“Once, a long time ago, when I married your mother.” He had a wistful look on his face, as if remembering. He wouldn’t look wistful if he’d crashed, she thought. It must have gone well. She wanted to ask more: Was it scary? Did the ships ever crash? Did any ever sail off the arches and smash to the ground far below? Or was it just as glorious as she’d always imagined? But she waited, in case he continued on his own. And he did. “Your mother wanted to see the city, and our families had saved up in secret—​it was their gift to us. Our first hour on the ship, she climbed to the top of the middle mast to look out at the mountains. She was the first to see the city and all its lightning-powered wonders when we approached it.”

Mina couldn’t imagine Mother doing anything so reckless as climbing that high. Mother always kept her feet flat on the ground. A thought occurred to her: Maybe there are pieces of her I don’t know, just like there are parts of me my family doesn’t see. “Did you like the city?”

“Very much.” He smiled at her, and Mina could tell it was forced from the way his cheeks strained. But she appreciated that he was trying. “You’re going to have a grand time, and when you get back, you’ll tell us all about it, every detail.”

“I will,” she promised.

Reaching the river station, Papa parked the cart and tied the horse reins to a post by a water trough. He then helped Mina climb down from the bench. Behind her, Pixit jumped up onto the side wall of the cart and then to the ground. He shook out his feathery scales and stretched his legs and tail. Already she thought he might have grown, even in just a day, but it could have been her imagination.

Papa handed Mina her pack and then a smaller sack. “Lunch for the trip. I know they’ll feed you, but Mother said . . .” He swallowed as if it was suddenly hard for him to talk. “She wanted you to have a bit of home in your belly, to start you off. It’s your favorites.”

Honey cake and peach jelly? She peeked inside the sack. It was! “I’ll miss you all.”

“Remember we love you.” Papa hugged her so hard that she nearly chirped. But she didn’t try to pull away. She stood on her tiptoes and buried her face in his neck and breathed in his familiar smell: fresh soil and garden herbs.

“I love you too,” Mina said.