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fluttered gently from the prow--orange in honor of the passenger who was to take this journey to the sea. Tashi was bringing nothing with her. All her belongings and ceremonial robes had been packed by others and sent ahead. They didn't feel like hers in any case. She'd struggled for years to make herself into the Fourth Crown Princess, but the marriage decision had driven a breach between her two selves. The princess was an empty shell, a collection of words, actions, and drapery; Tashi was far away, hidden somewhere inside herself, watching it all with disdain.
    The other three Crown Princesses stood beside her as the priests went through the ceremony of farewell.
    "I have asked the Etiquette Mistress to write a new set of rituals suited to your life as a traveller, sister," said Korbin haughtily.
    "As the Goddess wills," murmured Tashi.
    "We would value frequent messages from you," said Marisa, "and will expect the nuptial visit of you and your consort in the spring."
    Tashi nodded, not trusting herself to say anything on the subject of consorts.
    "A word in private, sister," Safilen spoke gently, taking Tashi's arm. The other two rulers watched in surprise as she led Tashi aside. The courtiers tried to ignore this break with precedent, keeping their eyes to the barges gathering in a flotilla of orange ribbons. The sun glanced off the network of canals that
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    crisscrossed the plain before the palace, making the water dazzle liquid gold. Swallows swirled in the sky above the jade-colored roof of the palace.
    The Second Princess drew Tashi into an arbor covered in a vine, grapes dangling in ripe clusters. She cupped Tashi's pale face in her hand and looked deep into her green eyes.
    "You are unhappy, sister."
    Safilen said it as a statement, not a question.
    Tashi blinked, feeling tears spring into her eyes. No one had mentioned her emotions since she arrived at the palace. It was as if she had been stripped of the desires, hopes, and fears of youth and slowly become a machine created to rule. Now, just when she needed to be at her most hardened, the Second Princess was talking about feelings.
    "You think we voted for you because you are the most junior among us?
    That you do not matter?"
    Tashi nodded.
    Safilen dropped her hand from Tashi's face and instead took Tashi's fingers in hers. Another unparalleled sign of sympathy.
    "I cannot answer for my sisters, but I voted for you because I thought you deserved a chance of happiness. You struggle--we all struggle--with the role the Mother has given us. My life has only been bearable because of my husband. I wish that for you too."
    Crown Princesses never, ever mentioned their private life. Another custom shattered.
    "But if I marry, I want someone from our own
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    people--someone who loves me. Not an uncouth prince marrying me
    because his father says so!" Tashi blurted out.
    The Second Princess's eyes twinkled. "Uncouth sounds . . . amusing. And besides, we could not send the Third Princess, could we?" She nodded over to the grim face of their co-ruler, whose forehead was pinched in a frown.
    "What life for a poor eighteen-year-old boy would that be?"
    Tashi lifted her sleeve to hide her gaping mouth. A joke from the Second Princess? That was definitely not in the Etiquette Book either.
    Tashi spent the slow voyage to the naval port thinking over the Second Princess's words. Her body sat in the Throne of Nature on the open deck so that all her subjects could see her, but her mind was far away, speculating about the motives behind her co-ruler's kindness. The Second Princess was from Lir-Salu, the second smallest island. In many ways, Lir-Salu had the most to gain from Kai's decrease in influence, but Tashi could not shake off the impression that Safilen had been sincere in the wish for her happiness.
    Am I going to distrust everyone or believe that, sometimes, I will meet friends? Tashi asked herself. Do I want to end up like Korbin, frowning at all I see, or like Safilen,