Perilous Travels (The Southern Continent Series Book 2) by Jeffrey Quyle

grinned at him with an intimate friendship, and he laughed at the sparkle in her eyes.
    “So, when we get to the court,” she began, and she started to ask her mother questions about the life of the royal family.
    “The royal family lives on an island in the harbor, in a large compound around the palace.  We had servants to take care of us,” Layreen gave a description of some of the royal prerogatives she had enjoyed as a child.
    “Why doesn’t Kilau trade with other people outside?” Grange asked.  “I didn’t really pay a lot of attention to the talks at Palmland, but I think Ambassador Bartar was trying to sign a treaty so that people in Palmland could buy and sell things with people in Kilau.  Why don’t they just do that already, anyway?”
    “The old king, who died when I was just a young girl, did not want outsiders to come to Kilau at all.  He said the gods had put us on these islands to keep us separate from all others, in a special place.  When his daughter became the queen, she just continued his ways.  I don’t think my aunt cared one way or the other, but the people who had advised her father told her it was good for Kilau to remain separate from other people, that there was nothing we needed from other lands.
    “Except, of course,” she paused, “some of them did have businesses that bought things from other places, and those were okay, they said.  So there are some ships that sail from Kilau to far places to bring business goods back to the island,” she grimaced as she told her tale.
    “But now the queen is talking to Bartar,” Grange commented.  “She seems willing to maybe let Palmland’s traders start buying and selling the goods from Kilau,” he pointed out.
    “I hope that is the case, if you think it is a good thing,” Layreen said.
    “It won’t make much difference to our village, will it?” Shaylee asked her mother.
    “No, not immediately,” Layreen agreed.
    “But it will be good for some people in Kilau, and some in Palmland?” the girl asked Grange.
    “I am told it will.  The people of Kilau make nice cloth,” he pointed out.  “They’ll get more money by selling it to Palmland.”
    “That is the silk.  Silk and lace, made by the people of the mountains in the center of Kilau.  The fabric is wonderfully soft, and beautiful to look at,” Layreen said with a smile.
    “Then it should be traded, if there are things we want to have from Palmland.  Is there anything from Palmland we want to have?” Shaylee turned to ask Grange.
    “Well,” he said impulsively, “there’s me!” he laughed, and the two women laughed too.
    “You’re so right!” Shaylee said.  “Why didn’t I think of that?”
    The friendly banter between the two carried on as Layreen watched and smiled and steered the boat, answering their occasional questions to her about the royal court at Kilau.  The sun set, the stars came out and they ate their sparing supplies as the canoe cruised forward relentlessly.
    “Grange, I think we’re near the main island,” Layreen stated soon after they ate.  “You should slow the boat down.
    “Shaylee, move back to the front of the boat and get the two dresses out for us, so that we can arrive at the palace in the proper attire,” she directed.
    The girl reached over and placed her hand on Grange’s thigh to steady herself as she rose and turned, and he yelped in surprise as she squeezed him tightly before releasing him, once she started forward.
    “Did it hurt?” she asked archly as she settled into her original perch.
    “No,” he answered, “it tickled.”
    “Diolch pwerau i chi, efallai y byddwch yn rhoi'r gorau i wthio i ni ymlaen,” he uttered once he collected his breath, and the canoe slowed to a more sedate pace through the sea water.
    “Do you see those lights on the horizon?” Layreen asked.  “Those,” she spoke on without waiting for answers, “are the lights of the palace towers.
    “We’ll be there in half an