Chapter 30: Admirable admiral (end of the project)
Being a captain of the royal fleet meant having shown unwavering loyalty to the crown and the kingdom but also to display one's status. A huge majority of these officers came from noble houses and even from lords, it was a custom to have the second or third son become a naval officer. Of course, commoners could enlist in the naval academy and rise in the ranks with the commendations of their superiors. Whether it was intended or not, having a woman become the admiral of the prestigious fleet had created an earthquake in the traditions. Women were a rare occurrence in the navy and having a mixed blood in such a high position was unimaginable. Even if she was the daughter of the prime minister of Valiamer, she was the wife of a member of the house of Afar, a fallen out of grace noble family. This meant that Afarin Hol was barely above a commoner.
"And that's why we follow her. She defied all naval traditions by becoming the very first female commoner to reach the rank of admiral of the royal fleet. She's an inspiration for us as she overcame every obstacle, showing that anyone is worthy of being part of the Herikfer if they work hard enough." The young captain explained to Karen and Marcus who were listening to him while eating at the mess hall in the harbour.
The mess hall was part of the merchant guild which was quite a big building itself. It was located near the fish market and the registering booth at the docks. It was not far from the red light district that saw many sailors during the evening. Since Premer was a trading hub, it was natural that the city would accommodate the merchants by allocating some infrastructures for a comfortable stay for these influential people. That guild had large beds with some individual bedrooms for the wealthiest ones, for the right price there was an access to the unisex bathhouse. The cheapest commodities were for the mess hall that served produce from the land and the sea.
The two older people had a hard time believing the young officer who seemed very passionate about the admiral. They were sitting at a table of four people, Marcus being next to his colleague while having the young captain and a veiled person next to him. Despite having some prejudice toward the naval admiral, Karen did find some respect for a fellow woman who became quite powerful by her own means. But the reality was less romantic than what the naval captain would think. Afarin's father had pulled out quite a lot of strings to get his daughter to such an important position, even convincing the king himself that, having the child of a political marriage become the admiral of the Herikfer, was a show of goodwill and openness to diplomacy.
"Glaso, wait... so you're telling us that she's the first woman to become an officer of a naval fleet?" Marcus asked, still incredulous.
"Of the royal fleet? Absolutely. Of every fleet from the kingdom? Not at all. The first ones were actually bastard children who passed themselves as men, of course some got discovered but because they did a good job, they stayed though some had… accidents. I heard that some kingdoms have had women at the head of their fleet, but I can’t confirm." Glaso replied, trying to remember the gossip he had heard back in the academy.
"That sounds impressive. I understood that the Herikfer only obeyed the king and the admiral. What position does she have in the kingdom?" Karen asked after finishing her bread.
"Ah, you're asking complex questions there." Glaso whined, having slept through some classes. "We don’t really learn that sort of stuff in the academy. I don’t think she holds much power outside of the fleet. I mean she does have some weight when it comes to the naval defence of the kingdom, but aside from that."
"So she can’t really convince some lords to grant us some lands and some titles, then?" Karen quickly suggested.
"She could try to ask the king or threaten some coastal lord that she wouldn’t protect them, but that would be frowned upon. After all, the Herikfer represent the naval power of the kingdom. It would create a stain on our reputation if we start to blackmail the one thing we're supposed to protect." Glaso explained, finishing his mug of water with diluted sugar.
Both Karen and Marcus let out a nervous laugh that confused the young officer who waved his hand at a waiter.
"Hey, can I have more of guardian's drink?" the young captain asked the waiter who nodded and went to take more orders before serving.
The two older people declined to get another serving of food, having bread was good enough, especially after seeing the price of most of the dishes served at the moment.
"That reminds me, I'll pay for the food, as a thank for helping the royal fleet. Afardo can be quite a handful when she tries to sneak out." Glaso declared after getting his drink.
Karen frowned upon hearing the fugue tendencies of Afardo, who she saw as nothing but a girl that got lost during a storm.
"Wait, she tries to escape?" The woman asked, suspicious.
"Quite often. Turns out, she was the concubine of the prime minister of Premer. Apparently she often shared his personal bed, even doing it layman style. At a brothel, it's the last position you try, am I Goghso?" The young man explained, trying to share a conniving look with the older guy.
Ignoring the fact that Marcus was potentially frequenting a brothel, Karen focused on the first part of Glaso's speech.
"Are you telling us that she's actually held against her will?"
The young captain shrugged at the question, not seeing it as sequestration.
"More like we're trying to avoid the daughter of the admiral to become a prostitute, minus the pay. Now that she's part of a noble house, she can’t go sleeping with anyone she wants. Especially since she's to be married in the near future."
"That’s not good. She should be able to decide for herself, instead of being forced to a path she's clearly not accepting." Karen reacted.
"Nobles have it rough, don’t they? So many obligations for things they don’t particularly want to do." Marcus intervened before any tension grew.
The big man managed to appeal to the young captain but Karen was having none of it. The former secretary was a firm believer in equality and freedom of choice, which was reinforced when she played tabletop role playing games back in college. In the best scenario, she would fight against arranged marriage and made sure that true love was achieved. That's also how she met her husband, during a session where they had to rescue a princess being held by an evil man. But she was just a woman in this very real world made of magic. With a sigh, Karen conceded.
"You're right. Being from a noble house sucks." She admitted, feeling the pressure of Marcus' eyes on her.
The officer chugged down his drink with an approving nod beforehand.
"Exactly. I wanted to become a poet, but being the second son of the house of Gla, I had to become a naval officer." Glaso admitted, looking down at his already empty mug.
"Now then, you can still do poetry in your free time. You'd be known as Glaso, the poet captain. I’m sure lots of girls would be attracted by such a title." Karen reassured, patting his shoulder in a friendly gesture.
The stranger who had stayed silent the whole time finally decided to speak up. It turned out to be Woso who was hiding under his veil, acting as a stockpile organiser while the humans were buying supplies under the surveillance of the naval officer.
"While chatting is nice and all, time passes and we still haven’t stocked up on salt. The next transport group is probably waiting outside by now." Woso declared, a hint of irritation in his voice.
Glaso jumped on his seat, as he completely forgot about the Ahas next to him. He wasn’t the only one to be surprised by the sudden interjection of the fake slave, Karen and Marcus looked at Woso as if they just noticed him.
"Right, your slave has got a point. Let's get going, then." Glaso said, waving his hand to the waiter to come tidy the table. "And I'm serious about paying for the food."
Once everything was taken care of, the small group went to finish their errand by going to the fish market nearby and getting the name of the salt supplier of the merchants in the stalls. Despite some attempts at distracting Glaso, a female Ahas gave up and focused on her task of transporting the goods. The naval officer was indeed interested in getting some action but the admiral's esteem for him was at stake, so he didn’t want to disappoint his superior by being too careless. Marcus was still trying to mediate when it came to Karen being too mercantile, he apologised profusely when the woman tried to haggle with the price and quantity of salt with the supplier.
"Fine, 500 kilos may have been a bit too much. What about 200 for the same price?" Karen asked, feigning defeat.
"You think I was born yesterday, lady? It's 150 and I won’t negotiate the quantity anymore. I know those tricks so don’t try anything funny otherwise I’ll raise the prices." An annoyed merchant replied.
"I underestimated you. It was worth a shot. We'll take that quantity for now."
"Finally. You're lucky I won’t complain to the guild to get you blacklisted. As a matter of fact, I know a rival who'll probably get scammed that way. Make him lose profits and I might give you some discounts if I ever get the monopoly."
Karen smiled carnivorously and extended her hand.
"Pleasure doing business with you."
Being a captain of the royal fleet meant having shown unwavering loyalty to the crown and the kingdom but also to display one's status. A huge majority of these officers came from noble houses and even from lords, it was a custom to have the second or third son become a naval officer. Of course, commoners could enlist in the naval academy and rise in the ranks with the commendations of their superiors. Whether it was intended or not, having a woman become the admiral of the prestigious fleet had created an earthquake in the traditions. Women were a rare occurrence in the navy and having a mixed blood in such a high position was unimaginable. Even if she was the daughter of the prime minister of Valiamer, she was the wife of a member of the house of Afar, a fallen out of grace noble family. This meant that Afarin Hol was barely above a commoner.
"And that's why we follow her. She defied all naval traditions by becoming the very first female commoner to reach the rank of admiral of the royal fleet. She's an inspiration for us as she overcame every obstacle, showing that anyone is worthy of being part of the Herikfer if they work hard enough." The young captain explained to Karen and Marcus who were listening to him while eating at the mess hall in the harbour.
The mess hall was part of the merchant guild which was quite a big building itself. It was located near the fish market and the registering booth at the docks. It was not far from the red light district that saw many sailors during the evening. Since Premer was a trading hub, it was natural that the city would accommodate the merchants by allocating some infrastructures for a comfortable stay for these influential people. That guild had large beds with some individual bedrooms for the wealthiest ones, for the right price there was an access to the unisex bathhouse. The cheapest commodities were for the mess hall that served produce from the land and the sea.
The two older people had a hard time believing the young officer who seemed very passionate about the admiral. They were sitting at a table of four people, Marcus being next to his colleague while having the young captain and a veiled person next to him. Despite having some prejudice toward the naval admiral, Karen did find some respect for a fellow woman who became quite powerful by her own means. But the reality was less romantic than what the naval captain would think. Afarin's father had pulled out quite a lot of strings to get his daughter to such an important position, even convincing the king himself that, having the child of a political marriage become the admiral of the Herikfer, was a show of goodwill and openness to diplomacy.
"Glaso, wait... so you're telling us that she's the first woman to become an officer of a naval fleet?" Marcus asked, still incredulous.
"Of the royal fleet? Absolutely. Of every fleet from the kingdom? Not at all. The first ones were actually bastard children who passed themselves as men, of course some got discovered but because they did a good job, they stayed though some had… accidents. I heard that some kingdoms have had women at the head of their fleet, but I can’t confirm." Glaso replied, trying to remember the gossip he had heard back in the academy.
"That sounds impressive. I understood that the Herikfer only obeyed the king and the admiral. What position does she have in the kingdom?" Karen asked after finishing her bread.
"Ah, you're asking complex questions there." Glaso whined, having slept through some classes. "We don’t really learn that sort of stuff in the academy. I don’t think she holds much power outside of the fleet. I mean she does have some weight when it comes to the naval defence of the kingdom, but aside from that."
"So she can’t really convince some lords to grant us some lands and some titles, then?" Karen quickly suggested.
"She could try to ask the king or threaten some coastal lord that she wouldn’t protect them, but that would be frowned upon. After all, the Herikfer represent the naval power of the kingdom. It would create a stain on our reputation if we start to blackmail the one thing we're supposed to protect." Glaso explained, finishing his mug of water with diluted sugar.
Both Karen and Marcus let out a nervous laugh that confused the young officer who waved his hand at a waiter.
"Hey, can I have more of guardian's drink?" the young captain asked the waiter who nodded and went to take more orders before serving.
The two older people declined to get another serving of food, having bread was good enough, especially after seeing the price of most of the dishes served at the moment.
"That reminds me, I'll pay for the food, as a thank for helping the royal fleet. Afardo can be quite a handful when she tries to sneak out." Glaso declared after getting his drink.
Karen frowned upon hearing the fugue tendencies of Afardo, who she saw as nothing but a girl that got lost during a storm.
"Wait, she tries to escape?" The woman asked, suspicious.
"Quite often. Turns out, she was the concubine of the prime minister of Premer. Apparently she often shared his personal bed, even doing it layman style. At a brothel, it's the last position you try, am I Goghso?" The young man explained, trying to share a conniving look with the older guy.
Ignoring the fact that Marcus was potentially frequenting a brothel, Karen focused on the first part of Glaso's speech.
"Are you telling us that she's actually held against her will?"
The young captain shrugged at the question, not seeing it as sequestration.
"More like we're trying to avoid the daughter of the admiral to become a prostitute, minus the pay. Now that she's part of a noble house, she can’t go sleeping with anyone she wants. Especially since she's to be married in the near future."
"That’s not good. She should be able to decide for herself, instead of being forced to a path she's clearly not accepting." Karen reacted.
"Nobles have it rough, don’t they? So many obligations for things they don’t particularly want to do." Marcus intervened before any tension grew.
The big man managed to appeal to the young captain but Karen was having none of it. The former secretary was a firm believer in equality and freedom of choice, which was reinforced when she played tabletop role playing games back in college. In the best scenario, she would fight against arranged marriage and made sure that true love was achieved. That's also how she met her husband, during a session where they had to rescue a princess being held by an evil man. But she was just a woman in this very real world made of magic. With a sigh, Karen conceded.
"You're right. Being from a noble house sucks." She admitted, feeling the pressure of Marcus' eyes on her.
The officer chugged down his drink with an approving nod beforehand.
"Exactly. I wanted to become a poet, but being the second son of the house of Gla, I had to become a naval officer." Glaso admitted, looking down at his already empty mug.
"Now then, you can still do poetry in your free time. You'd be known as Glaso, the poet captain. I’m sure lots of girls would be attracted by such a title." Karen reassured, patting his shoulder in a friendly gesture.
The stranger who had stayed silent the whole time finally decided to speak up. It turned out to be Woso who was hiding under his veil, acting as a stockpile organiser while the humans were buying supplies under the surveillance of the naval officer.
"While chatting is nice and all, time passes and we still haven’t stocked up on salt. The next transport group is probably waiting outside by now." Woso declared, a hint of irritation in his voice.
Glaso jumped on his seat, as he completely forgot about the Ahas next to him. He wasn’t the only one to be surprised by the sudden interjection of the fake slave, Karen and Marcus looked at Woso as if they just noticed him.
"Right, your slave has got a point. Let's get going, then." Glaso said, waving his hand to the waiter to come tidy the table. "And I'm serious about paying for the food."
Once everything was taken care of, the small group went to finish their errand by going to the fish market nearby and getting the name of the salt supplier of the merchants in the stalls. Despite some attempts at distracting Glaso, a female Ahas gave up and focused on her task of transporting the goods. The naval officer was indeed interested in getting some action but the admiral's esteem for him was at stake, so he didn’t want to disappoint his superior by being too careless. Marcus was still trying to mediate when it came to Karen being too mercantile, he apologised profusely when the woman tried to haggle with the price and quantity of salt with the supplier.
"Fine, 500 kilos may have been a bit too much. What about 200 for the same price?" Karen asked, feigning defeat.
"You think I was born yesterday, lady? It's 150 and I won’t negotiate the quantity anymore. I know those tricks so don’t try anything funny otherwise I’ll raise the prices." An annoyed merchant replied.
"I underestimated you. It was worth a shot. We'll take that quantity for now."
"Finally. You're lucky I won’t complain to the guild to get you blacklisted. As a matter of fact, I know a rival who'll probably get scammed that way. Make him lose profits and I might give you some discounts if I ever get the monopoly."
Karen smiled carnivorously and extended her hand.
"Pleasure doing business with you."
”I see you’ve reached the end. While they will never see the end of their journey. I won’t.” The woman with the emerald eyes declared.
The mysterious woman walked in her office, knowing that she won. She stepped behind her desk with an emotionless expression and sat contently, she picked up some papers and began reviewing. After a moment of silence only interrupted by the rustling of paper and the ball of her pen rolling on the material, she raised her head.
“Are you waiting for something?” She calmly asked before everything faded to black.
The mysterious woman walked in her office, knowing that she won. She stepped behind her desk with an emotionless expression and sat contently, she picked up some papers and began reviewing. After a moment of silence only interrupted by the rustling of paper and the ball of her pen rolling on the material, she raised her head.
“Are you waiting for something?” She calmly asked before everything faded to black.
Let's see the bright sight of this world!