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voyage, or that each pick those she wishes to keep satisfied.’
    â€˜Those?’ Cianna queried.
    â€˜Naturally,’ Baltrank answered. ‘There are five of you and twenty-four of us. Should you be allotted to myself, the two mates, the navigator and perhaps the supervisor of cargo, I can guarantee unrest. Alternatively, should each of you chose the man most favourable to you, nineteen will remain unsatisfied, again risking difficulties. This is why there are no women on Oretean ships when on the long hauls, and the reason for my offer: celibacy or plurality. Naturally I would prefer the latter once more, and will go so far as to take advantage of my rank to claim exclusivity. What of it?’
    Aeisla glanced to the other girls. Cianna gave a happy shrug. Kaissia heaved a sigh. Yi continued to look at the deck. Iriel grimaced, thinking of the bull-nymphs.
    â€˜At present it is hard to make a decision,’ Aeisla stated. ‘I for one would gladly couple. Otherwise, allow us two… no, three days of celibacy to decide. More and I suspect jealousies will begin to grow in any event.’
    â€˜You are wise beyond your age,’ Baltrank responded, bowing a trifle. ‘Three days then.’
    Iriel threw Aeisla a thankful glance, then looked to a pair of seamen who were drawing a bucket up from the sea a few paces along the rail.
    â€˜Might I wash?’
    For the next two days the Gull of Cintes sailed west and south, turning the point of the Grey Cape on the third. Pursuit had been abandoned, yet a group of Aeg horsemen were looking down from the cliff top, black against grey sky, sat perfectly still on their mounts until lost from vision. The sight filled Iriel with a sense of melancholy, and she continued to watch until at last the rough grey cliffs of her homeland had faded to a line of hazy violet low across the horizon.
    Only with the evening meal did her mood restore itself. The cruelty and ill-humour of Mistress Loida was behind her, and with it the threat of public humiliation, pain, soiling, ducking. In their place she had a distant and strange city to look forward to, in which if what Baltrank said was true, she would easily be able to find a place to exercise her trade, and for pay rather than mere food and lodging.
    Meanwhile, once the meal was done, she and the others would be choosing their companions for the remainder of the voyage. Debate had been brief, Aeisla and Cianna more than content for sex, Yi reluctant but soon giving in, Kaissia alone refusing to make a decision. The shock of the way Iriel had been taken by the nymphs had died more quickly than she had expected, to be replaced by a desire to try out the new found pleasures of her body. Never had she suspected that the introduction of a cock to her tuppenny could feel so wonderful, for all her friends’ assurances. While still deeply shameful, her buggery had also been a pleasure, at least once the nymph’s cock had been firmly installed up her bottom.
    What would have been an unbearable disgrace was also made easier by the fact that the Oretean seaman thought no differently of her for surrendering herself. Nor did the other girls, Kaissia and Yi not surprisingly after their own experiences, and Aeisla and Cianna apparently indifferent. Only Captain Baltrank had even remarked directly on the matter, and then only to joke that she should not exhaust his valuable cargo before they reached Staive Cintes.
    Something inside her had changed, her fear of the penetration of her body replaced by a need for exactly that. Looking back, the thought of her grudging or miserable acceptance of the cocks she had taken into her mouth seemed foolish, and if there was still an underlying sense of shame and embarrassment, it faded as her need grew stronger.
    The meal was taken communally as always, the Captain heading a broad oval table in the main cabin of the sterncastle. The usual dish of lentils and spice preserved meat was served,