Like the street outside, the floor of the bar was made from rough planks of wood which fitted together poorly. The sea was visible through the gaps, and the young woman wasn’t sure if the stench of human excrement was coming from it or her own soiled trousers. The man creature grinned toothily as he slowly stepped forward, savouring the moment.
The young woman looked around frantically. The tavern was poorly lit and oppressively warm. Five men sat at a filthy bar and gave her a sideways look. None appeared concerned with her plight and seemed content to watch the events unfold from their perches. Then, a pair of calloused bare feet began moving from one of the tables towards the rear. They padded past her and planted themselves between her and her assailant. They were connected to muscular legs that resembled a pair of young trees. As her gaze panned up, she was surprised to see that they belonged to a woman. She wore her dark hair in a ratty queue and the hilt of a short sword peeped out of her burgundy greatcoat.
“Get out of the way, dyke,” the creature snarled. “This one is mine.”
The woman folded her arms across her bosom and jutted out her chin. “I disagree. Why don’t we fight for her? Spillover rules.”
Before her eyes, the creature of nightmare turned back into a man. A brutish lout of a man, but still a man. His eye twitched as he eyed the young woman who was still lying on her back. His eyes wandered to the sword that she wore at her hip and then widened. He smiled crookedly before, to the young woman’s surprise, backing out of the tavern.
“Have it your way, Elouise.”
Before the young woman could make sense of his sudden retreat, he began running down the street, vanishing like a nightmare. She breathed a sigh of relief and looked up to see the other woman looking down at her. There was an uncomfortable silence as Elouise looked down at her before eventually offering her hand.
"Thank you," the young woman mumbled as she was pulled to her feet with surprising strength.
She was unnerved by Elouise’s roving eyes that were still moving swiftly up and down her body. Elouise towered over her, and she stepped back self-consciously before admonishing herself for her rudeness. This woman had just saved her. She took a deep breath before offering her hand and her huskiest voice. “Thank you for your help.”
Elouise looked down at the extended hand and then the sword at the young woman’s hip. “Why didn’t you use that?”
“I… I panicked,” she admitted sheepishly.
The truth was that she hadn’t the first clue how to use the sword was a straight bladed short sword which she had carried with her all the way from Nytlim, the Imperial Capital. She glanced at it and saw the ram’s head that had been etched into the sword’s gilded hilt and quickly covered it with her hand. The sword had been given to her by Vanham Stophlin, her guardian and co-conspirator. No, she shook her head. This wasn’t the time. Thinking about the kindly old man would only make her cry, and that was something she could ill afford.
“My name is Karl,” she began.
“Please,” Elouise began dismissively. Her voice was deep and gruff. “I believe it’s poor form to start a conversation with a stranger with a lie.”
Elouise sighed and shook her head when the young woman furrowed her brow in confusion. “Your getup isn’t fooling anyone, girly.”
The young woman blinked in surprise before exhaling a deep sigh. Cutting her long, golden locks had been a difficult decision and it seemed that it had been all been for naught. “My name’s Katrina.”
“Elouise Garstan, Captain of the Black Marlin,” the taller woman declared proudly.
Katrina’s jaw dropped. “You’re the captain? Of a ship?”
“There, aren’t you happy your disguise is so unconvincing?” the taller woman smirked. “I would have laid you out for putting it that way if you were a man.”
She clapped Katrina on the back, causing her to stumble forward before guiding her to the bar. “Two bottles of rum from the top shelf, Sam. My new friend’s paying!”
“Don’t you mean glasses?” Katrina protested. Then, what her new companion said earlier clicked and she whirled around. “You captain a ship?!”
Elouise frowned. “Don’t push your luck now.”
Katrina was too excited to notice the threat and continued in a rush, “Tell me, is your ship available for charter?”
That caught the attention of the bar, and the other heads turned their way. However, a look from Elouise had them all quickly turn back to their drinks. The bartender tentatively placed two bottles of rum on the bar, which Elouise acknowledged with a curt nod. “How much will it be, Sam?”
“Four sovereigns,” the scrawny man old grunted. It was hot in the tavern, and he wore a sweat stained sleeveless vest.
Elouise cocked her head at the landlord and Katrina hesitantly placed the money on the bar. Sam raised a thin eyebrow and examined each silver coin carefully, testing a random one in his teeth before dropping them into a pouch he kept inside his trousers.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
The heavyset woman didn’t take her eyes off Katrina as she pulled the cork out with her teeth before taking a swig straight out of the bottle. “It depends. My ship isn’t the largest, but she’s fast.”
“That’s perfect,” Katrina said. “I am looking to travel across the Maelstrom…”
“You and just about every noble in the Empire,” Elouise nodded. “I don’t suppose you happen to know what’s going on over there? Your kinsmen are being surprisingly tight lipped.”
Katrina shook her head. “I don’t know what they’re running from, but I seek passage through the Gap of Eternity, and I can pay handsomely.”
Elouise barked a short, derisive laugh. “Oh, I’m sure you can, girly, seeing how easily you dropped four sovereigns. But what good is money if you’re dead?”
Katrina dropped her voice. “I can offer you two thousand sovereigns.”
Elouise’s mirth vanished in an instant, and her eyes turned flinty. The bar fell silent around them. Everyone’s attention was rapt on the two women. “You can’t possibly be carrying that much money on you.”
Katrina matched the taller woman’s gaze and intensity. “I’m not carrying it on me. I’m no fool.”
Elouise looked around the tavern before turning back to the curious young woman. “Let’s take this somewhere more private.”
Katrina nodded and followed the taller woman out of the tavern. She felt curious eyes on them as the pair walked down the main street and kept a nervous eye out for the burly man she had encountered earlier. They soon turned onto a walkway that was little more than an uneven array of planks that had been placed somewhat close to one another. Elouise led the way, surefooted on her bare feet down the slippery planks, more than once had to grab Katrina by the arm to prevent her from falling into the sea below which judging by its stench, was part rubbish dump, and part open sewer.
Soon, a small black cutter came into view. She had a raked bow and sported a single mast. However, she was scarcely fifty feet long and looked like a child’s toy compared to the mighty ships Katrina observed at the Grand Harbour.
The young woman stopped in her tracks. “Are you sure that thing can survive the Maelstrom?”
“It’s been navigating the Maelstrom since you were in diapers, I’d wager,” Elouise snorted over her shoulder as she stepped onto the narrow floating jetty that the cutter was tied to. “Do you want to charter my ship or not?”
Katrina hesitated as she recalled the larger ships at the Grand Harbour which glided across the water with effortless grace. While this one looked fast, it also looked like it could be sunk by a small wave. Perhaps she should try her luck at the Grand Harbour after all. One of the captains there had to be willing to try their luck with the Eternal Gap for the fee offered.
It wasn’t the suicide mission this captain thought it was either. A ship returned from the Eternal Gap just five years ago to much fanfare, bringing back treasures that had made every one of its crew wealthy many times over as well and such stories that Admiral Argan, the expedition’s leader, was still travelling the Continent from court to court, greeted with parades and fanfare wherever he went, regaling people with the fantastical things he had discovered there.
The Eternal Wayfarer had been its name and both ship and crew had gone down in legend. Katrina had seen the admiral at a distance when he arrived in Nytlim and heard his tales first hands. His exploits were what had emboldened her to put this plan into motion. That they had departed with three ships and almost two hundred men and returned with only one ship and twenty men deterred Katrina not in the slightest.
She was about to turn Elouise down when she heard a familiar voice shout, “There she is!”
Katrina cringed and turned around to see the burly man pointing at them from the Overflow’s main street. Then, she saw a dozen men wearing steel armour and a gold braid over their shoulders run up to the burly man and her heart sank. The Karru! They had tracked her here, but how? There was no time to worry about that now, and she charged down the plank towards Elouise.
“I’ve decided that there is no better ship for my expedition after all,” she declared breathlessly as she set foot on the floating jetty. It was made from planks of wood lashed to floats and bobbed with the waves. The uneven footing caused Katrina to teeter, and she grabbed onto the waist high guide rope to steady herself.
Elouise eyed the soldiers for a moment before shrugging. “It’s going to cost you double if you’ve got the Karru on your tail.”
Katrina paused and gaped at the woman, who had planted her feet and had her arms folded across her chest as she rode bobbing jetty effortlessly. “Or would you rather find another captain?”
The burly man disappeared from view with the soldiers in tow and Katrina had no doubt that they would soon be upon them.
“Fine,” she snapped.
“Hurry!” she urged when Elouise didn’t budge.
“First, I need to see proof that you can pay,” the heavyset woman insisted.
Katrina retrieved a letter from the satchel she kept under her tunic and handed it over. Elouise took it suspiciously and her eyebrows shot up. She read it three times before flicking her eyes back to the younger woman. “It seems I’m undercharging you.”
“There will be a generous bonus in it for you if we return safely,” Katrina gasped. “Hurry!”
A mischievous grin spread across Elouise’s face as she ambled down the jetty with the letter in her hand. “You’re too extravagant with money, girly. That will get you into trouble round these parts.”
“I don’t plan on staying long,” Katrina gasped, struggling to keep up with the heavyset woman.
When they were halfway down the jetty, Elouise pulled a wood whistle that she had tied to a length of string around her neck and blew on it. Its tone was low and soft, but almost at once, five heads appeared on the deck of the black cutter and sprang into action.
“Trouble already, captain?” an irritated voice queried. “You’ve only been ashore an hour! Have some consideration for the rest of us, won’t you?”
“We’ve got a job!” Elouise sang with a broad smile on her face. “An urgent one that can’t wait. Prepare to cast off at once!”
Elouise swiftly reached the gangway of her ship and waited patiently for Katrina to arrive. By the time she did, the first of the armour clad men had reappeared on the street leading up to the jetty and charged towards them. Elouise sucked in her breath. “I would be careful if I were them. Wouldn’t want to fall into the sea weighed down by all that steel.”
“Lord above!” a gangly man exclaimed as he leaned over a gunwale to gawk. “Are those Karru? What have you gotten yourself into, captain?”
“We’re about to find out,” she laughed as she ran, surefooted, up the rickety gangplank. Once she reached the top, she turned around and extended her hand to Katrina, grasping her tightly by the wrist. Katrina’s feet had scarcely left the jetty when strong hands pulled the gangway in. Almost at the same time, oars struck the water and propelled them away from the Overflow long before their pursuers had reached the jetty.
Katrina watched as the steel clad men bowed their heads in a huddle. They came to a swift consensus before disappearing back into the Overflow. When the last of them disappeared from view, she turned around and found Elouise beaming down at her.
“Welcome aboard the Black Marlin, girly.”