Raevyn hadn’t noticed before, but she found that she could hear the crew below deck even with the constant blowing of the wind. She smiled and followed Frey down the stairs, leaving the outdoors and the fresh air behind. The cargo hold was dark, like always, save for the few candles that the crew had lit. Unlike the outdoor appearance of the ship- threatening and fearsome, with a dragon figurehead and a sail depicting a dragon encircling a skull- the inside was like a cavern, dark and cold. But today, it was warm and lighter of feeling, more like an old tavern than a cave. Frey lead Raevyn through the main hall and into the hold, which now stored more food and drink than it did cargo. She had never liked to spend time here, and had elected to sleep on the deck rather than in the sleeping chambers. It smelled like… men. Men who hadn’t bathed in weeks. Still, they’re the same men that were kind enough to carry me across the sea and into the south. She thought as she stepped through the doorway and witnessed the scene. Most of the crew, a group of forty-four, were sitting at separate tables, talking and laughing with the maidservants. One of them lay passed out on the floor, and four others were brawling and had attracted quite the party. Raevyn braced herself as Frey coughed and announced: “The Lady Thorne is here!” He shouted, trying to get the attention of the whole crew. It took a while, but Frey got them all to settle down. The few that had spent the coin to buy the gift stood, and gathered in an awkward horseshoe circle. Raevyn tried not to laugh as Olaf, a huge beast of a man, brought a fancy wooden box with a raven carved into the lid up to her, bowing dramatically. Raevyn chuckled as she opened its lid, wondering what would be inside. A dress? No, the box was much too small for that. A bow? She had made it very clear that she hated bows. It had to have been something that rough men like this would give a lady like her…