(Day 17 - 1517 Words)
Dalleth looked back over his shoulder at Ryven, who grinned back at him with a wicked gleam in his eyes. Yes, Ryven knew exactly what he was doing, Dalleth couldn’t help grinning in return. The bells stopped, and the song returned to the quiet skirling of birds and wind in the trees. It was almost as though Dalleth could see them.
“What is that song?”
“Winds of Journey,” Ryven answered.
“I’ve never heard it before, and we get minstrels through the village regularly.” Dalleth noted that Ryven winced just a touch at that, for some reason.
“Minstrels,” Ryven muttered quietly. “No, they wouldn’t have performed it, Doll, because I just created it.”
Dalleth caught the slight on his name and knew the fey was annoyed. He just wasn’t sure about what, yet. The last part of that sentence caught his attention, though.
“You created it? Right now?”
“Yes, right now, or at least a few minutes ago. And yes, it was my creation.” There was amusement in Ryven’s tone again, rather than the annoyance.
“So, you are a composer? Where are your papers? Don’t you have to write it down?” This was something new, and Dalleth was all in trying to understand how that might work, or if Ryven was just pulling his leg.
“No, I don’t have to write it down, I will remember it and play it exactly the same, should I so choose. I suppose composing is one part of what I do, but I hearken back to an older profession in my pursuits.” Ravyn strummed a chord dramatically to punctuate his declaration.
“You are a strumpet?” Dalleth colored even as he said it.
Ryven barked a laugh with surprise, which turned into a full-fledged belly laugh until he was wiping the tears from his eyes, which were streaming down his face. Dalleth didn’t think it was that funny.
“I must not have understood what the older profession was,” Dalleth decided he needed to clarify, so as to stop the fey before he turned blue from lack of breath.
Ryven held up one hand while he laughed and coughed a moment more. Then pulled a handkerchief from his sleeve and mopped his face, slowing to a chuckle and then looked up with a grin. Dalleth thought that Ryven might start laughing again, but he composed himself and then gave a big sigh.
“Bard. The older profession is bard. Though there are those that would say that it was nearly the same thing in many ways.” Ryven paused and shook his head. “I haven’t laughed that hard in years, Dalleth. Thank you for helping to clean out all the nooks and crannies of sadness that had settled, dusty in the corners without me even noticing.”
“You are welcome?” Dalleth was trying to decide if this was a positive thing.
“Yes, I am thankful, actually. So, what are you going to see your Great-Aunt about. You look too old to be a right orphan.”
“No, Ryven, I’m no orphan, my family are back at home and welcome me back when ever it comes time to return. She is going to introduce me to some of the universities in Victoria City, so that I can study more, and see where my best gifts lie.”
“Ah, a scholastic mind. Good! That means you will learn easily the trade of a sailor, insofar as the mental parts, and then we just see how your hands do with learning the physical parts. And once you have that out of the way, you can start learning piloting and navigation. And maybe cargo and ledgers to make sure you understand where the chandlers might try to nip a corner to pad their purse a bit more. We are going to have a lot of fun, Dalleth.”
While parts of that sounded quite interesting to Dalleth, there were other parts that were a little more concerning. And he wasn’t sure what Ryven had to do with it, since he was going to be under Samuel’s care.
“So, what do you do on the ship? Are you the ship’s bard?” Dalleth decided that he needed to learn more about the vessel, and now that Ryven seemed ready to be more loquacious, it was as good a time as any.
“While I am a bard, that is not my position on the vessel. I am the first mate, and I am a pilot and navigator, though not the only one. Do you know what the various positions on a vessel, not of war include?” Ryven asked. He motioned a booted toe at the bench opposite and Dalleth obliged by going over and sitting down next to his bags.
“Captain, First Mate, Second Mate, Bosun. Those are the positions that the riverboat captains talk about.”
Ryven nodded his head.
“Yes, that is the same here and on most ships of cargo or passenger. Sometimes not a Second Mate, though it’s better if there is one, as you can split the shifts better. On passenger ships there would also be a Purser to take care of the needs of the passengers, and likely an Artificer or Engineer Chief, depending on the type of vessel. Often a Chief Carpenter, as well.” Ryven paused to make sure that Dalleth was following him. After seeing Dalleth nod, Ryven continued.
“On a cargo vessel or courier ship, like this one, we add a Cargo Master or Mistress, and don’t generally have a Purser. On military vessels, they would have a lot of other redundancies, and also officers in charge of marines, as well as the sailors who crew the vessel. They might have officers over the cannon, as well.”
“But, you have cannon mounts on this ship,” Dalleth pointed to the back.
“Yes, but it’s merely for protection, often in port as a deterrent, so no need to have a full crew trained in that. The Sky Skipper usually just outruns the pirates if we are free in the sky. Do you know what the duties of the First Mate are?”
“Well, the Captain needs to know every job on the ship, according to the riverboat captains. So, the First Mate probably needs to know most of the jobs, I would think?”
“Exactly, the First Mate must be ready to stand in should anything happen to the captain that keeps them from performing their duty. So, yes, they need to understand most of the positions on the ship. Now there are rich folk who buy their position, or just inherit it, and sometimes they only know the part that they need to do. Those people are a mutiny waiting to happen. They don’t understand how hard they are working their crew, or whether they aren’t working them hard enough, which can be just as bad. Slipshod work will sink a vessel of the sky just as easily as one on the water. By knowing the jobs top to bottom, you can check to make sure it’s being done correctly before it becomes a problem, and you can find out if there is an issue among the crew. Taking good care of your people is important. You have their backs, and they will have yours when the chips are down.”
“So, Samuel, the bosun, said that I was his Cu, to the crew when he introduced me. Is that a position?” Dalleth knew that it wasn’t a cabin boy, and that the word “cu” meant dog, but it seemed to have more gravity than that.
“Yes, it means assistant, shadow, and someone to run errands and messages that is to be trusted with the information. Like a faithful hound. It is actually a favored position, but rarely given to someone who isn’t training for the higher position one day. So, he is trusting you with a lot. I’m sure it’s also because it gives you his protection, because to mess with someone’s Cu is to mess with them directly, as well.”
Dalleth nodded his head in comprehension. So, not a bad position, at all, and it seemed it might give him a lot of freedom, if he was running errands and messages.
“Thank you, Ryven. I appreciate the explanations. I’ll remember it. I rarely forget anything I choose to remember.”
“Well then, remember that we are supposed to be getting you settled into a room, and that we will be casting off in another hour.” The booming voice that interrupted couldn’t be mistaken. Dalleth hopped up and grabbed up his bags.
“Ready, Samuel,” Dalleth spoke smartly.
“Good. The lazy fey didn’t ruin you already.”
Dalleth realized now that they were teasing each other back and forth because their ranks were closer and they likely were good friends, as there was no sign of annoyance on Ryven’s features at the bosun’s gibes.
“Let’s go.”
Dalleth waved farewell to Ryven and shouldered his bags as he followed the broad back of the bosun down the stairs and back across the deck. More and more he was almost grateful for the thief who stole his ticket and set him on this far more interesting path.