Cove opened his eyes and stretched gingerly. He couldn’t hear the wails of the twins or the incessant banging of his cousins playing sword fighting in the kitchen. He yawned and rolled over to get out of the bed, only it wasn’t a bed, it was a hammock.

Cove squealed in shock as his body tipped over the side of the suspended netting and landed with a painful crunch on the floorboards below.

“Yeah, you’ll get used to that.”

Cove looked up across the room, which he could now see was strewn with other identical hammocks, some occupied by snoring figures. The boy from the house was sat on top of a barrel, carving the peel of a strange looking fruit with a silver knife.

“You kidnapped me!” Cove shouted indignantly, leaping up to his feet and immediately falling over again.

“You’ll get used to that too,” the boy smirked and cocked an eyebrow as he glanced over. “You’ll get your skylegs soon.”

“Sky…” the realisation dawned on Cove with horror. “We’re already sailing?”

“Yup,” the boy replied, taking a large juicy bite out of the fruit and letting the juices run down his chin. He looked like he was about nineteen, tall with toned muscles and tanned skin. His hair was a soft brown with dyed streaks of electric blue and shaved on the sides. He had numerous dark metal piercings in his ears and a snaking tattoo of some kind of hideous monster up his left arm. His face was sculpted and angular with a strong jaw and muted green eyes.

“We left Rilantru City about an hour ago.”

“No…” Cove murmured in panic, swivelling his head around to try and spot a window to prove the other boy a liar.

“And by the way,” the boy swallowed, “it’s not ‘kidnapping’ if we paid money for you. It’s an acquisition, fair and square.”

“I didn’t want to be fucking acquired!” Cove screamed, causing several of the other room’s occupants to wake up and hurl expletives and dirty socks at him.

“Take it up with the captain,” the boy shrugged, jumping down from the barrel, “he wanted to see you when you woke up anyway.”

“What are we wasting time for then?” Cove snapped. “Lead me to him.”

“Oh, of course your highness,” the boy let out a single hard laugh, swooping down into a bow and gesturing for Cove to follow him. “Would you like to stand up or shall I carry you again?”

“Don’t you dare,” Cove hissed, reaching out to a nearby wooden pillar to heave himself up to his feet. He followed the boy out of the room and down a series of tight passageways. Cove swore as the ship occasionally tipped and he found himself flattened against the sides.

“It’s particularly rough tonight,” the other boy said without even glancing backwards, “there’s a storm on.”

“Is it even safe to be flying through a storm?” Cove asked dubiously.

“They haven’t sunk us yet,” the boy shrugged, before knocking on a large red painted door.

“Enter,” came a deep, resonating voice.

“Brought the new purchase,” the other boy announced as he lazily sauntered into the room.

“He only just woke up? What in god’s name did Fletch use on him?”

Cove walked into the captain’s quarters with as much dignity as he could muster for someone who was still swaying about like a village drunkard. At least he didn’t fall flat on his face but was able to meet the eyes of the captain straight on.

“Damned if I know,” the other boy yawned.

“I hear you put up quite a struggle against Drift here?” the captain asked with an amused look on his old leathered face. “I’m Shin, captain of this here junk known as the Akashi and your new employer.”

Cove squinted suspiciously at the older man. He didn’t look much like an airship captain, there was no fancy hat or bushy beard. Shin seemed to be in his forties with freckled, dark skin and a pearled white scar across one cheek. His attire was a deep green but nothing ostentatious apart from shined leather boots.

“There’s been a mistake,” Cove drew himself up and tried to look authoritative. “I wasn’t for sale.”

Cove saw Drift shake his head and let out a huffed laugh beside him.

“I’m afraid, young man,” Shin began, thoughtfully tapping his chin with a golden quill. “Your aunt and uncle said otherwise.”

“I don’t want to be a sailor!” Cove shouted suddenly. Drift flinched but Shin remained still and unperturbed, leaning back in his chair and kicking his feet up onto his wide mahogany desk.

“I see, and what is it you would like to be?”

“I-“ Cove paused, biting his lip awkwardly, “I don’t know yet.”

“Well,” Shin laughed softly, “maybe when you make your mind up you could buy your freedom back?”

“I can do that?” Cove asked, lurching forwards excitedly and causing Drift to slam a large strong hand against his chest, winding him and forcing him a step back away from the captain.

“Of course,” Shin nodded, “I’m not an unreasonable man. Just pay me back what I bought you for, with a little added interest and I’ll let you go.”

“How much would that be?” Cove started to do the mental calculations in his head.

“Oh, let’s say four thousand Kilantian coins?” Shin smiled, his wrinkled face pulling taut and shiny.

“Four th-“ Cove trailed off, his jaw dropping open. He had been tricked, there was no way he would ever have that much money. “I couldn’t earn that in four lifetimes!”

“Oh well,” Shin licked his lips, clearly losing interest in the situation, “maybe in the fifth one then? Perhaps by that one you’ll have worked out exactly what it is you wish to do with your life.”

Cove bristled and curled his hands into fists. He could feel himself trembling with rage.

“In the meantime I assume you won’t shirk any of your duties, it’s ne’er a pleasant fate for those who do. Drift here will be your mentor.”

“What?” both Drift and Cove exclaimed at the same time.

“Drift, he can bunk with you and the other young lads in the Salt Room, make sure you show him the ropes won’t you – I’ll be holding you personally accountable for his progress and performance,” Shin smiled before moving to shuffle about some papers on his desks that looked like shipping charts.

Drift opened his mouth and Cove could see the muscles in his jaw flexing as if he wanted to say something else. However, the other boy snapped it shut a moment later and gave the captain a curt nod.

“But-“ Cove began, before Drift’s fingers closed sharply around his wrist and yanked him out of the room, the door thudding shut behind them.