“Maybe,” I agreed. My unexpected advancement was still a subject of much speculation in the house, though no one came anywhere near to guessing the truth. I knew Mira was among those who wondered, but she was friend enough not to push me on it. It seemed she carried her own secrets and could respect those of others.
The final blow in the feud with Tamsin came on the day we set sail. We’d traveled to the port city of Culver, in western Osfrid, where Jasper’s two commissioned ships waited. It was a cold, blustery day, and as we huddled near the docks, I overheard some of the sailors muttering about a winter crossing. Mistress Masterson had also mentioned it to Jasper, and he’d shrugged it off, saying we were close enough to spring to be free of storms. If he got the jump on other traders coming over in the spring, he could get a higher profit for the rest of the goods he was transporting.
Mistress Masterson and the other manor mistresses had come with us, though not all would be going to Adoria. “You’ll be in the capable hands of Mistress Culpepper when you arrive,” Mistress Masterson told us. The cold sea wind whipped around us, and I pulled my cloak tighter. “She runs things on the Adorian side and will look after you.”
Despite her confident words, I could see concern in Mistress Masterson’s features. She’d taught us with a prim—and often strict—countenance, but the gentleness in her features now showed her underlying affection.
“Listen to what you’re told there and remember what you’ve learned here,” advised the Swan Ridge mistress.
“And don’t talk to the sailors,” said another mistress. “Keep to yourselves, and always go in groups if you leave your quarters.”
She didn’t have to tell us that. The sailors loading our belongings and Jasper’s cargo were a burly, rough-looking lot. I avoided eye contact as they moved past us with their loads. My understanding was that they’d been very strongly warned against socializing with us, but one could never be too careful. Jasper’s eye was on them now as he directed which ships would carry which goods. Between us and his trade, he was certain to make a good profit from this trip, and I thought it a shame he couldn’t use that money to help his son. But from what I’d observed, Cedric was right to guess his father wouldn’t endorse alternative religious beliefs.
Cedric himself showed up near boarding time, running typically late. By then, the goods were on board, and it was our turn. Jasper read our names from a list, indicating which ship we’d take. Our manor was traveling on the Good Hope, so it was a shock when I heard Tamsin’s name read for the Gray Gull.
Even Mira was surprised. Like me, I don’t think she’d actually thought Tamsin would take our fight to this extreme. “Tamsin . . .” she said in disbelief, watching as our friend walked past us.
But Tamsin didn’t look back, and her only pause was to hand Mistress Masterson a stack of letters and say, “Thank you for taking care of these.” Then she continued on. My heart sank as she boarded the other ship. I’d chosen Cedric’s interests over hers, and sometimes, particularly when I had those middle-of-the-night wakings, I’d question if I’d made the right choice.
“She’ll come around,” reiterated Mira as we walked up the dock. She didn’t sound as confident as usual. “She has to. This journey will give her a lot of time to think.”
Our cabin on the Good Hope was small, as to be expected, with six narrow bunk beds. Mira and I were rooming with three other Blue Spring girls, as well as one named Martha from Swan Ridge Manor. She was the one Tamsin had managed a trade with. Our rooms were near those of the other Glittering Court girls, as well as that of Miss Bradley, the mistress from Dunford Manor. She met with us in the small common room we’d be using for our meals, reiterating much of what we’d heard on the docks about where we could go and what we could do. The options were limited, and two months in such cramped quarters seemed like a very long time.
When we finally set sail, we all went above deck to observe. My heart hammered as I watched the lines brought in and sailors at work. I’d done many things as the Countess of Rothford, but never a journey of this magnitude. I’d been on a ship to Lorandy once as a child but remembered little of it. That trip took only a day across the narrow channel that separated Osfrid from its continental neighbor. Beside us, the Gray Gull was also casting off, and I could make out Tamsin’s bright hair among the girls gathered there.
“Did you come from Sirminica by ship?” I asked Mira, suddenly realizing I’d never asked her before. Her eyes were on Osfrid’s retreating shore, and I wondered if she regretted leaving the country she’d taken refuge in.
“Some of it. It’s expensive to do the whole journey by ship, and most of us fleeing the war couldn’t afford it. The group I was with traveled overland and then took a ship from Belsia.” She smiled, struck by a memory. “If you think our cabin’s small, you should’ve seen that Belsian ship. No one even had a bed—we were in the cargo hold. Fortunately, that trip was only a few days.”
I squeezed her arm, realizing I’d never fully comprehended how much she’d gone through. “It must have been awful.”