Meeka took a breath. "I'm going to leave. Before it shows. Dorvan has family in the south, a cousin with a shipping concern. They'd take us on." She picked at the thread again. "It's not what I would have chosen."
"A voyage ship," Sanna said.
"Yes."
"Meeka."
"I know."
"The open water—"
"I know, Sanna." Meeka looked up. "I know what the leaders say. I know what people say around dinner tables. Dorvan's family has been traveling those routes for three generations and they are all still alive and well and running a perfectly adequate shipping concern." She held Sanna's gaze. "I am not going to stay here. Not like this. Our parents would take the baby. You know they would."
Sanna did know. She said nothing.
"They would handle it." Meeka's voice was flat on the word. "Quietly. Efficient
