Sweet Sister

Chapter 30

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  "What's in Astapor?" Asheli asked, once they've sailed out of the Blackwater and reached the mouth of the Narrow Sea. Her arm's lazily draped atop the wheel while her other hand gripped a spike of the wheel, to better handle the vessel.

  Lifting one of her brows, Rhae retorted, glancing at the Captain, "Why the numerous questions?"

  "Why the distrust?" Rhae's expression remained neutral. She averted her gaze to the sea when Asheli's hazel eyes landed on her.

  Rhae leaned on the railing that's in front of the wheel, gazing out at the endless sea. "I have my reasons."

  "And those reasons are .  .  . ?"

  "I am not answering you," Rhae replied blankly, unamused by the Captain's persistence.

"We're going to be spending a lot of time together . . ." Ashlei drawled, " .  .  . may as well get the small talk out of the way," she said nonchalantly, unaffected by Rhae's tone.

Rhae merely continued to stare at the calm, salty water that fills her nose. She missed the smell, and with the familiar smell, came the memories when he was on Niclas's ship. Her, Devron and the crew sword playing and sparring; climbing the ratlines or playing games when they were anchored in a harbour.

"How does someone in King's Landing end up with a Red Priestess?" Ashlei asked, ripping Rhae from her thoughts.

Her brows scrunch as she snaps her head to the woman, "What?"

Ashlei scoffs softly, a smile playing her lips as she locks eyes with Rhae. "You don't know?"

"I know she's capable of strange things, yes."

"Watch out for those . . . they're dangerous," she replied seriously, that smirk of hers having fallen. "What brought you to King's Landing, anyways? Aside from, befriending the pride of lions."

Rhae snorts, "Those lions are far from 'friends'."

"Seems to me like Cersei Lannister has a soft spot for ya," Ashlei gestures for a nearby crew member to take the wheel. "Did ya get cozy with her or somethin'?"

Rhae rolls her eyes, officially annoyed by the Captain of the vessel she's going to be stuck on. She follows her down the stairs, now on the deck of the ship. "I would never forgive myself if I did, but no. Definitely not."

Asheli hollered at some boy by the main mast, asking what he was doing. An older man about Niclas's age replied from the ratline on the main mast with a joke —one Rhae was very confused about, but she guessed it was a pirate thing— Asheli and few others laughed in unison before she's ordering them to get back to work.

She spun on her heels and heads for the set of double doors that are between each set of stairs that lead up to the helm. Rhae followed, still confused about the joke but shrugged it off. Niclas and his men hardly joked like she had.

Opening the set of doors, Rhae's brows furrow. The inside of the Captain's Quarters are much different than the quarters on Niclas's ship.

In the right back corner, a bed large enough for two people sat, it's furs scattered all over the floor and some pieces of a woman's clothing lay here-and-there. But they didn't look like anything the Captain's wearing.