different parts. Just a larger boat with two in-ship levels with thirty furnished rooms on each of them. Some people would have to share and the rooms weren't big and they were plain, but had nice beds and a restroom in each. The showers and tubs would have to be shared too, but fully twenty people could use them at one time. If that wasn't enough for Royal Guards and the combat instructors, then Tor had sorely misjudged them.
He worked slowly, in small bits and pieces, holding things in place as he ate and checked his field for stress. There wasn't much really, as long as he went slow. It took the remaining time and he had to skip the official meals, but just had it put around that he was busy… entertaining. The Warden people gave it a wink and a nod, and no one did more than offer to help.
With his… entertaining.
On the day they were to leave Tor got up and ready, Alissa doing the same, insisting on showering with him, though he didn't let her touch him. That didn't stop her from playfully trying. He didn't scold her, since they were to be married soon and you didn't treat your wife, no matter how young, like a child. Besides, she didn't look like one, and it was easy to forget. He didn't let himself though. Rules were there for a reason.
Even the arbitrary ones.
They needed four transports for all their things and no one had even asked what they were going to do to actually get there, which seemed a big oversight to Tor. Technically they could have used the transports, but it would be a miserable trip, hours in cramped conditions with no restroom at all. Or water. But it would be fast too.
That was something to avoid. Slow was better for once. They had some food for the voyage and he bought more in Printer once they got there, because it was going to be better to have too much than to run out half way. Especially since they had all those giants with them, and Tor wasn't going to speed up the trip because their tummy's were grumbling.
They over-nighted on the beach in front of Holly's house, Tor picking up a few pies from the baker in town to share, ten of them. The man reminded him they were already paid for as per their agreement, even as Tor delivered a few extra amulets to him with a smile. Then, before dark, he checked with Clark and Ethel in their store. Business had been going well and they'd started a few more concerns, using his share of the money. They'd need more devices soon, but could hold for a month, they told him, not seeming sure of that. He gave them about half of what he had left, hoping that he'd be able to go back to his copy work soon, otherwise several businesses were going to be in for a tough time because of his lazy ways. He seemed fine after the work he'd done on the boat for the trip, but if he was missing something Tor didn't want to end up falling into bloody chunks because he made one too many batches of lights.
The next day he took Petra out to set up the ship, hovering about three hundred feet up, he activated the amulet in his hand, the vast ship appearing directly beneath him. The pretty girl hovering next to him gasped. She wore a simple rust colored silk outfit and light, cream colored shoes, kicking her feet in excitement as he lowered the boat. Once it was in the water she landed on the deck instantly and spun a little, looking around, her face gleeful.
“Tor! I… How big is this thing?” The awe in her voice was gratifying.
That it floated and seemed stable was also gratifying, it was always so hard to be sure about things like that. Tor pointed to the front and then back.
“Five hundred feet long, one hundred and twenty wide. Five levels, but three are above the main deck, those buildings over there? In all there are sixty-five rooms, sixty below decks, five up here. The Captain’s is the biggest, of course. The rest up here are for Rolph, Karina, Ursala and Ambassador Mutta. The kitchen should feed us all, and is probably little overbuilt space wise, at the back of the ship, inside on the first floor. I mean deck. The tubs and showers a level down from that.” Tor looked over the side of the rail and saw that the water was pumping in and out already, so that was working right. Good. If worse came to worse a big boat with water at sea was better than a big boat without. Dying of thirst on the ocean would be ridiculous, but he'd heard of it happening in stories.
Tor gestured for her to take the glowing focus stone and hang it on the post right in front of the pilot house.
“There you go Captain. You have the ship.” Tor bowed to her, a low thing that would have fit the King himself.
She looked at him mouth half open and then smiled hugely, white teeth gleaming. Then she started doing a little dance like the combat giants all did when acting playfully gleeful. It was cute on her, but freaky when some of the others did it.
“Thank you.” Was all she said, her eyes gleamed brightly and her look seemed proud and happy all at once.
Tor didn't actually get why she was thanking him for dumping a whole bunch of work and responsibility on her without asking, but he managed a satisfied look anyway, as if he hadn't been expecting to have to beg her to do it. She was the only one he was certain could find the continent of Afrak in a boat though.
They had to load using air transport, but the rear deck was large enough they could set down all the vehicles at once. They were a little close for comfort maybe, but the doors opened on the sides for off loading, so it worked. It was tempting to take them, just in case of problems, but they had a half dozen people with magic vehicles, and while they didn't get as big as a full transport, there were more than enough for everyone to get a ride if need be.
It would work. It took three hours to load everything, the kitchen being nearly as far from the transports as physically possible, but with seventy odd people, it didn't take that long. They didn't make Mutta load anything, being a dignitary, but Rolph was set to work by Petra who smirked as she did it. At sea, by long standing tradition, she outranked him. Actually as Captain she outranked them all, hence the biggest room, even though she didn't really need it.
The ship was jet black on the bottom, but the top portions had been done in a light blue color, nearly white, The railing that ran around the deck was a light wood rail, on true white stone. Tor had textured the deck so that it wouldn't be slippery when it got wet. He was sure some things had been forgotten, but it would go where they wanted and they could sleep, eat, bath and drink fresh water all the time. There were lights in each room and the hallway. It wasn't really pretty, but was just plain, not shabby. Still, he kind of held his breath when everyone started getting their rooms. He went first, just taking the room on the first floor, near the stairs, so that he could be found easily if anyone needed help. Kolb grabbed the one across from him and Wensa the room next to that. Probably for the same reasons. After that he lost track.
No one complained about the rooms, which had large beds that made themselves, and a few pieces of furniture. They were the same in each room, identical, with red carpet floors and brown soft chairs and sofas, with a table and writing desk that looked like wood. There were large windows too, each about four foot around to let in natural light. It was all shield, so it was just as strong as the wall itself, clear or not. It gave people a view at least.
That was it though. No drapes, no decorative hangings. Just a place to stay. No one whined about it, not to him at least. He really didn't know what people got on a regular boat and hoped he hadn't stinted too much. He'd been running on kind of a tight personal energy budget in a way, so it was about the best he could do safely for now.
Tor went back to the kitchen to start setting things up, and making some bread for dinner. They had fish and giant bugs for the meal, those lobsters they liked so much in Printer. So that and some vegetables, carrots and peas? It was standard stuff, but with a spice cake for dessert, it should do. It was three in the afternoon when they left, so he had six hours to get something ready. The bread first, large flat loaves, so they'd bake quickly and sheet cakes, he made four, but decided to layer them. If he was in Two Bends it would have been enough for all three hundred villagers to have some, but here, with what these giants ate he just hoped two full cakes would be enough. The recipe was so basic that he didn't have to look anything up, which was good, since he didn't have anything with him to do that with. In their hurry, no one had thought to get a set of recipes in for the trip. That was fine for baking, obviously, since he could make a few hundred types of baked goods from memory. The rest of the food would probably be a bit plain if he didn't fight to make it more interesting somehow. At least they had plenty of spices, which always made cooking easier.
The only real concern was the big bugs. He didn't have a real clue there, except that he'd been told to boil them until they turned bright red and that he needed a big pot with a lid so they wouldn't be able to escape. The idea of boiling them alive frightened him, but Holly had assured him that it really was the way it was done. It
