Cradle of the Sea, Castello Island, three stellar days before the arrival of spring.
A bronze-skinned woman of about twenty walked over carrying four bags.
"Lady Malena, the labels on these four bags of seeds are gone. My family can't tell them apart."
She set the seeds on the ground and said anxiously.
Castello Island lay at the center of the Cradle of the Sea. Every school of fish in the Coral Sea passed through here in different seasons, and since ancient times, the islanders had never had the habit of planting crops.
Her family had been among the first to answer Lord Shaman's call, trading their hunted seafood for seeds in preparation for farming.
Since they did not know which kind was best, her family had bought four varieties.
Lord Shaman had said that Castello Island's light, soil, and other conditions were all very suitable for planting these fruits, and that caring for them would be very simple.
They had decided to see how the harvest turned out before choosing what to plant in the second year, and how much.
But now the labels were gone. Her family had looked them over for a long time, yet they still could not tell which was which among the four kinds of oval, dark-brown seeds.
That meant they could not follow Malena's guidance and plant them separately in the areas best suited to their growth.
"Keri, don't worry. Let me take a look."
Malena's magnetic voice immediately soothed Keri's anxiety.
The Cultivator untied one of the bags, swept it a glance, and recognized it at once.
But she knew the islanders had to learn how to tell them apart, so she picked up a handful of seeds with her fair, delicate hand and said patiently, "These are papaya seeds. Aside from