A girl her own age opened the door. Flora could immediately see why the captain had assigned her a guard. She was beautiful, and not just in the way that all young, rich Imperials were beautiful. She was well groomed like all of them, her long black hair pulled away from her face and arranged in some sort of complicated knot, as was the style in Crandon. She had white teeth, and all of them. Her small waist was nipped in dramatically by a corset beneath a fire-red obi. She looked just as an Imperial woman was meant to look.
But her eyes. They were darkest brown, nearly black. They shone in the dark and the dank of the Dove. A single fleck of gold glinted from one, and Flora found it very difficult to look away from it once she’d seen it. Being the same height, they looked eye to eye.
Flora disliked her immediately, in the way she disliked all Imperials. On principle. Sure, they were polite enough when one-on-one, but she knew — because she’d seen it — what Imperial kindness truly looked like.
Imagine — to be so rich, and to be gifted with beauty, too. There really was no such thing as justice.
“Yes?” The Lady’s voice was friendly but tired. Flora realized she’d stood at the precipice for far too long without saying anything. She stuttered out an awkward introduction, clarifying that she’d be the lady’s guard for the duration of the voyage.
“OK,” the Lady said peaceably.
Of course, she was likely accustomed to some sort of guard. Most Imperial elites were, especially once they left the confines of Crandon’s most wealthy quarters. So Flora leaned against the wall outside the Lady’s cabin, listening as she rustled about her things. Occasionally, she shouted questions through the open door, which Flora grudgingly answered.
“Is this your first voyage? To the Floating Islands?”
Flora rolled her eyes. Surely, she’s at least been introduced to the concept of work? “No, milady. But my first from the Nipran shore.”
“It’ll take about five months, yes?”
“Yes, milady. At least, depending on the winds.”
“That’s such a long time.”
“Hm.”
“Don’t you get bored?”
Flora felt her head tip in bemusement. This was, first, the most she’d ever talked with an Imperial noble, and second, the most unusual conversation she’d ever had on the Dove. Bored? What’d the Imperial think this was? A pleasure cruise? “I stay busy.”
“I’m bored already.”
“I’m sorry, milady.”
To Flora’s shock, the Lady poked her head out of the door to her cabin. She looked about the empty hallway, then cast a blindingly radiant smile at Florian.
“I didn’t mean for you to apologize. I just meant let’s not be bored separately when we could be entertained together.” She beckoned for him to come into her cabin.
Flora only gaped at her. Did she know? Could she tell that Florian was not a man? It would be so deeply inappropriate, so resolutely un-Imperial, for her to open her cabin to him. How humiliating, to come so far, to have done such things, only to be called out by a sheltered, idiot Imperial —
“I don’t need your help unpacking, and I’m sorry but I’m sure you wouldn’t know what to do anyway. Men are useless like that. No offense, I hope — it’s not your fault. But I require company. You have no idea how monotonous it is on my own in here. I feel like I’m going crazy. If you don’t mind?”
She motioned Florian in once more, but it was a gesture of polite entreaty. Not command.
Had an Imperial ever invited her to do anything?
No. Of course not.
“Please?” the Lady added.
And perhaps simply because she was so bewildered, she followed her feet into the Lady’s cabin. The casket she and Alfie had carried lay open on the ground. Kimonos and yukatas of various colors and patterns spilled forth from it — the Lady was clearly not unpacking with any kind of care — and a stack of books was piled on the floor. Flora smiled to herself. She’d been right, of course. She was always right about Imperials.
Following Flora’s gaze, the Lady smiled down at the books, too. “I couldn’t bear to leave them,” she said. Of course you couldn’t, thought Flora. “You’re more than welcome to borrow any that catch your eye. I’ve got some good ones in there. I mean, I think they’re all good, but there are a couple that, you know, people generally think are good, not just me.”
Flora blinked, surprised. The Lady assumed she could read. And also she thought, what, she’d just lend her books out and trust an absolute stranger to return them? Books were expensive. A single one of those stupid things could feed Flora for a week in Tustwe. Flora’s consternation must have showed, because the Lady flushed a little, a pleasant pink that bloomed in her ears.
“I know they’re just silly novels. I’ve read them a hundred times, but they’re a comfort. Do you like to read, er . . .” She trailed off in a way that was clearly an invitation for Flora to introduce herself.
“Florian,” said Flora. She let her voice go deep, let the magic of the name do its work. It felt good, to be so protected, so safe, in the face of the strangeness the Lady stirred in Flora’s chest. Wearing Florian could be like that. A spell of strength against the world.
“Evelyn,” said the Lady Hasegawa. She reached out a hand expectantly. It was such a polite gesture, a gesture meant for equals, that for a moment, Flora just stared at the hand, at the manicured fingernails, the bright puddles of red lacquer on each. Finally, she remembered herself and shook the Lady’s hand. Evelyn’s hand.
Her skin was soft, her fingers long and thin. How long had she been shaking the Lady’s hand? Flora dropped it, a little abruptly. She would have felt naked except that she could hide behind Florian in this moment, and she was grateful for that.
“Anyway, Florian, do you like to read?”
“I don’t know how.” She had never been embarrassed by this before. Few aboard the Dove knew how to read anything other than their own names. It was, she thought, almost a rude thing to ask. Why would she know how to read? What was this lady getting at? She squared her shoulders. She was Florian. He was a sailor, not a playwright.
The Lady’s face fell. Flora braced herself for pity, but it did not come. Instead, the Lady just looked, well, mad. “That won’t do,” she said. “That won’t do at all. If I’ve understood correctly, we have plenty of time aboard this ship. I’m sure I can teach you the basics in half that. I taught my lady’s maid, you know, and it was so much fun, for both of us honestly.”
“Teach me . . . ?”
“To read, Florian. It’s not hard, I promise, and there are too many good stories in the world to miss out on. This way, neither of us will be bored! You’d be doing me a favor, too, really.” All the reticence she’d shown in the doorway was gone. The Lady’s cheeks dimpled; her plump lips pulled into a smile. She was a strange Imperial. The gold fleck in her eye flashed.
“Of course, but —”
“That’s settled, then! You’re supposed to stick near me anyway. Captain Lafayette mentioned something like that. Guard, you said. Whatever. I don’t need guarding, but I do love reading, and I feel like — since you must like stories, right? — you would, too, if you give it a shot. Yes?”