Characters:RavenLogs/OX Main
Raven stands back and lets the activity wash around her. The new men she had taken on seemed to be settling in well enough, although she had a few of her men keeping a close eye on them for now; she'd been as picky as the Navy would let her be, but they didn't need to know everything the Vale and her lost sailors had been up to, and they didn't need to ask too many questions.
And then there was the matter of her mother and brother. She'd almost rather the Navy had told her they had to wait; it would have been less of a headache. At least the makeshift cabin they'd stashed Thalia in hadn't been dismantled before she figured her kin could use it for the trip and have half a chance of staying out of her hair.
But - aside from the reasonable concern of just how long it would be before they saw Amber's shores again *this* time - ship and crew are ready to depart when the other ships are.
The Vale of Garnath is only one of the ships in the fleet that will be taking the Royal Way to Xanadu, but it's still not clear which royal will be in charge of the trip until the last minute. That's when she's called to the Harbormaster's office--this time with no fear that she'll be thrown in jail--to meet the prince who'll be travelling with them,
When she arrives, she finds the Harbormaster in discussion with two people, a man and a woman. The man is of middling height, blond, and dressed in some foreign fashion, perhaps Begman.
[Folly gets to make her own description when she posts to the thread. Karen, for reference, Martin's in Parisian gear, having come down directly after the trump transit and a brief *sigh* chat with Caine.]
[Heh. Poor Martin.]
The woman is dressed in a style that seems similar to but simpler than the man's -- perhaps because a more elaborately fussy garment would not comfortably accommodate her obviously gravid frame. She is petite with dark eyes and dark hair that has vivid purple streaks in it that could mark her as part-Rebman, though her skin doesn't show any obvious green tint.
The Harbormaster ushers Raven in. "Prince Martin, Lady Folly, this is Captain Raven of the Vale of Garnath. Captain, the Prince and the Lady will be leading the fleet."
"Captain," Folly says, and extends her hand in greeting. "The Vale of Garnath -- that's one of the ships that went missing at the Sundering, yes? When did you make it back to Amber?"
The captain is a man from solid Amber stock, with brown hair pulled back into a stubby queue and blue eyes. Her clothes - shirt, vest, breeches, and boots - are a mix of simple, workman-like materials and slightly nicer stuff, topped off with what was probably a Navy-issued coat before it acquired a few years of wear.
Raven salutes quickly before reaching to complete the handshake. "Highness, Lady," she says politely. "Yes, milady, we were one of the lost ones. We've been back a few days now, and only in waters we knew for a few days more than that, though I can't say they was as welcoming as they used to be."
Martin nods, once. "I'll want to hear about that, once we're safely underway. Caine recommended the Vale as the lead ship. What do you have in the way of a cabin for Folly? I can bunk with your men." He says this like it wouldn't be the first time, for all that he's dressed like a landsman.
Raven considers briefly. If the Prince wants to sleep with the men, she's hardly going to stop him. As for cabins... "We got a couple of options, I think, Highness. We put together a sort-of cabin coming home. We should have enough odds and ends of things to make another, or if milady," a brief nod in Folly's direction, "doesn't mind sharing, the one we made up already has my mother and brother in it and can be made a bit bigger to fit three. Or I can give up my cabin." She doesn't seem particularly keen on the last idea.
Folly bites her tongue before the first question that pops into her head -- 'Well, is your brother good-looking?' -- can slip out. Instead she says, "A makeshift cabin will suit me just fine: anything's fine, really, so long as it gives me a place to string up a hammock, and protects your crew's delicate sensibilities from the sight of my enormous pregnancy underthings. But in your estimation, what are the odds I'd want to bunk with your mother?" The twinkle in her eye is both knowing and amused.
[That's Raven's question to field. Martin will leave it to her, er, him.]
"I wouldn't do it myself, milady," Raven answers dryly, "but I grew up with the woman. Separate might be a bit more peaceful; the boy can't be more than five or six, and her parenting ain't changed much since I was that age."
"Separate it is, then," Folly says with a grin.
Martin nods once, apparently satisfied by the outcome. "How soon can you be ready to sail, Captain? Anything you need in terms of supplies or repairs?"
Raven shakes her head. "We got the repairs taken care of, Highness. She could use a good overhaul, but we wasn't going to get that done in the few days we had. We can go now, or we can take a bit to put together milady's quarters when we ain't in motion first."
Martin glances at Folly. "Put her quarters together first. If there works out to be room, I'll take it, but mostly I don't want to disrupt the good order of your ship." Another glance passes between him and Folly. "Especially if they haven't had sufficient leisure in Amber before we sail."
"They had enough time to start bar fights over money instead of women," Raven says dryly, looking just faintly amused. "They damn well better have got enough of other types of leisure. And I already made it clear that they ain't to mess with any passengers we got. I can see if we can make it fit two, Highness, but it may be close quarters."
Martin nods once.
"Close quarters we can handle, even if we do take up slightly more space than we used to," Folly says with a smile, laying one hand on her belly and the other on Martin's arm. "Although it occurs to me that perhaps I should rustle up a pennywhistle or a... you know, a..." She holds her hands in front of her and makes a gesture indicating some smaller-than-breadbox-sized oblong-ish object. "In case the natives get restless."
"You already sent your luthier on to Xanadu, remember? We'll have to find something onboard," Martin tells Folly. He turns back to Raven. "I'm not worried about any of the sailors messing with me," he says with the sort of absolute confidence that has long since turned into casualness. "Nor, if they have the slightest sense of self-preservation, my wife. I just don't want to cause disciplinary problems for you."
"Aye, Highness," Raven replies. "I appreciate that. I don't expect they'll be that stupid, but I'll keep an eye out."
[I'm out of agenda for Martin here; we can narrate through to sailing, if you two like.]
[Good by me.]
[Works for me, too.]
After the meeting in the Harbormaster's office, a flurry of work begins on the new makeshift cabin for Folly. Meanwhile the longshoremen begin to load up the last remaining royal cargo and what little in the way of travel necessities the royal couple has with them. At the same time, the civilians who will be travelling to Xanadu in the Vale of Garnath's wake are embarking on the various other ships that will follow her. The quays are busy and full of life, almost reminding Raven of the way Amber used to be. But in her day, the whole harbor would have been full like this, and now it's only the caravan that will be travelling to Xanadu.
While the ship is being loaded, Scarlett and Max come aboard, and are delighted to learn from shipboard gossip that the Prince and his heavily pregnant wife, or paramour, or whatever she is, will be taking passage on the same ship. Raven can almost see her mother's mind turning over various schemed to get into Martin's bed while Folly is, must be, unable to hold his interest.
When Martin and Folly actually board, he seems much more interested in Max than in Scarlett, which dismays Raven's mother no end, although she tries to hide it.
The caravan sails on the tide, and it takes them a day or so to get to a place where Martin decides he's comfortable with moving them onward through shadow. This is about the same place that Folly recalls him making the first major transition the last time they did this; it seems to be something of a regular waystation. Martin takes Raven aside and notes the location for her rutter, as well. Like Marius, he prefers to make the transition at night where he can see the stars, although he explains some signs that will help Raven find the place by day.
But soon after that, they're well on their way on what is becoming the increasingly well-trodden path to Xanadu.
[Feel free to interpolate activities and correct anything that needs correcting.]
As soon as she has a few minutes to do so, Raven takes her mother aside privately and has *words* with her regarding what she should and should not be considering with the Prince, whether he's paying attention to her or not. It amounts to 'don't be an idiot, that's his wife, and I'll probably be stuck punishing you if he demands it, so keep your hands to yourself.'
There's a quiet, if tense, argument after that that resolves absolutely nothing.
Aside from that and her standard captaining duties, Raven contents herself with keeping an eye out for the kid and on her mother, and being readily available for the Prince should she be needed.
Martin clearly knows his way around a ship and has enough sense to stay out of trouble. He's friendly, but reserved, with the crew, and polite to Raven and her mother. As he leads the ship through the different shadows, something he's clearly done before, he's careful to ensure she has clear directions for the rutter.
For her part -- and perhaps surprisingly to those who might have expected the lady to sequester herself from the rough work and rough manners of the crew -- Folly spends most of her waking hours on-deck: sometimes taking a turn at the whatever-it-is that the Prince does to get them where they're going, sometimes scribbling and sketching in a little notebook when the seas are calm and the light is good, sometimes noodling on the tin whistle she's managed to find, mostly piping out bouncing sea shanties of the sort that entice those within earshot to sing along. Although she doesn't know the Vale's longtime crew yet, she recognizes some of their names from her time spent with their wives or brothers or friends among the Amber docksiders.
Some of the older crew seem to have picked up on who Folly is, and of course, some of the additional members the Vale has picked up already knew her. Quickly, and perhaps surprisingly to Raven, Folly is accepted not so much as one of the crew but as something more than the "lady of quality" that they treated Thalia as.
If Raven asks, she learns that Folly has a reputation as a patron of sailors and docksiders of all sorts in Amber, and that Folly has arranged for many of them to travel to Xanadu already. During the hard times, Folly helped ensure the poor were fed and had jobs to the extent that there were any to be had. For a royal, she's apparently downright decent.
If she notices Scarlett's over-interest in her husband, she shows no sign (except perhaps to Martin when no one else is looking). That she shows young Max a thing or two about how to play the tin whistle, and promises him that he can have hers at the end of the voyage if he keeps out of trouble, probably isn't even meant as retaliation.
Scarlett's interest in Martin seems, as far as Folly can tell, to amuse him. She knows what Martin's type is, and Scarlett isn't it. The boy, though, is of some interest to him, and he seems to be trying, or re-trying, his paternal instincts on the child. He keeps Max with him through some of his duties, including one shadow transition during the day.
