Alexis Glaciermage's Arc

Chapter 3 of 13

Alexis walked the docks with the coin sack slung over her shoulder. The weight felt different than cargo rope or storm flags. Rikki had given her forty gold and the crew's attention in one gesture. She kept her wings folded tight and her path direct. She returned to The Roaring Dragon two hours later with rope, tar, and canvas enough for a month at sea. The dark-haired woman stood on deck beside Rikki, a pair of bronze trade scales in her hands. Rosa, the captain had called her. She set the scales down on the shiplap planks near the mainmast, the metal catching sunlight. Rikki raised his voice so the whole crew could hear. "Rosa sails with us. She'll handle trade negotiations in port and manage our accounts." He didn't ask for agreement. He stated it like weather. Alexis watched the crew's faces. Half turned back to their work without comment. The other half exchanged looks but said nothing aloud. Rosa picked up the scales and moved them to a spot near the quarterdeck, claiming her workspace the way Alexis had claimed the rigging. No announcement that Rosa was joining as crew would have mattered without that—something concrete she'd be responsible for, something the ship needed done. Rikki handed Rosa a rolled parchment with the word Agreement visible at the top. She tucked it into her vest and nodded once. Alexis climbed the ratlines to check the mainsail. Rosa had walked aboard the same way she had—by proving what she could do before asking permission. The captain backed them both, but neither had asked him to. That was the part that mattered. She reached the top spar and looked down at the deck, where Rosa was already sketching something in a ledger. The crew would test her the same way they'd tested Alexis. But Rosa had set down her scales in full view, and that meant she was ready for it.