‘We’ll tell you if anyone comes.’

  Julietta frowned. She didn’t know what to say to the children. Instead she said to Dorian, ‘well, let’s get started on the boat.’

  ‘I don’t know how-’

  ‘No, but you’ll assist me.’

  ‘How are you planning on making it? I’d prefer you actually used real wood. If your magic fails in the middle of the ocean-’

  ‘I’m touched by your confidence. Why don’t you go sketch the outlines of the boat for me in the grass.’

  ‘The outlines?’

  ‘How big do you think it should be?’

  When Bo returned he found a dirt sculpture of a boat resting in the middle of the clearing.

  ‘Dirt doesn’t float.’ he heard Dorian say.

  ‘I know that, just wait. Bo, you’re here! How does this look?’ Julietta asked excitedly.

  ‘How’s it look?’ he asked, approaching it slowly. It was just over six meters in length and single masted. It had steep sides and near the middle of the deck was a raised cabin leading below. Atop the bow was a small figure of a bird, no bigger than his hand. He knew the boat was staying upright with magic. It had to be magic, otherwise the hollow structure would have collapsed in on itself.

  ‘This is the plan I’ll use to build the boat. Is it big enough?’

  ‘Yes...’ he said slowly.

  ‘Julietta, there’s no wheel.’ Dorian stated.

  ‘It’s missing a few bits.’ Bo agreed.

  ‘Bo,’ Julietta replied, ‘I don’t actually know how to build a boat. I’ll sail it with magic. Dorian can help.’

  ‘You don’t know how to build a boat?’ Bo said, aghast, ‘I’m disappointed in you, Julietta! Out of all the things you know, boat building is what you’ve neglected?’

  ‘I-’ Julietta tried to respond when Bo laughed at her.

  ‘I’m just teasing.’ Then he sobered. ‘We’ll be completely reliant on you and Dorian then. I don’t particularly like it, if anything goes wrong... but we don’t have any other options.’

  ‘How are we going to steer it?’ Dorian asked.

  Julietta tapped the bird statue. ‘I’ll show you when we set sail. Bo, if you have any suggestions about the shape of the boat?’

  As Bo gave Julietta suggestions on the boat she refined the sculpture, removing and adding dirt with a wave of her hand.

  By the time Bo was finished with his suggestions night had begun to fall. Asmara returned and did not say anything to Julietta or Dorian.

  ‘What’s next?’ Dorian asked, his back to Asmara and the children.

  ‘I’ll do that tomorrow.’ Julietta said, looking tired but pleased. ‘I’ll show you.’

  The next morning Dorian watched as Julietta got out her lenses and began inspecting the trees surrounding the dirt boat.

  ‘What are you doing?’ he asked.

  She held out her notebook for him, which had a few numbers in it. ‘Now we’re sourcing materials. If I calculate incorrectly I’ll have to do it again, so this is important.’ She pointed at a number. ‘This is how much wood I need for the boat. Now I’m measuring the trees. I’m using this lens here to enhance my view of the structure of the tree. I need to know it’s circumference and its density.’

  After Julietta had measured several trees she picked up a stick and began drawing a symbol around the boat. It was an awkwardly pointed star. The boat sat in the center, while the points went out to five of the trees she’d chosen. She chose trees closer to the beach, so that the star was twisted entirely to one side and looked more like a comet than a star. Once she’d finished she began measuring the trees again. This time, she pulled out her silver inscribing stick and began making marks on the trees. She made corresponding marks on the boat.

  Dorian watched in surprise as she floated up into the boat and disappeared into the cabin, presumably making more marks below deck.

  While she worked she explained what she was doing to Dorian.

  ‘I’m connecting the boat with the source material, the trees. This is a form of enchanting. More basic forms involve...’

  At the end of the day the boat was covered in silver dots, as were the trees. She inspected the trees carefully and with a sharp flick of her hand cut a branch off one of the trees. She got out her lenses and measured the tree again.

  ‘Ok, that should be exact now.’

  ‘So what next? You’ve already spent two days-’

  ‘I know, it’s very quick enchanting. Tomorrow I’ll assemble the spell. I expect it will take me three days to complete the spell, if I’ve done my calculations correctly- don’t touch that!’

  Ukrit looked up, startled. Julietta hurried over to the line forming part of her star. ‘Please don’t interfere with my spell.’

  ‘You put sparkles everywhere.’ Ukrit said.

  ‘Sparkles? No, not sparkles. Where’s Bo? Do you want to go talk to Bo?’

  ‘Do you want me to find him?’

  ‘No!’ she said hurriedly. ‘No, of course not. Come on.’ she shooed him away from her line. ‘Come, I’ll- I’ll explain the basics of enchanting to you. Maybe by then Bo will be back...’

  Dorian couldn’t help being amused at Julietta’s discomfiture. Clearly, she was not comfortable around children.

  Asmara returned to the camp before Bo.

  She glanced briefly at the boat and greeted the children with a big smile. Dorian drifted away, his own smile disappearing.

  ‘Ukkie, Mira, Minnie, did you guys miss me? What about you, Gabe?’

  ‘I’m learning magic.’ Ukrit said. ‘Don’t touch the things.’ and he pointed at the spell.

  ‘Magic? Sounds great. Is Bo back yet?’

  ‘No, he’s not.’ Julietta replied. This was the first she’d spoken to Asmara since the hill.

  ‘Oh, since you’re taking care of them I’ll just-’

  ‘No, no, I was just... I have some important... enchanting to do! Yes, you look after the children.’

  Asmara cast her a sideways look, as if she wasn’t sure how to talk to her.

  ‘And how was your day?’ Julietta pressed, hoping they’d be able to move past Asmara’s reticence. She’d seen her talking to Bo and the children. She could understand why she didn’t want to talk to Dorian, but why was she so quiet around her?

  ‘Good.’ she replied shortly.

  ‘Well, that’s not very enlightening.’

  Surprise flashed across her face. She was saved from responding by Bo’s return. Asmara immediately found something else she needed to be doing.

  The next day Julietta took her position in the circle and instructed Dorian to keep the children away, while paying close attention for his education. She wore her gloves. She began her chanting, making sweeping motions from first one tree and the next, her fingers moving in intricate patterns that corresponded to the confusing array of dots on the trees and boat. As night fell Julietta’s chant slowly faded, her movements drew to a close. Magic blurred inside the star, so Dorian couldn’t make out exactly what was happening. Julietta carefully stepped outside the star.

  ‘That went well.’ she said with some satisfaction. ‘It’s better not to pause in the middle, but an entire boat on my own... anyway, the pause I incorporated into the chant worked well. It remains to be seen if I can pick it up smoothly in the morning again.’

  ‘You’d usually do the whole thing in one go?’

  ‘Enchantments can be difficult to pause in the middle. It’s easier to do it in one go, if you can. However if you can incorporate a pause correctly there’s no difference in the end result. Oh, don’t look at me like that! I assure you, it will be obvious if there’s anything wrong with my boat! Now, excuse me, I need to get to bed!’

  CHAPTER 102

  29 Jorlaff, 1353

  The morning after Julietta finished the boat everyone awoke to eagerly inspect it. It had been too dark the night before when she’d finished to see it and so they’d decided to wait until the light of day to inspect it, rather than use magic to see it at night.

  The boat was made entirely out of one seamless piece of wood. It would not have been possible to create without magic. The cabin sprung up from the deck without a break. Neat hollows made handholds in the railing along the edge of the deck. A mast rose from the center, like a tree. The trees in front of the boat were now made of dirt.

  Bo ran his hands along the hull, checking for any flaws. While Bo did that Julietta went to the bird figure and whispered under her breath. The bird came free in her hands.

  Dorian finally said, ‘there’s no sail. You have a mast but no sail.’

  Julietta replied, ‘we don’t have the materials for a sail.’

  ‘Well how are we going to sail?’

  ‘Once we get it in the water I’ll make one.’ she said, with a pleased smile that bordered on smug. ‘Now, you asked how we would direct it.’

  Julietta held out her hands. The bird’s wings gleamed with magic as she murmured under her breath. Then the wooden figure leapt from her hands and flapped its wings, flying out of the forest.

  ‘The bird will fly to the nearest shore of Mance-Jolune. It’s part of the boat, so the boat will follow it without us needing to steer.’

  ‘Once we get near the coast-’ Bo began.

  ‘I remember. I can control the ship and over-ride the pull of the bird.’

  ‘Alright. Now, how do we get the boat out of this forest?’ Bo asked, while Dorian frowned at the dirt trees.

  ‘Stand back please.’ Julietta said. She stepped forward, before the group. Then with her hand she made a closed fist and pulled it quickly towards her. The dirt trees suddenly collapsed, leaving a lumpy path down to the water.

  The two mages used their magic to carefully lift the boat and take it the hundred meters or so down to the water.

  They floated it out, out to where it was finally deep enough to rest.

  ‘Are we going to have to do some swimming?’ Bo asked, as they looked out at the boat.

  ‘No.’ Julietta smiled. ‘Bring the supplies down here.’

  Bo and Dorian gathered the supplies. Asmara helped, keeping Bo between her and Dorian at all times. That left Julietta looking askance at the children.

  Once it had become clear the boat was proceeding well, Bo had slowly traded the horses for supplies, one each day. It was a risk to leave themselves without horses, but they didn’t have much money, and Dorian had objected strenuously to the idea of just letting the horses loose and hoping for the best. It had been almost amusing watching the sorcerer say goodbye to his unnamed horses, Nameless Two and Nameless Three.

  Soon they had everything gathered on the beach.

  ‘That everything?’ Julietta checked. To her relief, now that the supplies were gathered, Asmara had taken over care of the children. She held Gabor’s hand, insisting he walk.

  ‘Very well, follow me.’ Julietta said.

  ‘Look’s like we’re off.’ Bo said in an aside to Asmara, as they stood on the beach. At the look on her face he asked, ‘are you ok?’

  ‘I wonder if I shouldn’t leave you all here.’

  ‘What?’ he exclaimed, ‘Asmara-’

  ‘I won’t have anywhere to hide when they use their magic, Bo.’ she said softly, so no one else could hear.

  ‘If you stay here... your Lakashan isn’t that great.’

  ‘Who knows? Maybe Muresh’s memories will come back to me if I need them.’ she smiled crookedly.

  ‘Asmara,’ he said seriously. ‘I can’t leave you here on your own. If you want, we can send Dorian and Julietta with the children. You and I will find another way.’

  Asmara sighed and rubbed at her eyes. ‘Bo, this is so hard. It’s all too much... I think I.... I think I’ll go back to Clare...did you... did you ever send my parents that letter?’

  ‘I did.’ he placed a hand gently on her shoulder. ‘I think Soleh and Harta would be very happy for you to go home.’

  She nodded, looking down, her hair hiding her face. She looked up suddenly and wiped her eyes. ‘Well, let’s go, then. Maybe avoiding Dore and Etta will keep my mind off the children’s frequent excursions.’

  ‘Speaking of which, Etta isn’t mad at you-’

  ‘I- I kind of... guessed... it’s not just that, Bo.’ she said. ‘I knew you before I sent everything away, even if Henri was controlling me at the time. The others... I just... I just don’t know if I know them, both of them just... confuse me so much. I can’t remember if we were friends, if we are friends, whenever I see them... I can’t explain it, Bo. I feel like I’m drowning in a sea of emotions. It’s too much, I feel like I can’t breathe, let alone talk. Maybe I should’ve taken Blaise up on his offer to fix it. I think he would’ve been gentler than Muresh.’ she forced a smile. ‘I suppose they’re both gone now.’

  They were interrupted by Ukrit’s voice: ‘Bo, the water’s solid!’

  Bo and Asmara looked up to see Julietta standing on water, trying not to look annoyed at their lagging.

  Ukrit ran out on the water and back, laughing.

  Asmara brightened immediately seeing him. ‘Come on, Gabor. You ever walked on water? Have you ever met anyone who has? Let’s see if Julietta’s trick is strong enough to support Bo.’

  ‘Hey, I’m carrying all our supplies!’

  The group followed Julietta out onto the water. As they walked the water deepened, from light blue with sand beneath to so dark they couldn’t see the bottom.

  Once they reached the boat Dorian climbed up the handholds and Bo passed up the supplies. Then he passed up the children. When it was Asmara’s turn to go up she ignored his proffered hand and climbed up herself. Julietta climbed up last.

  The boat bobbed gently on the waves. A light wind stirred the air. It was a little chilly, but everyone was dressed warmly. Bo stored everything below deck. When he emerged he smiled.

  ‘How nice it is to have sorcerers! So, Julietta, tell us about this sail!’

  While he’d been below Julietta had been chanting. She pointed up at the mast. ‘Can’t you see?’

  The air around the mast seemed to flow as one. There was a faint shimmer to it.

  ‘I wove a sail out of air.’

  CHAPTER 103

  1 Aoust, 1353

  Despite herself, Julietta was happy. The ocean sparkled gloriously under the sun. She was with her friends again, even if one of those friends wasn’t talking to her. Her enchanted boat sailed serenely across the dark blue ocean, the sparkling sail filled by winds she directed.

  Bo pointed things out to her and regaled her with tales of his sailing days, most of which she’d heard before. She didn’t mind. It was nice to see him happy again. She and Dorian fished with magic, to supplement their supplies. The air was chilly, this far south, but when she was in the sun it was warm. In the evenings she summoned water from the sky to bathe in and Dorian cooked the fish with magic.

  She could hear Asmara laughing behind her as she talked to Bo. Yesterday when she’d been fishing alone Asmara had shown her a fish she caught, a half smile curving her lips.

  ‘I think you’ve out-fished me.’ she’d said.

  ‘Well, I’m using magic.’

  ‘So you’re saying you’re cheating?’

  The conversation had gone no further, but Julietta was happy she’d spoken to her. Dorian and Asmara avoided each other, which was not easy to do on the boat. Dorian spent all his time either refusing to look at Asmara or staring at her.

  ‘What have you caught for us today?’ Bo asked, coming to stand by Julietta as she peered into the water.

  ‘Nothing yet. I caught an octopus but I... threw it back in.’

  ‘You didn’t want to eat it?’

  ‘No, thank you.’

  ‘It’s quite a delicacy you know-’

  ‘Can you cook octopus?’

  ‘Me? No, I wouldn’t even try. Dorian though, he’s quite the little chef.’

  ‘They’re still ignoring each other.’ Julietta sighed. ‘I suppose it’s not as awkward as I feared but... we have a long way to go.’

  ‘Well, at least you’re not mooning over him too, why that would have been-’

  ‘I never!’ Julietta exclaimed heatedly, flushing. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about!’

  Bo laughed at her reaction, reducing Julietta to offended grumbling. He’s harder to get on with when it’s just me. I think I like him better when we’re in a group anyway! She let out a little squeak and fell immediately silent when Dorian joined them. He raised an eyebrow at her.

  ‘Anything wrong, Julietta?’

  ‘No, not at all- Oh, what is she doing?’ Julietta exclaimed, glad for the distraction.

  The three looked and saw Asmara standing upon the bow, balancing precariously.

  ‘Asme,’ Bo called in forced calm. ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘Gabor’s off exploring again,’ she called back in false cheer. ‘The water looks beautiful, doesn’t it?’

  And with that she dived gracefully off the bow and into the water.

  ‘Asmara!’ Julietta ran to the front of the boat.

  Dorian reached the front first. He leant over the side. ‘Is she insane?!’

  ‘Asmara!’ Bo called.

  Asmara’s dark head surfaced and she let out a laugh at their faces. She floated on her back and began doing backstroke.

  ‘We’re still moving!’ Julietta exclaimed. ‘Asmara, hold on, I’ll stop the boat!’

  ‘Oh, I’m fine!’ Asmara called, her voice small over the sound of waves and wind.

  ‘Dorian, can you make sure nothing eats her,’ Bo said calmly, ‘and Etta, can you make sure she doesn’t go too far?’

  ‘Are we really just going to leave her?’ Dorian demanded, worry underlying the anger in his voice.

  ‘The children are using shadow magic.’ he said heavily. ‘I knew this was going to be hard for her... if all she does is swim around, well, that’s not really too bad is it?’

  Julietta and Dorian stayed at the bow, watching Asmara frolic in the waves. Julietta drew on her magic and kept the current pulling Asmara towards them. It was hard to do that as well as direct the wind into the sail. The natural winds weren’t very favourable, which gave her little to work with. At least, unlike on her and Bo’s journey south from Dartham, she didn’t have to do it alone. Dorian was able to help her out, and they split the work.