The Mors Navis had never been so beautiful. After the battle, she’d been reclaimed, repaired, and more. The sails were crisp and white, the solar sail inky black in contrast, and all around the railing hung garlands of fragrant green leaves woven through with sprigs of lavender and tiny white flowers. Swaths of deep green fabric wrapped the bannisters of the companionway ladder and bells were strung from every available perch so that whenever the wind blew, the air stirred the ship into song.

Caledonia stood on the balcony overlooking the main deck from the narrow platform behind the bridge. She’d stood here so many times before. Always to rally her girls or deliver bad news. This time, however, she was wedding two of her dearest friends.

Hime was radiant in a blouse of deep blue and brown pants with lengths of pale blue satin stitched down either side. Nettle had insisted on doing the needlework herself. Hime’s hair was bound in a simple braid and she wore a crown of the same tiny white flowers that ringed the ship. Standing opposite her was Amina. She wore a dark blue shawl, wrapped around her shoulders to spill down her back. Beneath it, her shirt and pants were the paler compliments to Hime’s blue and brown. Her long braids were coiled atop her head and woven with spears of lavender.

Each stared warmly, calmly into the other’s eyes. At Caledonia’s prompting they gave the sign of consent and then it was Hime who leaned forward and cupped Amina’s cheeks between her hands, drawing her forward into a kiss.

“Before our eyes and our hearts, you consent to love one another from now until the stars fade from the night sky,” Caledonia said.

A cheer rose from the main deck and the air filled with flowers and lavender, all tossed into the sky before they landed again where they would be crushed into a fragrant carpet beneath dancing feet. Caledonia let tears warm her eyes and backed away to give the couple their privacy. Or, as much privacy as they could have in the midst of a hundred people.

The sun was hanging low enough to tease the horizon, and the sky was painted in brilliant pinks and oranges, the clouds catching color along their bellies before sweeping into deep pockets of silver and gray. The breeze was light and warm, and the waves lapped at the hull of the ship. Dotted along the water around them were several smaller ships, all waiting at anchor, their crews here on the Mors Navis to witness the occasion.