The Starriest Summer (The Cycle of the Six Moons, #1)

Chapter Twelve: Long Live the Prince

We leave Lereli about an hour behind schedule because of the long good-byes with the villagers. Baskets full of fruit sit on deck, and spheres of water float beside them, swimming with fish. The rest of the water mages join us, and we all wave farewells as the ship pulls into deeper water. The villagers dress as colorful as a kindergarten's finger painting, but far beyond the docks and huts, I see a twinkle of red on the edge of the jungle. Must be the jungle insects again.

Gediyon tells me that the journey back will take about a whole day. I'm getting sick of these long journeys. While he takes some of the fish into the kitchen to prepare another seafood meal, I barge into the engine room with hopes that I can speed up the ship.

Instead of machinery, three soldiers sit around a tub of water, churning the waves in and out.

"This is your fantastic amazing engine room?" Sure, it's pretty cool that only three of them can power the entire ship, but it'll probably go faster if it were mechanized! Human beings can stand only so much labor, magical or not.

I sit among them, studying the tub. "Why don't you use actual machinery?"

"Machines belong to the Taesmals," one of them explains. "Why use enemy technology when we can use our abilities?"

I don't say anything until I pull away from the tub, finished with my alterations. Along with their magic, the tub churns water as well, and we can feel the ship pick up speed. They tell me it'll probably cut down our travel time to half a day. This still isn't fast enough for me, so I go back on deck and sit at the bow, facing the rest of the ship.

Behind my closed eyelids, the structure of the ship pulses in a cool blue light. If only I could take this structure and place it back at the ports in Arriscyal. That might be easier if I were a giant or something, but I'll probably crush continents if I do that.

The outline of the ship blurs and I think I've done something—the sound of the waves don't sound as harsh—but when I open my eyes, the ship splashes back into the ocean. I hear some gasps around deck, but I don't think I damaged anything.

I growl and pull my knees close, banging my forehead on top of them.

"Are you trying to manipulate the ship?" I hear Jayse's voice.

"It's too hard!" I whine. "I don't think I can teleport it." I roar out of anger. "I'm supposed to be Goddess! If I can make a ship disappear, why can't I teleport it?"

"I'm sure it takes practice, just like anything else." He sits next to me.

I look at him—sitting with his arms supporting him from behind, gazing at the drifting fluffy clouds. He has a really cute nose.

I look toward the same sky. Big tropical clouds look thunderous in the western horizon. Two moons that I've seen before are now both thin crescents. Another moon, smaller and white, is nearly full.

I sigh. "You were born with healing abilities, right? How long did it take for you to get used to them?"

He leans forward and rests an arm on top of a knee. Does he have to look like a model in every pose?

He says, "I didn't know I could heal until I was four. It was only small things then—cuts, scrapes, relieving pain before a bruise formed. I couldn't even do it for long. After healing a few cuts, I couldn't do it for a while, as if I forgot how. As I grew older, I learned how to channel it better, so I could heal deeper wounds, more soldiers—an entire village." He looks at me and shrugs. "Hey, it took me several years. You've only been here for about a week, right? And you fixed the Lereli dam on your first day!"