“I’ll see you when the rains come around once more,” she whispered, staring fiercely into his eyes. He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head.

Each step up the ship’s wooden gangplank felt heavy with cause to Yenni, and at last she was staring down at her family, blurred by her tears, as the sailors called and prepared to depart. Yenni’s aunt, Morayo, head of ships, met her at the top. She squeezed Yenni’s shoulder as she made eye contact with Yenni’s mother and nodded. Then all too soon the sails unfurled, and the ship shuddered as it pulled away from the shore.

Yenni kept track of her days at sea by lining gold figurines along her cabin wall. She often received tiny sculptures, carved in intricate detail, of her favorite creatures as gifts—quick-footed n’ne and glorious sunbirds, fleet cats and giant river fish with tails longer than she was tall. They were some of her most prized possessions, and she planned to sell them all once she reached Cresh. From the moment she left home she must make her own way without the aid of others, lest she break the Sha’s rules and upset them, so she could not accept gold from her family. However, selling her own possessions was an acceptable sacrifice.

Two figurines and they reached the Shahanta’s island, where they replenished their stock of provisions. Six more figures joined the line as they passed the chain of small islands that made up Fuboli territory. Another eight as they cut through Gunzu waters, again stopping to restock, but Yenni stayed onboard to avoid awkward questions. And at last they were on the home stretch to Cresh. Though they would pass the small, single island of the Watatzi tribe, they did not plan to stop there. The Watatzi were a strange and reclusive people.

Their ship made good progress, sailing pleasantly when the wind was favorable, the crew urging the ship along with wind runes when it was not. Yenni very much appreciated that her aunt had left hanging her responsibilities as head of ships to see Yenni across the sea. The head of ships was almost always a woman, as it was known that water—oceans, rivers, and lakes—behaved far better for women than men, offering up its bounty of fish or allowing them smooth passage.

Yenni spent her days studying Creshen language, history, and politics, grilling her aunt about her travels to the Empire, or simply standing above deck and watching the white wake of the ship frothing on turquoise seas as she contemplated the task that awaited her in Cresh.