Page 8 of Born for Lace

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I wake, feeling like no time has passed, but it has. The ten or so runaways are already climbing the steps, and the boat has slowed down. Levelled…

How?There is something odd about the way the boat moves, glides instead of waves, seeming to slide on liquid silk.

Am I dreaming?

“You’re awake.”

I blink the sleep from my gaze and check on Spero, whose eyes are closed. Little squeaks come through his pursed lips, and my chest squeezes.

“Your baby is hungry,” Tomar says, and I bite down on my lower lip.

I ignore it. “Are we…here?”

I don’t know where we’re going, so I don’t elaborate, keeping every question ambiguous to not give myself away. To not appear as confused as I am. Even as I go through the motions, I cling to the mindless actions I make because they keep me moving forward and not rushing backward.

Don’t let The Trade find him.

Tomar climbs to his feet. “Almost. Go up and see. You don’t need your mask here. I need to help Lagos on deck. I should be up there already, but you were sleeping, so…”

I straighten, realising I was leaning on him. I stuff my mask into mybeibaoand bundle Spero in tight before following Tomar up the steps.

My feet freeze on the top deck when the soft briny mist kisses my cheeks and lips. Peering around in wonder at what cannot be real, my eyes grow.

A dome of stars encompasses us above and is mirrored in the still watery surface below. It’s far more fantastical than real—thousands of glowing lights, some bright, others dim, but they areeverywhere.

No Redwind…

Shocked, I gaze around the cavernous dome of stars, looking for an answer.Real stars?They can’t be… The Cradle hasn’t seen a star in hundreds of years.Am I dead?Is this The Crust—the spiritual afterlife?

The further the boat drifts, the more peculiar the stars appear. They move overhead, behind, under. The boat breaks the ones reflected on the water as it moves through them, smudging them.

“No… They are not stars.” I spin to take in the beaming spots, a sight mesmerising and extraordinary.

Ahead, I see the end, a rocky grey blockage lit by lanterns and lights from other boats. There are small wooden houses, dozens or more; I can’t be sure from this distance.

“Glowworms,” Tomar answers, flicking a star from a needle-like rock dripping with moisture akin to wax down a candle.

I gasp in awe. “Stunning.”

“They are just bugs,” I hear the big, mean one—Lagos—sneer.

“Glowing bugs,” I mutter, feeling belittled, but the sight of the cave washes it away. I don’t care if my wonder seems juvenile or ridiculous to that man. I don’t even know him. And the cave—The Bite, it’s real. A community carved with water’s hand. And itisstunning.

“Welcome to The Bite, Lace Girl,” Tomar says, leaning to check the zipline that I can now see rushes between the two hulls.

Tears rise to the backs of my eyes. I wish Maple was here to see this… It was her dream, not mine.

“Why is it called The Bite?” I ask. “This place is not at all vicious looking.”

Tomar’s eyes lift to the ceiling. “Well, the Endigos say that the sky never forgave us for fucking up the earth, but the ocean did. It took a giant bite out of the ground to give all, Common, Xin De, and Endigo a reprieve from the Redwind.”

I hear someone scoff—Lagos.

Tomar ignores him.

And I can’t help but smile.

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