The plan was to reach the mouth of the Whisper River, the stretch of water leading past Averell and down to the sea. From there it was a short sea voyage along the coast to Starshore.

It was a relaxing trip. The vessel was a cramped two-deck one with tiny cabins most passengers tried to avoid. Ruyo bored herself working on more sticks to send right back upstream with the next boat. She didn't think she could summon a completed enchanted item directly to the altar, the way she could make food or other raw materials remotely. So she'd need help with the delivery as she traveled.

She took a break and put on a little magic show. The passengers weren't wealthy enough to shower her with coins, but one man stood out for his curious gaze and many-pocketed vest. After the show he approached her and said, "I noticed you working on some kind of enchantment. What's that?"

She held up the latest of the carved sticks, and explained what it did. "Did you hear about them hiring an unusual mage? That's me."

"I hear we're at war now," the man said. "Never heard of that particular trick before. Will you sell me one of those to study it?"

"Where are you bound?"

"Why would that... oh." He spat over the ship's railing. "I'm not heading for enemy territory anytime soon."

She believed him, and could replace a stick from scratch with some effort. "All right, then." She also conjured some bread directly, then demonstrated being able to create a few pounds of iron at once, a bigger ingot than before.

"A generalized creation power!"

"Only for a few materials. No gold, sorry."

He bought the stick and the metal, and was clever enough to ask exactly which materials she was now competing to supply. "This has some real possibilities. Would you mind looking me up when you're back in Averell? I'll be on the coast for a few days trading before I return."

"I'll be away longer than that, but can get in contact. Ask any city guard where Ruyo's place is." She wished she could see the look on his face when he found out. Fun aside, she made a note to have the next messenger from Averell check on this merchant's intentions, just in case.

#

"Gators!" said Elly, calling Ruyo to the railing.

They were passing through a low, miserably reed-choked area that people had to keep dredging out. A party of half a dozen of the gatorfolk were here. They stood nearly as tall as a man but hunched over, splitting their attention between the boat and the fish and birds they stalked. They were all naked but for dull green-brown scales. One had a dead snowy-white egret slung over one shoulder, its long elegant neck broken. Most carried wooden spears and one had a sort of belt with a stone blade sheathed in it.

Ruyo watched them warily, as did most of the other passengers. The crewmen carried spiked poles to help navigate the river but those obviously served other duty.

"Do they talk?" Lisette said.

Ruyo shrugged. "Just in fairytales. They hunt, and we try to keep away."

"Ever trade with them?"

The man who'd bought Ruyo's stick overheard and laughed. "It's been tried! You can leave pretty things for them. Just don't expect anything back, no more than you'd get from giving shiny things to a raven."

Lisette looked thoughtful. "But ravens help hunters..."

#

The river's end was a marshy little town called Follyport. Indeed it was an awkward place for ships due to shifting sandbars, and the best docks were at a mediocre site two miles north along the coast. But the town had treasure regularly vomited up on the shore: slimy seaweed that had certain minerals prized by glassmakers, who also needed sand. The few dozen shacks here were mostly for the fishermen and weed-scrapers and longshoremen, and the most impressive buildings were warehouses and an inn for traders. It all smelled of fish and rotting plants.

"Can we stop here?" asked Lisette, looking excited.

Ruyo blinked. "Why?"

"It's the ocean!"

They had come to the Wild Ocean. She tried to see it not as a traveler who'd been there several times, but like the inland villagers who'd hardly ever left home. It filled the eastern horizon in dull blue-green. Everyone disembarked and went briefly quiet, listening to the crashing waves. A gull glared down at them from the roof of a warehouse and more circled overhead.

The sisters ran off to the beach. Ruyo smiled but focused on the task at hand. At the main shipping office in Follyport she asked about ships coming and going here and at the better docks northward. She'd timed things so that there should be a southbound boat soon, but one could never be sure.

"You're in luck," said the portmaster. "We're expecting the Haven coming southbound any time now. That's one of our own lords' ships."

"Follyport is run by the Mendrettos family, isn't it?"

"That's right. Most reliable shippers in the business. Room for some passengers too."

The ship-owning family had also produced a son who led the kidnappers' cult. There'd been no word yet on whether the family would catch or disavow him. Likely yes. Hopefully.

"Well? Are you booking passage? Your next option south is probably days later."

Ruyo cursed silently. "Yes, for three people."

#

At the tavern and inn, the sisters were at a table comparing seashells and smooth pebbles they'd found. When Ruyo walked in they said, "Why aren't you in the water?"

"I was arranging for a ride." She lowered her voice. "I'm not sure we can trust the ship's crew. But we need to get moving, and they've got reason to cooperate even if they recognize me."

Elly's eyebrows raised. "It's that family you mentioned?"

"Them. It's why I'm not playing in the water; trying to lay low." She would've liked to get out there, though; what a good place to train!

#

At dusk a shout went up: "Ship!" Several people bolted out of the tavern to see, including the sisters. Ruyo was content to wait and hear from them. Yes, the Haven was coming in with a favorable wind, right to Follyport instead of the northern site. Maybe they'd already unloaded their most cumbersome cargo.

"Settle down. They won't leave again until morning."

They had an unpleasant night with a couple of strangers, laying on blankets in a shared room. In the morning they headed for the ship.

It was a humble, solidly built cargo ship meant for coastal travel. Broad, with two simple masts and a figurehead of an octopus. She had to take a rowboat to reach it in the deep water beyond shore.

"Mena and party?" a crewman asked, using the false name Ruyo had given. She nodded and got shown to what passed for a passenger cabin on this ship: a corner of the musty hold divided into three rooms of varying sizes, with hammocks. All the other space was full of cargo. Ruyo tried to judge it. Casks of wine, lashed-down pallets of metal ingots, and fragrant bales of tea-leaves. Interesting that the metal shipments hadn't been cut off yet.

They set sail quickly, taking on only a few crates of oranges from Averell. During a quiet moment Ruyo wandered the deck and casually asked a crewman, "In a bit of a rush this trip?"

"The winds were good and the captain cut shore leave."

They chatted a bit while he worked the ropes. It sounded like they were taking advantage of the northern metal supply while they could, maybe stockpiling the stuff. She tried asking him about any unusual sights he might've seen in the tropics, but none of the crew had ever been that far out. How about the Mendrettos family; what news of them?

"I think they're getting into magic stuff lately. Don't know much about it myself."

She tried to get details, but couldn't pry more from him without looking suspicious. They talked of pleasant journeys, and she wandered off.

The sisters were having a great time long after Ruyo figured they'd get bored or seasick. They explored as much of the ship as they were allowed, which apparently was most of it. Elly even dared to climb partway up the ropes, until Lisette made her come down.

On the second morning of the trip, Ruyo was munching on a terrible ship's biscuit to avoid being obvious about not needing food. She'd been doing her enchantment work only inside the closed cabin, and keeping up with magical deliveries. It seemed like a waste to send some courier coming right back north with the latest batch of finished sticks. Maybe there was some way to make them travel instantly where they needed to go, just as she could make objects appear from nothing.

While she was pondering that, she got a strange feeling of vibration in her bones. At first she thought the whole ship was shaking, but it was just her. Like having touched something very hot or cold. Already the sensation was fading to a dull fizzing in the back of her mind. The sky around them was cloudy and swift-moving; the wind was mostly favorable. They were cutting across open water rather than hugging the coastline perfectly, so there were no landmarks, and the waves were unremarkable. She wasn't sure what to make of that. She felt uneasy until the ship came within sight of a familiar wooded island and then the shore.

It was even better when, around sunset, the Haven rounded a rocky bit of coast and entered the grand ring of islands called Wavebound Harbor. They passed a fishing village and then were in the swarm of sea traffic that always attended Starshore like servants in a noble household. In the distance, on the ring's west side, the city stood out beneath the falling sun. Its limestone towers and blocky buildings crowded close to the piers.

They reached shore and Ruyo danced down the gangplank. Even the hard stone of the harborside street was welcome and familiar under feet. "Finally!"

"The city's steep!" said Lisette, looking at how the Stairway district sloped up the nearby hillside.

"That's where the older mines are. We don't have to go that far, though. Stay close."

They were in the Scales, the seaside zone of sailors' pubs and a huge tube-like warehouse everyone used. Parts of this area could get rough at night.

"We're here to protect you," said Elly, though she and her sister were gawking more than guarding. Seashells glittered on the walls.

Ruyo walked familiar cobblestone streets uphill to the Pavilion. Most of this area was under cloth canopies lit by magelight, giving it the feel of a vast tent or private party. One of the city's stray cats ran by, startling the girls.

Because of the easy lighting and the fact that a ship had just arrived, a few shops in these terraced streets were open. Mostly small-time food sellers and a dealer in souvenirs. The only place Ruyo cared about right now was a squat white building on a corner, where the roof was a patio for a parallel alley just above it. The door was bright orange and decked with two banners dyed in wild mottled colors. She knocked low on the door, five times, in the place and pattern she'd used since childhood.

The door's locks unlatched and Ruyo's mother looked out. And stared. Mena, trader and shopkeeper, wept at the sight of her. "What's happened to you? Come in! Palis, look!"

Ruyo hugged her. "It's been a busy time. Meet Lisette and Elly, my new guards."

"Your own caravan guards! That's, well, that's a start. Come, tell me everything!"

Palis, Ruyo's wiry father, fidgeted and gave Mena a moment to fuss over her before swooping in to hug her too. Their home was a small front room that customers could walk into, with some of the lower-value items within reach of the counter, and a few small rooms for living in and storing the good stuff. He shook the sisters' hands and said, "You're from all the way out at Brotherhood, aren't you? Mighty brave to travel so far."

Lisette stood up taller and said, "We're still learning."

Elly said, "Explored some ancient ruins, took a punch from a monster. You know, typical stuff."

He nodded. "If half of what my girl said in her letter is true, I'm impressed."

Ruyo broke away from Mena's attention. The shop smelled, as usual, of alluring spices and perfumes and dyes. "You did get my letters, I hope? The second one especially?"

Mena huffed and grew more serious. "We did. And you owe us a long explanation. Your guards here will stay the night?"

Ruyo told the sisters, "Saves money on an inn."

Elly groused, "I'd probably end up sharing a room there anyway. Yes, please."

Ruyo set down her backpack and said, "I've got some dyes and trinkets for you so I'm not empty-handed." She tossed them each an orange too.

"Stop stalling, dear."

"All right. I can't tell you every detail, but..."