The Last Mapmaker

Working with Paiyoon, Sai sketches her first map of the Desderell Islands. Paiyoon lets her look at the islands through his eyeglass, which is a family heirloom. Using this tool makes her feel like she can “see everything, all at once, the way it truly [is]” (168). Sai tells Paiyoon about the woman on Pitaya who tried to sell her a similar lens by claiming that it was a dragon’s inner eyelid and would show the truth. Paiyoon merely laughs. Looking at Paiyoon through the eyeglass, Sai senses that he has a secret.

However, rather than directly accusing him of keeping things hidden from her, Sai changes the subject and brings up the Sunderlands. Paiyoon declares that the Harbinger Sea is uncrossable. He says he has sailed to its edge and seen waves the size of mountains. He explains that any large body of land would prevent such monstrous waves from forming. His conclusion is that the Sunderlands do not exist.

That night, while the entire crew plays cards in the galley, Sai lets Bo come on deck for some fresh air. As they talk, Sai learns that Bo’s father died in the war and his mother left shortly after he was born, so he was raised by an aunt. When her mental health began to decline, it fell to Bo to find a way to support them, so he resorted to pickpocketing. Their conversation is interrupted by Paiyoon’s approach. He is soon joined by Rian, and Sai eavesdrops on them. Paiyoon declares that the Sunderlands are a myth and that searching for it is a waste of time.

Hearing this, Sai realizes that Paiyoon is only seeing what he expects to see, so he’s not open to the idea that the Sunderlands might exist. She thinks that his documents will show evidence of their existence: evidence that his biased perspective has caused him to overlook. Sai enlists Bo to steal the documents from Paiyoon’s cabin so that she can peruse them freely.

Each night, Bo steals a few documents and delivers them to Sai. Her reading reveals that contrary to popular belief, sailors have been crossing the 50th parallel for centuries. Sai finds enough credible mentions of land sightings in the right location to believe that something is there. She doesn’t see how Paiyoon could have missed all that evidence, but she isn’t sure what to think. Meanwhile, Bo talks to Sai about his plans to live in Mangkon and get a real job. He cannot believe how much importance her society places on lineals.

When they reach the port of Fahlin, nobody can go ashore as planned because the town is flying fever flags. Even from the ship, Sai can see how barren the place looks. Paiyoon says that the island used to have beautiful trees that were “tall as towers” (198), but after Fahlin surrendered to Mangkon in the war, the trees were all cut down to make ship masts. He adds that Mangkon also plundered every other resource that Fahlin had. Sai finishes mapping the documented land sightings in the Harbinger Sea and is finally ready to present her findings to Rian. However, she warns Rian that her evidence isn’t solid enough to convince Paiyoon.

Rian opens up to Sai with the truth about her past and admits that Captain Anchalee Sangra is actually her half-sister. They share the same father, but because Rian’s mother was a servant on the Sangra estate, the Sangra family did not welcome Rian’s birth. Instead, they sent Rian and her mother away. Rian joined the navy and worked her way up through the ranks. She says that Anchalee remains unaware of their connection, and Rian wants to gain equal status with her sister before revealing their true relationship. Rian then shows Sai a fishermen’s map that originated on a ship that was pulled across the Harbinger Sea by a storm. She claims that the only survivor of the voyage spoke of a lush continent surrounded by whales and dragons. Sai feels sure that the map’s incredible detail will convince Paiyoon of the Sunderlands’ existence.

Sai finds Bo on the ship’s maintop, the circular lookout platform halfway up the mainmast. He says that Grebe almost spotted him when he left the hold, so he climbed to the maintop to hide. While Sai is there, the boy whom Grebe was bullying tells Sai that the Slake has been following them. He shows her where to look, and she thinks she sees something, but it turns out to be whales. To help Bo get back to the hold unseen, Sai gives him her cloak and distracts Mr. Lark. The naturalist points out a flock of birds and calls them harbingers. He tells her that the word “harbinger” means “omen,” and that the birds earned this name because they are scavengers, and people always see them just before a kill.

The Prosperity encounters a whaling ship near Avens Island; the ship has captured a baby whale and is now using it as bait to catch its mother. Other whales in the calf’s pod try to free it, and the whalers harpoon one of them. Growing indignant at the spectacle, Mr. Lark calls it butchery. Paiyoon says that Mr. Lark should have realized that the purpose of their expedition is to monetize resources like the whales, which are worth a fortune. Once the rest of Mangkon learns of the Prosperity’s discoveries, more whaling ships will come, and they won’t care about destroying entire species. Mr. Lark says that Paiyoon’s maps are the tool that will make such destruction possible. His statement leads Sai to an epiphany.

Sai decides that Paiyoon must have always known of Sunderlands’ existence. She realizes that he has been deliberately steering the Prosperity away from the region. Before she can confront him, however, he tells her about his experience aboard one of the first Mangkon ships to land at Avens Island 30 years ago, when the seas there were home to all kinds of whales. He feels responsible for the subsequent whaling industry because he charted the way there. His maps allowed Mangkon to go there and exploit the natural resources of the area. Paiyoon confesses that he is horrified by the outcome of his life’s work and reveals that he really joined this expedition to protect other lands from being exploited. He tells Sai that he doesn’t believe in the saying “The tail is the teeth,” for although he cannot change the past, but he is determined to chart his own course into the future. Back on deck, Sai watches the whalers examining the whale they killed. It has four gigantic scars running along its body. The whalers, terrified at the thought of what monster might have caused such wounds, free the baby whale and push the body of the scarred whale overboard.

Captain Sangra soon becomes gravely ill, and Rian insists on tending to the captain herself, citing her loyalty to the captain and claiming that the doctor is too valuable to risk her health in close proximity to the patient. Sai refrains from telling Rian that Paiyoon knows the Sunderlands exist. She only tells her that she wasn’t able to convince him to search for them. In response, Rian suggests sending Paiyoon home once they reach Avens Island and making Sai the Prosperity’s new mapmaker. In that role, she could decide the ship’s course. When Sai says that Paiyoon would never agree to leave, Rian tells Sai to forge a note from the captain calling for Paiyoon’s resignation.

Bo, who is hiding in Sai’s cabin, makes a startled noise when he hears this, and Rian finds him. Sai tells Rian the truth about Bo, and Rian agrees not to turn him in. She convinces Sai that if she doesn’t agree to this plan, their lives will go back to the way they were before. This idea terrifies Sai, so she agrees to the forgery.