Chapter Two: The Secret of the Celeste (Part One)

The Celeste measured forty meters in length and ten meters in width. She was a carrack-type sailing vessel, a design that had emerged less than twenty years prior. Unlike the old cog ships, this vessel boasted three masts and four sails, her hull smooth and sleek, the entire stern and the aft deckhouse joined together by a grand sweeping curve. At the bow stood an enormous slanting mast; the fore and main masts bore three sails each, while the mizzen carried a triangular sail.

The advent of the carrack hastened trade and communication with the Far East. In former times, sailors journeyed eastward aboard cogs and caravels, risking not only their courage but their very lives—a desperate gamble. The inequities of trade spurred the development of navigation and shipbuilding; people of the Western Continent needed vessels larger and sturdier. Thus, the southerners revolutionized the old cog, abandoning the tower-jointed method for flush joints, which allowed for greater hull size. In truth, the Celeste’s displacement was three hundred eighty tons, nearly twice that of her predecessors, with ample cargo holds for goods, provisions, and crew.

Even so, carracks could not rival the treasure ships from Cathay that sailed from the Far East.

On the thirteenth day after the man from Cathay was rescued, Amango and the man called Wei Wujie worked together with increasing harmony. Thanks to Amango’s tutelage, Wei Wujie could already converse in simple common tongue of the continent, though he seldom spoke of himself and often stood alone on the deck, gazing toward his homeland, lost in thought.

Amango assumed he was homesick, just as he himself longed for Landia and his beloved Cecily.

On the fifteenth day, Captain Kaplan summoned Fulton to inform Amango that he was to report to the ship’s chart room. Amango was elated—since boarding, he had rotated through nearly every sailor’s task, even standing in as helmsman for half a day. Yet the role of navigator, which he coveted above all, remained out of reach.

Amango was certain, however, that Wei Wujie was unaccustomed to seafaring; everything aboard fascinated him. His aptitude for learning was remarkable—following Amango, he mastered the sailor’s tasks far faster than Amango had himself. While Amango still grappled with the sextant, Wei Wujie had already turned his attention to the compass.

Returning from the chart room to the sailors’ quarters, Amango finally could not resist asking Wei Wujie whether he’d seen a sextant before; the man denied it. Frustrated, Amango could only accept that genius truly existed in this world.

“How much longer until we reach your homeland?” Wei Wujie suddenly asked.

“To return home, about three months yet. We’ve only covered half the journey. Are you planning to leave the Celeste? But now, in the vast open sea, you can’t depart until two months from now, when the ship will dock at a port of the Broom Dynasty. You could disembark there and seek a treasure ship from Cathay or board a merchant vessel bound for the Far East,” Amango replied.

Unexpectedly, Wei Wujie shook his head. “I don’t intend to return so soon. Since I’ve come this far, I must see your lands. Besides, I am told I have a friend here.”

“A friend?”

“Yes, his name is Raven. Have you heard of him?” Wei Wujie nodded.

The young man shook his head in bewilderment, never having heard the name, but Wei Wujie was unconcerned. He glanced around the quarters; this sailors’ room was somewhat privileged, furnished with only two bunks for four men. Wei Wujie occupied the upper bunk above Amango, and at this hour, they were alone.

“Do you have any wishes?” Wei Wujie inquired.

The young man did not catch his meaning at first, so Wei Wujie asked again. Amango, thinking it mere friendly conversation, didn’t realize he was being prompted to make a wish.

Thus, Amango once more confided his sincere love for Cecily, telling his newfound friend that his greatest wish in life was to marry the kind and beautiful maiden.

The poor man from Cathay furrowed his brow, then relaxed. “Are women truly so important?”

Amango began to explain to his friend what love was, how wondrous the feeling could be. He confirmed not only the importance of women and love, but sought to encourage his friend to pursue it as well, especially if he chose to remain in Landia, where such opportunities abounded. Landia was worlds apart from the Far East; there, marriage arrangements required intermediaries, but in commerce-driven Landia, even marriage was protected from arbitrary brokerage fees—men and women could freely meet.

Wei Wujie nodded. “Rest assured, I will make your wish come true.”

Amango did not wish to accuse his friend of boasting, though he wondered whence such confidence came, given that Wei Wujie had not a single Landian silver coin to his name. Yet he could not deny the power in the Cathayan’s words; for a moment, he almost believed it. Reason and reality, however, told him Wei Wujie was merely offering comfort.

Afterward, Amango gave it little thought, treating the conversation as he did with other sailors; nearly everyone aboard knew of his intense devotion to the maiden.

Since Wei Wujie had mastered navigation and steering, the Celeste seemed blessed by fortune. Whenever the two worked together in the chart room or at the helm, the ship enjoyed the most favorable winds, astonishing even the seasoned boatswain. With the wind’s aid, the Celeste reached the supply point in the sea at twice her expected speed—a village that regularly traded with merchant ships, where locals replenished their stores of water and food.

The miraculous fair winds continued to accompany the Celeste, so much so that even the steadfast Captain Kaplan left his cabin to gaze at the figurehead for a long while. The ship’s figurehead was an orca, enchanted by a mage with water-element wards and luck spells, which activated every twelve hours, mitigating damage from water attacks and reputedly reducing the chances of encountering storms. After escaping the last tempest, most aboard believed the luck spell had played some part.

Yet the orca figurehead was not an eagle, and carried no wind magic—its luck spell could not ensure constant fair winds. Regardless, the Celeste continued at near maximum speed; if this pace held for another month and a half, Amango would arrive not at Victoria Harbor, but at the long-awaited Herdasyn port in Landia.

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