Carrianne frowned and shook her head. "That’s all true," she said. "I understand." She shrugged. "You’re against the idea. Alright, you’re not alone. There’s a vessel leaving in two days, I think, heading back to the Swollen Ocean, crewed by naysayers, to wait for the city’s return. Though…" Her voice petered away. They both realized that Bellis was not one of those who would ever be allowed off-city. "Most of us," continued Carrianne, "think this is worth doing."

"Not at all," Carrianne said quietly, a little later. "I trust the Brucolac, and I’m sure he has reasons for opposing the plans. But I think he’s wrong. I’m excited, Bellis," she said. "Why shouldn’t we try this? This could be… this could be the most exciting time, the finest hour in our history. We have to try."

Bellis felt something that at first she did not recognize. Not depression or misery or cynicism, but despair. The feeling of all plans, all options, dying.

I’ve lost, she thought, without melodrama or even anger.

Carrianne was not a brainwashed fool, someone unthinking and buffeted by rhetoric. She had heard the arguments-even partial and partisan as they had undoubtedly been. She must have realized that this venture had been a long time in the planning, and that therefore she and those around her had been deceived.

And still, considering all that, she had decided that the Lovers’ plan was a good one. One that was worthwhile.

That was a sneaky trick, thought Bellis to the Lovers. That was below the belt. I didn’t foresee this.

Lies, schemes, manipulations, bribery, violence, corruption-I expected all that, she thought. But I never expected you simply to have the argument, and to win.

The thought of Fench’s stillborn pamphlet fleeted through her mind, and she moved her shoulders in a dead kind of laugh. The Truth! she imagined. Garwater Drags Armada To THE SCAR!

The truth.

You win,she thought, and let go of hope. I’ll be here till I die. I’ll grow old here, a crabby old lady imprisoned on a boat, and I’ll scratch the scars on my back (dear gods they will be wicked) and mutter and complain. Or perhaps I’ll die with the rest of you, and with you my rulers, in some stupid, terrible accident of the Hidden Ocean.

Either way, I’m yours, if I like it or not. You’ve won.

You are taking me with you. You are taking me to the Scar.

Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter Forty-Two

Where for the longest time there had been a shadow, the sky was clear.

The Arrogance was gone.

A rope stub lay on the deck where the airship had been tethered to the Grand Easterly. It had been severed, and the aerostat had flown free.