The Carnelian Way

11.1

Rina slept the rest of the day and through the night. She woke with a pounding head and a body that felt as thick and slow as molasses. Fin jumped up from his pallet at the end of the bed—violet eyes rimmed with red, his caramel hair askew—and raced to the kitchen, returning with boiled eggs, cheese, black bread and tea with rum.

Despite the taste, the tea helped her to force the food down. When she was done, she sank back down under the sheets.

Fin had none of it, though. "You've slept enough. Time for you to take some fresh air—and I have meetings before we dock at Cartho."

Much as she wanted to stay where she was, her bladder had been full, and the thought of the sun on her skin and the kiss of the wind made her smile.

Now she sat on a wicker chair on the poop deck, the shore a green-brown streak. A crystal on a woven cord hung around her neck.

"Rub it," Fin had said as he cupped her face with a calloused hand. "If anything happens. If you need anything."

Yet again, her hand reached for it, involuntarily—or was it the other crystal? She wasn't sure.

'Rina," came a puffed voice. "How are you?"

She turned at Sara's words. Sara climbed the stairs. Dark smudges surrounded her eyes, the skin below them like deflated puddings.

"Sara, you look horrible!"

The woman laughed. "I can't say you look much better."

Making to stand, Rina scoffed. "Unlikely. Here, you need to rest."

Sara finished the climb and went to the balustrade, leaning against it with her forearm, waving away the offer of the seat with one hand. "No bother, I'll lay down soon. I just needed to breathe some air."

Reclining back in the chair, Rina nodded. "Is it only you up here?"

With a jerk of her head, Sara indicated the direction of the main deck. "A few of them came up, but most of them are resting before the others come."

That caused Rina to pause. "Others? I thought we were stopping for supplies."

A rueful smile crooked Sara's lips, like a bent reed. "Supplies, yes, including Mai's chosen, and those who have turned their back on him." Sighing, she leaned further, for a moment, her attention taken up by the water below.

Rina waited.

Sara straightened and turned back to Rina. "What have you heard of the changes?"

"Changes," Rina asked. "You mean in the Carnelian Way?"

"That, among other things. I also thought of the attitude of our people."

Rina furrowed her brow, uncertain how to respond. Did Sara refer to treason? She didn't know if Sara knew of her family's history. The execution of her parents had been public, but after executions, the Magisterium discouraged their discussion. She recalled something Pietro had said: They killed them to put fear into our hearts, then banished their memory. Like they never existed. Like they lived and died for nothing. She didn't want to bring Sara's awareness to her checkered past unnecessarily.

In the end, she just shook her head.

Something that might have been disappointment flashed across Sarah's eyes and Rina thought she detected the faintest slump in her posture.

"The Carnelian Way has been weakening. Why?" A shrug. "I imagine Mai, or the Magisterium, will tell us when we arrive in Nebia. Magister Nab spoke to you of the taint. That's always been there. But something is missing." Sara's gaze returned to the rocking blue and the thickening line on the horizon. Even exhausted, the woman's shoulders were straight. "I thought you might know more, seeing as you're treated differently."