"There's a problem. I could in good conscience work you without pay on the way to Caer Lyn, because you were stowaways. But from Caer Lyn to Kelsi you would be crew, and deserving of crew pay. We already have a full crew, so it would be a stretch for the ship to afford that."

"That's all right," Kira said. "We would work for passage again."

"All right with you, perhaps," the captain said. "But I have ever insisted on paying an honest wage for honest work. It would not sit well with me to not pay you the wages you have earned. Nor would the crew be happy, worrying that perhaps I was planning to short them on pay if I could find the likes of you willing to do the same work for little or nothing."

Kira glanced at Jason, who shrugged helplessly. What would her mother do if faced with this kind of thing? Try to find some way of satisfying the captain's worries. Queen Sien had talked about the need to balance the ledgers, so she could understand the need to— "Oh. Sir? You know I brought money aboard."

"Aye," the captain said. "It'll be returned when you leave."

"What if we pay for our passage? What if we pay you the same amount that you'd pay us as crew? It would be a fair exchange of money. That way we get where we need to go, make sure the ship is not shorted, and ensure that our labor is justly compensated."

"'Justly compensated,' she says," the first mate commented.

The captain gazed steadily at Kira for a long moment, then nodded slowly. "Aye. That could be done. If you regard it as a fair deal."

"I would," Kira said, looking at Jason.

"Me, too," Jason added.

The captain exhaled heavily. "Done, then. You'll be crew as far as Kelsi. But still you've cost me five crowns. Serves me right for betting against the mate."

The first mate held out her hand, grinning, as the captain gave her a coin. "I told you I could make sailors of them."

The Son of Taris worked her way into the harbor of Caer Lyn the next morning. Kira took quick glances around as she helped with the sails, remembering that her mother had once lived here, had spent her years as a Mechanics Guild Apprentice here, and had married her father here. Her grandparents had lived here before choosing to move to Altis so they could avoid Imperial pressure on the parents of the daughter. Kira wondered if she would ever have a chance to actually visit and see the places where her mother had grown up.

The ship was brought in to a pier to offload cargo. As soon as the lines were sent over to the bollards on the pier and tightened, the crew went to work shifting cargo, bringing crates and barrels up from the hold and moving them to shore. It was backbreaking work, but Kira told herself that the quicker it was done the quicker the ship could leave.