The moment arrives for the Captain to speak. Dolce recognizes it well. How many times had they met, in the days prior? That first glance, when he’d realized a meeting must be called. The long hours before a mirror, seeing a tidy uniform instead of his favorite vest. The constant, electric presence, keeping him awake to read one more chapter, one more page. They’d struck an uneasy truce, and were it not for that he’d be asleep this very moment. Miracle of miracles, they’d found some common ground to work around. After all, he knew how to deliver a report in a clear, steady voice, no matter the situation he faced. He knew how to address a room, without looking at anyone in particular. If his voice slipped, he would carry on without blinking, and no one would realize he’d never meant to say it quite that way in the first place. 

Captain Dolce faces the assembly. A fragile peace bends. But does not break.

“As her Highness has said,” his soft voice fills the room, not one tick louder than it needed to be. “We do not know what we sail into. We do not know who presently holds the Endless Azure Skies, nor how they will receive ships passing through their territory. But what we do not know cannot change what we do know: Our destination is farther still. Our business is not with the Azura. Our goal, then, is peace. If the gods smile on us, we will be welcomed as honored guests, and all who meet us will be blessed.”

“Thus, our own course set, the decision then must rest with the Azura, and we must be ready for their answer. If they seek to entangle us, we must politely decline. If they seek to threaten us, our hearts must be steadfast. If they seek to bar our way, we must find the path through. But we must not make their decision for them, or else the consequences will rightly fall on our own heads.”

“I do not mean to suggest it will be easy. But.” Here, he lets himself look. Look upon the many grand and wondrous souls who’ve come together for this voyage. So many, from so many impossible places, all under one roof, for one purpose, sharing in a dream and a life together. He, at the head of it all. Who could have imagined it? “If I speak of difficulty, I speak it out of the faith that such a company will rise above it.”

Then, he waits. He has spoken his turn. He has prepared all he could. He has offered all that is proper and good. Now, he must let there be reply, and let his fate be what it may. So he waits. And a lioness in the company waits, feeling nothing of her burden when compared to the anguished coal buried deep in her chest.