|
“Well. . .” Telumehtar said, “. . .shall I be given a proper tour then?”
Hereric paused a moment to collect himself and then looked the king full in the face. “Yes, sir. Clearly you seem quite able to climb the ropes. Shall we go up first, then? There’s not much light, I’m afraid, and may not be able to see below decks anyway until at least tomorrow.” He led the way to the mainmast and then asked the king to climb first.
“Great stars above, did you see that?” whispered a sailor aft. His companion nodded - soberly, perhaps, but turning very red as he kept back his laughter. “‘Do you think that a king such as myself would stoop so low as to even dream of climbing up your putrescent ship?’” The laughter broke from both of them, but the speaker stifled his. “Hush-sh!”
“But the cap’n turn’d nigh red!”
“Aye, he did,” the first sailor muttered with a chuckle. “An it were not the king, there might’ve been some mighty sharp words given.”
“Silence on deck!” came the bosun’s furious order. The two sailor’s obediently ducked their heads, and silenced their words as they continued their work, but the amusement did not leave their faces, nor the picture of their captain’s look their minds.
Hereric and Telumehtar mounted up farther and farther towards the sails until they came to the top head, a wooden platform about mid mast, where they stopped. Standing much higher now, they could still see the edge of the sun over the horizon, whereas down below, it was quite out of sight. The wind up here blew harder and more refreshingly. Hereric wrapped his arm about the mast and leaned comfortably into it.
“Have you sailed often before, my lord? I understand that this is not your first voyage.”
|