I shift a little closer. The scent of my soap rises up from her neck, her hair tied up with a piece of cord. I study that piece of skin intently.
She survived. When so many did not. It only confirms what we have believed for ten years.
Selene wraps her arms around herself. “So that cloud is…,”
“The sea,” I say heavily. I point a finger to show her. Not out, butup. “The water in the harbor began to churn first. Almostlike whirlpools. First one, then dozens. Hundreds. And then the wavesflipped,and flew upward, even as the sky itself fell, the two switching places in a maelstrom none could escape. Anyone still on the water was lost. Ships broke apart and tumbled down into nothing, taking our people with them.”
Eighty-four ships. Thousands of souls lost, to show us what we had done.
For what we had taken, Hala took from us in return. The whole world screamed as soldiers with blood still fresh on their swords were forced to watch their families fall, powerless from the dock of Asteria.
Left behind to learn a lesson none of us would soon forget.
The ones they told themselves they were saving paid the price for the bloodshed created in their name.
And those souls fell into an endless night sky, that now sitsbelow. “In a few hours, we will reach the edge of the sea border that separates Terrosa from Asteria. From there to Asteria, what was the sea is now only starlight, Selene. It is endless. As far as we know, there is no limit to the depths.”
“The Sea of Stars,” Esme says in awe. She shakes her head. “And of course, we’re the only fools who attempt to cross it.”
Selene looks at me, the question clear.
“We were all trapped,” I murmur. My eyes shift to the darkness ahead. “Trapped in Asteria, Selene. Those who were left behind are still trapped. The whole island is cut off by the Never Sea and the Sea of Stars.”
“But this is a ship. Forwater.” Her already pale skin turns ashy. “How in Ellas do we get acrossthat?”
I glance down at the hand that slips into mine. Leo squeezes it as he beams at Selene. “Callan will carry us. Callan makes the ship fly. He’s the only one who can do it.”
Eyes the same shade as the Sea of Stars look up at me. “What maegis do you have?”
One side of my mouth pulls up. “Gerent, apparently. Although nobody ever seems to quite agree.”
But the maegisdoes not lie. Selene’s gaze widens, the stars flickering. They move, I realize suddenly. The small bursts of color within her pupils flicker and shift. “You’re a porter? But you don’t have green eyes.”
I nod, still distracted. “I apologize for the lack. Do you have a particular attachment to green eyes?”
Her own narrow slightly, thrown off. And those stars shift and dance. “I… don’t know what to say to that.”
“Say nothing,” Esme supplies. I step back, heat brushing my cheeks. Esme eyes me with a little too much knowledge in her own violet gaze. “He’s teasing you.”
“Oh.” Selene tilts her head, studying me with newfound curiosity. “I’ve never seen gerent maegis.”
My smile is bitter. “You will, I hope. Otherwise, our trip will be cut quite violently short.”
Selene’s gaze drops to Leo. “Isthatwhy you asked if they’d weighed me? In the cargo hold?”
Leo nods, his face turning serious. Worry crosses his eyes as he glances at me. “The load is heavy this time. It’s a lot.”
“And you sound far too much like an old, worried man called Merrick for such a small boy.” Seizing the distraction, I reach for Leo, snagging him around the waist and lifting him against me with one arm. “Have Ieverlet you fall, Leo?”
Giggles peal out from the child in my arms. “N-n-n-ooo.”
I feint downward, pretending to drop him. His laughter grows louder. “Callan!”
“I need to hear it,” I say promptly. The much-needed smile that starts at the corner of my lips grows as I look to Selene. She stares at me as if I’ve lost my senses. “And I think Selene does too. You’d better reassure her, Leo. Quickly. Tell her I won’t let her fall.”
“I—”
I pretend to drop him again, and he howls with glee. Merrick lifts his eyes to the sky, but he’s smiling. “For the love of Hala—put the lad down, Callan, before he throws up on you.”
