Frances Haven stood at the highest point of the harbor as the sun shone on his face, blanketing him with all the late morning warmth it could muster. The winds were carrying The Glassheart Voyager off across the Glass Sea, and with it, his darling Ravena. He wished he’d gotten to say a better goodbye, but he’d had to move quickly. From his experience working in the palace, when the Queen sentenced someone to ‘banishment’, this meant imprisonment on a slaver ship for the rest of the prisoner’s life, assuming they weren’t forced to walk the plank. There had been no time to waste.
He’d met Thal at the harbor that very next night and talked with him until morning, unwilling to leave until he’d discerned that Thal’s love for Ravena was true, and his commitment to change was genuine. Once he’d done so, he got right to work. He’d been able to delay Thal’s life sentence by relying on his decades-long friendship with Gerald, the harbormaster. But freedom came at a much higher cost.
Frances stuck his hand in his pocket and examined the unusual bronze ring Thal had left with him. It didn’t mean much to him, but he knew to Thal, it had meant everything. Then, he pulled out the worn leather pouch Ravena had handed to him weeks ago, now empty. It had cost him everything inside it and more to pay off the harbormaster and ensure Thal’s freedom and secure the extra spots on the ship for Ravena and Maple. He smiled. It would’ve broken her heart to know he’d spent the money she’d saved up for him on her. How he loved that girl. He would’ve spent all his money on her, if she’d asked. She’d always reminded him of Charlotte.
He moved to sit on a nearby bench that overlooked the ocean and pulled a faded photograph out of his breast pocket. He ran his index finger gently over Charlotte’s beaming toddler face and felt that familiar ache in his heart. Two weeks ago marked exactly twenty-one years since Charlotte had died at only two years old. In the decades after her passing, he and his wife Daisy had prayed for a baby to alleviate the loss of their precious daughter. They’d never had another child, which made the day that his friend, Thomas Windwalker, arrived at his door all the more special. He’d asked the Havens to take care of his dear ten-year-old daughter while he was away across the sea. But he’d left more than his daughter in their care that day. He’d also left an intricate map, hoping Ravena would follow him when she was ready. Frances had kept the promises he’d made that day.
He pulled out his spyglass and focused it on the great ship. The Voyager was just a dot on the horizon now. Ravena’s toothy ten-year-old smile had been forever etched in his memory. Now, it burned in his heart, which he felt would shatter like glass. He’d held on to her as long as he could. And now, she and her lover were sailing the Glass Sea to find her father, and he’d had to let her go. And as he clutched Charlotte’s photograph and watched the ship disappear over the horizon, he wept tears of joy, sorrow, loss, and gratitude. Because he’d loved her well, and that’s what love does.
River of Glass is a lighthearted fantasy novelette about lies, loyalty, and the price of redemption, with a slow-burn romance beneath the current. This is a tonal departure from my usual work, written just for fun, and it was shared here in eleven installments.
Thank you for reading along! I hope you enjoyed River of Glass.
© Sophie Alexander, 2026. All rights reserved. Do not repost without permission.
