(Day 20- 697 Words)
Dalleth didn’t look up until he was more than three quarters done with the bowl and all the rolls were gone. At that point he saw that about half the long tables were filled with people, eating their own meals silently. It seemed that they agreed that getting this delicious elixir into their stomachs was of major priority.
There were three human men, but without hearing them speak, their faces didn’t really give away what country they came from, though they were all darker skinned and haired than he. There were also two fey fellows, bright blond haired meant that they were likely Aerie fey. He also saw five more krag, two male and three female of the sea-faring kind, which according to the books Dalleth had read usually gave them finer features, more luxurious hair and smaller tusks. Which seemed to be the case for these people.
There was a dwarf woman sitting off to the side, like Dalleth was, along with two burrowfolk women. The burrowfolk were known throughout all the countries for their cooking skills it seemed. Some even being said to have cooking magic.
He saw Samuel sitting over with the krag and when Samuel caught Dalleth’s eye he threw another roll at him across the room. Dalleth was so surprised that he almost didn’t catch it, but one didn’t waste food that good. With roll in hand, he put his head down and went back at the rest of the bowl of stew.
He had just sopped the last of the gravy out of the bowl, with the last bite of bread and popped it into his mouth when a hand came down on his shoulder. That half-krag moved so quiet! Dalleth thought.
He looked up at Samuel.
“Let’s go, they are going to cast off soon and I figured you could see how it worked and what was happening the easiest from the Wheel Deck. Not to mention you’ll generally be out of the way.”
Dalleth stood quickly, picking up his spoon, cup and bowl and setting it in the barrel of sudsy water that was sitting by the galley door before following Samuel out the door and back up on the decks to the Wheel Deck.
He could see that both of the wing sails had been brought up vertical more like a normal sailing ship, though they were to the outside, rather than in the center of the ship. Everything on the deck had been cleared, or was lashed firmly down, and most crates covered with tarps and lashed as well. The Captain was on the Wheel Deck, as well as Ryven, but they did no more than glance at Dalleth, as they were deep in conversation with a large book being held between them that they were pointing at in turn.
Samuel pointed Dalleth to the benches.
“When they give the order to cast off, you go to the benches. You don’t have to sit, but be in that area, it will be the safest for you to start with. Until then you can look out over the sides, as you did before.”
“Yes, bosun,” Dalleth dutifully replied. Frankly, if they cast off and the ship fell like a rock, being among the padded benches might likely be the safest places for sure. Samuel nodded once at Dalleth, waved a hand at the captain and Ryven, and then strode away, yelling commands that sounded like a foreign language to Dalleth. That was something that he was going to have to learn.
Since the two were still engaged, Dalleth just wandered off to the rail again. More sure of himself this time, though the ship was bucking even more and away from the wheel and bench area the wind was blowing much harder, pushing and lifting and then pulling and dropping. The sails were snapping sharply like fresh laundry on the line back home in a summer wind. Dalleth held the rail, but prided himself on not white-knuckling it.
The birds were wheeling below, and there seemed to be a fight going on between gulls and crows, flashing white and black back and forth with loud caws and squawks.