“‘Far away, fast’ means airships,” said Lovisa. “Airships mean the Varana family. What if this woman is trying to drop us into the lap of the Ledra elite?”

“Does she really look to you like someone in league with the Ledra elite?”

“Is this the better plan you promised?” said Lovisa hotly. “Trusting everyone we meet?”

“We’re going to have to trust some people! At least occasionally!”

“You need to start being honest about who you are,” Lovisa said. “People won’t hurt you if they know you’re the drowned queen.”

“We need to get you someplace safe before we start throwing that truth around.”

“Maybe do not assume that people you meet speak no Lingian,” said the woman, in rough but coherent Lingian.

Lovisa looked up at her in slack surprise. The woman was studying Bitterblue with a dawning interest, but she spoke plainly. “This is Trader’s Beach,” she said, speaking Keepish again. “This is where the Royal Continent ships come in. We all understand a bit of every language that passes through. Just a tip, as you make your way up the coast.”

“Ah,” said Bitterblue. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” the woman said. “As far as whom to trust, I’m Ona, and I live on this beach. I’m known as the firekeeper. Everyone knows me; ask whomever you like about me. I’m not going to sell two frightened girls to the wolves, certainly not to the Varanas. Anyone will tell you so. And I think that after all,” she said, flicking a glance at the ring Bitterblue still held in her palm, “I’m not going to take one of those rings, just for helping you find a bath.”

It seemed to Lovisa that the part of her that decided things, always so clever and sharp and keen, was broken. She couldn’t sense the air around this woman. She couldn’t feel whether it was smart to trust her or not. But she knew they had to do something. She glared at Bitterblue, who was probably making bad, unsafe decisions from a place of impatience and desperation, and felt tears sliding down her cheeks.

Except that Bitterblue didn’t look desperate or impatient. She looked confident and unruffled, curious. Happy. She reminded Lovisa of Mari, when he was telling her the latest thing he’d learned in one of his doctoring classes. And she reminded Lovisa of Nev, needing no one, sure of herself.

Angrily, Lovisa flicked her tears away. She couldn’t trust Bitterblue, but she had no ideas of her own. She would trust the part of Bitterblue that reminded her of Mari and Nev.

—

A Keepish girl who wouldn’t tell them her name led them to the bath, north along a seaside promenade. From there, Lovisa had a clear view of the clouds gathering on the horizon.