“Belis, wake up!” I grabbed her shoulders and shook her, but she was too lost in the dream. She managed to free one hand from her cloak and started grabbing for the spear beside her. I kicked it away and slapped her in the face.
“Wake up!” I yelled.
Belis’s eyes snapped open and in one fluid movement she had spun me over, pinning me beneath her. I squinted up at her, watching as the terror in her face ceded to recognition.
“Mallt?” she whispered, letting go of my wrists.
“You were having a nightmare,” I said, pulling myself into a seated position. “You were screaming. I had to wake you up.”
“Screaming?” Belis looked confused. “I never screamed. I kept quiet the whole time. I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction.”
I regarded her for a long moment, watching as the pulse in her neck slowed back to normal, as her breathing became less ragged. I thought I understood what she meant.
“Well, do you want to break camp? In case anyone heard us? You were making quite a lot of noise.”
Belis glanced at the dying fire and then shook her head.
“We’re half an hour’s ride from the main road. I made good and sure that we were alone before we lit the fire.”
She put her hand to her head, rubbing at her eyes.
“I’m sorry, Mallt, I didn’t mean to disturb you. I’ll take the next watch.”
“Are you sure?”
Belis nodded. “I’m sure. I don’t want to go back to sleep just yet.”
I stood up and made my way back to where I had left my pack and started unrolling the sleeping mat Vatta had given me. Thenight was cold and I wrapped my cloak around me and dragged the mat a little closer to the fire.
“Here, take my bedroll as well.” Belis tucked it around me. “I’ll be fine with my cloak.”
I thanked her and snuggled into the extra fabric, still warm from her body. I watched as Belis picked up her spear and went to the edge of our clearing, her features bright against the darkness of the night. I tried to stretch out my mind, to understand the emotions that must be tussling within her. All these years I had run, guiding my lost souls, I had seen every stage of human life in every possible permutation. Yet I still didn’t understand them. That hadn’t seemed to matter to me before, but, looking at Belis now as she leaned against her spear, I found that I wanted to understand.
We rose early and rode west, meeting the road as we went. The land continued to unspool ahead of us until suddenly we were there. The cliffs dropped away and all was the silver sea, shining in the grey daylight. Belis slid out of the saddle and tiptoed right up to the edge of the land. I eyed the ground suspiciously, but it seemed solid.
Gulls swirled overhead in the pale sky, screeching at us. Belis’s eyes were wide and the grey-green of her irises seemed luminous with wonder.
“So this is the sea,” she said, not turning away from the view. “I always wondered. It’s so much more than I thought.”
“More what?” I asked.
“Just more.” She stretched out her hand as if to touch the air.
“Didn’t you see it in the east?” I said, remembering what she had told me on the Chalk.
“We stayed in the fens, in the marshes and rivers. My father always said he would take us one day but there was never time.”
She stayed where she was, breathing deeply. I waited a while then coughed gently. Belis sighed and looked over towards me.
“Well, this is the coast. Is Caer Sidi far from here?”
I shook my head. “Another fifteen miles or so further west.”
“West?” Belis glanced up at the sun then back at the sea. “How much further west can we go? Is there a headland somewhere?”
“No. Caer Sidi isn’t on the mainland. There’s an island, the locals call it Grassholm, about fifteen miles from here.”
“An island?” She frowned. “Do you have a boat?”
