Castor's lanky frame was draped in the curtain they called a robe in Gracia. His dark curls had been oiled, and he wore a worried expression.

"What?" He said. "Where are you going?'

"I'm leaving Cloud City." How could I explain? "I can't do what they want me to."

"Come inside," he said. "Someone will see you."

Castor's quarters were less luxurious than mine, a couple of rooms that he minded himself. I noticed his bookshelf had been packed away in a crate, and his desk had been swept clean.

"What's going on?" I said.

"Well, I'm leaving." He held his hands out to both sides. "My dad sent word that he wants me in Gracia to be prepare for the the wedding." He wrinkled his nose. "They'll be shipping Aster to me at some point."

It was happening so much faster than I'd imagined. Maybe it didn't matter, just one more reason I had to go. "I had to tell you," I said. "I didn't just want to disappear."

"But where are you going?" He said, "And why are you dressed like that?"

"I just have to." It was strange having my hair down around my face, my hands kept trying to pull it back. "I have to become someone else."

"Who?"

"Not a princess."

"Is this about Caldwell? Did something happen?"

"Not really. He's... odd, but maybe not terrible. It's more than that."

"The last time we talked," he couldn't say it without me thinking of the kiss, "you said you had to do what was best for your kingdom."

"I do. I don't know. Something's happened and I can't deal with being princess right now."

"Come with me." There was no doubt in his voice.

"What? I can't do that. It would put Gracia in an impossible position."

"Don't be a princess then." He reached out, hesitated, then touched my hair. He'd never seen it without pins or combs holding it up before. "I barely recognized you like this, and no one in my homeland has ever seen you as Princess Joi."

"Why would you, a newly betrothed young noble, come home with a girl who was not to be your wife?"

"Maybe you were a wedding present."

He stepped back when he caught my expression. "I mean as a servant. Don't they do that here?"

"Not really. Positions like that are established by the diagram."

"Well, in Gracia they pass around bonders all the time. No one will think twice about me picking up a new servant for as long as I've been here." Gracia didn't have diagrams to organize its society, things fell into place along lines of heritage and wealth. People who went into debt became slaves, bonders, who had to pay off their creditors with work. In practice, many of them remained that way for the rest of their lives, and if they had children, those children accumulated debts to pay off when they were old enough to work.

"Do I look like a bonder?"

"We have all kinds, and I bet we could dye your hair, make you look less Euphorian. Get you a tunic. It wouldn't take much to slip you into the retinue, and as long as I owned you I could make sure you didn't have to do anything you weren't okay with."

"Owned me?"

His face reddened. "You know, owned your debt, your pretend debt. We could do it."

It wasn't a crazy idea, and it was better than my previous plan, which had been the absence of one. He had the Griffon, and by the time we arrived in Gracia we could devise some means of me getting away from there before Aster came for her nuptials. But he couldn't leave at the same time I disappeared, it would be too suspicious.

"When were you planning on going?"

"In a few days," he said.

"I can't stay another night."

"Why? What happened?"

I sat on the edge of his bed, and he chastely took a seat at the desk. The room smelled like him, Gracian, the oils they liked to use in their hair and on their skin, it had an oakiness to it, maybe nuttiness. It was different than the floral lineaments and creams that we used. I don't know why I thought of it, except that if I did go with him it was one more thing in the constellation of things about my life that were going to change.

"I don't know if I can tell you."

"I'll help you no matter what you decide, but if it is this important to you, I want to know why."

He was my oldest friend, and why did I feel the need to keep this secret anyway? Ahriman wanted it kept secret, but telling him wouldn't destroy the kingdom, which I might already be doing anyway. What did I owe the daemon apart from the luxury I was about to throw away?

"My family is able to command daemons," I said. "Have you ever wondered why?"

"It's not as if we don't talk about it in Gracia." His mouth quirked. "I heard once that you really were daemons in human form, but I don't think that's true."

I told him everything, from my ancestor to me, it was easier than I thought it would be once I got started. Castor was a perfect listener, never interrupting or showing any sign that he doubted my sincerity.

"You're like the Kithanka." He said, which was not what I'd been expecting.

"The who?"

"It's part of the epics, the stories about the heroes of old. You know Gracia used to be the real power in the world before Euphoria showed everyone what skyships could do to regular ships, or cavalry, or any other normal military device that doesn't fly."

I smiled. "I know. So who were the Kithanka?"

"They were sorcerers who lived on wandering islands in the Dipteran seas. King Dominus raised a fleet to do battle with them and open the way to trade with the Koscon nations."

"Their sorcerers could speak with daemons, and they'd made a deal with the Deep Ones so they would be the masters of the waves. No fleet could hold against theirs."

"Then how did Dominus win?"

"He sacrificed thousands of bonders to the Deep Ones for safe passage, and laid a trap for the Kithanka. Then he drowned them to a man." He saw me make a face. "That's how they did things in those days. And it saved lives in the long run. The seas were opened, and Gracia flourished."

The Deep Ones were great daemons that slept at the bottom of the seas. In their domains, they were as powerful as Ahriman. Mostly, they kept apart from human affairs, drawing those into the depths who failed to pay respects to the ocean. I'd never heard of a seafaring people developing so close a relationship with them before, but it had a certain logic to it.

"Do you understand why I have to leave?"

"Sure, but what matters is what you think is right."

"What would you do?"

"I don't think I could bring myself to give up my own child, but I don't know. Honor your traditions. It wouldn't be just to sacrifice an innocent, but people die for a lot less all the time. You're talking about the collapse of a nation. "

"I know that."

"Whatever you decide, I'll support you."

"I can't go with you. They'd figure it out. I have to leave on my own."

"Will you be at the feast tonight?"

"No. I'll be missed there, but they won't begin looking for me until after tonight when I'm supposed to pledge to Ahriman." I couldn't bear to look him in the eye. "If I do come to Gracia, how can I find you?"

He went to a small crate and began unpacking scrolls. "Here." He produced a particularly woebegone sheepskin, stained and frayed about the edges. "It's a map of the islands." In his other hand he had a rolled piece of parchment tied with a string.

I took them both. The faded inks of the sheepskin revealed a landscape like a scattering of pebbles in a rainstorm. Gracia was not a single landmass, but hundreds of islands, many smaller that a single village, connected under a loose government of local alliances. Kouros was the largest and most populated of those settlements, occupying a cluster connected by bridges arching over the water. The senate, the leaders of all the Gracian communities, met there to debate their laws.

"This is a letter for a former bonder who handles some of our business in Kouros." Castor touched the rolled parchment, his hand very close to mine. "The address is inside. Deliver it for me, and tell him you're my friend and you need to get word to me that you're there. He'll help you."

"Thank you," I said. We both stood for a moment longer without saying anything. He shifted his weight toward me, and then away. "Good luck."

"I'll see you soon," I said lamely.

My pillowcase and I made our rounds to the kitchen, where I stole a supply of bread and salt and water jugs. The scullery staff eyed me strangely, but there was nothing for them to say to the princess, and everyone was busy with final preparations for the feast. A manta wing had been sliced into long flanks of meat and was being scalloped as In passed through, if they had been ready I would have grabbed a plate of those as well.

My arms full, I went directly to the docks outside the palace. I had my own vessel, smaller than the Griffin and a speck beside the Thundercleaver but suitable for a single occupant. Her name was the Keyrin, and she was situated beside a private pier above the other docks. She was only twelve feet long, and half as wide, with a gold and black shed in her middle taking up the majority of the space. The private pier was little more than a solitary spar with a spike driven through it for my ship to be moored, approachable only from a honeycomb tunnel out of the mountainside beneath the palace.

There were a hundred ships within my sight, and dozens of hard workering sailors and porters finishing their evening duties. I wondered how I might look to them, the shadow of a girl with the light behind me, a lone figure and a little boat on an unknown errand, small as Atlan was grand.

I dumped my things in the aft supply chest and hopped in Keyrin. It bobbed a bit under my weight, almost a greeting, and I pulled loose the knot that kept us attached to the spar. Keyrin immediately began to drift.

Inside the shed, there was a cushioned seat and a small table with an iron compass built into the wood. The front face of the shed was just a silk curtain that I tied open with a sash so I could see to steer.

"Alright," I said, sitting down, "let's wake you up."

I spun the compass, and began talking to the daemon bound within. Words were unnecessary, we would communicate through the diagrams, but it made me more comfortable to be talking.

"Good morning, Key. I'm sorry I haven't rode with you lately. But I'm going to make up for it. We're going to be spending a couple of days together." She wasn't meant for such long journeys, but I was confident she could handle it. "How are you feeling?" I asked.

The diagram spun, showed me strength and readiness.

"We're headed north, toward Gracia." Keyrin slipped away from her mooring and into a waiting cloud bank, riding the crests of the stratocumulus to take us above the level of the palace. Euphoria glowed behind me in the aura of the setting sun, orange and yellow suffusing marble and limestone with an inner fire. There would be a few hours before they realized what I'd done and ships would be sent after me, I needed to be well out of sight by then.

"Alright Key, give us some speed." My little ship wasn't powerful, but it was light enough to cut through the surf at a respectable pace as long as the clouds weren't too rough.

For many miles ahead the clouds were solid and fleecy, but after we left the vicinity of the Atlan mountains they gave way to rippling cirrus bands . Without clouds to support it my skyship would slowly begin to lose altitude. It wasn't an issue for short trips, but if the skies were clear over Gracia I'd quickly sink to sea level, forced to ride thermals like an albatross. It would also put me at a disadvantage if they sent hunting ships after me. I was happy with Keyrin, but not every daemon was equal.

The twilight cast vast strands of shadow across the cloudscape, valleys of oblivion amid glorious sun bright pinnacles. There weren't any signs of krill, who became quiescant at night, but I thought I could make out shifts in a nearby mound that could have been a large manta or koi. A part of me wanted to chase after it, just to see a koi was a tremendous sign of good fortune, but of course I wasn't on a pleasure jaunt. Every minute wasted was another chance to be caught.

I gave Key encouragement, and we made our way around the mountain to the northern sea that was home to Gracia. A half moon grinned above a star stained sky as the last violet swathes of twilight bowed under the weight of full night. I was following an arm of the cloudscape that had broken from the main mass, it would take me leagues out over the water before I had to begin hopping between fuzzies.

My compass suddenly snapped against the board and spun. Danger. Peril. South. I turned to look aft and saw a pair of sleek, dark shapes riding the aerial foam. Already, they'd come after me. It's why I'd known I couldn't have gone with Castor. It would be too easy for my father to ask the daemons where I was. If I was going to disappear, I'd first have to escape his sphere of influence.

"You're still with me, aren't you Key?" I'd been half worried that my father would have been able to simply summon Keyrin back to port from any distance, but it seemed we were safe from that at least. The countless hours I'd spent riding the cloudscape in this little boat meant that we had a special relationship. Even if I didn't have Ahriman's authority to command her, we seemed to get along just fine.

They were faster than me. Longer ships were always faster after they built up speed, riding their own wakes, momentum allowing them to plow forward through mounds and waves that I'd had to peel around.

"It's alright Key," I said, "we'll just have to be creative."

The sky was silent except for the rush of air. It would have been freezing, but sky ships were warded against the cold, and if someone went overboard the cold would be the least of their worries. Heights had never bothered me, even as I looked over the endless glossy umber of the oceans thousands of feet below I felt only exhiliration. I directed Keyrin to hide us inside a wispy funnel just ahead. My pursuers were so near that I could hear their captains shouting muffled orders. They could come after us, but if they ran off the edge of the bank because of a lack of visibility they would sink faster than I would.

Something bumped us, and we juddered meters to the left. There was a pop in the distance as a ballista loosed its ammunition and the harpoon plunged past the space where we had been..

I was shocked. Why would they risk hitting me? It had to be a mistake. My father might be furious, but he couldn't chance me not returning because of an unlucky shot. And what had I bumped into?

A sound in the mist, something huge and close and unmistakeable. Koi sang to each other, communicating over vast distances by means of eerie calls. It was beautiful and mournful at once.

The funnel broke, and I looked back to see the two pursuing ships firing harpoons into the starlit cloudscape. They had only one ballista each, they were twenty footers, more than a match for the Keyrin but not much compared to the hunting barges that were needed to take a full grown koi.

The cloud changed shape as the koi rose, as if it was unwilling to let go of its most honored denizen. The fish was silver, glimmering and surrounded by pale flecks of dust and water droplets. Twice as long as either ship, it slapped one with its tail, snapping railing and planks and causing it to list, losing its momentum. The second ship plowed ahead, pulling into a sharp turn that took it off of the cloud and back around. It hit the bank hard, jerking its prow up and back onto the cloud, coming in behind where the koi had been but losing a lot of speed.

The silver koi sang, and the note seemed to rise from the clouds themselves. The sailors were throwing harpoons by hand, but the koi came up from directly beneath them, ramming with its bulbous head and raising them completely out of the froth before diving back in. The harpoon in its back looked like a splinter.

The first ship was taking on cloud through the gap in its hull. It turned to limp back toward Euphoria before it could sink. The second ship was worse off, its keel had been nearly snapped in half, and several sailors had been flung free to plummet to their deaths.

It was a horrible sight, and I turned forward to urge Key on. It appeared we'd been spared the same fate, but we were far from safe. All the exhilaration of the chase had drained away, leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth and the smell of my own sweat.