Tress of the Emerald Sea

When Crow finally allows Tress back belowdecks, as they sail further from port, Tress collapses in her room and cries. Huck worries and wants to make her feel better, so he starts telling her about the island where they had just stopped, giving her details about all the things he saw.

Huck does make Tress feel better, especially because he is so enthusiastic. They talk about life and how childhood seemed so much easier and happier. Huck admits that his home is gone, although they do not discuss it further.

Tress feels better and rather than ignoring her problems, she uses her improved mood to tackle her them. She realizes she needs some way to defeat Crow—and luckily, she has a room full of dangerous substances.

Tress searches through Weev’s belongings, including tools and notes. She studies everything she finds, hoping to discover something that might help her against Crow. She discovers schematics for cannonballs and becomes enthralled.

Tress understands the schematics and begins thinking of ways to use the designs to create some sort of gun. A knock on the door interrupts her thought and she is surprised to realize she wants to yell at the person on the other side. It is Fort, having brought a plate of food for her because she did not appear for the meal.

Tress realizes that as bad as the food is, it is actually the usual meal that the rest of the crew eats, rather than the dregs as she had thought. Fort sheepishly admits he was the best of the cooks after their last one left, even if he is not very good. Tress decides her best way to pay him back is to cook for the crew. She tells Fort to get her before he prepares the next meal. A bell rings to announce they are nearing the border of the Crimson Sea. Tress heads to the deck with Fort to see it.

Tress joins the crew to observe the Crimson Sea as they approach. It is beautiful, but danger quickly reveals itself as a rain cloud barrels toward them. Crow decides to have them sail along the border for a time. As they do, Laggart approaches Tress and tells her that he needs someone else on board to be trained to use cannons, and he has chosen her. He gives her bare instructions and leaves her to practice.

Tress does not want to waste time learning about cannons when she could continue her research or try to figure out how to lift Hoid’s curse. She formulates a plan. She fires the cannon, and suddenly Ann’s head appears near where Tress is.

Ann teaches Tress about the cannons. Tress asks Ann why she likes shooting so much, and Ann can only say that she just likes it. They both consider the way that the things people like can define them.

Tress allows Ann to take a shot despite her usually being forbidden. As Tress sees Ann’s aim is way off, she offers a suggestion for re-aiming. Following the suggestion, Ann is able to avoid a disastrous shot and injuries to others. She admits she just has bad aim, rather than being cursed like others said. Tress offers to take practice shots with her every day.

Tress examines the food stores and quality of the oven in the ship’s kitchen. She is disappointed to find the quality more than sub-par, with a stove that cooks unevenly, and much food gone bad.

She does some work to make the stove use steam to conduct heat better and instructs Fort to throw out the oil before having him mash nuts. She bakes a nut bread far better than any of the food Fort has made, and they good naturedly bargain for how much her cooking is worth in terms of the meals he gave her when she first joined the ship.

Fort reveals that he loves bargaining because he comes from a people that hunt. They realized hunting must take different forms, since a society cannot be made only of hunters, and Fort’s version of hunting is to make good bargains. He writes home about his best bargains, and those letters are hung on the family’s walls.

In their bargain, Tress manages to get a flare gun, with no questions asked.

Tress is lost in thought as she opens up and explores the flare gun. She considers Fort and Ann’s interests as well as the sermons she had heard on religious holidays. She considers how differently each preacher has seen the purpose of life, and how differently people approach life. She wonders what her own purpose is.

Tress explains her plan to Huck—she wants to create a flare gun that will do to Crow what the cannonballs are supposed to do to other ships. She wants to pin Crow in place, since shooting Crow would accomplish nothing due to the vines that pop out and protect her.

Tress allows an activated spore in the form of a vine out of its glass container and experiments. She pours water on it and notices that as it grows, it follows her—no matter where she moves. She realizes she has a type of bond with it, like with the midnight spores. She understands why sprouters are so fascinated by spores, and begins to understand her life’s larger purpose. Hoid, narrating, explores the idea of fear and how it both keeps humans alive and limits them, since they can often fear the wrong things.

Tress tries to get Hoid to focus while he is amazed by Crimson Sea, which the ship has entered. Finally, she gets him to sit and talk. Her first couple of attempts at getting information about his curse fail, but eventually she realizes that he falls silent whenever she talks about the Sorceress’s island—she does not need to lift his curse to find the Sorceress, because part of his curse is that he cannot talk about her island or where it is.

Tress uses Hoid’s silences as a tool. She gets a map of the Midnight Sea from Salay and points to places within it. If Hoid talks about it, she knows the Sorceress is not there. Finally, Hoid falls silent when she points to a place not far from the border of the Crimson Sea. Tress, emotional, finally realizes she has her first concrete piece of information to find Charlie. Suddenly, a rain cloud appears and moves straight for the ship.

As the rain approaches, Salay’s role as helmsman allows her to give orders to everyone, including Crow. She steers them to avoid the worst of the rain, but enough spores land on deck that the silver does not immediately kill them all. The crimson spores activate into sharp spikes, and one of the Dougs is killed.

The seethe stops, and the sailors see another rain cloud approaching. It turns away, and they are safe for now.

Hoid briefly introduces the Doug who was killed to the reader, honoring him with an account of his personality and habits. Tress feels guilty, wondering how many people she is willing to put in danger to save Charlie. She distracts herself by working on her flare gun experiments in her room as Huck tells her stories of his travels.

Tress finishes her prototypes and uses the now empty hold to test them in secret. One is a dud, and one ends up trapping Tress, leaving her slightly embarrassed but now almost completely without fear of spores. She has to keep working on the guns to avoid having a dud, but she knows now that she has created a weapon that can help them all to incapacitate Crow and to sail away from her intended venture to the dragon.

After helping Fort make the evening’s meal, Tress realizes Salay never came for her food. She makes up a tray and goes to Salay’s room where she finds Salay in her nightgown and robe, having clearly just been crying.

Salay is obsessing over how she can protect the crew, feeling as if she failed the Doug who died that day. She keeps asking Tress if she has any way to help keep them safe, still believing that Tress is a King’s Mask. Tress feels guilty, then suddenly has an idea about staying safe from the rains. She tells Salay there may be something she can try.

Tress practices with spores more, gaining more confidence and lessening her fear through knowledge. As she and Huck work, manipulating vines from zephyr spores, Huck tries to convince Tress that her quest to save Charlie is too dangerous, and she should abandon it and stay safe.

Huck admits that on the last island they visited, he found the rat population and met a rat who had visited the Midnight Sea. He tells Tress what he learned: the rains keep midnight-spore monsters alive all the time, there are creatures that imprison anyone they catch, and the Sorceress lives in an impenetrable tower.

Tress is daunted, but she ignores those problems for now. She at the very least has to stop Crow’s plan, so Tress continues her experiments in the hopes of solving the rain problem.

Tress tells Ulaam her plan and enlists his help with her experiments. She fires one of the flare guns and traps him in a cage of vines. He believes it will work on Crow, as long as Tress does not then make any threatening movements toward her to activate the spores inside her. Ulaam is impressed with Tress’s ingenious applications of the schematics she had found in Weev’s belongings.

Ulaam leaves, and as Hoid follows, Hoid pauses for a moment, putting a hand on a terrified Tress’s shoulder. She admits she feels as if she cannot beat Crow. Hoid musters enough awareness to tell her that she has everything she needs.

The ship stops as the seethe pauses, putting the ship at risk if rain comes.

Two rain clouds start bearing down on the ship as it is stuck. Tress calls for Salay to prepare a barrel and ropes as she grabs a ball of roseite with verdant spores inside that she had prepared. She does not notice that as she does, some midnight spores spill out into her room.

The crew lowers the barrel and Tress over the side of the ship, where she triggers her device. It creates vines that grow under the ship, pushing the ship up forty feet into the air. As the rain reaches them, the ship is far enough up to avoid being speared by the spikes from activated crimson spores. Crow watches as the Dougs cheer and haul Tress aboard again, fearful now as she sees that Tress has done what she could not: earn the love of the crew.

Ann, Fort, Salay, and Tress discuss their plans. Tress tries again to convince them that she is not a King’s Mask, but they do not believe her. She also suggests she should let Crow trade her, because the crew could fight Crow once she healed. Fort shares that if they did that, they would become even more complicit in Crow’s crimes—they cannot allow Tress to sacrifice herself.

They agree to mutiny the next day. Tress, though, suddenly feels a presence. Feeling into the shadows, she finds activated midnight essence, controlled by Crow. She severs the connection and then tells the others that Crow knows their plan.

The group is forced into action, but on opening the door they find Laggart—and Tress’s flare gun that was left in her room. Since the captain needs Tress, Laggart shoots Salay in the thigh, causing significant blood loss. He orders them all on deck, so Fort carries Salay.

The captain offers a duel between the four of them and herself—she puts out several guns and tells them that if they murder Laggart, she will step down as captain. Without having to activate any spores, showing remarkable control, she fights all four of them, knocking away the guns and breaking Fort’s tablet for communication. Ann is able to grab a gun, but her shot goes off target. The captain has revealed just how dangerous she can be, even without the vines. Salay realizes Tress was never a King’s Mask.

Crow announces that they have arrived and sends a letter into the sea. When a tunnel into the sea opens up, Crow and Tress climb into one of the rowboats and then step into the tunnel. Before they are lowered, Hoid reminds Tress that she still has everything she needs. Crow orders Laggart to kill one of Tress’s friends if she does not return within an hour.

Tress and Crow walk the tunnel toward the dragon’s domain, Tress struggling with the weight of her guilt and sorrow.

When they reach the dragon’s reception chamber, Crow offers Tress for the ancient pact of promise. Tress looks into the dragon’s eyes, seeing herself and Crow reflected, and remembers Hoid’s words that she has everything she needs. With nothing else to lose, Tress repeats Crow’s exact words, offering Crow to the dragon in the ancient pact of promise.

Tress’s words amuse the dragon, who encourages the two women to make their arguments for who he should keep as a servant. After several back and forths, Tress bursts out that she would never stop trying to escape the dragon. She would be troublesome, forever looking for ways to escape and save the man she loves.

The dragon agrees that she would be a troublesome servant and decides to keep Crow. He says that if he released Crow, she would only be healed for a year or two, anyway. She needs to be near him to have a long-term healing. He also claims that he cannot interfere with a planet’s technological growth and claims he will use that as an excuse for why he will release Tress. He says he must grant a boon to her in exchange for her offering, but he will not do anything to help her quest or break Hoid’s curse. Tress asks if he will offer three small boons instead of one great one.

Seeing only Tress return from the tunnel, Laggart listens to his own common sense and backs off. Tress gives her friends the three boons she had asked for: spectacles for Ann, whom the dragon said has micropsia, a new tablet for Fort to communicate, and the location of Salay’s father.

Salay nominates Tress as captain and insists they still sail for the Midnight Sea. Tress finally listens to what she wants and agrees before claiming she is going to sleep in the captain’s room undisturbed.