Chapter 127: Displaying Talents

Book 3, Chapter 26 - Displaying Talents

Eksa whipped her head around, wet hair slapping her back as she stepped out of the servant's bath. She put on her one piece slave attire, tugging hard to get it to beneath the collar around her neck. Using a soft cotton towel, she drained her hair of as much moisture before skipping along the sand palace corridors to the charts room which she basically owned at this point. Though, this day was likely her last day there. Tomorrow, her dreams came true.

Tomorrow, she finally became a sailor. A part of Eurale's navy and likely a member of low rank, but it was a step toward the inevitable position of a ship captain.

Eksa hummed a tavern song with her hands clasped behind her back:

Far down the port rose the sun of day

Stepped out the door did Catcher Grey

Carrying scents of the sea maiden spray

Fine coat marred with red wine stains!

Fine pants marred with briny stains!

Oh ye oh ye hide your flowers I say,

Oh ye oh ye here comes Catcher Grey

Now by the boats passed Catcher Grey

Said the fisherman “Ho there, good day!

Out to catch the fish named May?”

“Aye aye cap” said Catcher Grey

“For sure this time that fish I'll fillet!”

Oh ye oh ye hide your flowers I say

Lest salt and brine wilt there purity away

With sweet words and a handsome face

Was thrown the bait by Catcher Grey

Out poked the head of the fish named May

Laugh she did the day away

Then did Catcher Grey snatch his net!

Once dry and pure, now slick and wet!

That night in glee did the Catcher lay

The fish named May he did Fillet!

And then there would be raucous laughter, stomping feet and slamming mugs upon tables. Alcohol would spill everywhere and tavern maids would shake their heads, blushing all the while.

“Very intriguing, that song,” said a thickly accented voice.

“Yes. A memory of my h —gah! Who're you?” Eksa jumped, only now realizing she'd been followed, the shadow of this taller person blending with her own. She turned to find a dark skinned woman wearing a strange robe of folding layers ending in a sharp angle just below her throat. Her short hair was done in braids and her left ear was pierced by several gold rings showing a dull glint within the shade of the palace indoors.

Eksa walked backwards while facing this person whom she'd never seen in the palace. The follower stretched her full lips into a thin smile, walking with one foot before the other like a cat treading a fence.

“You can call me Aki,” the woman said.

“And you are…?”

“Aki.”

“Yes I heard you the first time,” Eksa scowled. “I've never seen your face.”

“I'm a former palace guard turned bar owner. I'm only delivering a few crates of refreshments for my former colleagues. And seeing with my own eyes the talent Captain Dhorjun boasted about. Though, seeing you now, was it really charting talents he's paying four crowns for?”

Eksa's mood darkened. “What are you implying?” she demanded, turning a corner. She glanced back to make sure no one was in her way before continuing to walk backwards.

Aki giggled. “No need to get so heated, little strawberry. I merely imply that you have a pretty face. That song now. The one you were just singing. Could you teach it to me? Might improve my business.”

Eksa narrowed her eyes. On pure whim alone, she didn't feel inclined at all to humor this stalker. She snorted, turning around and flicking her hair with all the arrogance of an Estraean. Once upon a time, doing that would have caused grown men of her father's crew to give their way for her. A single complaint from her mouth earned them cut wages and a novels worth of cusses from Mikael.

Eksa's smirked. What would father do in a situation like this? Mikael, when irate, somehow turned nothings into a net gain. The song was useless knowledge to Eksa. But something that could bring value to Aki. “What would I gain from teaching you the song?”

“Bargaining with me, mm?” the bar owner mused. “You will have the friendship of Aki. That, of course, means free drinks at my bar, and access to my skills as a warrior when asked for.”

Eksa's head swelled with the glory of succeeding in conning this stalker. She mentally patted herself on the back. Free drinks and a mercenary for hire. Perhaps even her first crewmate? Perhaps—

“Not enough?” Aki questioned, as Eksa gloated in silence. “Fine. I'll offer you bedtime advice too. For when a man catches your eye.”

“What!” Eksa cried, drawing the gaze of a pair of passing servants holding trays of snacks.

Aki giggled again. “Our little strawberry is not yet spoiled then. The song, now. Or will you say it's not a good enough trade. Should I start by offering my advice? You can make judgments by their quality.”

“No!” Eksa said, wide eyed. She waved her arms in protest as they passed a hall with a pair of guards on both ends. The armed men nodded to Aki as a familiar as she offered a passing salute. Flames forbid this woman started spouting illicit remarks, giving rise to rumors about Eksa's character. “I'll sing the song.” And without another breath, she dove into the lyrics, lungs weeping midway through.

“Lovely voice,” Aki murmured, “but not fitting for this sort of… sailing rhyme. Say, little berry, who was Catcher Grey?”

Eksa shrugged, turning another corner and climbing a set of stairs. “A fisherman obviously. Not sure if he was a real person though.”

“And the fish named May?”

Eksa frowned. “A fish. Duh. Probably a big one the fisherman were looking to catch for a while.”

Aki burst out laughing, hand to the wall on one side of the stairway. “Ah, our little berry is naïve too. Cute. So, so cute.”

Eksa flushed. “I'm not naïve!” she complained. Aki waved her hand and turned to leave. She paused before the hall with the guards just as Advisor Cassiopeia, flanked by two men in gold and white robes, arrived at the hall.

Aki fished out four gold crowns and plopped them in the advisor's hand, winking at Eksa before disappearing. Cass peered down the corridor, flashing a glare with a sneer on her scarlet painted lips. Her cheeks where white as seafoam and she wore one of her excessively long silk dresses, this one blue with gold trillium flowers at the feet. Cass only ever wore makeup when attending prayers at the Trillian temple.

Eksa stuck her tongue out before flitting up the stairs, wallowing in her own pride. I don't need makeup to look pretty .

She entered the charting room and closed the door behind her, getting down to work. A silver cup of water and a plate of pitted dates were left at the corner of her table. The king was really kind. Her slave life would soon become a scar visible only to her eyes, a reminder of years of human cruelty, but also a cherished memory of another's kindness in its last few days.

Eksa twisted open a jar of black ink, wetting her quill and setting its sharp tip to a clean sheet. She drew now the Aegis Basin's northern reaches, mapping out the waters surrounding Xenaria's port towns. Noon's arrival caused a shift in shadows, sunlight twisting around to enter through the window at Eksa's back and highlighting the completed portions of her work. Someone knocked on the door and disrupted her concentration. She twitched, wrist joints going rigid. With a sigh she set the quill down before an error born of irritation could mar her masterpiece.

A creaking of hinges was followed by an old servant poking his head inside past the thin curtains hanging from the frame. “His majesty is requesting a set of maps of our shores stretching to that of the Thousand Sun City.

Eksa nodded, at first bothered that the door had opened before she'd given leave of the action, but then remembering her own place within this palace. She rose from her seat and pulled out a shelfed crate. The servant held his hands out expectantly. She couldn't trust her artwork to another. She held the crate to her breast, eyebrows furrowed. The servant shrugged and gave way, telling her to go King Agram's chambers.

Eksa looked down at the crate, realizing its top most maps were of the old stores, paper dusty and crusted at the edges like dried sand on cloth. Her new iterations of them lay at the bottom of the pile. The king had requested that she not throw out the old maps before someone approved of her new works, as if expecting she would have made a mistake. As if thinking that she, Eksa von Raudsol, could ever make a mistake in her craft. The fact that Agram had entertained such a thought was an insult.

But she hadn't made mention of it.

She arrived at the king's chambers —a humble sized room no different than rooms offered at common inns— to find a second man seated at a small round table at the room's center.

Eksa left her sandals by the door and stepped inside, feet sinking a half inch into a plush wool rug of a spiralling design. She approached the table and set her crate down, very aware of the second man's curious gaze following her every step. He wore a dark green coat and sported an absurd goatee that only his face alone could make look handsome, Eksa wholeheartedly believed.

But that wasn't what caused a rising heat to flare from her cheeks. It was the man's cologne. His very attire screamed 'sailor' at her and a briny fragrance mingling with the scents of quality wines twisted about him. A nostalgic smell. Mikael smelled just like him when returning from a voyage.

Nothing like Dhorjun. That man had smelled of sweat and salt and cheap ale. And he looked the part of a brute.

This man's hands ended at a thick wrist and forearm that made the sleeves of his coat near hug his skin. Strong arms and a wide back, as was necessary for a sailor, but with slender and long fingers that screamed grace and expertise with a cutlass. Nothing like Dhorjun's meaty and hairy hands.

Eksa stood to one side, teeth clenched tight as she tried to keep a grip upon her emotions, eyes looking forward with glittering pride. This man was likely a merchant, but Flames would she have preferred setting aboard his ship instead of Dhorjun's. She straightened her back and did her best to give off as glowing an impression her slave attire would allow. A small part of her almost wished she had makeup to wear. That voice was drowned by a stronger one that recalled her ire of Advisor Cass for having worn it.

“Strange to see an Estraean so far south,” the captain said.

Flames, even his voice is as smooth as silk! Eksa could practically imagine the steam rising from her cheeks. Her heartrate picked up and the vague feeling of condensation at the sides of her nose made her face itch. Her mind raced and she shrugged. Shrugged… You dolt, couldn't you think of something cute to say?

“Eksa, can you leave us?” King Agram asked, turning to her.

“No,” she snapped. She didn't want to leave. Why would he ask that? Couldn't he see how — Oh no! No, no, no! I just did something rebellious again. She risked a glance towards the other man, breath freezing upon seeing a raised eyebrow. He hates me. Oh Ashes, he hates me.

“Then sit on a chair,” Agram said.

Eksa complied without a word, promptly sitting, straight backed and head held high as a proper lady's. She flashed her best smile.

“Where is Cass?” the king asked.

“Off attending a prayer or something,” Eksa replied. Taunting the woman was fun. There was nothing Cassiopeia could do about it. And she deserved every ounce of contempt given her by anyone. Eksa twitched in her seat, realizing that the other man in the room was studying her.

“A captured member of the Solsetur clan?” the sailor asked.

What!? She was being associated with them ? This man already had a poor opinion of her, then. Eksa couldn't allow that. “Don’t associate me with that Ash dust, Ashlay! I am not a Solsetur! That whore tried seducing my father once. I overheard the story from his sailors. Humph. They say she threw open the gates of Grace when the Empire invaded and they killed her anyway. Serve's the Flaming coward right. We Rau— I mean, real Estraeans are not cowards.” There. That ought to improve his opinion of me!

And then Eksa began sweating even more. Had she been frowning that entire time? What was her posture like? Her tone? And oh Flames, how many foul words had she used?

The man nodded thoughtfully. He studied her some more, stroking his goatee. “If you aren't from Grace, how is it you ended up here as a slave?”

Eksa froze. Answering that question would expose her as being rebellious and not desirable. Her mind raced. She turned her head away to hide any signs of panic from him. Just pout. Daddy liked it when I pouted. She puffed her cheeks. “I ran away from home,” she mumbled.

Was that enough, or should she explain further? Regardless, the explanation poured from her lips like a tipped bottle before she could stopper it for further consideration. “I had no choice, okay? Mother only ever spoke of marrying me off to a wealthy family after father died in an expedition. They set me up with some Flame scorched brat from Grace who broke all my porcelain dolls and then laughed. So I broke his nose and then… and then my mother had to pay for his medical fees. Which makes no Flaming sense! He broke my dolls! They slandered my mother and took me away to be disciplined in 'lady arts'. Whatever that means. So I ran.”

“And then you got captured by slave traders?” the man asked.

“Yes,” Eksa replied. She turned back to see his reaction, hoping to find pity and sympathy. Hoping she'd invoked a sense of duty within him to help an unfortunate little girl. Instead, she found his eyebrows slightly raised and thin lips twitching at the sides. Her fists closed. “It isn't funny! Stop smiling!” She turned to the king for support but found him with the same amused expression.

“Grace was it?” the other man mused. “A surprise Ashlay didn't foresee her own death. Emperor Arzael hates despotic rulers. Well, a somewhat hypocritical stance to take if you ask me.”

Agram grumbled his agreement. “So? What do you make of the seas around here?”

The sailor sighed. He squinted at the crumpled pages of Agram's old sea charts, running a finger along their cracking edges. Eksa saw her opportunity to shine. It was now or never. This man probably had an all-time low opinion of her. She was rebellious, foul mouthed, and stupid enough to run away from home and get captured.

Time to show him how smart Eksa von Raudsol really is .

She pulled her chair closer to his, hoping to all gods her thumping heart couldn't be heard. Her face burned and she bent low over the table until her hair spilled on it to hide the blush. Her first breath caught a deep whiff of his cologne. He smells so good! “You're a captain, aren’t you?” she said, speaking quickly. “I can tell. You dress just like my father. Smell like salt too. This part here,” she pointed on the map, “is shallow water. The reefs are high. Avoid this place or the keel of your vessel may end up damaged or worse.”

“I'm aware.” The man tugged on his goatee as if impatient.

“Good!” You dolt! Of course he knows the simple things. Quick, impress him in another way! She pointed to another area on the map. “Now the waters here are generally safe, though during the latter half of the months, the tide may recede to dangerous levels.” Eksa's mouth began to dry with how fast she spoke. Her chest ached, telling her she wasn't breathing enough. “Farther south to the west of Eurale, whirlpools are said to form spontaneously. No one's been there to confirm. I don't advise going. There are rumors of a multi headed serpent down there.”

Rumors she'd found accounts of in old journals tucked away in the charting room. They'd piqued her adventurous curiosity. How wonderful would it be to discover something widely considered a myth? It would bolster her reputation for certain.

“Around here,” Eksa said, dragging her finger and smudging ink, frowning, “is a good place to drop anchor if visiting shores a few miles out from Eurale.” He probably knows that. “Good fishing spot I hear. And up there is a good place when visiting the island of Kovar. Or, given the state of winds, maybe around here is better? Depends on whether the island has docks. Which I think it does. I can't really tell. These maps are so damn old.”

Eksa was out of breath by the end of it. She prayed he was impressed. She then took out her own works from the bottom of the crate for one final push. “I can't confirm anything since I haven't been on the waters of the Aegis Basin, but judging from these old maps, I think these new ones are accurate.” Show Agram too to not doubt the great me!

The sailor frowned at these new maps, causing Eksa to go rigid. He took his time examining them, nodding. Eksa's emotions bobbed up and down like a ship on stormy waters. And then he said the words she'd been waiting to hear. “You have a skilled cartographer, Agram. I'd like to meet this person.”

Eksa squirmed in her seat, hands clasped before her. Had the sun suddenly grown closer to the world? And where were those Flaming servants Agram always had with him to fan this accursed heat away. She could really use one of those right about now.

The man turned the paper over, eyes widening at her signature at the bottom. “You drew these?” he asked, silky voice full of awe.

She nodded.

“Agram. How much for her freedom? This girl doesn't deserve to be held down on dry land.”

Yes!

“I'm afraid you're a little late for that, Theodore,” the king said. “Dhorjun already bought her yesterday. He'll be picking her up later in the evening.”

NO!

“You mean she was showing off the entire time!?” Captain Theodore asked. “I'll pay double. No. Triple.”

Yes, yes, yes. Please fight over me. I don't want to be on Dhorjun's ship.

“That's a matter you would have to take up with my naval commander. Now, what of a defense plan in the event of a…”

No! The conversation couldn't end there. Eksa needed to push harder. She was worth a fortune. She knew it. And she wanted Captain Theodore to know it as well. “Defense? Is someone attacking? Can I help? What kind of ships?” She needed to show her intelligence. Dhorjun would surely keel over if a high enough price was offered.

Theodore glanced at the king who nodded in turn. He began explaining the situation to her, and Eksa did her best in imagining possible scenarios, formulating a plan, the words spilling out of her mouth of their own accord just as her hand moved freely when drawing maps. She could see the glint of approval in Theodore's eyes.

Flames, let it be enough!