12. Sage
Sage
I’m walking along the shore of the ocean, picking up seashells.
I’ve already found a blue one I think Sybil will like, and two that almost match, for my mothers.
I find a pink one, but Sorcha has told me many times she hates the color pink.
Though I didn’t understand why, it was my favorite.
So, I still need to look for one for her.
I keep the pink one for myself. They tinkle as I put all of the shells into my pail.
The afternoon ocean breeze whips my plaited hair around. I quite like coming to the ocean. We come every year, and it’s the best time of year.
“Don’t go too far,” Mother always tells us.
When I turn around, I’m not too far. I can still see my family.
Sorcha isn’t there, deciding to stay in.
I think she got into another fight with Mother.
A reason to be sure I find her the best shell.
But Mama was there, unpacking the lunch we’d brought, and Sybil was there, small travel paints in hand, concentrating on whatever she was working on, something she won’t show us.
A wave hits my feet and I jump, surprised by the feeling. I was walking quite a distance from the waves because if I walked too close, all the shells just got swept away.
Another one hits my feet, then another. I try to move up the shore, but the waves are strong, pulling back every bit of sand under my feet.
“Mom, Mama,” I try to yell, but they can’t hear me. I guess I am too far away.
I fall to my knees, my feet finally buckling beneath me.
“Sybil, help!” I call, but no one even moves from the blanket.
No one even looks at me. The next wave crashes over my whole body and I gasp for air. Salt burns my eyes. I keep trying to crawl up, but the waves kept coming, until I am pulled into the ocean, a sinking pebble drowning.
Even though it hurts, I open my eyes, holding my breath that felt so finite.
“Child,” a voice says. One that sounds like many stacked on top of each other, all in different tones.
I turn and meet glowing green eyes, so bright it illuminates the dark waters around us.
“You must keep it safe,” the creature tells me.
I open my mouth to say something, anything. I’m drowning. I can’t breathe.
But opening my mouth only let more air out, no sound.
“You’ve been chosen. It’s important.”
I didn’t understand. There was a weight on my chest now.
I couldn’t breathe.
I was going to run out of air.
“Sage,” the voice said.
I opened my mouth to answer, but water rushed in.
“Sage.”
I was sinking further.
“Sage.”
My body shot up stiff, almost smacking foreheads with whoever was there.
Luckily, they pulled back. The captain stood over me, hat firmly on his head.
My cheeks warmed at the position. It wasn’t that I wasn’t accustomed to it. I woke up in bed with random men often enough, but this felt different for some reason.
I pushed all of that away and sat up, wiping my damp brow and curling my legs into myself.
“What?” I asked, my voice hoarse from sleep.
“Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” My tone was sharp, though it probably didn’t need to be.
“Okay,” he drew in a breath, “you’re late. It’s time to get up and get working.”
I stared blankly at him. “I told you yesterday I’m not doing that.”
“And I told you yesterday, it’s not optional.”
He flung the curtain of the single window in my room open, letting a ton of light in. “Up with the sun,” he said. “Get dressed, I’ll be waiting outside.”
“No I—” before I could finish, he was out the door, shutting it behind him.
“Prick,” I mumbled as I wiped my face and stood up.
I shut the curtain again, not needing to remember what was out there.
After rummaging through my bag, I found a simple yellow gown with white trim.
It wasn’t too big, so I figured it would be appropriate.
Luckily, I was able to mostly put this one on alone, but most of my other ones required another set of hands.
I wasn’t sure how that would work out, but I’d cross that bridge when I got there.
I sat at my makeshift vanity and pulled out my compact mirror, barely being about to make my whole face out.
Though I could make out how unkempt my hair was. I used my brush, slicking it back into a single braid that looked tidy. It would be better with gel, but this would have to do.
There was the smallest bit of rouge in my toiletries bag that I smudged across my cheeks and lips.
My shoe situation was the real problem. I had three pairs of heels, nothing sensible for any kind of work. I chose the shorter white ones, hoping whatever I was doing wouldn’t end up with me getting dirty, and bent down, doing up all the straps.
I jolted at the loud sound of knuckles on the door. “I don’t have all day.”
“I’m coming,” I said, sounding more like a petulant child than I meant to.
I flung the door open, and he was standing there.
The most annoying thing about this all? How hot he looked just… existing.
Who did that?
There was a whacking sound that caught my attention. I tried to follow it and found it right at the end of his tail, which was rattling impatiently against the floorboards.
“You don’t have to stomp at me,” I said.
He looked confused, until he looked down and seemed to realize he was doing it. The captain stopped, tucking the tip beneath him.
“I’m not, let’s go.”
I wanted to question him about it, but he was storming off again, leaving me to do nothing but follow him. His tail swished behind him, making him move quickly, but differently than I.
We walked through the narrow halls, him pointing out a few things as we did, but it was hard to keep it all straight. This all felt like some kind of dream, one I couldn’t decide was good or bad.
“So, this is why you never gave me your name,” I said, out of the blue. It had just occurred to me that I didn’t even know the name of the man I was supposed to trust with my life in the middle of the ocean.
“It is not,” he confirmed.
I sighed when he didn’t continue. “Can you tell me what your name is?”
“You can call me Captain Shadowhart,” he said.
I rolled my eyes. “That’s not a name, it’s a title.”
“Yes, and it’s what everyone calls me.”
I grumbled, but didn’t argue further, considering it seemed like he really wasn’t going to budge.
“And this is where you can get something to eat,” he said as we entered the swinging wooden doors. “Like I said, everyone who works gets their share of meals and rooms, so feel free to come here for your meals.”
“Got it,” I said.
“Anne,” he shouted through the loud mess hall. I didn’t think anyone would hear him, with the loud conversations floating everywhere. But as soon as he opened his mouth, silence descended over the place.
From the back corner, there was no movement until the small woman came forward. She was the one who checked on me yesterday.
“Yes, Captain?” she said, with the kind of respect people spoke to my mothers with.
“This is Sage, you met her yesterday?” he asked.
“Yes!” Her reply was overeager. “I was the one who told you she was awake.”
“Right,” he continued. “Get her fed then take her with you on deck duty. She needs to learn the ropes.”
“Right away,” she said.
“No,” I said quickly, turning to him.
He looked down at me, and Anne, for her part, looked like she was going to keel over at denying her captain. “I’m not going on the deck, remember?”
He rubbed his neck, thinking back. “You feel that strongly about it?”
“Yes.”
“Fine,” he changed course quickly. “Anne, take her to the laundry room, and show her how to use the equipment.”
“Right away,” she responded.
“Stay with her,” he instructed me. “Try not to cause trouble, yeah?”
He started to turn, but my hand darted out, catching his coat.
His body stood frozen staring at me, waiting for me to tell him what was going on.
But I didn’t know what to say. I’d never been somewhere so… different. And even though he was a prick, the captain was the last person I’d seen since I was back on land. Even in my head it sounded confusing and nonsensical, but he felt like an anchor to me, one I wasn’t sure if I was ready to lose.
When I didn’t say anything, I expected him to say something smart, but then his face changed. Maybe it turned a bit softer?
“I’ll check with you after lunch,” he said. “I have a bunch of preparations to make.”
I let go of him. “Yes. I’ll be fine.”
He looked between Anne and I one last time before retreating.
“Let me show you where you can get everything,” Anne said, leading me further into the mess hall.
Breakfast was nothing special. A bowl of oats, some berries, and a drizzle of honey to make it all sweet. I also grabbed a bit of dried meat but wasn’t sure if I would like it.
Anne and I sat at a table in the corner, presumably where she came from earlier. My spoon pushed my food around. Now that the excitement of this morning was gone, my eyes began to droop.
“What time is it?” I asked.
“Quarter to six I’d say,” Anne answered quickly, just as enthusiastic as earlier. Who had that kind of energy at this time?
“Moons,” I said, scooping a bite into my mouth. It was good, just like what she brought me yesterday.
We ate in silence, which I didn’t mind, but I could tell Anne had some issues with.
“I like your dress,” she said.
“Thanks.”
A few moments passed.
“Have you ever… worked on a ship?”
I lifted a brow at her. “Does it seem like I have?”
She looked me over, as if it took her a minute to decide. “I guess not.”
After a few more moments… “You know, I hadn’t either, not before coming here at least. Though I’ve been here for a few months. Always been good with my tools though. Must have been what Captain saw in me.”
“Must have,” I agreed idly.
We finished after a few more anecdotes from Anne before she walked me up one flight of stairs. I was worried my promise was going to be broken, and I’d end up on the deck, but this ship was bigger than I thought.
There was another level, with similar winding halls and wood doors scattered around.
Another woman approached us. She had vibrant red hair tucked back into a braid and was tall, much taller than me.
“Quartermaster,” Anne greeted with a slight bow.
“Hello Anne,” she said, though she didn’t glance at her at all, her eyes kept firm on me. “Showing our stowaway around?”
“Yes, Captain asked me to.”
She nodded, obviously sizing me up, but I wasn’t sure why. I was obviously no match for her in any way.
“Finish up quickly,” she said. “I can’t afford to lose the set of hands. No dillydallying.”
“Will do!”
With one last glance, the quartermaster slipped by me and continued up the stairs.
Once she was gone, Anne’s entire frame relaxed.
“Who was that?” I asked.
“That’s Connie,” she said. “She’s second in command.”
“I see.” And she didn’t seem to like me very much.
Anne didn’t seem to sense anything wrong, continuing as if nothing happened.
“This is the laundry room,” she said after walking a couple of feet and cracking one of the doors.
It was a room similar size to mine, but had two large wash basins in it, and racks, I assumed to hang clothes in.
“Charming,” I said when she looked at me, as if she wanted me to say something. “So, what do I do?”
“I’ll show you.” She lifted a latch on the wall, and to my surprise, a spout fell and water poured into one of the buckets.
“Fill them both with water, then put a drop of soap in the first one, it’s in the cupboard back there.” She pointed. “The laundry pile is right there,” she said, pointing to a basket overflowing with linens.
When I looked at her, she shrugged. “It’s been a while.”
I tried to keep all the instructions straight in my head. “Then what?”
“Then,” she continued, “once you dunk them into the soapy water, and rinse in the clean, wring them out and hang them on the line. I always try to get stains out, but the soap can only do so much. Got it?”
“Sure,” I said, my face clearly a cry for help.
One that was silent to her apparently, because she just smiled at me. “Great! If you need anything, I’ll be up on the deck. I don’t want Connie to yell at me for being any later.”
“I—okay.”
She nodded, feeling good about her instructions, and left. I could have stopped her, but it was clear she was worried about getting on deck to a real job, and who was I to stop her?
“Just great,” I said out loud to myself, and the laundry.
I looked at the first bucket, obviously reaching its capacity. The handle was still down, so I pushed it up to stop the water, but it kept going.
Okay, maybe I was meant to just switch them out quickly. I moved to push the first one aside, then realized it was now too heavy to move, and the water was quickly rising.
It was the only way I could think, so I kept trying to push, until the ship moved particularly hard, and me and the bucket slid over and out of the way.
Guess that worked.
But now water was falling on the floor. I moved quickly, putting the second bucket under to start filling. Some water was on the floor, but I was sure I could clean that.
Now it needed soap. I opened the cupboard Anne was talking about and spotted the bottle pretty quickly. As I got on my toes to grab it, the ship rocked again and I slid forward, almost falling face first into the cupboard.
But I caught myself and grabbed it. How did anyone manage to live on this thing?
The second bucket was getting full, and I still didn’t know how to get it to stop.
Come on Sage, you can figure this out.
I pushed up the spout it came out of instead, and it folded back into the wall, the water stopping with it.
I was a genius.
Feeling good about it, I opened the soap and started pouring. She said just a drop, so I tried to be careful. But as soon as I started dumping, the waves hit again and made me drop the whole thing, smashing it to the floor and spilling it everywhere.
“Moons!” I cried, looking for something to clean it up.
As I ran around like a fool, I slipped on the soap, trying to find purchase on the ship wall.
Instead, I found it on the water lever, pulling it down again. Though it wasn’t strong enough to hold me and I crashed to the ground anyway, taking one of the buckets down with me.