“These will suffice as they are, thank you,” Ormitor said, dismissing the issue. He then proceeded to order his girls as to where they were to place the loads that they carried.
“If you need anything, feel free to ask any of us, or seek out myself or Kragor, my first mate,” Dexter said, gesturing to the dwarf who was standing beside him. The rest of the crew had followed as well, with Rosh, in particular, gaping at the wizard’s servants.
“Thank you again, Captain. I suspect we will mostly keep to ourselves,” he said, then shut the door behind him.
Dexter turned to the others, who regarded him expectantly. He shrugged and led the way back up to the main deck. Once there he looked at them all again. “Okay, that’s our fare. Make ready to cast off, Bekka can you take us out please?”
“Aye, Captain,” the half-elf said, already turning and heading towards the bridge. The rest remained standing, lost in thought as to their strange passengers.
“You heard the captain, make ready to launch!” Kragor snapped, bringing everybody back to their senses. Dexter hid his smile and then had to chuckle when Kragor turned to him and rolled his eyes. The rest scattered to their positions.
“Don’t be thinking anything,” Jenna warned Rosh as they made their way to haul up the rope that would raise the mainmast.
“Me?” Rosh asked innocently. “What would I-“
“I know that look. I’ve beaten many men senseless for staring at me like that,” Jenna hissed.
“Ain’t looking at you,” Rosh said.
“I know,” she said, giving him a glare that made him stop and think. “I think I’d be more merciful than they would.”
Rosh stared after her as she walked across the deck to the rigging. He scratched the scruff on his chin, then grinned and followed, once again envisioning any one, two, three, or all four of the wizard’s servants in his bed.
The trip to Port Freedom was remarkably boring. Dexter and Rosh, in particular, kept hoping to catch sight of Ormitor’s servants. Unfortunately for them, it was only in his presence that they appeared, and he seldom came out of his cabin. All five of them stayed in his cabin as well, while the other room was typically used for storage of his personal effects.
In whispered conversations they all wondered at what took place behind the doors of the wizard’s rented room, with Rosh typically stating the most decadent and hedonistic of opinions.
“You think they all be sleeping in the bed at once?” Kragor asked a few days out as he, Jodyne, Bekka, and Rosh sat around the galley eating a mid day meal.
“I’m not for thinking they do much sleeping, if you know what I mean,” Rosh said, grinning from ear to ear.
“There ain’t room enough for the five of them!” Jodyne said reproachfully.
Rosh shrugged, then a new idea came to him. “Maybe he just watches?”
Kragor snorted the water he was drinking, which drew a cuff in the back of the head from his wife. Rosh laughed at his own joke.
“Watches what?” Bekka asked naively.
Rosh and Kragor both looked at her, surprised. Jodyne shook her head and got up from the table, starting to clear the plates. “Watches the girls with one another,” Rosh elaborated.
Bekka smiled as understanding hit her. “Oh!” She said, feeling a little silly. Then she shrugged. “Sounds like fun.”
For the first time in his life, Kragor let food escape from his open mouth. Jodyne smacked him in the back of the head again, which reminded him to shut his mouth and mumble something about needing to be off to do some work on the ship.
Rosh stared at her as well, unable to come to terms with what she had said. “I meant them was pleasurin’ one another,” he said, not believing she understood him in spite of what she had said.
“Of course, what else would they be doing?” Bekka responded.
“An it sounds like fun to you?” Rosh asked.
“Why wouldn’t it?”
Rosh’s eyes bulged and he looked at Kragor, who was shaking his head as he left the galley and headed to parts unknown. Rosh looked back at her and saw her focusing on finishing her food, a faraway smile on her face as she appeared to be thinking about it. He finished his water and stood up. “I’m,” he paused, wondering what he was going to do before finishing his thought, “gonna relieve Jenna.”
After they had left Jodyne shook her head and permitted herself a slight laugh. “He’s going to be struggling with that one for a while,” she admitted. “You be careful what you get yourself into, girl.”
Bekka looked up at her and smiled. “Thanks, I’ll try.”
Jodyne stared at her, realization dawning on the dwarven cook. “You was serious, wasn’t you? You wasn’t just putting wind in Rosh’s sail?”
Bekka nodded. “Why would I do that? I think it might be fun to try.”
Jodyne looked upwards towards the ceiling, and the stars beyond. “What have I let them talk me into?” She muttered, then grabbed up Rosh’s plate and turned to take care of it.
They docked at Port Freedom without any problems. They had only seen one Federation patrol the entire trip, and it had been far enough away that it did not bother following them and forcing them to allow an inspection. Once outside of controlled space they were all a little more anxious, since there was nothing stopping an enterprising captain from mounting some weapons and picking off the unarmed merchant ships. Fortunately, their journey was unmarked by any such incidents.
At Port Freedom, nearly a full week shy of their deadline, Ormitor handed over the promised wages. Dexter thanked him for it and wondered about the possibility of the further business the wizard had hinted at. Ormitor nodded and said he would send someone by later that day with the details.
Grumbling at the necessity of it, the crew remained aboard the ship. Port Freedom had both a drydock and a wetdock, catering to virtually any ship that would span the stars to reach them. The city was also renowned for the diversity of not only its inhabitants, but also in its wares and offerings. They all wished to see the place to explore and discover what they could find, but Dexter held them to the ship with a harsh command. That and by not distributing the pay they had received. With little money they had little reason to go ashore.
Jenna, alone, seemed less than enthusiastic about debarking the ship. She even spent little time on deck staring at the city, which was a conglomeration of multiple architecture styles from different races and different worlds. It looked chaotic and impossible, yet it thrived in spite of the chaos.
Unable to find her, Dexter knocked lightly on the door to her room, convinced she could be nowhere else. She responded almost immediately, inquiring who it was.
“It’s Dexter,” he said, his voice carrying through the door.
Just as quickly as the first time she responded, “The door’s always open for you, Captain.”
Dexter found her in her room, working oil into the boiled studded leather cuirass she had acquired between jobs. She sat on her bed wearing only a pair of men’s breeches that had been cut and sewn off less than midway down her thigh. Dexter’s eyes widened as he took her in and he blushed anew.
“I’m sorry, I’ll let you put something on,” he stammered, turning away from her and pulling the door to shut it.
“Oh stop it, I’m not putting this on until I finish, now get in here and shut the door behind you before Rosh sees me.”
Dexter hesitated, then, cursing every God he could think of on such short notice, he stepped into her room and shut the door behind him.
“What can I do for you, Captain?” Jenna asked, paying no mind to her partial nudity.
Dexter was unable to do so, although he tried valiantly. “I, um, I wondered if you were okay.”