Believe it or not, but hiding a young woman on a vessel full of sailors all barely capable of completing their own ship duties is easier than it sounds. Leon continues to protect Isae, as more and more sailors continue to fail recognizing her as anything less than the captain’s cabin boy they forgot was on board to start with. At least one of the crew is too concerned with the contraband he smuggled out of the Degrading Lands to care.

Erstwhile, two new sailors find a place and purpose aboard the ship. Quessy and Garou, two refugees recovered from the Degrading Lands, assume their duties with grand vigor. Quessy, an enternainer. Garou, moving man sized barrels over each shoulder. The Degrading Lands were indeed kind to the Duquetimme.

There’s a new ship on the horizon. This one, however, waves a neutral, foreign flag: a trade vessel of the distant desert land of Xexoria seeks a meeting at sea . . .

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