On the other hand, what good would speaking up do? She’d asked one innocent question, and it had very nearly caused a world of trouble—​and still could. If she spoke again, she’d do more harm than good. After all, it wasn’t like the prime minister was going to cancel the festival just because one kid thought maybe she should.

I’m sorry, Pixit, she thought. I can’t.

I have to find another way.

Chapter
Seventeen

As Mina rode a river ship away from Mytris, toward the farmlands, she kept coming back to the same thought:

They should cancel the festival.

Unless the prime minister was 100 percent certain that the rumors were false, why risk people’s lives and homes for the sake of a celebration? The festival was two weeks away—​it wasn’t too late to cancel.

«You should tell people the truth.»

He made it sound so simple.

«It is simple.» Munching on a potato, Pixit didn’t look at her. He’d been sulking for most of the trip, and she knew it was because of her. «You know what you should do. We found something wrong in the world; we should fix it.»

She knew she’d disappointed him by not shouting from the rooftops what she’d learned. But if she tried, she’d be expelled, and then how would she make a difference in the world? The festival would still go on, and the ten-year storms would still hit the Dern outpost, as well as anyone else who lived beyond the mountains.

«I know you, Mina. I know what you’re capable of. You do sparkle. Or you could, if you let yourself.»

She hated the way disappointing him made her feel, as if she were squirming inside her skin. I’m sorry, Pixit, she thought miserably.

«I just wish you’d do what I know you want to do.»

At last, they reached their destination. Shouldering her pack, Mina walked off the ship. Pixit followed behind. She stopped at the top of the steps and glanced back at him. You’re going to have to walk down these. Do you think you can fit?

The doctors had told him that by the time they returned to Mytris, he’d be able to fly again, but until then he wasn’t supposed to do anything to strain his wing muscles. Mina had told Jyx and her other friends that this was the reason for her visit home: so Pixit could rest and recover. She wished Professor Dano had used that as the reason too, instead of marking the week as an academic suspension.

Pixit poked his nose over the edge and chirped, «I see Papa!»

She looked over with him. Down below, far below, was a tiny cart with a horse. Seated in the driver’s seat was a man with a broad blue hat—​Papa!