Maid For Him

Chapter 1

Ami

I have a lot of energy, given that it’s an hour before dawn. Usually, I need to see at least a little daylight before I’m functional, but not today. Today, I’m too excited to be sleepy. 

I’m on a ship again. It’s on the sea instead of in space, true, but it’s a ship.

I grin, bouncing on the balls of my feet as I look around the bustling port. There are all kinds of vessels bobbing in the gentle waves. A few wooden fishing boats, but most of the ships are like the one I stand on, made of sleek metal and glass. They could be spaceships floating on the ocean.

Except for the billowing sails, that is.

“Hey! Ames!” One of my fellow sailors, a burly Kiphian with rust-orange skin, throws a mess of rope at my feet. “You’re the new guy, you get to untangle those. Divine Ones only know how the hell those got so snarled.”

“Yes, sir,” I say automatically, crouching to examine the task I’ve been given.

“You don’t have to ‘sir’ me, boy,” says the sailor, and I look up just in time to catch him rolling his eyes. “I’m not an officer, use your damn eyes.”

I open my mouth to say another ‘yes, sir’ but catch myself in time.

“Got it,” I tell him instead.

The sailor strides away muttering about stripling lads with a crush on the sea but no experience. I smother a laugh. I might have a crush on the sea, but, on the other two counts, he’s dead wrong. I’ve got plenty of experience, and I’m no lad.

I’m happy to have another confirmation that my disguise works, though. I need this job. Of course, I also want it, but mere desire alone wouldn’t have been enough for me to take the risk of pretending I’m a man. 

This gig pays better than any of the odd jobs I’ve worked since Gran and I got to Kiphia. Once I save up a few months of a sailor’s wages, I’ll finally be able to get me and Gran a better place to live. The sooner, the better, given Gran’s health. Kiphian air is better than the air on Erebus, as we’d hoped, but living in our rathole of a house isn’t doing her any favors.

As I sort through the muddle of rope, I let myself daydream about finding a new place to live. Maybe we could even find one with a small terrace. The most important thing is to have heat, but, hopefully, we’ll be able to afford a few other luxuries as well.

I chuckle, realizing I’m getting way ahead of myself. My first voyage hasn’t even begun yet, and, here I am, counting ahead to months of wages. I need to see how this goes, before I rely on sailing being a regular thing.

Looking around me, I’m glad to note that more human sailors have come aboard since I arrived. The deck is alive with activity as we prepare The Dauntless for the journey ahead, and there’s a pretty even mix between Kiphians and humans now, which is unusual. For the most part, humans hire humans and Kiphians hire Kiphians.

Except for Royal Admiral Zenir, apparently. He has a reputation for hiring humans, as long as they’re fit for the work. Mostly as sailors, but I’ve heard he hired a human groom for his stables, after seeing the guy calm a runaway Lorl rampaging through the streets.

That’s the trick, there — guy. The Royal Admiral may be different from the rest of the Kiphians in his attitude towards humans, but, apparently, he’s the same as most of his people when it comes to women. 

Women don’t work. 

I’ve been told that Kiphian women have three options — marry (by far the most popular), become priestesses (not unheard of), or fight for a spot in the Royal Family’s elite female guard (pretty damn rare). Regular old work? Not on that list.

That’s changing for human women a little, ever since Queen Liara became a royal nanny and then, incredibly, King Kravath’s wife. More rich Kiphians are hiring women as servants now, but Admiral Zenir hasn’t jumped on that bandwagon. No women allowed on board his fleet.

I shake my head as I coil the rope, swiftly and confidently. That’s the Admiral’s loss. The best members of the crew on Star’s Angel were women — myself included. I sigh, missing my old ship yet again. I’d choose Gran’s health every time, but that didn’t mean it’d been easy to leave my old life behind.

Finishing the rope task, I get back to my feet and shake off my brief melancholy. I don’t need to dwell on the past, not right now. I’m standing on the deck of a ship about to cross strange seas, being paid for a trip I’d be happy to join for free. I’m leaving the Ocean Kingdom for the first time since we got to this planet, on a trade voyage to the Treetop Kingdom, which just sounds incredible.

Cutting my hair and binding down my breasts is a small price to pay for that. The pressure around my chest is vaguely uncomfortable, but it doesn’t stop me from breathing the fresh ocean air. That’s all that matters.

Pulling myself back to reality, I scan the organized chaos on deck for a way I can help. I spot someone struggling to hoist a crate of supplies over the side of The Dauntless, and rush over. The human man shoots me a grateful look, as I lend my strength to his. Together we stabilize the crate and get it on board without any further trouble. I feel the glow of shared accomplishment, the way I used to on Star’s Angel’s crew.

I catch my breath, leaning on the railing. A wave slaps the side of The Dauntless, part of the small wake created by another Royal Navy ship departing from port. Salt spray leaps up and mists my face, and I smile.

I came to Kiphia for my Gran, but I also came to experience a whole new planet. I wanted to see new ecosystems, wander in unfamiliar hills. Instead, I ended up with nothing but crappy work repairing roofs and scrubbing floors. Too busy trying to survive, I hadn’t even had the time to explore the Third Isle, let alone the rest of the Ocean Kingdom.

But today? That’s all changing. 

Today, I’m leaving on an adventure, at last.