The language classes now taught by Beth, Belaletrix, and Jiemba were going really well. Several crew members were becoming fluent in the Aman and dragonkin languages. Many more were functional in Treekin and Zon. Many of the treekin were proficient in Westerosi as well.
Progress on fitting out the ship was moving faster as more workers had been hired. The functionality of the support beams they had created was proving acceptable, and they had learned how to curve them to meet the exact needs of the ship's bones. It was a complex process to move everything, install the support beams, and then move everything back, but they developed a rhythm to the work and got faster.
Putting the wind devices in the ship took a lot of effort as well. Gendry, the younger Mangana, and Thomas managed to remove the mangled section of the port-side tube, melt and recast it, and fuse it back onto the intact section. Then placement began. The poop deck had five small cabins under it, occupied by Bronn, Tormund, Jack, and the other 4 men-at-arms. The men-at-arms shared two cabins. The cabins had a small hallway in front of them, like the hallway in front of Arya's cabin. Two chairs were installed with the devices close by, and the tubes were mounted using split iron pipes. The pipes were mounted through the cabin walls, and then the outside piece was secured by bands wrapping the entire pipe. Cork was used to insulate the outside pipes from the inside and to hold the tubes securely in place. A bronze horn bell for the outside had holes to mount it at each end to the upper hull.
Six of the crew and the treekin had been found to have wind affinity. Two were quite powerful, equal to Jiemba, and then two pairs were slightly less powerful. But it was discovered that running the crystals at high output drained these people's ability much faster than running at low velocity. The recovery time varied as well. They figured out they could run for 4 hours at high velocity, then 8 more at lower velocity.
Caelan had set them down and discussed the use of affinity and the power in the crystals. There were 8 colors and types. Blue was electricity. Dark green was rot and poison. Red was fire. White was ice. Black was disruption. Light green was healing. Gold was light. Grey was the wind. He discussed how the affinity was nurtured to grow stronger and how they could strengthen it. It was a lot to take in, but they practiced the wind affinity in the 25-foot craft and the few other stones they had.
Arya pulled Caelan aside at one point and asked him why he and Calancy and the other treekin didn't go overland to their home instead of waiting for the ship. He described the 2-month journey it would take to get to the mountains. The mountains were virtually impassable, and Zon agents would probably attack them if they tried to cross them. When she asked why the Zon would kill them, he whispered back, "Calancy is the heir to the throne of our country; her mother is queen."
They had 10 acres of fields; 5 were in wheat and 5 in oats. The oats went golden brown before the wheat, so they cut and gathered them and let the sheaves dry in a shed. Later, they would thresh and winnow them, and the silage would be saved for animal feed. The wheat would be ready in a few weeks, and they would harvest, thresh, winnow, and grind it for flour.
A mount for the 26-foot windsloop was made near the fore castle on deck, and it was raised into place. The smaller confiscated sloop had been sold to pay bills. The hull was finished, and the Sovereign was carted and placed back in the water. Some leak testing commenced. Goods from the mansion were being transferred back on board, and the older Mangana and his alchemical gear were transplanted to a large cabin in the forecastle. As soon as the ship was in the water, Ned came back onboard. Several crew members began sleeping on board to protect and watch over it. The draft ended up being less than thirty feet, which the tree captains and Trevor found acceptable.
Arya set Jiemba and the two Mangana's down and told them that they were heading into deeper danger and that didn't even include the ocean crossing if they survived to do it. She offered them a small sum and what help they could give if they changed their minds and wanted to stay behind. They all waved her off and swore to put their lives on the line for the ship and the crew they were now members of.
The three forge guys studied the mechanisms they had taken from the lab at the Zon base. One was a door lock that had a poison needle in it. The other one was some kind of crank weapon part, like the catapults they had on deck. They took it to the museum guy to see if he had seen something like it. He was in a better mood that day and got a little catapult-looking thing out of storage, then showed them along with some bolts that fit it. It was a handheld catapult. He said he had the wood and string part on another, and in the end, they went away with a bolt and the makings for their own. Took them a while, but they got it back together and working. It was quite powerful when they finished and tested it with some bolts they had forged.
And then it was the big day. They said their goodbyes. Arya paid what they could on their bill, and Antakari and Kiaya covered the last part. Everyone loaded up, and they used the wind sloop and the other sloop to turn the ship out towards a new adventure.