Rinara
09-04-07, 02:00 PM
“I am trapped with my thoughts on this prow
My worries, my dreams, hang on my brow...
“Shut yer trap, Aleskin!” one sailor roared. He was cleaning the decks laboriously, his whiskers as stiff as his scrub brush. Aleskin cut off from his poem, and both sailors began yelling abuse at one another. Aleskin and Oden both had screwed up faces and bellowing voices, but Rinara could sense the good will in their infetesmal smiles. They were close friends, and argued more than all the other sailors combined, it seemed. Rinara did not complain--she was too busy retching.
Rinara’s thrashing stomach rose into her throat. “Buh--EURGH!” Her breakfast fell over the side of the side, splattering in the waters. There was no wind and the sea was still, but somehow Rinara could not help but feel sick as a goat in even the calmest climates. When she had left the shores to get to Saduhl, the voyage on the ship had been one long journey of misery. Once upon a time, Rinara had done well standing waist deep in waters, clamming with her sister, or casting a net over their lake, but just the sight of all that open water of the sea made her horribly dizzy.
“Bleeerfgg!”
Rinara had tried to distract herself from her woes. She had made up tuneless songs, she had become savvy in the ship terms. Rooms were bunks, the lower level was belowdecks, there was the prow, there the mast and crows nest; the sailors had stared at her as if she were a lackwit when Rinara jested about the smell of the poop deck. It helped an infestesmal amount. But Rinara felt as though she couldn’t last longer. She’d soon hurl herself in the sea to put herself out of her suffering.
It seemed ages later when someone approached her. She felt him before she saw him, a gentle touch on her shoulder. “Rinara,” the captain said. “My lady treats yeh ill. You could be thinking o’ sleeping in your bunk t’night.”
“Lady?” Rinara asked, wiping her mouth with the back of her sleeve. As far as she knew, she was the only woman aboard the Ellarian. They had been at sea for several weeks, quite a long time to miss another female even if she did stay in her cabinet almost all the time. Rinara glanced behind her. The deck was alive with the hustle bustle of sailors, checking the rigging, scrubbing the poop deck, and all sorts of tasks from which Rinara was blessedly exempt.
“Not that sort o’ lady, lass,” the captain chuckled. He was a stout fellow with small legs, but a gut built like a keg. Two bags were beneath his shrewd brown eyes, and his droopy face with square jaw made him seem a bit like a hound. “My lady is the sea.”
A cruel and cold lady, Rinara thought ruefully, but she said nothing. “I will not turn in early,” Rinara said pointedly. “I promised to play every night for my fare, and I shall not break vow.” As she said it she leaned against the railing. It was mostly in preparation if she might vomit again, but she feigned interest in the bruise-purple clouds. It was a fairly glorious sky, dusted with puffs of clouds and a cool, midnight blue behind. A tiny blob of gold was almost veiled by a cloud. There was land, a faint black strip, far away.
“A body cen’t keep up with their promises, lass,” the captain pointed out shrewdly. “But yeh’re stubborn. I like that in a woman.”
Rinara laughed gaily, and as she went to fetch her harp, she didn’t feel as sick.
My worries, my dreams, hang on my brow...
“Shut yer trap, Aleskin!” one sailor roared. He was cleaning the decks laboriously, his whiskers as stiff as his scrub brush. Aleskin cut off from his poem, and both sailors began yelling abuse at one another. Aleskin and Oden both had screwed up faces and bellowing voices, but Rinara could sense the good will in their infetesmal smiles. They were close friends, and argued more than all the other sailors combined, it seemed. Rinara did not complain--she was too busy retching.
Rinara’s thrashing stomach rose into her throat. “Buh--EURGH!” Her breakfast fell over the side of the side, splattering in the waters. There was no wind and the sea was still, but somehow Rinara could not help but feel sick as a goat in even the calmest climates. When she had left the shores to get to Saduhl, the voyage on the ship had been one long journey of misery. Once upon a time, Rinara had done well standing waist deep in waters, clamming with her sister, or casting a net over their lake, but just the sight of all that open water of the sea made her horribly dizzy.
“Bleeerfgg!”
Rinara had tried to distract herself from her woes. She had made up tuneless songs, she had become savvy in the ship terms. Rooms were bunks, the lower level was belowdecks, there was the prow, there the mast and crows nest; the sailors had stared at her as if she were a lackwit when Rinara jested about the smell of the poop deck. It helped an infestesmal amount. But Rinara felt as though she couldn’t last longer. She’d soon hurl herself in the sea to put herself out of her suffering.
It seemed ages later when someone approached her. She felt him before she saw him, a gentle touch on her shoulder. “Rinara,” the captain said. “My lady treats yeh ill. You could be thinking o’ sleeping in your bunk t’night.”
“Lady?” Rinara asked, wiping her mouth with the back of her sleeve. As far as she knew, she was the only woman aboard the Ellarian. They had been at sea for several weeks, quite a long time to miss another female even if she did stay in her cabinet almost all the time. Rinara glanced behind her. The deck was alive with the hustle bustle of sailors, checking the rigging, scrubbing the poop deck, and all sorts of tasks from which Rinara was blessedly exempt.
“Not that sort o’ lady, lass,” the captain chuckled. He was a stout fellow with small legs, but a gut built like a keg. Two bags were beneath his shrewd brown eyes, and his droopy face with square jaw made him seem a bit like a hound. “My lady is the sea.”
A cruel and cold lady, Rinara thought ruefully, but she said nothing. “I will not turn in early,” Rinara said pointedly. “I promised to play every night for my fare, and I shall not break vow.” As she said it she leaned against the railing. It was mostly in preparation if she might vomit again, but she feigned interest in the bruise-purple clouds. It was a fairly glorious sky, dusted with puffs of clouds and a cool, midnight blue behind. A tiny blob of gold was almost veiled by a cloud. There was land, a faint black strip, far away.
“A body cen’t keep up with their promises, lass,” the captain pointed out shrewdly. “But yeh’re stubborn. I like that in a woman.”
Rinara laughed gaily, and as she went to fetch her harp, she didn’t feel as sick.