“I’m done. Here to stay. As long as you’ll have me.” He opened his hand. A seed rested on his palm, and when I touched it, it bloomed into a plum blossom. Its petals, soft and fragrant, tickled my fingers.
My hand jumped to my mouth.
“I practiced for a month to do that,” Edan admitted. “Just to get that reaction from you.”
“Was it worth it?”
“Most definitely,” he said, scooping me up before I could protest. I squealed, laughing as he spun me around the shop. Then he set me down hastily, and a sheepish look passed over his face as he saw Baba standing stern-faced at the door.
My father greeted Edan with a warm clasp on his arm. “Welcome back. Now that you have returned, my daughter can spend more time at the loom and less time composing love letters.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Are you ready to take on your role in the shop?” he asked Edan.
“I’ve been practicing changing my reds to blues, and I—”
“Reds to blues? I’ve dyes for that.” I wrinkled my nose playfully. “Best not to waste your magic. You can tend to the horses or help with the finances. Didn’t you mention something about a money tree once?”
“You said you didn’t care about money.”
“I lied.”
Edan laughed. “What a terrible liar you are, Maia Tamarin.” He bent down to kiss me again, but Baba cleared his throat and gave me a sidelong look.
“You both could start by making a run to the market,” he said. “I’ve placed an order with Mister Geh, whose ship should have arrived this morning. Go pick it up, will you?”
Picking up orders was usually Keton’s job, but Edan bowed his head and muttered, “Yes, sir,” as he ushered me out the back door.
“Wait, we’re going out the wrong way. Mister Geh’s shop is down the street. There’s nothing out the back except—”
My words died on my lips as soon as I saw the boat. Tethered to a wooden pole I was certain hadn’t been there yesterday, floating gently atop the waves.
“The ocean?” Edan finished for me.
I nodded mutely.
Yes, all that was behind Baba’s shophouse was the ocean. Sendo and I used to sit in the back, watching the ships coast toward the port and dreaming that we too would sail on one someday. But we’d been too poor to buy a boat, and the fishermen always refused our requests, saying they were too busy to indulge our childish fantasies.
I drew in a deep breath. “What is this?”
“You said you’d never ridden on a ship before,” Edan said. “I thought about hiring one, but what’s the fun in sailing for an hour or two only to have to bring the boat back?” He leaned against the boat’s canopy, which was my favorite shade of blue.
“So I built you one, with some help from the disciples back at the temple…and some input from your brother. It isn’t much to look at, but it’s enchanted not to sink and it’ll fit your family comfortably, and—”
I pressed my fingers to his lips, shushing him. Then I pressed my nose to his. “Have I ever told you that you talk too much?”
He caught my fingers, kissing them one by one while he continued to speak. “And there’s an hour until sundown, so if the currents are kind, we should be able to take it out to see the Summer Palace from here.”
“I don’t care about the palace,” I said, clasping Edan’s hand as he helped lower me onto the boat. It rocked gently under my heels, and I saw a chest stuffed with Edan’s maps of A’landi, Samaran, Balar, and a dozen other places I’d never been.
“No compass, no maps, no navigating north, south, east, or west. We’ll have a thousand other days for that.” I grabbed the rope anchoring us to shore, using it to steady my balance as I stepped onto the small deck. “Let’s seize the wind and let it take us where we ought to go.”
“We can do that. It might take longer than an hour, though.”
“We have time,” I said, letting go of the rope and stumbling toward him. Edan caught me, pulling me with him behind the wheel. He gathered me close, his arm around my waist.
The sea shone before us, full of possibility. Not long ago, I’d thought my story was like a fairy tale. After all, there were demons and ghosts, an emperor ensorcelled, and a princess who’d become the greatest warrior of her generation. Sometimes I didn’t quite believe that I’d ever left my corner in Baba’s shop, that I’d sewn the sun, the moon, and the stars into Amana’s legendary dresses.
