Winds repeatedly whipped the flags the ship was wearing, causing the signals they represented to be largely pointless.

“Glad we didn’t have to compete with winds like this,” laughed a young man, holding his hat down with his left hand to keep it from flying off his head.

His older friend grinned, shouting over the wind “Aye, we would’ve been stranded, at the mercy of the storm.”

“Matfried would’ve loved that, I’m sure.”

The middle-aged man looked across the deck with searching eyes. “Speaking of, where is that old geezer?”

“Down below, what else did you expect? He’s probably grumbling about the cold, the wind, and the devil. And I’m the devil that forced him on this journey, if you asked him!”

They snickered, imagining the old man crouched in the corner of a room, muttering to himself. The young man turned around, raising his head to look at the Port Yardarm.

He asked, despite already knowing the answer. “The only flag that matters is the only one you can recognize, is that it?”

“That’s the point of the G and H flags having different colors, Euler.”

“How long do you reckon we’ll have to wait this time?”

“Depends. Are we betting?” The man grinned, his eyes twinkling.

Euler smiled in response to the superfluous question. It had become a tradition, by now. “Sure. What’s your gain?”

“I’ll be taking that hat off your head! Then I can walk around town, strutting around town like the biggest cock of them all.”

The both of them heard a guffaw behind them, and as they turned around they could see a man hunched over, clutching his sides as he descended the stairs from the poop deck.

The man wiped tears from his eyes, approaching the two at the railing. “Oi, Ricimer, if your wife heard you now she might just die of laughter.”

Ricimer grunted in response. “At least I have someone to show mine, Captain.”

The Captain turned his head, unable to hide the slight contortion on his face.

Euler shook his head beratingly. “Low blow, Ricimer, low blow. In that case I’ll be taking two bottles of your wife’s liquor.”

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Ricimers eyes bulged. “Two?! That’s Hellweg robbery!”

Euler laughed, “One for me and one for the Captain to drown his sorrows. Stab a man in his heart and you’ll be held responsible for his safe recovery.”

The Captain’s eyes glowed, exclaiming, “Aye! Hand over the spirits of the gods, mutinous Bosun, otherwise you might just be forced to walk the plank.”

Unable to retort, Ricimer relented, “You bastards. Fine.”

Euler slapped his shoulder, “Don’t act like you’re losing out. Do you know how many ducats this hat cost me?”

“Aye, aye, I’m aware. So, what say you? How long ‘till the Pilot arrives?”

Euler looked over towards the harbor, watching on as ships were piloted towards the port. Then he scanned the other ships alongside them, likewise waiting to enter the port. There must have been at least five dozen medium and large sized vessels, not including the scores of smaller ships.

They were likely to be the last trading ships to enter the harbor before it completely froze over, as the ice had already started to form on the shores. Ships would then be forced to either complete their journey at a smaller port city a few kilometers outside of the harbor or continue sailing around the Second Dex Peninsula to arrive at the third largest port city of the northern shores, Mikilenburg. Most would decide to take the latter option, since the first was a terrible alternative for most trading ships. The small city lacked the infrastructure to properly store and transport most trade goods. Not to mention it was notorious for having a corrupt administration.

As he swept his eyes towards the city once again, he could barely make out the city ‘Wappen’, a flag bearing its unique coat of arms, and smiled.

“5 minutes,” he shouted over the wind.

“You’re insane! 2 hours is more like it!” Ricimer answered.

“We’ll see!”

The Captain glanced at Euler, wondering what he had seen to make him say that. Although the two constantly made wagers for the sport of it, he knew how valuable the hat Euler carried was. And more importantly, he knew how valuable it was to Euler. He didn’t worry too much however – Euler never lost a bet he cared for before.

Barely half a minute had passed until a galley could be seen leaving the port to approach a stationary vessel just over a hundred meters forward and starboard. Nine other ships were situated between them, with many more lingering behind in a haphazard formation.

The Captain noticed the galley’s course. “There goes the next one.”

Ricimer looked over. “Of course, they go for the biggest ship they can see. I bet the Jacht are just wishing for them to break some sort of obscure law so they can take everything for themselves.”

Euler just laughed, “That’s not how it works, they can’t confiscate whatever they want.”

“Whatever. It’s stupid anyway, we’ve been waiting much longer than them.” All of a sudden, he saw the Captain start shaking his head while chuckling to himself. “What’s your problem?”

“You starting to regret your bet yet, Ricimer?” The Captain asked.

Confused at what he was missing, he looked at the galley again. It was clearly a vessel the belonged to the Jacht, the coastal guard unit of the Hellige Empire. The ship was small, with a total of 18 oars propelling it across the waters of the harbor. 18 men, likely villeins, worked in unison while a few others were standing around them. And at the helm –

“Damn.”

“Damn is right,” snickered the Captain.

Ricimer clenched his jaw. “They’ll never spot us though, not with the wind ripping our damn flags off.”

Euler held the railing as he fished his pocket watch out. “Is that what you think?”

One look at Euler and Ricimer turned around to look at the flags.

“Damn.”

“Damn is right,” snickered the Captain.

Four minutes and twelve seconds later, the galley drew parallel to the Cogniscio.