Page 56 of Voice of the Ocean

“You... want us to fight?” Kiyami tried, although clearly opposed to the idea.

She shook her head. With resolute posture, Celeste wagged a finger at an invisible student, correcting some mistake.

“You want me to scold... no...” Kiyami’s face folded in on itself in confusion before understanding dawned. “Teach! Teach you! You’d like me to teach you to use a sword.”

A laugh trilled from Celeste’s lips, and she nodded.

“Of course I can teach you. Would you like to start after lunch today?”

Celeste nodded again and reached out to clasp Kiyami’s wrist. It was a gut reaction—something she was so used to doing when she thanked a mentor in her kingdom. Kiyami looked down at Celeste’s hand, eyebrows knitting together. But as Celeste pulled her hand back, Kiyami closed her own hand around Celeste’s wrist and squeezed gently. The gesture was small, but it felt like home.

* * *

“Let’s begin with footwork,” Kiyami said.

The late-afternoon sun washed the deck in a warm, golden light. Celeste shifted back and forth on her feet, hands clenching and unclenching at her sides. They had quite the audience, with the crew having little better to do than watch this lesson. And of course Raiden, who had been in bed resting all day, chose this moment to get a breath of fresh air. Celeste’s lips pressed into a hard line. She knew well how the first lesson of any new training went. The idea of landing on her back in front of Raiden was nearly enough to make her call the whole thing off.

He had more color in his face than the night before, but not much. And his dark eyes hadn’t left her for the past ten minutes. Celeste hoped the others assumed the flush on her cheeks was from exertion and heat rather than embarrassment. Each day had begun to feel warmer than the last.

“It’s the southern heat,” Nasir had said at lunch.

“It’s going to be the death of me,” grunted Torben. Apparently, summers in Yenri weren’t nearly as punishing.

Celeste took a deep breath, centering herself. She let the distractions around her drift away, like water down a river. Torben’s laugh, Raiden’s gaze, and the other crew members fell away until there was nothing but Celeste and the rhythm of her breath.

“Begin with your right foot forward and left behind,” Kiyami said, demonstrating. “Try to keep your heels in line with each other. The goal is to make your body a smaller target.”

Celeste did as she was told, moving her feet so they matched Kiyami’s. Or at least she thought they had. Kiyami was quick to point out that Celeste’s feet didn’t point in the right way. Or her legs weren’t far enough apart. Or her weight was too much on one foot or the other. Kiyami made corrections bluntly. Her sharp eyes saw every mistake. When Celeste’s foot turned out again, Kiyami kicked it back into place with her toe. If Celeste hadn’t already been blushing, she was now. Of course sword work began with thefeet. The one thing Celeste had no training in. Although she was used to walking by now, she still tripped often.

“Bend your knees.”

Knees... Celeste’s heart dropped. She knew this word. Sheknewit. Nerissa had told her where they were the day she got them. And yet every time she got close to remembering, it would slip through her fingers like water.

Mercifully, Kiyami didn’t wait long. She gently tapped the back of Celeste’s leg with the tip of her boot, and the leg bent.Ugh, of course, Celeste thought.The knees are the bendy part. Which was why she said “bend.”

“Now advance.”

The girls drilled each step again and again, until sweat dripped down Celeste’s face, and her thighs burned. Her legs were not yet as strong as her upper body. But her stamina was still quite high, so they were able to continue for a couple of hours. In time, Celeste began building better awareness of her legs. She noticed which direction her feet pointed, where her weight was held. Soon she stepped backward and forward in tandem with Kiyami. It became like a dance. They drilled forward movement, backward movement, and even began turning before Kiyami stopped them.

“You’re a quick study!” she said, grinning.

It was a joy to watch Kiyami work. She was a natural teacher, and Celeste was grateful for how patient she was. Celeste did her best to communicate as much, but the miming fell short. Still, Kiyami gathered the gist.

“I taught my siblings how to fight,” she said proudly, and laughed. “There’s five of them, so I’ve had a lot of practice.” Something crossed over her face as she spoke of them. It was a look that Celeste could relate to all too well. Homesickness. “Let’s end things here for today. Tomorrow we will review today’s movements and begin attacks and parries.”

* * *

Inexplicably, it was Celeste’s turn to wash dishes. Again. Raiden hadn’t come to dinner, choosing instead to stay in bed. Kiyami, who had done dishes several times already, had returned to man the wheel. And Torben and Bastian were, as usual, missing once the meal had concluded. Nasir insisted he’d hunt them down, but Celeste waved his offer away. So the two cleaned the table together and set about their chores, using the usual small ration of water and whale soap to wash the remnants of food from each plate.

The two worked in silence, side by side. Nasir cleaned the dishes, and Celeste dried them with a towel and put them away. It was a comfortable routine. Nasir was not much for conversation, which made things easy for Celeste. But when he did speak, he enjoyed getting to know the others. So it didn’t come entirely as a surprise when he introduced a topic of conversation.

“You have a family back home?”

Celeste nodded and held up five fingers.

“Ah... five of you? This includes parents and yourself?”

She nodded again.

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