This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me

The boat glided across the midnight-black water, propelled by the oars in Will’s and Lute’s hands. The river was silent except for the gentle whisper of the oar blades sliding under the surface. No wind troubled the night, and our sail drooped from the mast, secured by a line.

Above us, an endless sky glittered with alien, unfamiliar constellations. The world seemed huge, the river and the sky blending into one, and our boat with the lone lantern on the bow was just a speck of cosmic dust within it.

I stood at the stern, working the rudder. Steering the boat was a lot less complicated than I had expected. We’d been going upstream for a couple of hours now and I wasn’t even tired.

Sushi crouched by me. She had crawled into the boat before we cast off and perched by my feet. There had been a brief commotion, until I picked her up to assure everyone that we were on a petting basis, and she wouldn’t be biting any ankles.