Chapter 134: The Red Woman Arrives!
On the morning of the 5th day, the first mate, Grantt, told the crew that Black Betha would take to the sea in the afternoon for a routine patrol.
Kai was overjoyed. The prospects of getting Matthos' acknowledgment would rise if he were to do as good a job out in the sea as he was doing now. In the last two days, he had grown and learned so much that now his Abnormality Limiter kept flickering between 80 to 90, never truly becoming the normal 100%.
No longer was the crew looking at him as if he was a mere gutless, charming bastard of some high lord. Raul, the second mate, still hit him, smacking now and then, and sending him rolling on the deck. But his smacks lacked heart, and the laughs these hits brought out of the seamen were more admiring than sneering.
In just five days, Kai had made all forget that he was still technically a ship's boy. Such was his Charisma, his mastery of grasping all things, and his physical prowess.
Such was his fear.
Yes. Most of the credit for him enjoying himself without worrying about any bullying and interference went to the senior seaman, Jared. They had found him lying witless on the next morning where Kai had left him. Like all his victims, Jared had become a husk, a walking human skin.
They had all wondered and shivered to see Jared's lifeless eyes. Most sickened and terrified among all Black Betha's crew were five seamen who had gone off the ship that night. They had seen Jared taking Kai in a dark, secluded corner, but at the time of interrogation, not one of them told anything to the first mate.
The Maester had then come out of pure curiosity, as Jared wasn't important enough to garner high lords' attention. Nevertheless, the fat seaman was one of the Ser Davos' crewmen, and thus, the case caught much more attention than it would have otherwise.
The fear on the five seamen's faces had become a corporeal mask when even Maester Cressen showed his inability to put his finger on Jared's abnormality. But, on a ship, there was no such thing as a secret among the crew. The eyes with which those five crewmen had looked at Kai soon others started to look at him with those eyes too. Mostly there was fear, and in some rare eyes was admiration and apprehension.
It did nothing to Kai, other than solidifying his place on the war galley.
After getting the first mate's orders, the crew scampered off, checking on everything before the ship set sail.