Free Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale

shipping. Merchants bought arriving goods to resell in their shops. Nets full of fat fish lay on ship decks. Seagulls circled, their cries rising above all other noises, a high, carefree harmony to the melody of work.
    “Well, Miri?” Timon said. “Still think the ocean is dull and overrated?”
    “When compared to my mountain, of course,” she said, embarrassed that she had confessed that opinion on one of their walks. “But the ocean is becoming more interesting.”
    “Would you like to get a closer look? Perhaps from a ship’s deck?”
    “Well, yes, but … we couldn’t, could we?”
    Timon just smiled. He went to a nearby ship and returned a few minutes later.
    “Master Filippus,” he said, “if you wish, that captain there is willing to take us all for a short sail.”
    The master agreed and the scholars climbed aboard. Miri passed Timon as he shook the captain’s hand, and she heard the captain call him Master Skarpson.
    A smaller boat helped tug the ship free of the harbor. Sailors scrambled around the deck. The sails lifted, and the ship charged into the open water faster than Miri would have thought possible. She stood at the foremost spot, holding on to the railing and breathing in the cold sea spray. What would Pa think to be on a ship, skipping across water as big as the sky? How would Marda look, her hair full of wind? Miri’s imagination failed her. She could not seem to remember their faces.
    “What net catches your thoughts, Miri?” Timon asked, standing beside her. He kept his balance without holding on.
    “Home,” she said.
    He nodded. “And when you were home, did you think about Asland?”
    “You’re right! If I were a cart, I’d dream about pulling a horse.”
    “I’ve missed you at Lady Sisela’s. I hope we didn’t scare you away.”
    “Not at all. Sorry, I’m just … busy.”
    “You didn’t …” Timon tugged on his thumb. “You didn’t tell your princess friend about us? Sisela and the rest, they are good people, and I’d hate to see any of them hauled to the Green.”
    “No! Of course not. Your secrets are safe with me. I admire you. All of you,” she added, afraid she’d sounded too personal.
    “Thank you.” He looked at her long. His nose and cheeks had turned red in the brisk air. “I told Sisi we could trust you. We speak of you often.”
    “You do?” The thought made Miri’s stomach feel funny, but in a mostly pleasant way.
    “She is surprised the prince did not choose you. I … I am as well.” Timon cleared his throat. “I never understood how this noble girl came to be on Mount Eskel. Wasn’t she from Lonway province?”
    Miri’s gaze was lost in the waves. The ship’s rocking was lulling, and she spoke without thinking. “She came up a few months before the academy. We thought she was an orphan with relatives on Mount Eskel.”
    “You mean she tricked you?” said Timon. “She lied?”
    “Oh! I shouldn’t have said that. You have to understand, Britta and Steffan were friends as children. As they grew older, Britta realized she loved him and believed he loved her too. It’s not fair that two people who love each other can’t wed! Even so, Britta never would have come to Mount Eskel if her father hadn’t forced her.”
    “And how long had you been friends before Britta admitted she wasn’t an orphan?” Timon held on to a rope, his knuckles white. “How long before she revealed she went to your mountain so that she could rob from you the right to be the princess?”
    “No, it wasn’t like that. She was sure Steffan would be appalled to see her there, and she hid from him at first.”
    Timon shook his head at the sky. “I’m tired of nobles seizing whatever they want. Why should birth determine worth? You are better than she is, Lady Miri of Mount Eskel, with a title you earned and the hands”—he lifted her hand and touched her palm, nodding as if satisfied—“the hands of an honest laborer.”
    His fingers traced the