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Rysn is brought aboard the Wandersail in Thaylen City harbour, reflecting that Thaylen naval *tradition* is far older and far harder to overrule than Thaylen naval regulation. The ship is fearsome by any measure — full-rigged, built for speed of light Soulcast wood, fitted with firepod-armed ballistae and rowable in a calm — and it is unambiguously hers on paper. Vstim commissioned it, accepted investors, and on his appointment as Thaylen Minister of Trade signed it over to her with the writ of ownership and the symbolic captain's cord. And yet she has never touched its wheel: when she asked for the same ceremonial turn at the helm her babsk used to take at the start of a voyage, the captain had explained — once, sharply — that this was a privilege earned over a career of crew-care, and forbade her from ever asking again. Tradition. Stronger than Soulcast wood.

Nikli and his assistant carry her up to the quarterdeck and settle her into the new permanent station she has specified: a tall, sunshaded seat bolted to the deck, with a belt, optional leg straps for rough seas, and a place beside it to stow her wheeled chair. Nikli, scanning the spot for what she will need next, recommends a latching nightstand and offers to move one of her cabin pieces over. The captain, Drlwan, and her brother Kstled the ship's man-at-arms bow formally to the *rebsk*; Nikli, watching the captain's posture, plainly does not like the way she addresses Rysn but says nothing.

Drlwan, dressed today in formal naval white with full medals and her tall tricorn, walks to Rysn's chair and politely tells her she should remain at port. The voyage is a survey, not a trade run; it could be dangerous; they can spanreed the results to her. Rysn refuses, with effort. Drlwan accepts the refusal without waiting for dismissal — by tradition she needs none — and returns to her post. Nikli, handing her Chiri-Chiri back, says quietly that he does not think the captain cares a wink for her safety; the captain simply does not like her. Rysn agrees.

Below on the main deck, Queen Navani's team arrives — two Windrunners, the ardent scribe Rushu, and a young Horneater woman Rysn at first takes for a servant — and to her surprise the sailors actually cheer them. The man-at-arms passes her seat, casually noting that one never turns down passage to a Windrunner; flying enemies have made even strong ships fragile. But the show feels overdone in a way Rysn has been trained to notice in a trade. She calls Drlwan back and asks what is going on. After a sigh, the captain admits the ship's pet — a rat-hunting skyeel the crew were fond of — was found dead that morning. Kstled mutters that it is a bad omen. Drlwan glares; modern Thaylens are formally Vorin now, and superstition is supposed to be unscientific. But superstition is also alive at sea, and the men have been waiting for someone to read this morning the wrong way. Rysn, thinking quickly, suggests the cheering Windrunner can be cast as a counter-omen, a replacement for the dead pet — a public reframing the crew can hold on to.

She presses further. Have the crew been told their destination? They have, with an explicit instruction not to grumble or to question Queen Fen's writ. Rysn overrules: pass it among the crew that any man whose conscience troubles him about Aimia may step off now without punishment and rejoin them on the return. Drlwan dislikes being told how to handle her crew but obeys, sending Kstled to spread the word.

While Kstled gathers the crew at the rail, Rysn has the thought she should have had at the start. She has been seeing this whole appointment through her own eyes. What does Drlwan want? She works it out aloud, gently. The Wandersail was commissioned and crew-trained months before it was handed to her; Drlwan would have known Vstim was preparing to retire; Vstim would have given her every reason to think the ship would be hers. Then Rysn, untested, arrived as *rebsk* and the captain has spent every voyage since holding her tongue. The captain stiffens, will not meet her eyes, and gives the slightest nod. Rysn resolves what Vstim would have resolved — to spend the rest of her life earning the trust of those around her — and quietly thanks the captain for the courtesy.

Kstled returns: only three crewmen took the offer, including the cook, and the Windrunner contingent has volunteered their Horneater companion in his place, vouching for her in the galley. The captain calls them ready. Rysn gives the word. The Wandersail sails.