Like a ship’s prow, she thought grimly. She made her way to him and tugged gently on his sleeve. The man turned from the conversation he was having with an equally weather-beaten man (though one in better coat and breeches) and regarded the young woman.

“Are you Ullist?” Olsha asked, proffering a folded note. “I have a request, from a man by the name of Tyram... you and he fought together in the battle of Olsha Straits.” She blushed that her father had named her after a battle. “That’s my name, Olsha... I am his daughter.” The man with the long nose grunted and took the note, immediately passing it to his friend.

“Olsha, hey?” He grinned toothlessly. “Surely, I remember Tyram. Huh, country man he was but a good mender of sails. Sadly I don’t read so my friend here will tell me what the letter has to say.” It was at this moment that Olsha understood the man only had one good eye.

The better dressed man was scanning the letter, brow furrowed as he made out the scrawl. “Says here, greetings old friend... that she is Tyram’s daughter, needs passage to Jana Island. To see her aunt, it says.”

“Aunt Eporae is ill. I have to attend to her,” explained Olsha as the note was handed back.

“Long way, Jana Island,” said the other man, glancing at Ullist. “Not sure there’d be a ship going that way.”

“Surely wouldn’t be,” grunted Ullist with a shake of his head. “Unless you can pay a lot of gold and hire a boat.”

Olsha felt her heart sink. She was hoping that this Jana Island was not only close but it was on a regular route. Hoping she wouldn’t have to spend a day more than she had to in this noisy, foul-smelling port. Above all she didn’t want to part with what little money she had.

“You could take a room at the Seaward Tavern, over there,” Ullist nodded to a ramshackle building not too far away. “Clean rooms, I hear. Wait there and ask the sailors who drink in there each day if they know of a ship heading to Jana.”

“And how long would that be?” Olsha was scared to ask. “A day or two perhaps?”

Both men laughed. “More likely a month or two,” the other man chortled. “Jana’s not a big place, not much trade there and back.”

Olsha took a deep breath and fought back her despair. She had never wanted to make this journey but her father had said she should go, when they heard of Eporae’s illness. Heard too there might be an inheritance due. Now it looked as if by the time she found a ship and got to the island the aunt would be long dead and the money spent or swallowed up. With a nod to the two men she said “Thank you for your time,” and to Ullist: “I will tell my father you are well, sir.” She turned to go.
“There is a way,” said Ullist before she had taken a step. “If you are up for a little adventure.”

“Adventure?” Olsha turned back. She had already had enough of an adventure getting here, but if there was a way to get to Jana she was ready to listen.

“You are a young woman,” said Ullist slowly. “But are you a maiden of virtue?”

Olsha jolted. How dare this man – friend of her father or not – ask such a question? “What business is that of yours?” She exploded.

“Calm, my dear,” soothed the other man. “We can help gain you passage to Jana, if you are true.”

Olsha knew what he meant and coloured a little. “Of course I am true! I have had no male companion lie with me, or bend me over some gate. Not all us country girls have skirts that fly up in a breeze!”

The two men exchanged a sly grin before Ullist continued: “There is a Master Shipwright who has just completed a new ship. It is ready for its maiden voyage, ready to sail soon.” He hesitated a moment as if considering how to explain. “You may not know the custom hereabouts, Olsha of Tyram, but a good ship is made better with a true maiden on its maiden voyage.”

“But I need to go to Jana. Not sail to wherever the man takes his ship on...” She was sure there must be some correct nautical phrase but unable to find it continued, “on some test.”
“Indeed you do,” added the other man. “And Master Nagres will be willing to sail to Jana I am sure if he knows he has a true maiden aboard.”

Olsha pursed her lips. “And my innocence and virtue are all he needs for this... this custom?” Olsha flushed a little more. “Are there are no true maidens here, ready to help him?”

“Surely not,” said Ullist with a shake of his head. “It is, um, difficult finding one such as you. Hereabouts, anyways.” He spoke with certainty – as if he had some intimate knowledge of how things were here.

“This would cost me how much?” Olsha felt hope rise in her, despite her misgivings over the subject matter.

“Nothing, save your presence at the prow,” said Ullist quietly.

“At the prow?” Olsha looked puzzled. “Is that where my cabin would be?”

“Not exactly,” said the other man, stifling a small grin. “It is a grain ship... there are no cabins, save for the captain’s and I would fear that is unlikely to be a safe place for one as, shall we say, true as you.”

Olsha felt troubled by all this but understood if she needed to get to Jana this may be her only option. After a minute’s thought she asked if they would point her to this Master Nagres and his ship.

“Better than that,” said Ullist, “I will take you myself. If you would follow me.” He set off at a long stride for the far side of the harbour with Olsha struggling to keep up as they weaved past dockers and sailors, guards and traders.

The ship that Olsha was being led to looked cleaner and fresher than any others in the harbor but still the same tangle of ropes and rigging. However one thing that made it stand out was that there was no name on the stern. When Olsha asked Ullist about this he laughed. “Surely wouldn’t be a lucky ship if it was named before she set sail,” he responded.

“She?” Olsha looked puzzled.

“Ships are she,” explained the man as he guided the young female up the gangplank. “That’s why there are maiden voyages.”

Olsha nodded. At least she could see the sense in that.

The Master Shipwright had shock of white hair but a loud voice and steady gaze, and standing on the main deck was calling instructions to apprentices to secure the last of the rigging. He bowed stiffly to Olsha when she was introduced to him and listened carefully to Ullist’s explanation of the young woman’s request. Master Nagres was even polite as the man with the long nose recounted the part he and Tyram played in the battle of Olsha Straits from twenty years before, and how the young woman had acquired such a glorious name. Presently the old man turned to Olsha. “Young woman, I can help you if you help me. Indeed Jana is a long way from here but this is a sturdy ship and with a true maiden on our first voyage, the gods of the seas and winds will treat us favorably and bear us there safely.”

“And my passage will be free?” Olsha had a keen regard for money and was anxious to establish there were no hidden costs.

“Free as a gull riding the topmast,” beamed the old man and though Olsha wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not she took it to mean she wouldn’t pay a fare.

“So good sir, when so we sail?” Olsha asked. “I am keen to be on Jana as soon as possible.”

“We sail in the hour on the high tide,” responded the old man. “Now that we have a maiden and a pilot.”

Olsha looked confused until Ullist explained. “Master Shipwright Nagres here has been good enough to hire me as a pilot to steer this ship to Jana through the Olsha Straits – treacherous waters unless you know them.” His good eye sparkled. “Surely I do know those shallows well!”

Olsha felt better at this news. A friend of her father’s as escort should ensure she arrived safely. “Good news indeed. Master, I understand I am to be housed in the prow, is that correct?” She asked.

“Yes indeed,” chuckled the old man. “The only place for you!” Without another word he gripped Olsha’s arm, as Ullist did on the other side of her and together they steered her across the deck towards the prow.

Panic rose in Olsha. The grip of both men was more than firm and she didn’t like being propelled this way, feet barely touching the recently swabbed deck. She was aware deckhands and apprentices were staring at her and some were exchanging bawdy comments that would have made any young woman blush. “I can walk perfectly well myself,” said Olsha, but neither of the men seemed to have heard her. In a few moments she was in a small covered area where the ship narrowed to the prow, astonished to see there was a kind of cabin with a small waist high window that looked out at the front of the ship.

She realized as she was manhandled into the room and towards this window that it was in fact more of an opening and she was being pushed not only to it but through it. Fearing she might fall to the sea below she tried to resist but the men were too strong and Olsha was bent forward and forced out. She was a terrified and tried to scream, but volume failed her. What sound she made sounded like a baby gull, squawking for a meal.

Olsha’s upper body was pushed out and for a second feared she might tumble forward and down into the heavy dark green waters lapping round the prow. But she was held there, feeling her knees press against the thick wooden planks so she couldn’t go any further.

Above her head two other men were reaching down with ropes, seizing her arms to stop her waving them. Expertly, the way only sailors well used to ropes and knots can, her arms were lashed above her head to a metal ring set at the very highest point of the prow. Behind her, she felt her skirts lifted and torn away and legs spread by strong hands. More ropes were tied to her ankles and knees and knotted off so she was, in less than a minute, completely unable to move.

“Let me go,” she began to scream but one of the young apprentices, more like a monkey it seemed than a man, swung down with a length of rough cloth knotted in the middle and deftly gagged her. All she could offer were muffled groans as she felt various ropes tightened and her naked rear slapped hard.

Tears rolled from her eyes and dripped from her chin and nose, falling silently to the frightening dark waters two dozen feet beneath her. Olsha was terrified but she understood that the way she was tied she wasn’t intended to fall. She was helpless but safe, if exposed. Prow and stern.

She became even more exposed when the young monkey-man who had gagged her swung down again and tore her top away, exposing her young, firm breasts to the sea air. He allowed himself a sly feel of them and Olsha snorted her objections, even if no one could hear her.

Olsha tried to struggle to free herself but it was no use. She had no option but to half-hang, half-lean out over the sea. Terrified of what lay ahead, she closed her eyes though even that didn’t last long. Her eyes flew open as she felt something at her rear end, something hard and damp. Something pressing into her virgin sex.

Behind her, she could hear Master Nagres and Ullist talking and laughing. One of them was fucking her, slowly but deeply, while the other one said he would try her bumhole next. Olsha screamed anew as the cock sank deep into her and began its rhythmic and deep drilling of her.

Olsha hung there, gasping as the man speeded up and slowed, extracting as much pleasure as he wanted from his fuck. Only when he was ready did he climax, gripping her naked hips tightly and squirting into her with a cry of delight.

The woman lifted her head. Through her tears she could see other ships in the harbour, could see other figureheads. Naked women, like her, leaning out over the sea to show the way forward. But where Olsha was human, shivering and struggling in her ropes, they were wooden and serene. Carvings of the proud females the ships were named after. Afsha Lady and Thorane Venturer. Queen Perrla and Yaella Trader.

The man behind her had finished fucking the young woman and slapped her bottom hard, making her yelp. At once another cock was against Olsha, this time pressed into her tight anal ring, and at the same moment she heard someone call for the ship to cast off.

Behind her, the man was forcing his cock into her back hole, sliding it in despite her pointless struggles and muffled screams. It hurt but the man – Nagres or Ullist most likely – clearly didn’t care, sawing in and out just like the first one had done to her slit.

Behind her, she faintly heard someone call that this new ship was about to set sail on its maiden voyage, destined for Jana in four days. Good winds and steady seas permitting, the man laughed.

Four days of fucking, the young woman knew as she wept through the pain and humiliation, on the good ship Olsha Bound.

Copyright Angela Steele 2007 All rights reserved