Sunny and Nephis had learned a few things about navigating the endlessly flowing waters of the Great River, but they were still unsure what distance separated each of the Seven Houses from each other. Nevertheless, they quickly understood that something was wrong by looking at Ananke's face.
The young priestess was almost always either calm or smiling. At some point, however, a deep frown twisted her soft adolescent face, and a dark shadow was cast onto her vibrant azure eyes.
Sunny was the first to notice. He studied the teenage girl in front of them, then asked:
"What's wrong?"
Ananke lingered for a few moments.
"We should have reached the Third House by now, my Lord."
There were seven artificial islands where the children of Weave spent their childhood, and although the swift ketch was supposed to reach the fifth one, they were actually numbered in reverse order — starting with the House of Birth far downstream and ending with the House of Youth.
