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The day was warm, the breeze fresh, and the Bingtown docks as lively as always.

Her mother followed her grandmother, and Malta came on her heels with Selden.

She could not deign to notice them, but it was still gratifying to see the sailors’ heads turn as she passed.

A few made admiring, if unseemly, comments to their fellows.

She kept her head up and did not change her pace.

Sharp and sudden, she wished she were a Three Ships girl.

She could have winked and flirted back and no one would think she had made a bad match if she attracted a hearty young sailor.

She was having to live as cheaply as a fisher girl; why could not she have the carefree ways of one?

Her grandmother slowed the pace as they reached the North Wall.

As they proceeded down the docks, she greeted each liveship by name.

Without failure, every ship returned her greeting, and added good wishes for the Paragon’s voyage.

Some spoke the words formally, but Malta thought she detected genuine warmth from others.

Ronica Vestrit thanked every ship before going on.

When they finally reached the Paragon, the rush of emotion she felt surprised Malta.

There he was, the blind ship, the mad ship that her family had scraped and strained to refloat.

He rode easily beside the dock. His brass gleamed, his wood shone.

He looked like a new ship. He held his head high, his arms crossed on his muscled chest. Below his splintered eyes, his jaw was set firmly and his chin jutted.

He looked nothing like the rotting old wreck she had last seen on the beach below the cliffs. Selden’s small hand tightened on hers.

Her grandmother halted and looked at the figurehead. She raised her voice. ‘Good day to you, Paragon! A fine day to begin a voyage.’

‘Good day to you, Mistress Vestrit.’ A sudden smile cracked his beard. ‘I’m blind, not deaf. You needn’t shout.’

‘Paragon!’ Brashen rebuked him. He had appeared suddenly on the foredeck. Althea hastened up the docks to them.

‘It’s quite all right, Captain Trell. The ship is correct.’ Ronica Vestrit refused to take offence. ‘But I shall say again it is a lovely day to begin a voyage.’

There followed an exchange of pleasantries between Brashen, the ship and her grandmother.

Malta did not pay too much attention. She was glad the ship wasn’t whining or raving.

She had feared he would be in one of his mad moods today, throwing things about and shouting.

She had seen him like that once, when she had ventured down to the beach to see how things were progressing.

He had frightened her so that she had immediately turned around and gone back home.

Most of her attention shifted between her Aunt Althea and Brashen Trell.

She still suspected there was something between them, but today she could detect no sign of it.

Brashen was very much Captain Trell today.

His clothes were clean and neat, his white shirt and dark blue trousers fastidiously pressed.

The dark blue jacket gave him dignity. They were her grandfather’s clothes, made over to his size.

She wondered if he knew that, if he felt odd wearing his old captain’s cast-offs.

Althea was dressed unusually sedately. She wore a white blouse, and a split skirt with a matching vest. She even had her shoes on.

Malta was willing to bet that these clothes were for show only.

Even though she’d be acting as second mate, she suspected her aunt would revert to boy’s clothes as soon as she could.

There was something decidedly odd about Aunt Althea.

Her friend Amber appeared to have resolved that if people were going to stare, she’d give them a good reason.

When she appeared, she wore the togs of an ordinary sailor, but every button to her trousers and shirt was a hand-carved bead.

The garb was not flattering to her; it showed that she had a very spare figure, flat chested and narrow hipped.

She wore a snugly laced vest with fanciful butterflies embroidered on it.

The only part of her that seemed at all attractive to Malta was her colouring.

Like some pale honey-wood was her skin and hair, and her eyes almost the same shade.

She had pulled her long hair back, braided it, and then pinned it to her head.

Foreign was the only word that fit her. Even her earrings did not match.

‘Welcome aboard,’ Brashen was saying. The others had started up the gangplank.

He had come down to greet them all, and was now actually offering Malta his arm as he invited her to board the ship.

Not so long ago, she would have felt giddy and flattered.

He was handsome enough, and challenging in a rakish way.

But her fears and her dreams seemed to have scorched that part of her to death.

Once on board the ship, Althea guided them about, pointing out what had been done.

Most of it was meaningless to Malta, but she kept a politely interested look on her face.

Sailors busy with the last-minute tasks of readying the ship for departure stepped hastily out of their paths, but stared after her.

Their eyes were too bold and their manners too crude for Malta to find it flattering.

She wondered how Aunt Althea would fare amongst them in the long weeks to come.

Perhaps she enjoyed it, she thought in dismay.

She felt distant from all of it as she followed her mother and grandmother on a slow tour of the upper deck.

Brashen was at the top of the gangplank, where other well-wishers had begun to gather.

It was gratifying to see the Bingtown Traders at least show them this much support.

Most of those who came were from liveship families.

Perhaps only a sea-faring family could appreciate their predicament.

Some were dressed as if they had planned to bid them farewell.

Others were the captains or crewmembers of other liveships currently in port.

It was, Malta decided, a substantial turnout for such a venture.

A few even paused to speak to Davad. The Trader had sagaciously stationed himself by Brashen, where anyone coming aboard must greet him as well.

Malta gathered that he had been able to restore slightly his reputation with the other Traders by acting as a go-between in this arrangement.

Even so, the greetings they gave him were formal and brief.

Davad beamed as if he didn’t know any better.

At the slightest excuse, he began a well rehearsed and long-winded account of all he had done to make today possible.

Malta was careful to stay out of earshot and not make eye contact with him. The man was a toad.

‘Coming, Malta?’ her aunt asked her with a smile. She gestured that they were about to leave the foredeck and be shown the rest of the vessel. Malta had no desire to see the holds or the smelly quarters.

‘I think I shall stay here,’ she ventured. ‘It’s too lovely of a day to go below.’

‘Well, I’m going,’ Selden declared boldly and tugged free of her hand.

Althea looked troubled for an instant. Her glance strayed to the crewmen nearby. Plainly, she did not think she should leave her niece in such company. Then her look suddenly cleared and she nodded. ‘Of course you may.’

Malta glanced over her shoulder. Amber was standing behind her, leaning on the rail by the figurehead. Some sort of sign had passed between Althea and Amber. Althea now felt Malta would be safe. Interesting.

And interesting, too, to be left in the company of such a mysterious and scandalous figure as the foreign bead-maker.

‘Behave yourself, Malta,’ Keffria cautioned her daughter worriedly, but she allowed Althea to lead her away with Grandmother. As soon as they had left the deck, Malta focused her attention on Amber. She put a social smile on her face and extended a hand towards the woman.

‘Best wishes for your voyage, Mistress Amber.’

The woman looked coolly amused. ‘Thank you, Mistress Haven.’ She merely inclined her head, but it was as courtly as a bow.

She touched Malta’s hand briefly with the tips of her gloved fingers.

It sent a little shiver up Malta’s arm. The woman was so strange.

Amber shifted her eyes to stare out over the sea.

Malta wondered if it were an attempt to end the conversation. She refused to let it the.

‘It seems you have good weather for an auspicious start.’

‘Yes. It does indeed.’ Amber’s voice was polite.

‘And the ship seems to be in excellent condition.’

‘I would venture to agree with that, too.’

‘The crew seems fit and ready.’

‘Captain Trell has trained them as thoroughly as time has permitted.’

‘Indeed, it seems that all aspects are favourable for this voyage.’ Malta suddenly tired of the game.

‘Do you think there is any chance you’ll succeed?

’ she asked bluntly. She needed to know.

Was this all a fanciful exercise, a show of caring by her family, or was there truly a chance they might rescue her father?