Churning Water in Her Wake

Melandra Avalloc sat in one of the stone windows of Stoneshade keep, the knee of one leg hugged close as she stared out into the bay. There were many ships, but her eyes lingered on the familiar hull of the Cloud Hopper; her sails furled as she was now loading cargo; lumber by the looks of it. One year ago Melandra had arrived in Ostiarium, ferried by the good Captain Hugo Cofresi as his personal consort of sorts. Her arrival in Arcadia had gone mostly unnoticed, though her adieu from the Cloud Hopper had caused something of a stir onboard the ship. The disconcertion had arose from the false impression - on the part of the crew - as to the nature of relations between Melandra and the Captain. The captain had perpetuated among the crew the falsity that Melandra was his sister's daughter, virtuous and undefiled and in need of staying that way during the long voyage. And as such, and as agreed before hand, Melandra had remained sequestered away from the eyes of the crew. But upon making port and coming up on deck to observe their approach, Melandra's libidinous bearing towards the Captain had been irreconcilable with such a narrative. There were mumblings that the captain was a naughty nautical niece fucker; and that the naughty niece should have been allotted a fair opportunity to consort among the crew. They were after all fine outstanding men of the sea who enjoyed the company of fine outstanding women.

When last Melandra had seen the ship or her Captain Cofresi, he'd been trying to explain the misunderstanding which was made all the worse when he could not mitigate the disunity by sharing the paid fare among the crew, as there had been no fare paid. In the end Cofresi had paid a coin to each member of the crew out of his own purse, though Melandra had not lingered long enough to witness such outcome. So when it was all settled - if matters aboard such a ship can ever truly be settled - Melandra Avalloc's passage had not only been free of cost gratis to her, but the Captain had paid back the potential fare, though not to her directly.

And so Melandra, a year older and now installed as sword master to the entitled children of the Keep, decided it best not to traipse down to the port and say hello to Captain Cofresi, if indeed he was still Captain of the vessel. Melandra knew first hand how quickly a crew could turn on their captain. If they hadn't already, it was not worth stirring up old memories at this point. She silently saluted the ship with the polished blade of her sword before hopping down from the window just as the heavy wooden door was opened and the Duke's son entered, sword in hand.