Lavender woke up to the sensation of warmth on her face, and when she cracked open her eyes, she was almost blinded by the morning sun. "Ugh, why the Frick does it have to be so bright this early in the morning." En didn't exactly have a hangover, but she had definitely enjoyed a couple of glasses of the best rotgut rum that was available on board ship last night.

It served her right, Lavender thought, it was never a good idea to drink with Uncle Tomas, and Cousin Tomo. "I should never drink with old guys with livers of iron, or childhood friends who are now a foot taller and a foot wider than me… my tolerance just ain't that good!!" Her internal clock told her that it was still early, not yet the time she was due to rise, so Lavender pulled the sheet that was covering her over her head, "Ten more minutes should be okay."

Lavender sighed, and closed her eyes, but even beneath the thin cotton sheet the strong light made her eyelids glow orange. "No chance of dozing for a bit then, so I guess I'll make a mental list of all the odd jobs I have to do today." Lavender didn't really have much to do whilst at sea if all went well, after all her job was as the ship's Protector, not as a sailor, though she could still pitch in if necessary, to trim the sails against storm winds, or help reset the rigging when the wind changed.

The Protector's job was obviously to protect, the current cargo, and whatever merchant went with it, from the incursion of smugglers and pirates. Which were common enough in the waters of the Freedom Isles, and all along the coastline of the Imperial Empire, or to protect the ship against Sea Serpents, and the deadly Kraken.

Though thankfully the current voyage had been free of all of the above, and even the weather had been agreeable. Lavender could even hear the quiet slap of gentle waves against the side of the ship… wait, what?!

Lavender threw off the sheet, and sat bolt upright, "Shit!!" One of the reasons that it had been so bright that morning, was not just the direct sunlight shining through the cabin window, but the refracted sunlight from an almost calm sea, causing dapples of light to shimmer and ripple across the wooden panelling of the walls and ceiling.

Jumping up from of her cot, Lavender shoved the window wide open, and stuck her head out to look down below. Sure enough, not one jot of wake was visible, other than the slow rock of the ship, everything was completely still, and no breeze stirred the air… they were bloody well becalmed!!

"Hellfire and Damnation, way to jinx yourself En, you silly cow, ruminating over how lucky we've been to not hit any summer storms, so now you end up with the worst kind of 'nice' weather for a ship at sea." Lavender threw off yesterday's shirt and underwear, and kicked it into the corner with the rest of her laundry, then poured cool water from the pitcher into the basin.

One quick strip wash later, with a flannel and towel which were starting to get stiff with salt, Lavender pulled a fresh cotton shirt from the chest of drawers which doubled as her desk, and put it on. "Damn, I can't wait to get into port, my laundry's piling up, and I'm fed up of washing in sea water, it always makes me feel slightly sticky somehow."

Sitting on the side of her cot, Lavender pulled on fresh underwear, her usual grey suede leggings, and the brown leather boots that her father had given her for her twenty-first birthday a few years back. En stood quickly and went to the door of the cabin, but just as she pulled open the door to her cabin, she found Tomo looking slightly shocked on the other side.