Two weeks later they could see the green humps of the Neira Isles. And not a moment too soon. They were running low on food, though the queen had regularly replenished the water barrels, so there was freshwater aplenty. The cook had used this water to stretch the food supplies by making everything into a soup. The sailors had also taught Rolf and Pogue how to drag a net alongside the ship to catch fresh fish, but Queen Celina was insisting that they needed flour and eggs and fruit.
But the Ship showed no signs of slowing.
In fact, as the largest island grew clearer, the Ship veered course to give it a wide berth.
“We’re not going to stop,” Lilah said.
They were gathered around the useless wheel. Orlath stood with one hand on it often, and when he wasn’t touching it he had a loop of rope tied around it, as though fixing their course. He had told them it was to put the crew at ease, so they wouldn’t realize how much the Ship was doing on its own, but he had confessed to Celie and Lilah that it made him feel safer as well. It was also a good vantage point to see what needed to be done: the Ship steered itself, but now it left the sails and rigging to the sailors, and in that Orlath was still needed to give orders.
“We’ll have to ready the griffins to fly,” Queen Celina said, her brows pulled together with worry. “I wish I could go myself, but I’d have to ride double, and then that griffin wouldn’t be able to carry as much back.”
“It is being perhaps better that you are going, or I,” Orlath said in Sleynth.
Queen Celina shook her head. “As nervous as it makes me to send my children to a strange country alone, I think it’s best if we don’t overburden the griffins. It’s quite a distance for them to fly, even without carrying the supplies.”
“So, you think that Celie, Pogue, Lulath, and I had better go?” Lilah asked.
“And me,” Rolf said. “I’ll go double with Celie, and then Dagger—”
Queen Celina put a gentle hand on his arm. “Rolf, I’ve thought about this a great deal. Dagger is far too young. Even without a rider it will tire him too much. There’s no sense in his going, and no sense in burdening one of the griffins with two riders. You and I will stay and try to be patient.” She smiled at her son as though she knew he wouldn’t like what she’d said.
“It’s the best way to do it,” Lilah said. “No griffin carrying double, and all of them at least half-grown.”
“Now the trick is going to be how fast we can get to port, buy what we need to buy, and get back,” Pogue said. He looked at the ocean streaming by on either side of the Ship. “We’re moving pretty fast.”
“With that I am helping,” Orlath said. “When an hour comes, I will be curling of sails and dropping of anchors, that the great speed of this great Ship is slowed.”
“We can only be hoping this noble Ship does not have objections,” Lulath said, running his fingers through his hair.
The steady supply of freshwater meant that they were able to wash and keep their clothing clean, but they all had only one set of clothes, and it was odd to see Lulath in the same coat day after day. Celie herself was beginning to hate her green gown, and wished that she were as tall as Lilah and Queen Celina. They were of a similar size, and had swapped gowns a few days ago for the sake of variety.
“I’ll speak to the Ship,” Lilah declared.
She marched down the stairs from the helm to the main deck, then up the stairs to the foredeck. At first they all stood there watching her in mystification, but when she leaned over the rail in the bow, Celie and Lulath both started to run. They caught up to Lilah just as she put her stomach on the rail and leaned over as far as she could.
Celie immediately grabbed the back of Lilah’s skirts, and Lulath put himself on the rail alongside her, with one long arm over her back. Together, Lilah and Lulath leaned down toward the figurehead, and Lilah began to shout.
“We need to slow down!” Lilah called. “You’ve got to let us slow down! We have to get supplies from Neira, all right? Or we’ll all die!”
They waited, but nothing happened. Celie pulled Lilah back onto her feet, and Lulath straightened with a groan. The blood had rushed to both of their heads.
“Was that being helping?” Orlath came up behind them. He was nervously stroking Jocko, who looked ready to leap at the figurehead himself, to join the game.
“I guess we’ll find out when we try to slow down,” Lilah said.
“Shall I begin?” Orlath asked.
“Of a sureness,” Lulath said.
Orlath strode to the end of the foredeck and cupped his hands to his mouth. He rapidly gave orders, and men began to race around, pulling in the sails and tying them fast. Two of the men went below to lower the enormous anchor.
Lilah leaned back against the bow rail. She took Lulath’s hand in one of hers, Celie’s in the other. Rufus, sensing their tension, came to lean against Celie, and then Lorcan and Juliet, not to be outdone, had to lean against their people. The weight of the griffins nearly knocked them all over the rail.
The sails were furled. The anchor hit the water with a splash. The Ship’s breakneck speed began to slow.
Lulath reached across and grabbed Celie’s other hand so that they made a circle. The griffins were forced to stand under their arms, and Lulath, Celie, and Lilah all cheered. And then Lilah solemnly thanked the Ship.
“We’d better get ready,” Lilah said.
“We don’t really have any riding clothes to change into,” Celie said, letting go of their hands and feeling self-conscious as Pogue and Rolf came toward them.
“No, of course not, but we’ll need to make a list of what we’ll want and how much, and collect some money.” She froze.
“Do we have any money?” Celie asked, knowing exactly what her sister had just realized.
“I never have any,” Rolf said, wide-eyed.
“I have a few Grathian coins,” Pogue said. “But I don’t think it will be enough.”
“Here’s the purse,” Queen Celina said, gliding up to them. She handed Lulath a fat leather purse that chinked reassuringly. “Why don’t you carry it, Lulath, darling? And Lilah, let’s trade gowns again. I’m very fond of the one you’re wearing.”
Pogue went to talk to the cook about what supplies they would need, while Lulath stowed the purse deep in his coat and began to adjust all the griffins’ harnesses. Celie followed her mother and Lilah to the cabin she and Lilah shared.
“Where did that purse come from?” Celie asked her mother after the door had been latched. The cabin wasn’t large, so she had to sit on Lilah’s bottom bunk and draw her legs up while her mother undid the laces at the back of Lilah’s gown. “I’ve never seen it before.”
“You’ve just never noticed it before,” her mother corrected her. “And why would you have?” She helped Lilah out of the gown and laid it on the top bunk while Lilah undid her laces.
“Is the money Grathian or Sleynth?” Celie asked. “And what happens if they don’t like Grathian money—or Sleynth!—on Neira?”
“It’s perfectly good gold, and some silver,” her mother said. “And they’re a trading post. There’s no reason why they wouldn’t take it. None at all.”
“Thank heavens you had it,” Lilah said. “I never carry any money! I don’t think I’ve even seen Grathian money!” She laughed as she slipped her own gown over her head.
“Money is money,” their mother retorted. She yanked at Lilah’s laces, making her oldest daughter yelp. “Neither of you need to worry about it.”
“Fine,” Lilah wheezed. “But I need to breathe to ride Juliet!”
“I’m sorry, Lilah, darling,” Queen Celina said, contrite.
She helped Lilah adjust the gown, and then she braided Celie’s hair so that it would stay out of her way. The sisters helped their mother into her gown, and they all went to the main deck together.
The tide was still drawing them forward, toward the mouth of NeiMai Harbor, as Orlath told them it was called, though if the Ship didn’t turn, they would pass right by it. The island was shaped like a large crescent, and NeiMai Harbor contained the only real city on all three islands. They could not only see it but also see a fleet of fishing boats scattered about the ocean ahead of them.
“Will the fishermen help us if we need it?” Celie asked Orlath.
“Of course,” Orlath said. Then he switched to Grathian so that he could speak more easily. “The main business here is fishing, but they also resupply ships passing by. They would lose a large part of their income if word got out that they had failed to aid a party of distressed travelers.”
He paused. “But even as slow as we’re going now,” he added, “we go much faster than any other ship I’ve captained, let alone a fishing boat. If the Ship chooses to speed up again, there’s no prayer another ship could catch it. The griffins are the only hope for that.” Seeing Celie’s concern, he patted her shoulder. “But I see no reason to worry about it now.”
Celie frowned, not reassured.
“Oh, come on, Cel!” Rolf chided her. “What are the odds that the Ship won’t let you catch back up? It could have dumped all of us long ago, if it really wanted to go to Larien on its own!”
“All right, all right, I know,” she said, mollified.
They said their good-byes and then climbed onto the backs of the griffins. Dagger was keen to join them, so Rolf had to keep both hands on his harness to stop him from leaping off the rail. Lulath’s girls tried to climb up Lorcan and get in the baskets slung from his harness, so Queen Celina put one under each arm, and Orlath did the same, much to the disgust of his monkey, which climbed into the rigging, muttering to itself in protest.
“We’re not as close as we could be,” Orlath said. “But if you leave now, by the time you’re done bartering, we won’t be just a speck on the horizon, either.”
And on that cheery note, they lined up their griffins and pointed them toward the harbor, and the griffins surged into the air. Down below them on the deck, Dagger screamed with frustration, and the girls began to bark.
It was glorious to be flying again, and such a distance. They’d flown a great deal of the way from Sleyne to Grath, but since arriving at the Sanctuary most flights had been loops over the gardens or short jaunts down to the shipyard. It was terrifying to fly over the open sea, but also very exhilarating.
Celie had never fallen off Rufus before—not while he was flying, anyway. And she could swim, though she’d never been in the ocean before. So she clung to the harness tightly, but held her head high and let the wind whip her hair back and bring tears to her eyes. She looked over at Lilah and saw that her sister was grinning, and so were Pogue and Lulath.
Pogue called something to Arrow, and Arrow dove down until his talons dragged in the waves, then soared back up again. Pogue let out a cheer. Then they all joined in, skimming the tops of the waves and rising back up again, hooting.
Celie loosened her grip on the harness, and even took one hand off to wave at the fishing boats they began to pass. The fishermen all stopped, nets trailing from their hands, and stared. A few waved, but most just stood with their mouths open. One man lost his grip on the net and it drifted into the water. The other fishermen on that boat began to shout and wave their arms, berating the hapless man who had lost the net.
Without even needing a signal, Rufus dove after the net. He had to put all four legs right into the water, which also splashed Celie, soaking her skirt and shoes, but he managed to snag the net with three of his four claws. Wings flapping, he struggled to raise it out of the water, however, and Celie realized that it was full of fish.
“Pogue,” she called.
Pogue and Arrow were there immediately, and so were Lulath and Lorcan. They all swooped in and grabbed some of the net, hauling it up out of the water and over the narrow deck of the low fishing boat.
“Drop it,” Celie called, much as she would have for a ball during a game of catch, and the griffins obliged.
With a sound between a thump and a splat, the laden net landed on the deck. Long blue fish began to flop and writhe everywhere. The men cheered, and then set to work scooping the catch into baskets.
Celie gave them a jaunty salute, and they continued on to the harbor.