Back to Sanya and her crew and the inevitable complications of being the only girl aboard the Bloody Galia.

The crew of the Bloody Galia already had plenty to celebrate. They had just taken a magnificent prize. When they arrived in the merchant port to sell the cargo, they got a price better than they ever could have dreamed. And then they came away with the news that there was a new baby at Harkon Hall.

"I'm an aunt!" Sanya announced to her men while Quartermaster Leon Hardicort distributed the shares to each man what he was due. They all cheered their captain and the fact that they had credits in their pockets and the fact that they all got an extra ration of rum.

It was Summer Solstice and the salt gods had been good to them, if you believed in that sort of thing. Sanya wasn't quite sure what she thought of her older brother becoming a father. Maybe it was because she had never really considered him likely to love anything more than his norcogs or maybe because he was only a little over two years older than Sanya and her twin. If he could father a child than the rest of the north would surely be wondering when his younger sister would be ready to take her place at Blackhold and have babies of her own.

Sanya couldn't believe that Talya was ready for such a thing. She certainly wasn't. So she put it out of her mind and dove head first into the celebrations with her crew.

Almost literally. Nobody was sure who jumped or was pushed into the water first. Thankfully all of her crew were experienced swimmers because one after the other most of the men ended up in the sheltered bay splashing and dunking. Their captain was not to be left out of the fun.

She was fully clothed when she went into the water giving as good as she got in the splashing battle that ensued. Some of the men had torn off shirts before they dove in or stripped down to their underthings. She was used to that but she did have to retrain some propriety herself as their superior officer.

It wasn't until she climbed out of the water onto the dock with her white shirt clinging to her that it became plain that she was not just one of the boys. She had filled out in the last year which hadn't been as noticeable when she dressed like a man in her long coat and breeches. At nearly fifteen years old Sanya Harkon was developing the body of a woman.

One by one her men went silent as they gestured to their crewmates in the captain's direction. It was Leon who quickly jumped out of the water to get her a towel to wrap around her shoulders.

"What the Dxun is wrong with everyone?" She asked as he escorted her back to her cabin so she could change.

Her old friend was also acting strangely. "You looked... cold," he attempted to explain. He was considering all the evil thoughts that the innocent display must have put into the minds of the other sailors, because surely he wasn't thinking them himself.

At the door to her cabin she smiled up at him. It was that same cheeky grin that she had given him the first day they made plans to take the ship and run away. He remembered that day. She had stood up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. An overwhelming urge came over him to kiss her now.

But he wouldn't, and he didn't. He let her shut the door and then rushed to his own cabin to try to sort out his feelings about all this.

He made the decision then and there that he wouldn't touch her till she turned 16. That's the age her family would have sent her off to be the bride of some noble. He could wait until then.

Of course if she came to him with questions in the meantime about the ways of a man with a woman he would be there for her and answer her as truthfully and gently as he could. His mind began to wonder to how excited she'd always been to learn new things and how she threw herself energetically into each new experience. She surely wouldn't be content with gentle instruction for long and then she would want to be in control and salt gods he would let her be the master of her own pleasure.

Deep in his own daydreams, Leon began to hear the rest of the crew coming back on board laughing and talking.

"Did you see her?" one of them whistled.

Another one speculated, "you think they went back to her cabin or his?"

And a third guffawed, "She'd be welcome in my hammock."

Kriff , Leon seethed. It was then the idea came to him that they should find a place to let these kriffers off for some shoreleave, a place that had a brothel so they could let off some steam. Maybe if the captain wasn't quite ready he could find some entertainment for himself as well. Some petite, red-haired entertainment?

…

Leon looked down once more from the balcony into the dining area at the table where the captain was settled with a pint and a hot meal before he closed the door and got down to business. He tore off his shirt and practically bounded towards the whore taking a handful of her luscious red hair and burying his face in it, breathing, "Nya."

The girl caught on quick. She'd seen them come in together. "Would you like me to pretend to be her?" She asked.

"You could… do that?" he inquired. It is what he was hoping for after all but he'd been too embarrassed to phrase the request.

"Aye." She smiled, "but it'll cost you extra."

"Th-that's alright." She walked past him towards the door and for a moment he was afraid she was going to look out and shout something down to the patrons below.

"Hold on now…" he started to protest, but she only loosened her dress and let it fall to the floor before she picked up the white shirt he had discarded on his way in. It was similar to the one the captain wore and the whore turned to face him doing up a couple of the buttons. "Well sailor. Are you going to ask permission to board?"

"Aye." He smiled.

She took his hat off, also similar to the one worn by the captain, and placed it on her own head. "Kriff me. That's an order." Her pout didn't look anything like the captain's confident smirk but that could be dealt with.

He turned her so her back was to him and pushed her face down on the bed. There. From behind it was much easier to imagine… though he had once heard a rumor that the younger Harkon twin had a birthmark on her shebs that the family had used to tell them apart. Some day he was going to find out. For now he mounted the lookalike with Nya's name on his lips.

…

Men . Sanya rolled her eyes and took a gulp of her ale. She had agreed that it might be a good idea to let her crew have a little down time but it wasn't like she was going to stay on the ship all by herself. Leon didn't seem to want her to come into the place but frankly she was curious.

The Madam of the establishment hadn't wanted to serve her either. Despite the fact that she was the captain of a successful crew and nearly as old as some of the girls who worked here, she was still not old enough to drink. Leon had paid for the meal with his credits before he headed upstairs. She'd have to thank him for that later. It was good ale.

Sanya had brought enough business into the place. It wasn't like she was just loitering and taking up space. Still the Madam, Korina was her name, eyed her suspiciously. That is until something else drew her attention away from the little female captain.

There was a scream and one of the girls was unceremoniously thrown out of the room in which she had been plying her trade. A big rough obviously drunk sailor came after her bellowing accusations and threats. She had cheated him, insulted him, stolen from him. It didn't really matter to Sanya. He wasn't one of her crew.

Korina of course came to the defense of her employee but the man was having none of it. His threats carried over to the employer. It really wasn't any of Sanya's business. She looked down into her suddenly very interesting mug of ale.

No one else was doing anything to help. As the situation escalated, however, Sanya knew she couldn't just stand by and watch. In leap and a bound she was on top of the table behind the assailant. She had whipped out her favorite knife and wrapped her arms around his neck to hold the blade to his throat.

"Let 'er go," the little captain growled.

He released his hold on the Madam.

"Now," Sanya whispered just as calmly. "You're gonna leave this place and you're never gonna bother these nice ladies again."

There was a pause in which the sailor seemed to consider his options. Evidently he came to the conclusion that walking out would be better than having a new smile carved for him by "the knife." He did so swiftly along with a couple of witnesses that presumably left to spread the tale.

Sanya watched him go before she jumped down from her perch and asked if Korina and the other victim were alright. Korina had a bruise blossoming around her eye and one of her other girls rushed up with med supplies and bacta ointment.

"It's alright Meggy. See to Rena," she waved away the girl's ministrations walked up to Sanya. "Captain Harkon?"

Sanya was bolstered by the use of her title and not being referred to as young lady or some such. "Aye?"

"Thank you. I'd like to find some way to repay…"

"Just a refill would be fine."

A smile broke out over the Madam's face. "You shall have it! And a place at our table anytime you are in port!"

There was a cheer from the girls and from the other patrons just at the moment when Leon Hardicort was taking his leave from the room upstairs. He wondered for a moment what all the fuss was about until he saw that Sanya was at the center of it.

She smiled up at him. That was the smile he loved.