2

Rysn was met at Urithiru by a master-servant guide and four porters: an envoy from Brightness Navani, meant to show that Rysn was expected and her visit appreciated. The porters carried a single-person palanquin, which they set down. They inspected her wheeled chair.

“Brightness Rysn,” Nikli said from behind the chair, “prefers to use her own chair as transportation.”

While that was true, Nikli had—despite trying hard—gotten it wrong again. “I am honored by this envoy,” Rysn said. “Nikli, they know Urithiru far better than we do. Best if we let them carry me. I would appreciate it, however, if you brought the chair along in case it’s needed later.”

“Of course, Brightness,” he said, sounding embarrassed. She hated making the correction, but these men would consider it a personal duty to serve her. Rysn had learned that accepting hospitality was important for trade negotiations.

She had Nikli transfer her to the palanquin. Once in, she shoved down the feelings of insecurity and worthlessness that still cropped up whenever she was handled like a sack of lavis grain.

No feeling sorry for yourself, she thought forcefully. You filled your quota on that months ago.

Once she was settled, Nikli opened Chiri-Chiri’s basket so Rysn could scoop up the larkin and put her inside. Despite his occasional misstep, Nikli was doing a commendable job of anticipating her needs. He’d figure out the details as they spent more time together.

“Thank you, Nikli,” she said.

“We’ll be right behind, Brightness, if you need anything.”

The Alethi porters marched her down the Oathgate’s ramp, palanquin drapes open so she could survey the landscape. Urithiru—the mighty tower city of the Knights Radiant—had ten platforms out in front of it, each connected via Oathgate to a different city across the world. But the true marvel was the tower itself: built into the mountains, ten tiers reaching high toward the sun. They said it was nearly two hundred stories tall. How did the lower levels not collapse under the weight?

Curiously, not all of this city’s wonders were ancient. Rysn kept keen watch for the secret Alethi project Vstim had told her about. As she was carried onto the plateau that connected the ten Oathgate ramps, she spotted it. The plateau had sheer cliffs at both sides, where engineers were constructing two large wooden platforms.

Officially, it was said to be an enormous lift. Connected by conjoined fabrials in new ways devised by Navani Kholin, when one side lowered, the other rose. Rysn—privileged in her relationship to her babsk, who was Thaylen Minister of Trade—had heard extremely interesting talk of the hidden purpose behind these platforms.

If what she’d heard was true . . . If those fabrials could do what Queen Navani claimed they could . . .

Chiri-Chiri shifted in her arms, then peeked her sleek crustacean head out the window. She made an inquisitive clicking sound.

“You find it interesting?” Rysn said, hopeful.

Chiri-Chiri chirped.

“There are a lot of fabrials in this tower,” Rysn noted. “If you start eating them like you did last time, I’ll have to lock you away again. Fair warning.”

Rysn wasn’t certain how much Chiri-Chiri understood. The little creature did seem to be able to sense Rysn’s tone, and sometimes responded accordingly—depending on how mischievous she was feeling. Today she only nestled back down and returned to sleep. So lethargic. Rysn’s heart nearly broke.

To distract herself, Rysn set Chiri-Chiri on a pillow, then took notes on what she saw in Urithiru. Much was the same as her last visit: a wide variety of ethnicities mingling in the crowded hallways. Her master-servant guide answered questions and explained the architecture as they walked, eventually reaching the tower atrium with its enormous glass window displaying a frozen wasteland. Rysn couldn’t help wondering at the implications of this place. It wasn’t every day that a new kingdom was founded, let alone one in the mythical city of the Knights Radiant.

The palanquin was small enough to navigate through hallways, so it fit with her porters on one of the marvelous fabrial lifts in the atrium. Up she went, tens of stories. At the top, Rysn’s porters carried her into a small chamber where Navani Kholin—recently crowned queen of Urithiru—was taking meetings. She was an intimidating woman with her Alethi height, her black and grey hair done in intricate braids atop her head and woven with glowing sapphires.

Most of Rysn’s contemporaries entered a discussion asking, “What can I get from this?” Rysn had been disabused of that notion early in her training. Her babsk taught a different way of seeing the world, training her to ask, “What need can I fulfill?”

That was the true purpose of a merchant. To find complementary needs, then bridge the distance between them so everyone benefited. It wasn’t about what you could get from people, but what you could get for them that made a successful merchant.

And everyone had needs. Even queens.

The porters set Rysn down, and she left Chiri-Chiri in the palanquin, having Nikli transfer her to the chair before Navani’s desk. She preferred to use the seats offered her in these situations, though her wheeled chair was carefully stowed at the back of the room.

The porters and guide retreated, though Nikli remained right inside the door to wait upon her needs. A young woman stood at a writing desk nearby, recording minutes, and two guards watched the door. Aside from that, Rysn was virtually alone beneath the gaze of this incredibly regal woman.

It was a good thing Rysn had mostly gotten over her feelings of insecurity. Otherwise this might have been very intimidating, instead of only slightly so. Navani studied Rysn as if she were a schematic for a ship, seeming to read her very soul with those discerning eyes.

“So . . .” the queen said in Thaylen. “Who are you again?”

“Brightness?” Rysn said. “Er, I’m Rysn Ftori. Bah-Vstim? I came in response to your request?”

“Oh, right,” Navani said. “The ghost ship.” Navani held out her palm, and her assistant hurried over, handing her the appropriate notes. The queen stood and paced as she read through the notes while Rysn waited.

Finally the queen stopped, focused on the chair at the rear of the room, then pulled her chair over and sat before Rysn. It was a small gesture, but appreciated. Rysn didn’t mind when people remained standing in her presence, but there was a certain thoughtfulness in the way Navani situated herself so they could discuss at eye level with one another.

“Queen Fen says you have inspected the ship in person?” Navani said.

“Yes, Brightness,” Rysn said. “I visited it yesterday, after I decided to agree to your request. It was brought into port weeks ago, and has been undergoing repairs. I toured it to see if I could notice anything odd.”

Navani’s eyes flicked toward the wheeled chair.

“I was carried, Brightness,” Rysn said. “With my porters, I assure you I am quite mobile.”

“You know,” Navani said, “we have Radiants who specialize in something called Regrowth. . . .”

“My injury turned out to be too old for healing, Brightness,” Rysn said, her stomach twisting at the words. “I tried to avail myself of their abilities the moment I learned of them.”

“Of course,” Navani said. “I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize for offering me aid, Brightness,” Rysn said. In fact, I’m glad you noticed. Because there’s something else you might do for me. But the time for negotiation had not yet arrived.

Rysn had a need. Several of them. Best to find out what Navani needed, and why, before they began the dance. “If we may return to the topic at hand, Your Majesty . . .”

“Yes,” Navani said. “This ship. So curious. Did you find anything interesting in your inspection?”

“Whoever set the ship adrift tried to scuttle it,” Rysn said. “But they weren’t aware that modern Thaylen ships aren’t so easily sunk by a hole or two in the hull. It’s obvious foul play, Brightness. The logbooks were taken.”

“Blood on the deck?” Navani asked.

“None we could find, Brightness.”

“And . . . the missing Soulcaster?” Navani asked.

Rysn had only just been told this particular piece of intelligence: the ghost ship, First Dreams, had carried a rogue Soulcaster as a passenger. Not a Knight Radiant, but a woman trained in the use of one of the ancient devices that could transform things from one material to another.

“We didn’t find the Soulcaster,” Rysn said. “Neither the woman nor the device. It seems likely that someone knew the ship was carrying this runaway, and then attacked it, murdering the crew to get the Soulcaster.”

The devices were rare and extremely powerful. Most kingdoms had access to only a handful of Soulcasters—if any at all. Many people in Thaylenah thought the Alethi’s wartime prowess was due less to superior troops, and more to the number of Soulcasters they had feeding said troops.

It wasn’t the kind of thing one pointed out to one’s allies. Particularly not while in a joint large-scale war against ancient monsters from the Void.

“Yes . . . perhaps,” Navani said, rolling her notes and tapping them softly against her other hand. “I have spoken to the prince of Liafor, who says the Soulcaster thought that Aimia—as the ancient home of Soulcasters—might contain secrets to healing her afflictions. More, the ship’s captain—a man named Vazrmeb—was infatuated with the legendary riches of Akinah, the lost capital of Aimia.”

Curious. That was more than Vstim knew. The queen appeared as resourceful as her reputation implied.

“Aimia is barren,” Rysn said carefully. “It’s been thoroughly scouted, and hundreds of captains—with stars in their eyes—have tried finding mysterious fortunes on the island. They’ve all returned empty-handed.”

“From the large island, yes,” Navani said. “But what of the smaller ones surrounding it? What of the hidden one, shrouded in mystery and storm?”

“The Rock of Secrets,” Rysn said. “The mythical Akinah. Some say it is only a legend.”

“They said the same about Urithiru,” Navani said. “Some scholars think the ruins they’ve found in other locations are remnants of the city, but their evidence is weak. Our Windrunners report a strange weather pattern surrounding a specific place in the ocean there, the very place the ghost ship was said to have been on course to visit before falling.

“I’m convinced Akinah is hidden inside that strange weather pattern. Either way, we need to investigate. My husband worries the winds might veil an enemy fortress.”

“Your Windrunners reported?” Rysn said. “So . . . why not have them fly down and investigate?” This was the item from the request that most confused her, the one that had made her come to Urithiru to ask in person. Why did the Knights Radiant need the help of a common sailing vessel?

“There is . . . something on that island,” Navani said. “Something that is able to undermine the powers of the Knights Radiant. My soldiers reported seeing swarms of small shadows darting through the clouds. And legends about Aimia speak of mythical creatures that feed off Stormlight.”

Reflexively, Rysn glanced toward the palanquin and Chiri-Chiri inside. Navani watched her, calm, her lips cocked slightly to the side. She knew. Well, of course she did. Rysn hadn’t tried to keep Chiri-Chiri hidden—and the little larkin wouldn’t have let her if she had.

“May I see the creature?” Navani asked. “I promise I won’t try to separate it from you.”

Well, Rysn had known this conversation would be difficult for her to steer. You couldn’t always negotiate from a position of power. So she waved for Nikli to pick Chiri-Chiri up and carry her over.

As the months had passed, Rysn had begun to truly grasp the strategic importance of Stormlight as a fuel both for fabrials and for the Knights Radiant. Beyond that, the enemy had creatures—known as Fused—who used the Void’s own Light. Chiri-Chiri fed on that just as eagerly as Stormlight.

Was the strange creature she kept as a pet something more dangerous, and more important, than she’d ever stopped to consider? Rysn took Chiri-Chiri, who stood up, then lifted her wings. A sleek monster in miniature—despite her wan carapace, she was as majestic as any greatshell. Indeed, Chiri-Chiri seemed more energetic than she had earlier. Perhaps she was feeling better.

A few awespren, like rings of blue smoke, appeared around Navani as she leaned down. “It’s gorgeous,” she whispered. “And does it really . . .”

As if in response, Chiri-Chiri clicked and took to the air, her wings beating quickly. She flew across the room to the wall where she grasped hold of the lamp fixture. Rysn put her hand to her face as—without so much as a click of embarrassment—Chiri-Chiri ingested the Stormlight in the lamp, darkening the room significantly.

“I’m sorry, Brightness,” Rysn said. “We’ve been trying to work on not eating lights inside fixtures. She’s been feeling sick lately though, and has been regressing.”

Navani merely watched with wide eyes. She brought out a few diamond chips and scattered them on her table. Fortunately, Chiri-Chiri saw these as easier prey, and dropped to the table with a thump to begin ingesting their Light. After consuming a few, she mouthed one of the spheres and began to play with it, rolling it away, then hopping over and catching it in her mouth before it could fall off the desk.

“Is this it?” Navani whispered. “The way the Thaylen artifabrians can so carefully adjust the Stormlight in their fabrials? Do your people have dozens of these beasts hidden away?”

“What?” Rysn said. “No, Brightness. I was given Chiri-Chiri on a trading expedition in the Reshi Isles. She’s the only one I’ve ever seen; an oddity, not a secret weapon.”

“Still, I should very much like a chance to study one of these,” Navani said.

By reflex, Rysn began to reach toward Chiri-Chiri—to scoop her up. Rysn restrained herself, but the queen noticed. She didn’t repeat her promise not to take Chiri-Chiri, and she didn’t need to. Rysn trusted her, well enough. Navani Kholin wasn’t a thief. But she was a woman who usually got what she wanted, eventually.

Hopefully there was another way to fill that need.

“My notes say you possess an extraordinary ship,” Navani said. “The storm around Akinah is terrible and persistent. Do you think your ship could penetrate it?”

“If any ship can,” Rysn said, “it will be the Wandersail. We have fabrial pumps and modern storm stabilizers. But your information worries me. A place Radiants are afraid to visit? I must care for the well-being of my crew.”

“I understand,” Navani said, “but I can’t risk sending Windrunners alone if they will be drained midflight and fall into the ocean to drown. And so, I need a ship. I think you’ll find that your own queen encourages this mission as well.

“Hopefully we can minimize the danger. All I want is for you to take one of my scribes to the place, penetrate the storm, and let her survey the location. It shouldn’t take her more than a day to complete her inspection and collect a few artifacts. After that, you can return. I’ll see you properly outfitted beforehand and compensated afterward.”

Navani handed her a paper with generous payment terms. Rysn didn’t miss the promise of traditional salvage payments to the crew, if anything valuable was located. Even without that, she was thrilled at the numbers. If she’d been forced to visit Akinah on her own, she’d have needed to arrange for many nearby merchant stops—trading goods along the way to earn maintenance for the ship and crew. But with a patron, they could take a direct course.

She longed to do something adventurous like this. During her years training with her babsk, she’d complained incessantly about the way he’d dragged her all across Roshar. She had expected her apprenticeship to bring her to rich customers, trading for silks in courts and palaces. Instead she’d visited one backwater after another, going all the difficult places no one else thought worth the effort.

It was a constant source of amazement that her babsk hadn’t tossed her overboard after a single day—let alone hundreds—listening to her complain. Now that she was older, she found herself sincerely missing those excursions. To go somewhere new? To investigate the trading opportunities on a mythical island? And to possibly save Chiri-Chiri in the process? The prospect thrilled her.

There were still problems, however.

“Brightness,” Rysn said, “I have a good crew, seasoned and well-traveled. But you need to understand, sailors can be superstitious. The fact that we’d be sailing to a forbidden island so soon after the discovery of a ghost ship returning from that location . . . well, I have spent an entire day pondering how to sell them on the idea. It’s daunting.”

“I could send you a Radiant or two to improve morale,” Navani said.

“That would help,” Rysn said. “Could you also ask something of Queen Fen? You said she would want this mission to take place. A personal request from our own queen to my sailors would mean a lot to them. It would transform this voyage from a simple job into a royal mandate.”

Plus, it would help with Rysn’s authority on the ship. She shouldn’t need that, but after the curious way she’d been treated on her first voyage . . . well, she would appreciate the queen’s mandate to help prop her up.

“It will be done,” Navani said. “Queen Fen and I have been talking for some time about an expedition like this, so I’m certain she would be willing to write to your sailors.” Navani’s eyes narrowed. “But what of you, Captain? This is a difficult mission I propose. Is my payment offer enough? Is there anything more I could offer the woman who owns her own ship and keeps a mythical creature as a pet?”

Rysn glanced at Chiri-Chiri, who had grown tired of playing already, and was quietly batting at the sphere instead of chewing on it. She noticed Rysn, then launched into the air—flying to the palanquin to rest.

Needs. And connections.

“I should be honest, Brightness,” Rysn said. “Chiri-Chiri . . . is not well. I believe this mission could help her, so I am eager to undertake it for that reason. I need no special payment. However, if you’re willing to listen, there is something I would ask of you.”

“Speak freely,” Navani said.

The way Chiri-Chiri flew . . . What would it be like to be so free? Unchained? “Is it true,” Rysn asked, “that you have developed platforms that can soar high in the air?”

“Yes,” Navani said. “We use them for archer stations on battlefields.”

“But you’re trying to do more than that, aren’t you? Like with the construction outside, the supposed lifts?”

“I have shared my plans with Queen Fen,” Navani said. “I’m not certain what more you want me to . . .” She trailed off, perhaps noticing that Rysn had turned from Chiri-Chiri to instead stare at something else: her wheeled chair.

It provided her with some measure of liberty, but still required someone to push it for her. She looked forward to getting the one with large wheels she could move on her own. But that design, despite being wonderful, was so bulky. Plus, few current roads and floors were built for someone to be wheeled across. Even moving under her own power, her ability to get around would be severely limited.

Was there instead a way to soar? Perhaps never as well as Chiri-Chiri, but almost anything would be an upgrade from the chair. Her source of freedom, but also a constant reminder that the world did not accommodate people like her.

“I have scholars working on some prototypes that might interest you,” Navani said. “Since I’m sending a scribe on this mission anyway, I could arrange for her to be one who is experienced with our new fabrial designs. She could run some experiments for me on the ship, and perhaps show you what is possible with this technology.”

“I would find that agreeable, Brightness,” Rysn said. “And these other terms are generous and accepted. Consider our deal sealed. The Wandersail is at your disposal.”