TRC - Lord of the Glass Desert Ch. 30

"Just let me know when you are ready," he said before leaving Naura and the others to reminisce about their lost crewmember.

"It must be hard to be so stoic in times like this," Kal said as he stepped up next to Scarlet and turned to watch for Naura's signal.

"I'll have a good cry in Tavorah's arms tonight. But right now, they need me like this."

Thinking back to how he leaned on those around him after his mother died, Kal just nodded in agreement.

---

Shortly before noon, Kal, Scarlet, Roka, Wonna, and Ratt visited the brig in the lower hold. They found most of the men sitting and talking quietly by lantern light. The brig could hold a dozen people at most and there were more than fifty seamen currently manning The Dauntless. Their guards reported that other then some initial grumbling,things had been mostly quiet.

"First of all, who here is on the galley crew?" Scarlet called out. A few men raised their hands. "All of you, back to work. And remember, you're making food for the men down here too so no funny business."

"Yeah, no jerkin' off in the soup to make the monster girls like it more!" a sailor called out to a mixture of laughter and disgust from those around him.

Scarlet looked over at Kal and cringed. "Ewww," she muttered before raising her voice again. "Topmen and riggers! You too, get back to work and prepare to set sail. I want all three ships out of The Spine by nightfall." She glanced over her shoulder in the direction of the first group to leave. "Damn I forgot about the Gazelle. Those of you previously aboard The Gazelle stand up and move to the side. You will be returning to your ship but with a new crew and captain."

"Like fucking hell I will," said one of the men from The Gazelle.

Kal made the motion of drawing a bow. Purple light flashed across the lower hold as a magic arrow pierced the man's chest and sat there humming with energy as he slumped to the floor. As the commotion died down and the arrow faded away, Kal magically amplified his voice.

"Right now I am the new owner of this ship and The Gazelle. You work for me, and by working for me I mean following Captain Scarlet's orders. If you do not follow her orders, or those of her crew, then you are just a prisoner and, in our eyes, pirates. If you haven't heard, and I'm sure you have since Captain Kolas and many others were topside during the battle, The Scarlet Bitch ran up the black flag moments before we crashed into you and the only reason you were left alive is your usefulness to myself or Captain Scarlet. Either do as you're told, or die."

"You didn't have to kill him," shouted a sailor before those around him shushed the man into silence.

"Would have taken me seriously?" Kal replied. "Every one of the women you will be working under have been told this is how to treat you. The moment you balk at an order your life is over. We will not waste resources keeping you in prison. In return, you will be allowed to disembark at the port north of here in the middle of Azumbaho with a gold apiece. Those who choose to stay aboard will be treated as regular crew from then on."

The mage took a small step back, yielding the men's attention to Scarlet. "We have three ships and not quite enough hands for all of them. You will be split into three groups to man each ship under the watch of my crew. Do your jobs and keep your mouths shut and you will walk away free men. It's a better deal than any of us women got under your 'tender care'.

"Keep your hands off my girls unless they ask you. As slavers you know perfectly well how horny monster girls can be, but that doesn't mean you can just fuck them whenever you want. In turn, If they approach you and you don't want to, I expect them to respect that. I can't tell you how much it galls me to give you the courtesy you never offered the slaves you transported."

"You said they could kill us if we don't follow orders. What if they order us to fuck them? Can they kill us then?"

"We are a crew of ex-slaves, nobody is going to order you to have sex," said Scarlet. Turning to Kal she said, "By your leave I will be taking over operations on The Dauntless and Gazelle."

"Understood. I believe this makes you a Commandant, not a Captain, if I remember correctly?"

"You do not. Taking two more ships under my command makes me a Commodore. As such," she turned to the women behind her. "Captain Roka, you have The Dauntless. Captain Wonna, you have The Gazelle. And Captain Ratt, you have The Scarlet Bitch. Choose your crew from this bunch but make sure you have enough of our own with them to put down any potential mutiny."

The three stunned women saluted. "Aye, Aye, Cap--er--Commodore," stuttered Roka then shook her head. "That's going to take some getting used to."

Kal looked around the room for a moment before finding The Dauntless's former captain. "Captain Kolas, I'd like a word with you, please."

Though the ship itself was larger than The Scarlet Bitch, the Dauntless's captain's cabin was significantly smaller. The large dining table had been switched for a smaller round table that only seated five at the most. This made room for the estate cabin Darrow used while aboard. While smaller than the captain's cabin it didn't lack in luxury. The bed was extremely soft with a down comforter and linen sheets. Beautiful paintings of nude or scantily clad women adorned the walls and the various trinkets in the room all looked expensive. A small desk sat in the corner opposite the bed but with a gap behind it so Darrow could face the door and not the wall. The shelves built into the wall beside the desk held stacks of parchment and scrolls held in place by nets of thin, soft rope strung across the shelf's front. Closer to the door was a small table for two against the wall but with a hole for a third seat on the inside though it wouldn't leave much room between plates if all three people sitting there were eating.

Kal led the former captain into the estate room and took a seat behind the desk before inviting the captain to sit across from him.

"As Captain... Commodore Scarlet pointed out I had no idea what I was getting into by making my predecessor bequeath to me his all of his property and fortune--"

"--and his wife."

The mage was caught up short by the comment. "That doesn't make her my wife does it?"

Kolas chuckled. "Darrow's estate is well north of Calfera, near the small port town of Eagle's Point just across the Calferan border in Silvermoon's lands."

"That's the city to the north that Calfera is always competing with?"

"Aye. But Silvermoon allows for buying and selling of slaves where Calfera doesn't. If you have one they'll let you keep it down there but that's about all they tolerate. But according to Silvermoon law you're out of luck, she's your wife, and your problem now."

Kal winced. "Obviously we have not consummated anything, so I'll have to see about getting that annulled on paper."

"Probably wise, Darrow wasn't joking about her being a whore, but she's going to fight you. She married Darrow for his money, which is all your money now." Kolas leaned forward, "I must say, getting him to give you everything then calling on me and Scarlet as witnesses, that was a stroke of genius."

"Why is that?"

"Because on land its all paper and contracts," he said dipping his head toward the shelves of parchment, "but out to sea the ship's captain is the highest authority. Having one as a witness is binding, but two may as well be law."

"And Darrow didn't know this?"

"Not likely, Darrow doesn't leave his home or the slave market in Silvermoon often, and sails... sailed even less. Been working for the man for eight years. It seems strange that he's dead but I'm not complaining."

"Did you not like him?"

"We got along alright, but opinions change when you swing a sword in a man's face."

"I can see that."

"If ya don't mind me asking. What are you planning on doing with me?"

"Scarlet and I talked at length earlier and for now we have a small passenger room available for you to stay in. Your crew will be in the crew quarters as usual but the women are taking up the officer's rooms until a divider can be built. From what the girls are saying they aren't much interested in a divider after you and the rest of you men who want to leave are off the ship.

"For now you will be acting as a liaison between Roka and your crew. I expect you to keep them in line, and thereby keep them alive. We are also giving you and your first and second mates the power to stay the executioner's hand and argue the case for your crew if they screw up."

"Make it the Bosun. My second mate is a right cockbiter and will just as likely let the crewman die for a laugh. I do want to say I think you're being a little harsh saying death is the only punishment."

"You were slavers and these women used to be slaves. By that alone you should be thankful you are still breathing."

"And you're right along with them."

"There's a reason I shot that man in the hold. Nobody will question where I stand on slavery and slavers."

"Says the man who now owns a sizeable slaving fleet."

"Which brings me back to why I brought you up here. Tell me a little more about this fleet, what you know of Darrow's holdings, and what is it going to take to turn a slaver fleet into a successful merchant fleet."

Kolas sat quiet for a long time before replying. "Darrow's fleet consists of five slavers: Intrepid, Dauntless, Absolution, Legacy, and Perdition. Supporting them are four smaller, faster vessels: Gazelle, Ocean Spirit, Windrunner, and Whistler."

"He named a slaving ship, Perdition? That's messed up."

"I won't disagree. Dauntless is the largest of the slavers and the fleet's flagship. Whistler is an Azum ship with lateen sails instead of square rigged like this one. If you plan on turning them into merchant ships I recommend putting off the entire crew and hiring new. Many of these men have been employed by Darrow for years, some longer than me, and won't be happy sailing a merchant vessel where they can't go fuck the cargo whenever they want.

"As for his land holdings, I know about the estate by Eagle's Point but I've never been there. He has a building next to the trading market in Silvermoon. There's another facility somewhere by his estate where he breaks and trains the slaves, and one more that I've only heard of where he deals with those who cannot be broken. I've a feeling that's where The Scarlet Bitch was headed before Scarlet and her crew took it."

"You've only heard of it?"

"Slaves that go in don't come out. Rumors say that the slaves are forced to drink droosa until they're addicted then sold off as disposables."

"What's droosa? Remember, I'm not from this part of the world."

"There's a plant that grows north of Silvermoon. Its seeds are toxic by themselves, but if you sprinkle some into some silverleaf tea, it turns a bright green and becomes droosa. If you like sticking your cock in your monster girls, then stay away from it. The high from droosa is better than any sex you'll ever have." Kolas leaned forward as he spoke and his eyes lit up in a way that Kal found disturbing. It reminded him of the look on the silver vixen's face before she jumped into battle.

Collecting himself, Kolas sat back in his chair again. "The problem is that it's addictive. Only a couple of draughts is enough for you to crave more, and you'll do some disgusting things to get it," he said. His grimace gave away that he had likely done some of those 'disgusting things' during his experience with the drug. "But droosa is also fatal. Once you're hooked you need more and more to get the same high. Remember how I said the seeds were toxic? Eventually you need so much there's enough of the seeds in it to kill you. But even before you get to that point you'll need it so bad that if you wait too long between draughts your mind just stops working and you slowly die of thirst or starvation.

"My captain found me before I got that far and threw me in the brig until it got out of my system. It took three years before the memory faded enough I could get my dick hard for a woman and another six months before I could fuck one properly without going soft.

"To put it simply, stay the fuck away from droosa.

"Back to what I was saying. A slave hooked on droosa may as well be dead already, so the scuttlebutt says they get the problem slaves hooked on it and sell them to those who want something can fuck and kill or both at the same time."

Kal shivered as memories of Carriston and tales of the nobles wanting 'disposable slaves' came back to him.

Kolas noted the movement. "I'm with you on this. It's not my thing, and only rumors as far as I know."

"But where there's smoke there's fire," said Kal, "those rumors had to have started somewhere."

"That's for you to find out. I don't envy you."

A long silence passed before Kal spoke up again. "Scarlet and I also talked about relations between the men and women and your first job as liaison is to tell the men that before they approach any of the women for sex they are to seek out the squid girl, Naivoo. She has the power to create jets of water from her tentacles and they are expected to wash up first. Many of the monster girls will happily suck and fuck, but not of their cock is stinking of a week's worth of sweat. Also, Naivoo was never a slave and she may be a lot more open and forward than most of the other girls. The mermaid Hali and the whale Emru also came on as crew later."

Kolas shook his head. "I still can't believe you're saying we can fuck The Scarlet Bitch's crew."

"I'm not. I'm saying you can ask."

"I know what you meant, but I'm still surprised."

"You may be surprised, but I'm not. I'm a passenger on The Scarlet Bitch, Captain Kolas, not crew. Scarlet didn't want my money, she wanted my cock to take care of her girls. She also had to talk the girls out of using their pheromones to get your men hard so they could show them what it felt like to be forced."

Kolas chuckled "It's been a while since my men's last shore leave. It probably wouldn't have had the effect they were hoping for. No... if they want to frighten my men then just walking free is probably enough. There's been a long standing superstition that a freewoman on a ship brings bad luck. I bet a lot of them are shaking in their boots already."

"Hmmm. Let's go tell Captain Roka about that. I don't want any of the men to die for disobedience when they actually locked up in fear."

Back outside, two groups of men stood on either side of the maindeck. Those to port walked across a gangplank to The Scarlet Bitch while the men on the starboard side lowered a longboat into the water for the ride back to The Gazelle.

"Commander Hammat! Bosun Kell! I need to speak with you!" Kolas called out. A man already on The Scarlet Bitch made his way back across the gangplank and joined another destined to crew The Bitch before walking toward their captain. A few seconds later another man from The Gazelle crew came jogging up. Kolas addressed the latecomer first. "Lieutenant Commander, you are relieved of duty. Bosun Kells you are hereby promoted to Lieutenant Commander."

"What?!" shouted the man, his face turning red in anger. "Why?!"

"Because the commanding officers of the Dauntless are charged with keeping the rest of the men in line, keeping them alive, and communicating with the captains of their respective crews. I can trust you with running a tight shift, but haven't turned my back on you since you came aboard. Right now you are relieved of your duties as Lt. Cmdr. Say another word and I'll demote you to scrubbing decks again. Now take Lt. Cmdr. Kell's place on The Scarlet Bitch's crew."

"By whose authority!" he snapped. Then gasped as a rune on Kal's bracer flashed purple. Without another word the man bolted toward the port-side group of men.

"He's not going to last long, Captain." said Hammat.

"Make an effort. With him it doesn't need to be a big effort, I've wanted to knock him overboard a few times myself, but at least make one. Now listen carefully as there's a lot you need to know about your new jobs..."

---

Emru towed the longboat with The Gazelle's crew, new captain, and a few extras from The Scarlet Bitch back to the stranded ship. Still running a lean crew, The Gazelle took a little over an hour to get everyone settled in and weigh anchor. When the ship joined the other two, The Dauntless threw off the grapples holding them to The Scarlet Bitch on one side while casting off the mooring lines holding them to the rock spire on the other. By noon all three boats were underway at half sail and following Emru through the remainder of The Spine.

Kal stayed on The Dauntless while Kashka returned to The Bitch to help with the rigging after Ratt's promotion. Scarlet wasn't pleased, she apparently wanted to enjoy some time with him and Tavorah tonight but understood that Kal was probably needed more on The Dauntless, which had the largest male crew and least amount of women to watch over them.

Kal approached the ship's new captain as she steered from the aft wheel. The mage watched quietly as Roka shouted directions to the topmen and riggers to maintain their speed and not run into The Scarlet Bitch's rear end.

"How goes things, Captain Roka?"

She glanced down and smiled. "Last night you were calling me Captain with respect and deference. Today you are owner of the ship I'm captain of and your tone is completely different."

"Yesterday you were a friend and occasional companion in bed. Today we fought side by side to secure the future of The Scarlet Bitch and its crew. Fighting alongside someone changes how you see them."

"True." A yell from the crow's nest told her the distance between The Dauntless and The Bitch. "We're still going too fast," she muttered before yelling, "Furl the main topsail!" As men jumped to obey she turned to Kal, "We'll run with only the course," she said pointing at the bottommost sail, "and see if that slows us down enough. Without the mercenaries, this ship is running as empty as The Gazelle." The bovine snorted. "We struggle and scrape, dodging pirates and rushing deliveries to make a name for ourselves, while this man has the money to man two empty ships just so he can get revenge on some ex-slaves who stole another one of his ships. Life just doesn't seem fair sometimes."

"No, not usually. But he's dead and you're the captain of his ship, so I think it evened out in the end."

"Good point. Say... the thing you and Kashka have with the mind reading, are you looking to add any more women to that?"

"Are you offering?"

"I won't say I'm not tempted. That magic cock of yours... mmmmmm", she hummed with a lustful grin and a shake of her rear.

"There's more to it than sex."

"But it's such good sex," she chuckled turning the ship's wheel to match The Scarlet Bitch's path through the towering rocks. "I know there's more to it. I'm just putting a bug in your ear for the next time you come this way. I love the sea, but I'm not in love with it the way some of the girls are. Someday I want to find a home on land, probably near the sea, and settle down. Maybe even have a couple of kids. But that's down the road. I'm going to enjoy being the captain of one of the largest vessels in the water for now."

"I'm going to need some strong and smart people to manage my affairs here on this side of the world."

"Then Scarlet's your woman, not me, if that's what you're asking. I'm strong, and good at running a ship, but her and Tavorah are the ones with all the smarts."

"I think you're selling yourself short."

"Maybe I am. Or maybe I just got command of my own ship and don't want you to tempt me with some other offer."

"Fair enough."

"What about the mage?"