They were away. The adventure had truly begun. Arya whispered to herself that she hoped the rest of the voyage would be less exciting. She gave Bronn a sneer and headed back to the cabin with Brienne. Some hour later the cook knocked on the cabin door and Brienne met him and helped bring his cart down the stairs into the main cabin. He hummed to himself as he set up the small table with six chairs for dinner. "Begging your pardon miss, I'm Bart the cook." "By your leave I will serve your dinner now." He quickly scattered four plates and settings on the ship table. Small raised edges were on it for rougher seas. He smiled and pulled two large tureens from his cart. He decanted them exposing a deep red beef stew in one and steamed vegetables in the other. He also pulled two small platters out with tarts on them. "I just love making tarts and with you ladies on board I have the excuse." Arya smiled at him saying "I just love tarts Bart, make them as you will." A broad smile crossed the cooks face. "Of course." he beamed.
Beth said "Do we need a taste tester?" "To make sure our owner isn't poisoned?" Bart made an unhappy hum noise and stabbed a spoon into the stew. He stuck it in his mouth and smiled. "I feed my people the best I can with what I have on hand." "There will be no poisoned food on my boat!" "Uhmm begging your pardon...your boat miss." "Some of these vegetables don't keep well and that excellent beef is in short supply. So we should enjoy them as we can." He stood back smiling as they began to eat, taking their complements to heart. He leaned over to the bottom of the cart and pulled out a raw shank of beef. "For the dog mam." Bart took his leave saying his helper would be back for the dishes and cart in the morning. Calancy looked at the shank and pointed at Nymeria. Arya nodded and Calancy took the beef over and whispered to the wolf. She placed the shank on the floor near the window seat and whispered to Nymeria. The wolf got down and sniffed the beef. She acted uninterested and Calancy whispered to her again. Nymeria settled to floor and began to gnaw hesitantly on the meat. Arya swore she sighed in discontent with the meal.Out the window it was getting dark and Brienne excused herself and went to her room. Beth took Calancy to the other room for settling in and bed time. Arya crossed the room and pulled the window shut and bolted the heavy shutters. "Time for bedding down girl." she ruffled the wolfs fur and then snuggled her into a hug. She moved to the bed and dumped out her duffel bag. As she began putting away clothes she noticed a small framed painting. It was of her father and mother when they were first married. They looked so young in the image, her father had that brash king of the world look on his face. Her mother was beautiful, a young blushing bride.She missed them so. She placed the painting on a small shelf and finished putting away the rest of her stuff. In the bottom of her bag were two wrapped items. The first was a dragon glass dagger carved from a single piece. The carving was extremely detailed and the edge of the of the blade nearly cut her when she tested it.There was a little wire stand that perfectly locked onto two of the small raise edges and then held the dagger securely in place. The second cloth held a blueish crystal an inch across and maybe two inches tall. A small note fell out when she unrolled it. She recognized Bran's hand when she read it. 'A small crystal supposedly attributed to the First Children. I think our father found it on his travels and what surprised me was the interest Calancy showed it when she saw it. Be well Arya. Bran'
It too had a wire holder that clipped to the raised edges so she placed it opposite of the dagger.