Once in the galley, however, Faline realized her clothing was covered with bloodstains. They needed to be cleaned or at least changed out of. Opening the sea trunk left by the last cook’s assistant, she found one last pair of clothes. A bit worn in the knees and elbows but cleaner than what she had. After shucking off her pants, Lukas appeared in the galley. She had just enough time to cover up with the wadded-up change of clothes, as he stood in the doorway to the bunk and storage area.

“What happened in the village?” Lukas asked, his voice sharp.

“Do you mind?” Faline said, spinning her finger around.

Lukas rolled his eyes, but turned as asked. She pulled on the pants and removed the shirt.

“So?”

What was she supposed to say? That she deliberately got lost and murdered a member of the crew? That would do no good. The truth simply raised questions that she didn’t want to answer. Perhaps she would just leave a few things out. “I killed someone, and I didn’t like it.”

“Nobody likes doing such things, but sometimes they are unavoidable.” He cast a glance over his shoulder at her. “Can I turn around yet?”

She finished pulling the shirt over her head. “Yes, I suppose you can.”

He turned and pursed his lips. “Honestly, you’re kind of weird about people seeing you naked. We’re on a ship after all. What are you afraid of?”

Her heart nearly skipped a beat, but had the presence of mind to say something. “Well, I just don’t want to embarrass anyone.”

His face acquired a quizzical look. “Embarrass? How so?”

She tried to smile, though she wasn’t sure just how awkward it might look. “Perhaps I’m bigger down there than you are.”

Lukas smiled, lines forming at the corners of his eyes. The devil-may-care look enhanced his attractiveness beyond anything she’d seen so far. Her stomach fluttered.

“Ah, so you like to tell tall tales, do you? We’ll see about that…”

She froze, worried he might actually take her up on the offer to compare. Did men do such things? Uh, oh.

Yet her fear evaporated when he chuckled and said, “Someday. Until then, I have another task for you.”

She frowned. “What is that?”

“You need to know how to fight. It wasn’t fair to include you in a raid when you’ve had no training in how to defend yourself. So, during the first watch, every evening, you come topside, and we’ll learn you some of the basics.”

Faline grimaced. The prospect of swinging a sword was unappealing, though she did see the necessity of it. “How long do we need to do this?”

“Until the winter storms start on the Gulf, then we’ll have to go into port. Those usually start by the end of November, so we have maybe three weeks. Maybe less since the ship needs some refit and repair.” He pointed at her. “So, I’ll see you topside at eight bells.”

She nodded, and he turned and walked away.

Argus appeared next as she pulled her boots on. “I take it you didn’t much enjoy the raid experience.”

She nodded her head.

“I didn’t either, that’s why I chose to be the cook and quartermaster.”

“Why did you join this crew?”

“I didn’t have a choice. Like you, I was brought aboard by a press gang.”

“Is that how most of the crew joined, by being forced?”

“No, some of them enjoy the life at sea, fighting, killing, and looting.”

“Rape too?”

Argus stared silently before nodding his head. “Is that what you saw on the raid?”

She nodded, and Argus sighed. “Yeah, you get all kinds. It’s a bit different back in port since women are there.”

“Are there children there too?”

“A few. Bastards of the local whores. They don’t live very long, especially the girls. Once they get old enough, they either run off or become prostitutes.”

“Where do they run off to?”

“Tenoach, if they’re lucky enough to survive the trip, but most don’t make it.”

She tried to take it in. Her alternatives in port didn’t seem much better than those on the ship. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “What about people like us?”

Argus raised an eyebrow. Clearly, he didn’t understand the meaning.

“The Old Ways?” she whispered.

He opened his mouth and mouthed, ‘Oh.’ “There’s Avalir, but that’s no good to you — girls and women only, wilders they take in and train. Boys like you, there’s nothing like that.”

So, it’s an all-or-nothing once they know you have the ability — and the one place that might actually take her in was closed the moment she’d become Tripps. She almost laughed. “What do you know about the Druids?”

Argus shrugged. “Not much; they stay pretty much to themselves. People send their wilding children there when they are about your age; the ones they take stay there for quite a few years, it seems. Every year, a batch of them are ferried to the coast, go off somewhere, but only a few return.”

“Do you think I could go there?”

Argus shook his head. “No. Once you’re a Reaver, you’re always a Reaver, until you die or get exiled.”

She stared hard at him. “I wasn’t given a choice.”

“Most of us weren’t.”

“But that isn’t fair.”

Argus shrugged. “Life isn’t fair. Why should you expect it to be?”

Faline slumped against the wall. This wasn’t at all what she had wanted to hear. “What if I stopped being a Reaver? Ran away or something like that?”

Argus stepped forward and placed a hand over her mouth. “Don’t talk that way, even in jest. If they – the other crew – hear you say like that, they’ll slit your throat during the night. Besides, running away won’t do you any good. Where would you go?”

She pushed his hand away. “I don’t know, away – somewhere else.”

“Die in the mountains, on the road to Tenoach, or killed by the Harrow. Not much of a choice there. No, your best chance to stay alive is with us.”

“Or die because I’m a Reaver.”

“There is always that. Sorry, mate, I don’t have anything to offer you. There are no easy answers and no happy endings. You’ll just have to do the best you can.”

Faline felt deflated. She was trapped with a group she couldn’t escape from. The discovery that she was a woman, and/or a wilder, was going to betray her at some point. She couldn’t go to Avalir, and all her other options were equally bleak.

“Enough talking,” Argus said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “We’ve got work to do. Focus on that. You can worry about the future later.”

Guess I’ll have to. She followed Argus into the galley.

The day passed, and Faline did what Argus suggested, throwing herself into the work of running a galley on a sailing ship. It was a lot of work, and to some extent, complicated as well. She slowly began to appreciate everything Argus did, and the way he did it. He always had a reason, even if that reason seemed a bit arbitrary and nonsensical.

After dinner was served, she scoured the galley and started putting everything away. But as they were in the middle of doing this, the ship’s bell rang eight times. Time for the first watch. She explained to Argus that she had to go topside for training with Lukas. He agreed, though a bit annoyed that he had to finish up on his own.

“Be sure to tell that sod not to hurt you. Otherwise, he’ll be down here with me.”

Faline nodded and then climbed the steps to the top deck.