Dee swallowed nervously, waiting for the scolding she was sure they were about to receive.

Stell was sitting behind her desk, eyes closed, her hands pressed together in front of her face. Dee and Xan stood in front of her desk, waiting apprehensively. Neither one of them dared to break the silence.

Then Stell took a deep breath in through her nose. She lowered her hands and fixed her good eye on the two of them.

“Which one of you would care explain what exactly happened out there?” she asked slowly and deliberately.

“Auntie, I—” Dee began to say.

“It was my fault, Stell,” Xan said, stepping forward.

Stell leaned back in her chair, folding her arms. She didn’t say anything, but the look on her face demanded that he clarify his answer.

“Katar—Taika’s father—took a turn for the worse about three days out. I was afraid that we wouldn’t make it to the shrine in time to save him. So I decided to keep sailing through the night, and when daylight came I… I crashed the boat,” Xan said.

Stell raised her eyebrows questioningly.

“You crashed the boat?” she repeated. Then she looked at Dee. Dee, feeling the intensity of her gaze, felt like she had to clarify further.

“We hit a tree. I got knocked out. Then next thing I knew, we were on the ground,” she said.

Stell squeezed the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. Dee winced, bracing herself for Stell’s tirade. But a moment passed. Then another. She slowly opened her eyes in surprise. Instead of chewing them out, her aunt was taking another deep breath through her nose.

“You crashed the boat,” Stell muttered in a low growl. Then she dropped her hand to look up at Xan. “You realize that I’m going to hold you responsible for the damages.”

“Aye, ma’am,” Xan said.

“But, Auntie—!” Dee began to protest.

“No buts, Dee,” Stell said, holding up a forefinger in a warning gesture before turning back to Xan. “I expect you to pay for the repairs in full.”

“I don’t… have any money,” Xan admitted awkwardly.

The silence hung on the air for a long moment. Dee looked back and forth between Xan and Stell, genuinely unsure what was going to happen next.

“I ought to have you thrown in the stocks!” Stell finally said furiously. Then she let out a sigh. “However… there is an alternative. You can work for me.”

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Both Xan and Dee perked up in surprise. Stell unfolded her arms and placed her hands on top of her desk.

“The cost of the damages would be taken out of your pay every week, and you would be obligated to work until the repairs have been paid for in full. Do you accept those terms?” she asked.

“Of—of course! Thank you!” Xan said, bowing gratefully.

Stell harrumphed. Then she reached into one of her desk drawers and pulled out a piece of paper. She scribbled something onto it with her quill before handing it to Xan.

“Take this downstairs to Isaac. He’ll get you set up,” she said.

Xan took the paper from Stell. She dismissed him with a wave of her hand. Xan expressed his thanks once more before leaving the office. Dee watched him go, then turned back to her aunt.

Stell leaned back in her chair again, rubbing her forehead with one hand. Then she sighed a long, drawn-out sigh.

“Auntie…?” Dee asked tentatively. “You’re… not going to hold me responsible, too?”

Stell looked down at her niece. Then she looked away. “All you were responsible for was the Terra Sang. Xan was responsible for the boat,” she said.

“The Terra Sang was part of the boat,” Dee said. After a pause she added, “I just… thought you’d be angry at me, too.”

“Angry?” Stell said. She hopped down from her desk to stand in front of Dee. “Of course I’m angry. The boat I leant out in good faith was returned to me as little more than a wreck. But…” and she put her hands on Dee’s shoulders, “no matter how angry I am, I’m more grateful that my niece made it back home safe… Besides, it sounds like you had quite an adventure. Mind telling me more about it?”

Hesitantly at first, and then more confidently, Dee began to tell Stell about everything that had happened during their journey – the Canidans’ attack on their camp, crashing the boat, the Ignas Verdan village, Katar’s funeral, Xan and Taika’s fight, the Rivule Verdans, the farewell feast, repairing the boat, and their return back to Vaimea. Stell listened attentively, only asking a question now and then for clarification. Then, right at the end of her story, Dee worked up the courage to pull out her notebook and show Stell her sketches.

There were drawings of the enormous tree that held the Earth Mother’s shrine; the beehive shaped huts from the village; and even some sketches of the Rivule Verdans’ play that Dee had jotted down from memory.

Stell flipped through the pages, admiring the sketches as Dee explained what they were. Then she turned a page and froze.

“What are these?” she asked, holding up the notebook for Dee to see. Dee’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

“Just an idea I had while watching the sea birds,” she said sheepishly.

Stell turned the notebook back around. On these pages were sketches of an airship, but instead of sails, it had the wings and tail of a bird. Dee held up her hands and began to talk quickly:

“It’s just a rough idea, of course. I haven’t worked out all the details yet. I just had the thought that if there were a way for an airship to fly like a bird, then it could fly against the wind, and it – Auntie?”

But Stell didn’t seem to hear Dee. She just looked down at the sketches with a distant look on her face. This made Dee feel both confused and concerned. Then Stell shook her head, seeming to snap herself out of her own reverie. She clapped the notebook shut.

“It’s got potential. Keep working on it, alright?” she said, handing the notebook back to Dee.

“Alright,” Dee said, feeling a sense of relief. She tucked the notebook away in her satchel.

“Right, then,” Stell said, looking out the window, “let’s get going. We don’t want to be late.”

“Late? Late for what?” Dee asked.

“It’s Wavesday. And you arrived just in time for dinner,” Stell said.

“Oh. Oh!” Dee cried out in pleasant surprise as she remembered what that meant.

“Come on, let’s grab the other two. I’m sure they could use a hot meal—and a bath—as much as you do,” Stell said.

“Auntie-!” Dee protested playfully. Then Stell put an arm around Dee’s shoulders and the two of them left the office.