A few maids bursted into laughter by the sight of his enthusiasm, yet there were also those who shook their heads in disagreement and had a much less friendly expression on their face. Runa’s was one of those. Luckily her blouse didn’t reveal her breasts that easily, for she had wrapped them in soft linen strokes of fabric.

A shadowy smile appeared on the captain’s face. “Splendid.” She looked back at her crew and divided it into two parties, one to go with the mage and the other one to clean up the mess they had made. As she stood with her back to the man, the boatswain took her aside for a moment, whispering in her ear: “Are you sure about this? Even though the maids adore you, making a man part of the crew is stroking the cats against their hairs.” The captain locked eyes with the woman next to her and placed her hand reassuring on her shoulder as she nodded. “Don’t you worry, he’ll be as comfortable as we make it.”

Runa, Trish and a few other, more stout women joined the man in the water. Once Runa was in the water, she immediately took a deep breath and went underwater, ensuring that the murk wouldn’t get to much in her clothes and hair. She quickly passed the mage, and couldn’t help to “accidentally” kick her foot against his crotch as she swam on, giving him the message that the captains wishes wouldn’t also mean that he was accepted by the crew. She couldn’t wrap her head around it, they were in no need of a mage. This flimsy tunnel was easily reached without one too, all be it that not everyone would find it so. Still with some effort there was no need for magic. It annoyed her beyond measure.

But that annoyance had to make place for some sheer wonder as she came to the surface and saw the shimmering shine of gold and gemstones. Her eyes reflected it for a moment. She loved the first site of a well hidden mystery. It gave her the chills and it always took her a while to recover from the beauty. Though it often was a far more immaterial feeling that took hold of her, as the raw essence beyond the glimmering surface was what lured her the most and let her forget everything around her.