the sounds of an impending storm

They had all looked like they wanted to ask, but Suyin’s eyes had widened so much at what was implicitly stated in those words that none of them could. Instead, Suyin sank back down into her chair, eyes flashing with thought. And then, she stood up.

“It’s late,” she said suddenly, “and we’re all tired. Come on, Lei. I’ll find you a room.” She paused once more, and then added, “and none of this sleeping on the floor or in the kitchen. This is England, not China.” She stood, smoothing out her skirt purposefully, and then took a deep breath, before sweeping out of the room, Lei following behind her. When the two Asians had disappeared from sight, Elin stood up as well, and burst out.

“We can’t let her go!” she said empathetically.

“Of course not,” Lenore said soothingly.

“Why would we?” Ettie added, before pausing, “although I do think it would be good for her to see her family…”

“You’re one to talk,” Lenore added suddenly, “you haven’t seen your mum in ages.”

“That’s because she disowned me,” Ettie replied, the slightest prick of edge coming into her voice, “the same way Suyin’s mum did, more or less.”

“What…?” Simeon asked suddenly, and the two of them paused, turning to the newer members of the crew.

“Never mind, that’s not important,” Ettie said hastily, “but I…I do still think she should go.”

“But if she doesn’t come back? What if they don’t let her come back?” Elin pressed, worry written all over her frail face.

“Then we go with her,” Simeon said, “we go with her and bring her back if we need to.” The lack of argument to that response made it clear that it was a unanimous thought.

It was, of course, Ettie who found Suyin in the kitchen, scrubbing away at dishes and teacups with furious vigor.

“You know,” she said suddenly, “you reminded me of your mother today.” The furious scrubbing noise stopped for a minute, and then Suyin turned, grimacing at Ettie.

“That’s the last thing I want to hear,” she said, sighing and setting down a soapy plate and flicking away the extra suds before drying her hands off on a rag, “I never wanted to be like my mother.”

“None of us ever do,” Ettie replied, “but you know you were rather mean to him.”

“Like my mother?” Suyin quipped, smiling slightly. But Ettie didn’t take the bait.

“Exactly like your mother,” the red-head replied, not so gently. Suyin turned away, to look out at the moonless sky dotted with its ship stars.

“Should I go back?” she wondered out loud, but when Suyin turned back to see Ettie’s face, she was gone.

The next day, there was a surprising rise in the number of customers at the shop, and even with the crew helping—or, in Ettie’s case, hindering—things weren’t going as smoothly as one might have hoped. Finally, in a fit of desperation, Suyin ran to the kitchen, and Simeon watched with a bit of amusement and a bit of flabbergastation as Suyin tugged Lei up by the arm, grabbed an apron, and stuffed him into it and shoved a tea tray into his hands.

“Miss Suyin—” Lei started, but the lady was already pushing him out the door.

“I need all the help I can get right now,” she said simply. Simeon tried to give him a sympathetic look—after all, that was how he had been roped into watching water boil—but Lei pointedly ignored the glance, instead straightening his spine and heading out. Needless to say, Lei was at best an awkward server. He didn’t have any of Suyin’s natural grace, and combined with the fact that he didn’t particularly want to be there in the slightest, and Suyin was left with more work…like cleaning up his messes. Eventually, Ettie (in her half-drunken state) came out and followed Lei around, making conversation where the man was silent—even if it was slightly bawdy conversation and gently nudging him whenever he forgot something. It was…an interesting afternoon.

When the end of the day came again, finally, Suyin dropped into another chair and sighed deeply. She had sent Simeon to take inventory of just how many smashed teacups they had acquired today, Lenore was tidying up the kitchen, and Elin was running a broom across the floor while again keeping an eye on Ettie, who had decided her good deed for the day had been done and was now indulging herself in the liquor cabinet yet again. Lei, however, still in apron, came over to where Suyin sat, and perched himself next to her stiffly, as if he was expecting her to berate him for coming so close. Instead, however, she just turned to him, giving him a brief glance, and sighed.

“Tell me,” she said, “do you think my mother really misses me, or is she just pretending because someone else above her wants to marry me?” Lei was silent, which in Suyin’s mind proved her point. She sighed, and then stood up.

“All mothers love their children,” Lei said suddenly, still sitting, “and all children love their mothers.” Suyin looked like she might want to say something in reply to this, but she just sighed, and shook her head.

“Why now?” was all the girl said, “what’s so special about now?” Even as she asked it, however, the conversation she had had with Simeon only a few days ago flashed back into her head. Instability. If there was a coup, better to have married Suyin off to some high-ranking family who could be right in place for taking over. Her mother, after all, always did have high aspirations. But then again, if she did really care, shouldn’t she just leave her daughter in England? After all, England would be safe, right?

She was never going to understand her mother, and her mother was never going to understand her. That much, Suyin knew. But then again, prolonging their separation only twisted their misunderstandings even more than they already were.

“Lenore!” Suyin called suddenly, raising her voice slightly. The small scientist popped out from the kitchen, a dishrag and plate in hand.

“Yes?” she asked, calm as always, although Suyin was sure that the woman could read her expression clearly.

“How much longer it take you to repair that ship?” the girl asked calmly. Lenore squinted at the air slightly, making mental calculations, and then unfurrowed her eyebrows.

“I should have everything finished by Thursday. Why?” she asked. Even Ettie had stopped drinking now to watch the conversation.

“Because,” Suyin said, as calm as Lenore, “I’ve decided. I’m going to China—but I’m coming back, too.”

the god of midnight and his cloak of fog

It was during their break that Simeon brought up the issue again, and however much of a surprise it may have been to Suyin, she found that she was much more interested in it than she let on.

“I do wonder…” he started, the teacup still in his hands, halfway to his lips, “what you’d do.” Suyin gave him a quizzical look as Lenore pried a knife out of Ettie’s fingers. It was strange how much she could be like an infant sometimes, fearsome captain or not.

“What I’d do in what?” Suyin asked, sipping her tea delicately. Simeon hesitated for just a split second, and then shrugged.

“In China, I mean. After all…you remember what I told you, right? What would you make of it, if you were back home?” he asked, curious. Suyin just took another sip of tea, before setting the cup down and running her finger along the hot porcelain.

“I…” she started, before pausing. If there was unrest here, what would she do? She’d keep the tea shop running, of course, because she knew nothing else. But back home—if she could even still call that place home…back home, she didn’t even have that sort of opportunity.

“I don’t know,” the girl confessed, “truthfully, if I was back home, they would have probably married me off, and I wouldn’t have any idea what was going on until it was too late.” She frowned, then, remembering just what life had been for her not so long ago. Simeon too, frowned, before sliding forwards slightly on the table.

“Well,” he said quietly, “either way, you have us.” Suyin had to smile at that, even when Ettie sat up suddenly and began spewing the merits of vodka.

It was after their break that Simeon’s words came back to haunt Suyin. Late afternoon tended to be a slow time for the shop, and today was no different. Suyin charmed, Simeon stoically took orders, Lenore kept the kitchen running, and Elin took a turn watching Ettie, who sometimes worried her crew with how much she could consume in the way of alcohol in one day.

The bell above the door of the teashop jingled merrily, signaling the arrival of a new customer. Suyin turned, a smile pasted on her face, but the smile came off just as quickly, as soon as she saw who it was. Before anyone else could react, the teashop owner had near flown across the room, and was grabbing the newcomer’s arm and whispering something into his ear. Or, rather, hissing something into his ear. Simeon turned, giving Lenore a quizzical look as she poked her head out from the kitchen after hearing the commotion (for Suyin had knocked over a tray in the process of running across the room), but the short woman just shrugged, as confused as he was.

He was Chinese—that much both of them could tell—and Suyin seemed to recognize him. His hair was long, pulled back and fastened, and he wore the same style tunic that the crew saw on their own excursions. Elin’s eyes widened as the man attempted to bow to Suyin, and widened even more when she stopped him. None of them could understand what the two were saying to each other, but it was more than obvious that Suyin was not pleased. Just as Simeon might have interrupted in his usual way, however, Suyin suddenly dropped the strange visitor’s arm as if it were made of coals, and she stepped back, eyes as wide as Elin’s had been. The word that came from her lips then, even if it hadn’t been in English, would have had the same effect on all of them anyways.

“No…”

Simeon was thinking it was about time to step in, but surprisingly, someone beat him to it. It was Ettie who swooped past him amid Elin’s protests, walking in a rather straight line for a drunkard, and made her way to the two, and began speaking in flawless Chinese. That shouldn’t have surprised any of the crew—it was Ettie who managed to have all those contacts and black market merchant contacts, after all, and it was Ettie who did all the bargaining. But they were so used to Ettie being incoherent that to see her actually acting, well, captain-like now was a bit of a shock. Before they could process this further, however, Ettie had hooked her arms around both Suyin and the other boy’s waist, and was now leading them back to the crew.

“So!” Ettie said cheerfully, “this is Lei. He’s gonna be staying with us for a while.” The rest of them just stared at Ettie, as if she had just told them they were going to be flying to the moon tomorrow and bringing back the stars.

“No, he’s not,” Suyin said suddenly, uncharacteristically sharp, “he’s going to go straight home and never come back.” None of them were sure whether the boy standing on the other side of Ettie could understand just what she had said, but regardless, he frowned. He looked entirely like the type of boy who loved to worry and frown. He said something, sharply, and Suyin pursed her lips, before replying to him, and soon, the two were arguing over Ettie, who looked back and forth between them before shrugging.

“I tried,” she said, and then edged her away around the two and plopped down at a counter, “but we can’t deal with this until closing time anyways.”

“What’s going on?” Lenore asked in her no-nonsense tone of voice. Ettie shrugged.

“Beats me,” she said, “but I recognize that there symbol he’s carrying. That’s the symbol of Suyin’s family. You know, the noble one I kid—err, the one she left.”

“Do you think…he wants to take her back to her family?” Elin posed the question that everyone else was thinking. Ettie paused, and then grimaced.

“Well,” she replied slowly, “wouldn’t you?” The three of them turned to Lei, who was now sitting in a corner, his arms crossed as his eyes followed Suyin, who had plastered a smile on her face and was chatting amicably with the customers as always, although there was a slight furrow between her brows. His gaze never left Suyin, even though he stiffened as he felt the crew’s gaze on him. In fact, Lei stayed like that until closing time, and Ettie was just about certain that he hadn’t moved a single muscle…although that might have just been her drunk pirate senses speaking.

As the last customer left and Suyin bowed him through the door, Lei stood up suddenly, purposefully making his way to Suyin. Ettie, however, was faster, and was steering Lei away from her before he even realized what had happened. Ettie led the boy back to the crew, wisely wedging him in between herself and Lenore—who was unbendable, despite the hints that Lei showed that he wanted to get out. It was only then that Suyin came over, herself sitting between Elin and Simeon, and crossed her hands and ankles, giving the impression of a rather irate lady.

“Well?” Simeon said, a bit impatiently. Lei’s eyes flickered to the other man for a minute, before turning them back to Suyin.

“Why don’t you tell them, Lei?” Suyin replied, her voice still unnaturally terse as it had been all afternoon after the man had arrived, “and no nonsense about not speaking English. We both know you do.” She added something in her foreign language, which made Ettie’s eyes widen and look back and forth between the two, but before she could make note or explain, he was talking.

“I came,” he said in accented English, “to bring the lady back home.” When they all stared at him blankly—sans Suyin and Ettie, of course—the man frowned, looking irritated.

“That lady,” he said, pointing at Suyin.

“Etiquette,” Suyin snapped in return, and almost automatically, Lei’s hand dropped as if she had burned it. While that exchange went on, however, the rest of the crew had been processing Lei’s declaration.

“So…” Elin said suddenly, as Suyin felt her straighten up besides her, “you mean, you’re taking Suyin away from us?!” Lei paused, as he translated the words in his mind, and then, slowly, he replied.

“My lady wishes to have her daughter returned to her, where she can be safe and—” he started, but was interrupted as Suyin stood abruptly, rattling the silverware on the table.

“My mother hasn’t cared about me in years,” she said suddenly, “and look at me like that, Lei. You believe it as much as I do. I know you do. Why are you really here?” While the rest of them had never seen an outburst like that from Suyin, the man from her childhood seemed unfazed.

“I have no choice in the matter,” he finally said, “and neither does your mother.” His eyes focused in on Suyin, “You know what that means, don’t you, lady? You have no choice either.”

the fragrance lingering between old wood

It was always pleasant for Suyin when she woke up the next day and found that she didn’t have to start the day alone. Even if Ettie was making a mess out of all the pillows and table settings she had gotten ready last night and Lenore was making a racket in the back of the shop, Suyin found all those sounds comforting. It also helped that while Lenore was repairing the ship, the girl had a couple of extra hands to help her along in the tea shop.

“Good morning,” Elin called cheerfully as Suyin padded down the stairs, sticking a final hairpin into her hair.

“Good morning,” Suyin replied, noting that the kettle was already burning, Simeon was toasting bread, and the liquor cabinet was still untouched…for now, at least. There was no telling how long that would last, especially with Ettie around.

“Lenore’s working on the ship,” Simeon said, pulling off some extremely flowery mitts, “and Ettie’s started unloading things into the storeroom.”

“Oh, good,” Suyin said, sitting down at the table, where Elin pushed the bread basket at her, “did one of you teach her how to do inventory yet?”

“I came up with the inventory method!” Ettie said, offended as she came through from the back, a large crate in hand, “here’s some of the regular tea leaves and stuff,” she added, “I thought you might need it for today.”

“Thank you,” Suyin said, a bit surprised, “that is actually very helpful.”

“Unusually,” Simeon added under his breath.

“Hey!” Ettie yelled, sliding in to sit next to Suyin, “I am always helpful, Simeon Hughes!”

“Uh huh,” Simeon said indulgently, “just eat, Ettie.”

Breakfast was a jumble of laughter and butter flying back and forth—nothing like the refined, formal occasions that had made up Suyin’s childhood. With the crew around her, breakfast was filling and entertaining, and she didn’t even have to wash the dishes afterwards—Simeon took care of that, courtesy of his losing yet another bet against Ettie. Instead, Suyin followed the rest of the crew back to the storeroom to survey the haul, as well as distribute what needed to be distributed and figure out what needed to be taken off and added onto the menu. Lenore met them there, already smudged in oil and grease, her normally refined and sleek appearance now disheveled. Regardless, however, she smiled at them and beckoned the group over to where she had already turned the ship into a mere skeleton of itself.

“I think I’ve figured out a way to make this baby run about twenty percent faster,” she said, a glint in her eye, “it should take me about a week or so.”

“Take your time,” Suyin said with a smile, glancing around the shorter girl to stare at the empty skeleton of the airship, “you know I don’t mind the company.”

“Yes, but you’d run out of supplies eventually and Ettie would get herself arrested,” Lenore replied logically, and made a shooing motion at them, “now, go take inventory, open the shop, and I’ll see you at supper.” Pulling her goggles over her face, Lenore got to work once more, and Ettie and Elin pulled Suyin off once more as the whirring and banging began again behind them. The storeroom was even more exciting than the skeleton of an airship. Suyin always loved walking in right after the crew came home—a million different scents hit her at once, and a million different colors too, it seemed. She let out a deep sigh of contentment closing her eyes, and felt Elin wriggle besides her, eager to show everything.

“Tea’s over there,” Ettie said, also impatient although she was less prone to show it, “we got all the usuals, which I took up for you, but this is the rest of the stock, if you need it. Red, green, black, some weird one made of something that looked like an old man’s—”

“Ettie!” Suyin scolded before the pirate could finish her sentence. Ettie’s jaw snapped shut and she gave a quick glance at Elin, who was still bouncing anyways and hadn’t seemed to have heard her captain’s almost slip of the tongue.

“They have new patterns from India!” the fairy girl finally burst out, running over to the pile of fabrics and pulling one out to bring back to the Asian girl, “aren’t they gorgeous?” Suyin unwrapped a bolt of red, silver thread woven in and sparkling against her eyes.

“Very,” she had to agree with a smile equally as large as Elin’s, “these will fetch a very nice price on the market.” Elin sighed at this, wistfully.

“Sometimes I wish we could keep everything we bought,” she said, stroking one loving hand over the fabric, “all those pretty things seem so gone to waste.”

“Elin, if we never sold anything, we’d never make any money back,” Simeon said, joining them from his dishwashing duty in the kitchen.

“I know,” she sighed, “but still!”

“Keep one,” Suyin said generously, “I’m sure London won’t mind if they have one less pattern out there.”

“Really? Thank you, Su!” Elin beamed, before hugging the bolt she had picked out—obviously her favorite one—to her chest. Suyin took another look around the room, breathing in deeply. Two years ago, she would have never thought she could accomplish all this. Two years ago, she would have never believed she could accomplish even just half of this…but look at her now.

“Alright,” the girl said, clapping her hands together, “now that you’re all here, things will be much easier. Ettie, you and Elin will help me out in the shop, right?” Ettie looked like she might protest, but Simeon elbowed her in the stomach, hissing, ‘You can go get drunk later!’ so she nodded along with the younger girl.

“Simeon will help in the kitchen, and Lenore will work on that ship,” Suyin said, nodding to herself decisively, and then beamed. Before she could say anything else, however, Ettie said something entirely similar and different at the same time.

“We’re like slaves,” Ettie groaned. Simeon replied to that statement by elbowing Ettie. Again.

Madame Sen’s Tea House was known for being an exotic place in London, even with all the new things coming in daily left and right through the cargo ships and in the news. What made it interesting, then, was the fact that it was at least semi-reputable. Everyone heard the rumors that the owner employed pirates, among other things, but then again, everybody couldn’t help but coming to see if the tea was as good as it seemed at least once. For her part, Suyin gave the rumors no credit, charming newcomers with her strangely foreign demeanor. Even Ettie managed to be cordial—until lunchtime, at least. Around lunchtime, Ettie discovered how to break into the liquor cabinet, new lock or not, and Lenore was recruited from her ship duties to take over for the now drunk captain. Regardless, however, the afternoon ended as it always did whether the pirates were there or not—with a pile of unwashed teacups in the sink, Ettie drunk, and Suyin with strangely sore feet. Regardless, however, she wouldn’t have traded it for anything in the world, even if she was glad for the break in between.

a simple melody repeats her name

Around her, the air roared with excitement; drunk sailors argued with mechanics and booters, flirted with wenches, and demanded more beer. But Suyin sat in the midst of it all, an untouched mug of beer directly opposite her and a cup of tea, also untouched. With all the composure of a noble-born lady, Suyin’s face remained completely neutral, even as a tattooed sailor smelling like last week’s rotten meat flew backwards into her table, almost upsetting both the tea and the beer. But Suyin just waved off the man’s gruff apologies, wiping away the bit of tea that had spilled, and remained impassive—until the door to the pub burst open and the crowd fell silent, while a red-headed, boisterous pirate walked in through the door, laughing loudly.

“Suyin!” Ettie roared, pushing her way past muscular men to wedge her way across the booth from the calm girl, “is that for me? Thanks!” the pirate grinned, and then downed the entire mug in one gulp, as usual.

“Welcome back,” Suyin replied with a single raise of her eyebrow.

“Sorry we’re late,” a compact, refined woman said, trailing in behind Ettie and nudging the red-head aside to slide in next to her, “but I think the cargo will make up for it this time. It’s quite nice, I must say.”

“I picked out all the new fabrics!” another girl slid in next to Suyin, her voice as light and airy as the long, flaxen hair she tossed over her shoulder.

“Lenore, Elin,” Suyin acknowledged, sliding over to make room for the young girl, “lovely to see you again, but where’s—”

“Getting airsick,” Ettie replied, cutting Suyin off and slamming her mug down.

“More beer!” Ettie roared, and the pub echoed her roar in agreement. Suyin just rolled her eyes and lauged, as another man, looking rather green, stumbled over to the table, bracing himself against the worn, chipped wood.

“Nice of you to join us, Simeon,” Ettie quipped at him. The man just groaned, and turned to Lenore.

“Please, for the love of all that turns,” he moaned, “never let her land us again.” Suyin stifled her laughter at this, but the rest of them didn’t even bother to.

“Can’t argue against the captain,” Lenore said simply, “although I wouldn’t mind if she treated The Agreement with a little more respect.”

“Her name,” Ettie roared suddenly, already more than half-drunk on her second glas of beer, “is Jimmy!”

“Her?” Elin asked with a laugh, as Simeon and Suyin asked, with varying amounts of disbelief, “Jimmy?”

“Jimmy,” Ettie replied decisively, and then, liquored up enough for all five of them, fell forwards on to the table, unconscious.

It wasn’t long after that that they had to vacate the bar—inevitably, a fight had broken out and they had to leave before the police showed up. Wanted or not, the crew of The Agreement—or Jimmy, depending on who you were talking to—were evading air tax laws, and even their somewhat-rich funder couldn’t save them if they were caught. The streets of London were surprisingly calm at this time of night, even with the occasional leering man or glint of a knife. No one bothered the little group, however, and Elin led the way, skipping gaily, the coins sewing onto the hem of her skirt tinkling merrily as she led the way. Behind her trailed Lenore, who was keeping an eye not only on the younger girl, but on Simeon, who had been charged with carrying their drunk captain home, and Suyin, walking along him leisurely, her heels making sharp claps against the cobblestones. In the distance, the smoke curled up in twists and turns, rising so high into the night air that it almost seemed like the smoke was dragging lines across the sky. The airships looked almost like stars in reverse—instead of shining, they were little black dots in the sky, a sort of comforting darkness to the dreamers and adventurers of London.

They had been walking in silence for a while when Simeon turned to Suyin, and smiled slightly, although it came out looking more like a grimace.

“I know you’re dying to ask, so would you like to, or shall I just tell you?” he asked the girl. Suyin looked surprised, but then she grimaced too, and tilted her head to look up at the older man.

“That makes it sound like it’s not good news,” she commented, trying to be neutral. Wisely, Simeon didn’t reply to this statement, and so Suyin sighed.

“Well, might as well get it over with. Tell me,” she said, almost as if news were a death sentence and not something she yearned for everyday. The airgraphs had made news reporting so much faster, but sometimes the young woman still had trouble trusting the sources, preferring to hear it from mouths she did know well.

“Well,” he said slowly, shifting Ettie around on his back, “the emperor’s without an heir, as you know, and now there’s talk of some illegitimate son taking over. And that never bodes well—not with the masses, anyways. Apparently this guy’s very popular at court. The dowager empress loves him.”

A flash came to Suyin’s mind of a little boy who she had once been left alone with for an entire day, who she had played by the pond with until he had pushed her in. She hadn’t been allowed to cry, she remembered her nursemaid hissing in her ear. It hadn’t been the first time, and it certainly hadn’t been the last. But that little boy—

“Suyin?” she startled, slightly, as Lenore’s steady voice brought her out of her thoughts, “we’re here.” And indeed, they were. It took the shorter girl a moment to compose her thoughts, but while she did that, she reached out anyways, grasping the cool, red, lacquered handle of a door. It wasn’t the gaudiness that drew one to this particular building. Suyin had insisted this building, at least, be painted a bright, unavoidable red. It was the carvings that really drew attention—the fish jumping out of the doors, the dragons woven around clouds, the lions standing guard on the roof like those gargoyles the Westerners preferred. Suyin blinked, again, and then smiled, fishing around in her purse for the key, which she then pushed into the keyhole, and then pushed the doors wide open, breathing in deeply as the rush of scents hit her, pure and strong.

“This place is the same as always,” Ettie said suddenly, awake now that they had reached home, but still slurring slightly, “don’t you ever feel like redecorating once in a while, Su?”

“Of course she doesn’t,” Elin replied before the Asian girl had a chance to, “how would we ever find our way home then?” They all laughed, and as Elin and Ettie argued the merits of redecorating, Suyin wandered away to the kitchens to do what she did best now—make tea.

It was Lenore who joined her now, leaning against a wall as Suyin put the water on to boil.

“I’ll have to apologize for them about the backyard,” she said calmly, and Suyin suddenly had visions of torn up gardens or the hull of an airship sticking out of the side of her beloved shop. But instead, she swallowed her fears, and laughed with Lenore.

“I have some faith in Ettie,” she said, emphasizing the word ‘some’, “as long as no one sees it from the front; I suppose we’ll be fine. And besides, you’re going to take apart that ship again after we unload the cargo, aren’t you?” There was a spark in Lenore’s eyes as Suyin mentioned this—one that might otherwise unnerve anyone who hadn’t met the scientist before.

“Of course,” Lenore replied calmly, although the mad glint in her eye canceled out her calm tone, “I already have plans.” Suyin just raised an eyebrow, before grabbing a tray to put her tea and teapot on.

“Here, let me help you,” Lenore said, grabbing another tray and half the cups, “I still don’t understand why you think it’s such a big deal whenever we come home.”

“Why wouldn’t it be a big deal?” Suyin replied with a smile, “after all, you’re my family. All of you.” Lenore looked skeptical, but she didn’t argue this fact.

“Come on,” she said instead, “let’s get this tea into Ettie before midnight, or else she’ll never get to bed.”

the sound of bells beyond the endless forest

The world was black. Beneath her, the wood rumbled with the power of the ship—power she had never experienced until now, and power she would probably never experience ever again. She blinked, and then blinked again as her hair—newly shorn—fell into her eyes. How had she ended up here? Taken not once, but twice. It was…it was…

She jumped, suddenly, as there was the sudden and loud clanking of boots that no one wore at home except the traders from far-off, forbidden places. The red-headed pirate—the one who had taken her away from home—appeared in front of her slowly, her dark brown boots appearing first, then her gaudy green overcoat, and then unruly red hair and hazel eyes. It was the eyes that locked with hers, now.

“What’s your name?” she asked in perfect Chinese. But the girl sitting in the darkness could only stare back at the pirate. The words sat on her lips, the two characters she had seen over and over again, the two characters she knew so well. Suyin, she wanted to tell the pirate who had taken her, my name is Suyin. But the words would not come, and so Suyin could only stare at the pirate blankly. The pirate sighed.

“Not going to tell me? Shame,” she shook her head and turned to leave, “shame indeed. A silent journey is not very fun, you know.” As the pirate started up the stairs ,however, she found her voice.

“Suyin,” she called sharply—a voice that would have ended with her being scolded if she had dared use it back home, It did, however, catch the pirate’s attention and cause her to pause, turning back to her captive. The red-headed pirate stared at the girl for a minute, as if she was some sort of drunken hallucination, and then slowly smiled.

“Suyin,” she said, “that’s a rather simple name for a noble girl like you.” But the pirate laughed.

“Well, I suppose I should introduce myself as well. I’m Henrietta Kealy, captain of this here ship. Call me Ettie.” The pirate—Ettie—grinned for the first time.

“Ettie,” Suyin nodded in the cool way she had learned from watching her mother. She paused wondering just what to say next, and then realized something. She was on an airship, something banned in the world she had come from, and she was heading in an completely opposite direction from home—a home she had never loved or even liked in the first place. Suyin realized at that point that she did not have to go back. It was entirely in her hands, entirely in her power to start a new life. There was a whole other world beyond court and beyond China that she had never seen, and although there would be people she would miss sorely, there were plenty more people she could do without ever seeing again.

Before she could figure out how to voice this, however, Ettie posed the question Suyin had already answered in her mind.

“So, what to do now?” the pirate asked conversationally, swaying slightly, although Suyin dismissed that as a product of the ship, “I’ll admit I didn’t intend to pick up a little Chinese girl like you on my way home—no offense, of course.” Suyin had to laugh at that as well.

“None taken, “she replied, and as her hair fell into her faice once more and she brushed it away, another idea came into the girl’s mind.

“Say, Ettie,” Suyin said slowly, running her hand through her short hair once more and picking out a loose jeweled hairpin, “do you want to make a deal?”