Kisara sat down, leaning her back against the foremast with legs folded tailor-style. "I understand," she said, with a full effort at patience, to the First Mate, "that I only paid for passage for one person, and only so far. But I'm sure you don't have enough rations to get us all the full distance, right? So why not slightly adjust and take us all to their village? I bet they'll be very grateful and may be willing to provision you at a discount . . . maybe even free."<br/><br/>She'd been trying to coax the man for at least a quarter hour now, and while he wasn't being stubborn, she suspected he was trying to convince<em>her</em>to give them more money. It wasn't so much that she didn't have it - though she didn't - but rather that they all had been in a hell of a fix, and she was sure that everyone wanted everyone else off the boats equally. "Come on, friend. This is foolish. It's likely closer, you'll be rid of the bulk of your unwanted passengers faster, and be able to reprovision to make sure you don't starve." Her eyes darted to Kersinta, sitting close to her grandfather with an arm around him. "And you'll have helped save the bride of the sea god. That's bound to make your journeying easier, right?"