Shivani
Adventures On The Abecean Sea
Chapter 1: The Stowaway
The pounding of the waves on the bow of the ship created a huge spray across the deck that seeped down into the anchor storage, raining steady rivulets of icy cold water onto the hard chains where Shivani huddled, struggling to retain the contents of her stomach.
At the time it had seemed a good idea, stowing away in the hold of the nearest ship at the Anvil port. The guards had spotted her, and it would have been no time at all before they connected her with the reports of a runaway slave.
Maybe she had meant to do this for years, but not at this time nor place; yet here she was. Her tail was kinking from the hard chains pressed against it, and whatever protection her thin fur gave her against the cold had lost its use against the elements that now assailed it.
Somehow she had not foreseen that, the ship putting out to sea; well, not while she was on board. Exhausted from the night spent walking in the cold air, it had been only natural to nap there in the dark of the hold. The quiet shushing of the boat as it slipped over the calm waters had not woken her from the tired slumber; nor did the gentle rolling as it set out across the Abecean Sea.
When the storm caused the ship to slam into the breaking seas, throwing the icy tentacles of itself down into the pitch dark hold…and roll violently, sometimes heeling over till she was sure the sails and mast would be washed under in one of the crashing waves; only then had she awakened to realize her circumstance.
It didn’t take long to determine the type of boat she had stowed away on either. It wasn’t the curses and coarse language spoken in guttural tones that told her, but the “Aye Aye Captain” that followed them. A pirate ship! Oh dear.
It was a well known fact that pirates considered a female on board to be bad luck, no matter the age…would they kill her? Or worse?
Thinking fast, Shivani pulled her worn leather helmet off and twisted her hair into a tight knot on her head, replacing the helmet which now sat at an odd angle. She pulled the straps tight around it, forcing it to smash the bun down flat.
Shivani pulled the rusty iron dagger she had found earlier out of her waistband and cut a length of the furled spinnaker sail that rested in the hold. She stripped off the wet leather cuirass and bound her breasts across with the length of sail. There wasn’t much to flatten yet, but there was no sense taking chances.
Tugging the wet cuirass back on proved to be a chore in the tight hull of the ship as it rocked and pounded, throwing her off balance with its violent contortions. Still, she must get out of here, or would be sitting in her own vomit shortly. Even without benefit of a looking glass she was sure her pale skin had taken on a greenish hue, for the nausea had awakened her with a stomach that rolled to match the ships movements.
Crawling out the hatch, she was instantly knocked down from her position on her hands and knees to rolling across the deck by the next lurch of the ship and ended up slammed into the gunwale where she finally gave up the contents of her stomach.
The waves crashing over the bow washed it down the deck toward the stern of the boat. Leaning back and letting the next spray wash over her felt good, in spite of the cold and wet, for the seasickness had left her woozy and faint; and the icy waters revived if naught else.
She closed her eyes, trying to fight off the next wave of nausea when a voice too close for comfort reached her ears.
“Here be the culprit.” The coarse voice was followed by a hand grabbing her up by the cuirass and dragging her toward the stern.
Shivani struggled and beat ineffectually at the massive hand that hauled her up and deposited her before a lowbrow man in the tattered blue coat of a Naval Officer. It was obviously stolen, as it didn’t fit him. The armpits and shoulders were torn, and although unbuttoned it squeezed against his bulk.
She promptly ‘shot the cat’ across the top of his boots, vomiting helplessly and unable to stop.
“Ye’ll pay for that lad, ye will!” The Captain snarled, grabbing Shivani by the back of the neck and shoving her down. “Ye’ll lick them clean then, weakling.”
The words along with the smell of what already rested on his boots caused a fresh wave of nausea and instead of cleaning, She retched some more across the toes of them. Kicking her out of the way the Captain demanded satisfaction from the one that brought Shivani before him.
"Wad ye bring the lad before me 'fore he were done emptying his load? Ye caused this, now ye clean it. An' ye can swab the cockpit as well. Git the lad's head over the side 'fore he fills the ship wi' his swill." The Captain roared at the crewman.
Grumbling and cursing under his breath, the crewman glared at Shivani. Aye, he would have his revenge, but when the Captain wasn’t standing there to see.
Shivani’s still heaving carcass was dragged back to the gunwale and deposited with her head hanging over the side so there would be no more clean-up required.
***
She woke in that position, the seas were calm now and the crew was busy hoisting the sails and swabbing the deck. Before she pulled her head up she ran her fingers around the black film that clung to the gunwale and rubbed it on her face to hide its delicate features.
Pulling herself across the deck toward the cockpit, she was stopped by a pair of Naval Officer’s boots that were too small for the feet and legs jammed into them. The Captain’s voice boomed above her.
“So, yer joinin’ the living I see. Are you gonna git to work or do we have to toss you in the briny an wake you up? This ain’t no pleasure cruise. Ye mind telling me what ye were hired to do on this ship?”
She thought quickly. She had seen kitchen work done before. Trying to deepen her voice and make it sound as uneducated and coarse as those around her, she answered.
“The galley…Sir.”
“Well git your weak carcass to it then. An' be quick about it.”
With a hurried, "Aye Aye Captain," she hoped was a good imitation of the one she had heard the night before, she scurried down the main hatch into the nether regions below decks. She tried not to draw attention as she glanced around, trying to see anything that looked like it might be a kitchen. A horrible smell assailed her nose, and she followed it to what could only be the galley.
It was filthy. A malodorous scent billowed out of a pot tied onto a grate over the small fire pit with lengths of steel wire. She couldn’t bring herself to taste the vile concoction, but upon glancing behind her saw the Captain standing in the passageway watching her. She better do something quickly.
Grabbing a measure of salt, she pulled her dagger out and began scraping the salt block into the soup. Crusts of debris filtered off the blade and into the vile brew below. Her nerves on edge by his scrutiny caused her hands to tremble, dropping a large portion of the salt block into the soup.
Her eyes fell on an overly large wooden ladle. Scooping it up, she pretended to be stirring the reeking mixture in the pot while she searched for the block of salt. Glancing back she saw the hulking form of the Captain no longer filled the passageway.
With a sigh of relief she fished the much diminished slab of salt out and dropped it back on the shelf. She would have to wait for the cook’s orders, never having cooked before.
***
A young Nord boy wandered in and stopped, surprised to see her. “Who are you? I thought I was the galley slave.” He spouted, then flushed.
Shivani felt much better about her disguise after that; the boy could not be more than ten years old and looked much more feminine than she did. His voice had a high pitch as well. Should the crew suspect a woman on board, this young lad would be picked over herself as the culprit, and could prove he was not a girl, so would not be harmed.
She lowered the pitch of her voice and tried to sound uneducated. “Uh, I’m your help.”
His eyes brightened. “Oh good, because I’m not really sure…”
Drat! She was hoping he knew more than her. “Where’s the cook?” She asked, her voice cracking from trying to lower it deeper than she was able.
“He near got killed last night in the storm. Got cut real bad, bled into that stew.”
Shivani almost gagged, thanking her stars she had not tasted of the concoction.
“You mean its just us?” Shivani nearly squeaked. The lad nodded.
