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to get there for the Entry.”
    “Where’s that? How far? Could Dine find us there?”
    “Oh, Alana, it’s far, far away, across mountains and the sea. No one would ever find you there.”
    “What’s the sea?”
    “What’s the sea?” asked Recks, incredulous.
    “I told you, Recks, the people of this region are ignorant in every way,” said Kinder. He might’ve meant to hurt me with his words, but I was used to it. It didn’t faze me.
    “Yes, what’s that? I want to know. I want to learn, to not be ignorant anymore.”
    Recks laughed. “You see, Kinder? There’s hope for them yet.”
    “Your first convert,” he replied dryly. Recks ignored him.
    “A sea is like a river, Alana, like a river so big you can’t see the other side of it.”
    “How do you cross such a thing?”
    “In a ship. A … a carriage that floats on water and uses the power of the wind to move.”
    “A machine?”
    “No, just an enormous cloth that catches the wind.”
    “Your stories sound like fantasy.”
    “There are places in this world much richer than this one, places where they grow miles of cotton to make such things. We’ll see those places on our journey.”
    A pain formed in the pit of my stomach. It was either the sumasara or the idea of leaving the only place I’d ever lived.
    “I can’t go.”
    “But … you just said you wanted to learn new things!”
    “I do, but … ”
    “You must come. This could be your best chance at freedom. Why won’t you take it?”
    “But if we’re caught?”
    “We lose our lives, yes, but they’re already lost, are they not?”
    “You’re already dead, Alana. You just don’t know it yet,” said Kinder, not unkindly. “You’ll get old or hurt, unable to work, and you’ll be disposed of.”
    I knew what he said was true. I’d almost been tossed out once before, when I was burned, but Dine wouldn’t allow it for some reason. It made his wives secretly furious, but they couldn’t cross him. It would be wrong to say I felt safe with Dine as my master, but I knew he would keep me as long as he could.
    “You might as well try for something better. You’ve got nothing to lose. You could even go to the Entry. That’s where I’m going,” said Recks. “Kinder’s already a citizen of Lhasayushu, but I want to get in.”
    “Can’t you just go there?”
    “They only admit a few, some years none.”
    “How do you get accepted?”
    “That’s the Entry, a competition to find the most enlightened thinkers, the most talented artists, the best storytellers … ”
    “They’d never accept me,” I said. “I’m none of those things.”
    Recks gave up trying to convince me as I stood up. Terrible pity appeared on his face. I felt shame for disappointing him.
    “I will see if I can find the key and let you know when the Reticents arrive,” I promised, as I turned to go. “That’s all I can do.”
     
     
    ***
     
     
    I went straight to Master Tow’s house before I lost my nerve. I’d never been good at lying. I was thankful for the billa while I did it. I knocked softly on the door, my hand shaking.
    Please be here …
    Tow answered the door still chewing his breakfast. The sight of me brought a smile to his face.
    “Hello, chit.” The insult didn’t sting as much the way he said it. He stepped back from the doorway and ushered me inside. His house was a bachelor’s—spare on furniture and clutter, heavy on dirt.
    “Master Dine sent me to see if you needed your house cleaned. He thought you could stay with us and let the Envoy stay here.”
    Tow closed the door behind me. A jingle of keys focused my attention on his belt. I let him stand closer to me than I normally would for a better look at them. He enjoyed looking down on me, from what I saw of his expression, trying to see me through the drape.
    “Did he offer any of your other services?” Tow asked, reaching a tender hand through a gap in the side of my billa to touch the hair I carefully brushed every day