the ruddy terracotta vessels lined both sides of the area. The air is thick with the smells of the pine resin used to seal the containers as well as the ship’s hull along with sharp aroma of brine from below mixed with stench of rancid oil and the tang of fermented fish from the olive oil and garum that had soaked into the wood over the years. The one thing I don’t smell is the aroma of the oil lamps. Wiping my fingers across the belly of an amphora I feel none of the oily residue I would have expected in such a contained space. As I pass the next lamp I pause to hold my hand close to the flame. I feel little heat though as I peer into the body of the lamp I see the oily fuel glimmering within. The lamp was simple clay, the contents regular oil, but the strange blue flame was…unnatural.

Passing my fingers through the tepid flame I mutter under my breath. “Ship mage.”

“Careful!” Grub calls back to me. “Big trouble if you snuff that out. Kreer makes the lamps burn a long, long time but just don’t snuff’em out!”

“Gotcha.” I pull my hand back and continue.

Ahead of me Rosa held to Cassie, with her head down and showing no signs of being able to see. While the flames seemed to be effected by some kind of sorcery it appeared that the light they cast was not magical itself. We are lead down the center aisle, having to squeeze by a couple of curious crewmen along the way, toward the space at the back that I could now see was curtained off with squares of heavy canvas. It was no cabin but I was thankful that we had some semblance of privacy. And there ahead of us, blinkered and bound and suspended just off the floor by a thick canvas sling, swung our proud stallion. Around him they had slapped up some boards to create a sort of stable and protect those passing by from getting a stray kick.

“Ohhh, Cat!” Colly hurries forward. “You poor thing!” Scrambling up the nearest rack she reaches out and pets his shiny black neck. Catalus lets out a panicked snort. “Ohhh, he’ll never forgive uth.”

“It was this or leave him behind.” I remind her.

“He’s fine.” Grub assures her. “We’ve done this before.”

“Okay.” Colly pets his mane then crawls back down.

Grub throws back the canvas curtain to reveal…not much of anything. Quarters was far too generous a term for what we were seeing. In the space between the aft wall of the hold and one of the racks our things had been piled toward the outer hull and just to this side of them hung two hammocks. There was barely a full stride between the edge of the curtain and where the hammocks hung. “This…looked bigger when it was empty.” I say as I am already doing the math on how the four of us plus Danae were going to all fit inside this little space for two to three weeks. Cassie peers over at me, thinking exactly the same thing. “Hey. The next space over is also empty, maybe we could spread out?”

Grub grins. “You’d have to pass that by Kreer. Heh. Good luck with that.”

“I see.”

“And Cap would expect extra. Double space, double pay.” He says, a bit too brightly. “This isn’t a pleasure barge.”

“I realize that.”

“This is what ya paid for, no?”

“Yeah. This is what we paid for.” I say, honestly wondering if they had shaved off a few square feet between when I paid and now to try to extort a bit more from me. After really studying the space I realize it was what I’d agreed to. The Captain had made an honest deal, it was my own naivety that saw us in such cramped quarters. While Nikias hadn’t tricked me neither had he done anything to dissuade me. And why would he? To him I was a fattened hen and he wanted as big a portion as he could carve. Remembering the ‘bargaining’ that had occurred with the innkeeper the day before and now this I was coming to realize that being seen as a man of means opened doors but on the other side of those doors were people looking to lighten my coin purse to fill their own. I held no ill will, as a life long commoner I would have been tempted to do the same, but it tells me that once we were further on I had to become more shrewd with my coin. The nest egg we carried had to last. “Thank you, Grub.”

“If yer feeling cramped…” His smile widens as he looks at Colly. “I might be able to arrange some alternative sleepin arrangements for yer slave.”

Even in the dim light it was impossible to miss Colly dark green blush. Pressing her face into my leg she giggles and clings to my thigh.

“Grub!” Barks a voice from above. “Where is that blasted goblin?”

“Ack!” Grub hops and darts back toward the ladder. “Gotta go!”

Cassie and I look at each other again and then to Rosa who was feeling around the area to get its dimensions and lay out as Danae sniffed along the edge of the canvas wall. “It’s not much but it’s cozy” She says. “And for now it’s home.”