Capítulo 32: Old Stories

Everything was much harder without Gadfly. Serenica knew she didn't know much about sailing, but even from the perspective of a landlubber she could see that the efficiency of the ship was in a reduced state.

It was a beautiful, bright morning and Serenica had plenty of both time and tobacco. Everyone aside from Gadfly was in reasonably good spirits and good health.

Everyone aside from Gadfly and Longlines.

"Not that rope!" the Admiral yelled at the young man. "I am going to ask you to come down from the rigging before you hurt yourself."

Longlines climbed back down with a sour expression.

All in all, their speed had went a few knots down. There were also knots of questionable making in the rigging, ones that posed a threat to any men climbing.

"Boy, am I glad I don't have to do that," Myorka said, nodding towards the mast.

"Would you happen to have a moment right now?" Serenica asked her, hopeful that they might be able to make some progress in the infertility problem.

"If you are asking me whether I want to get high and talk about the worst day of my life, I don't have a moment. I don't even have a second. But just your company and some paw might be good."

"We don't have to talk about anything you don't wish to discuss," Serenica said.

They retreated to the captain's cabin. Spade was busy taking on duties that normally belonged to the boatswain. The Princess sailed stiffly and slowly.

Serenica fixed her friend a pinch of the wolf's paw and lit the long, ornate pipe.

The bookkeeper stared at her.

"What?" Serenica asked, afraid she had done something wrong.

"You're either smoking with me, or we're not doing anything."

Serenica shuddered. She had a complex relationship with the paw. She would have liked to stay away from it, but she could calculate all kinds of outcomes, and none of them included her helping Myorka while sober herself. She had to show the bookkeeper it was possible to not overdo it.

She took a drag from the pipe and passed it on.

The paw didn't take long, it arrived swiftly, yet softly, like a ghost on a summer day, making her body feel weightless. Her aching sides got the relief they had been craving. Serenica knew it was not good to be in pain all the time. The organs got the message that something was constantly wrong and could even stop functioning correctly. These things were discussed in the highest of medical circles, but an ordinary doctor in Neul would only have thought about them as a way to make money on the suffering of the poor and the sick.

Serenica thought of herself as the middle path between witchcraft and modern medicine. She knew it was the paw talking, but for the first time in a long while she felt like a decent person.

"This makes me feel like a queen," Myorka said, apparently sharing the same pleasant buzz. "I have done this before, you know."

"So, how did you get to know the joys of long, delicate pipes?" Serenica asked. She hoped a general discussion of the past would lead them to something valuable.

"I assume your talk of long and delicate things does not refer to any of my husband's organs," Myorka said with a straight face.

Serenica bursted out laughing. She had to take a moment to gather herself after the crude joke.

"No, seriously, I shared a pipe with him the night he hired me," the bookkeeper chuckled. "I was injured, he wanted to take care of me before any slavers could catch me."

"It must've been hard, escaping from all that." Serenica shook her head. The memory of oppression was in her blood. Raelians had always been unlucky in that regard.

"They found out I could read." A glimmer appeared in Myorka's eye. She seemed to enjoy telling this tale of life-saving, liberating cunning. "I could indeed, but what I did not say was that I could read better than them. They put me in charge of some official paperwork. Nothing too important, but enough that I managed to open a bank account for myself in secret and gain the funds needed for my great escape."

Serenica drew a sharp breath into her lungs between her teeth. Everything was so spectacular right now. This woman, this she-pirate could be more than a match to even Kinley in her wisdom. Serenica felt so light, so soft, and she was in the company of an actual queen, someone who had done impossible things with her bare wit.

"Indeed, a woman who reads is never unarmed," Serenica said. "You are spectacular. You do know that? Tell me, what happened after you took your gold and fled?"

"I loitered around in Aja Vana for a week or so. It was costly at that time to stay completely hidden. I took odd jobs in the port, hoping to get a place on a ship."

"It must have been exciting to meet Spade." Serenica packed her own little pipe full of the delicious tobacco. "Mind if I smoke?"

"Go ahead, light yourself on fire," the bookkeeper said, leaning back. "He was wrong about such a fundamental arithmetic thing that I couldn't help myself. I had to correct him. He was absolutely bewildered, I had just saved him a hundred coins in taxes!"

"Taxes? Pirates pay taxes?" Serenica asked, very much amused by the idea.

"Oh, we cover our tracks carefully. He has been pretending to be an honest businessman to make it easier to sell cargo. Everyone truly involved knows it's a hoax."

"You people amaze me," Serenica said. She took a puff of smoke, which was a mistake. The combination of it and the paw was beginning to make her nauseous.

"Organized crime is called organized for a reason, honey," Myorka quipped and pushed a large glass jar towards Serenica. "I can tell you're going to throw up. Relieve yourself, and I will go on with my tales. Or are you tired yet?"

"Not a chance! Keep talking," Serenica said as she felt her breakfast coming back up.

She had the time to pull her hair back before she defiled the jar with the proof of her weakness.

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