Chapter Eighteen
Ididn’t remember dressingin our clean clothes or walking back to camp.I had a vague memory of Taio pulling me into his bedroll and holding me until I fell asleep.When I woke to a gray sky, I knew it was morning, though the absent sun gave no indication of that, and I also knew I hadn’t been roused for watch.
“Why didn’t you wake me for watch?”I asked, stretching as the others began to roll up their bedding.
“We tried,” Omira said.“You were sleeping like a rock.”
I was horrified.We might have been attacked by Hollows, and I could have snoozed through it all, a perfect target.
“You needed to rest,” Taio said.
“So did you.”
“I am rested.”He did look rested, though still bruised.The swelling on his face had diminished, and the lines around his blue-green eyes were gone, as was the tension in his lips.In fact, until I saw him move now, I hadn’t realized how stiff he’d been.But he was back to his lithe, cat-like grace.I thought our tryst in the lake might have played some small part in how relaxed he looked.I certainly felt relaxed.
Until I remembered today was the day I would see the capital.I might be meeting Taio and Omira’s parents.I might be meeting the entire court of Zulen.I looked down at my clothes.They were wrinkled but clean.Of course, I’d slept in them.I didn’t have anything else to wear or even a brush to tame my hair.I’d lost it somewhere along the way.All I could manage was what I hoped was a neat plait.My hair was still damp, but at least I was clean.
We didn’t have any food, and no one wanted to take time to search for any.Omira said we’d feast tonight.I hoped that was true because my belly hadn’t been full for what seemed weeks now.We filled our flasks and started out, Kintle in the lead and Yung in the rear.We walked along the beach, and I felt my cheeks heat when we passed the dunes where Taio and I had stood the night before.I looked out over the water, but I couldn’t see any sign of Zleyval now that it was day.We moved on, taking turns leading the group, even though I didn’t know exactly what we were looking for.Taio said they’d left the boat in a grouping of trees near the shoreline, but as far as I could see, everything was dunes and high grass.
Sometime after noon, the landscape changed, and we saw more small trees growing.The trees were oddly shaped, their trunks and leaves leaning away from the lake as though sculpted by the wind into dramatic shapes.As the hours passed, the trees grew denser until finally Yung pointed ahead and Kintle went into the trees to investigate.
He emerged, shaking his head, and we continued walking.We moved slower now, and the Zulenii were in almost constant conversation.I understood words here and there and pieced together they were discussing where they’d left their boat.Just as I was beginning to fear we’d never find it and I would spend another night on the beach with an empty belly, Taio strode into a grove of trees and called for the rest of us to follow.I still looked over my shoulder every time anyone spoke above a whisper, but clearly the Zulenii were not concerned about Hollows now that they were close to home.With my sharpened stick at the ready, I followed the others into the trees and found a small boat hidden under branches.Once those were removed, the four Zulenii carried the boat to the water.I stood guard, watching for any signs of Hollows.
By the time the boat was in the water and the sails inspected, the sun was low in the sky.“Should we wait until the morning?”I asked.The last thing I wanted was to lose our way and be stuck in the middle of the lake all night.
“Yung is an expert sailor,” Omira said.“We will sleep in our own beds this night.”
I inhaled slowly.Iwould not sleep in my own bed.I’d probably never see Highcastle again.Omira stepped into the boat, and Taio held out a hand.I hesitated then looked into his face.He gazed back at me, eyes calm and patient.Even now I had the sense that I could refuse to go and return to Earsleh.Part of me longed to do exactly that.But another part of me couldn’t help but stare across the water and wonder what the future held.I had always been accused of being impulsive, and the urge to jump in the boat and see what new adventure awaited was strong.But if I was honest with myself, Taio was the deciding factor.I did not know how I would walk away from him.I had begun to care for him more and more every day.I wondered what he would say when I told him that my father would send an army against his people.Would he be angry I’d kept it from him for so long?Would he decide even a cure for the red vein virus wasn’t worth a war?
If I turned back now, I’d never find out.I wouldn’t risk my feelings for him growing or the possibility of a broken heart at his rejection.If I took his hand now, I could easily see myself falling in love with him.He said he would give his life for me, but would he still feel that way if those he knew and loved were in danger from an advancing army?
Taio had said I held the knowledge that could bring a cure for the Hollows to the world, but what if his hopes in me had been misplaced?What if when presented with the ancient scroll, I couldn’t read it or I misread it?What if it wasn’t a cure at all?What if he realized everything he’d done for me had been for nothing?
I closed my eyes and listened to the lapping of the waves against the shore.I tried to picture myself returning to Earsleh as I’d promised my mother.I hadn’t understood that leaving Highcastle would change me.I knew too much to go back and blindly obey.I loved Papa, but I could not forgive him for his complicity in the scourge of the Hollows.
I could not forgive him for Finnrey’s death, anymore than I could forgive Gaz or Nize.I didn’t belong in Earsleh any longer.My future, and the future of our world, was ahead of me, across the water, in Zleyval.
By Taio’s side.
I reached out and Taio’s hand was waiting, warm and solid.Before I could open my eyes, he swept me into his arms.“What are you doing?”
“Keeping your feet dry,” he said as he splashed into the water and set me on the boat.Omira steadied me and showed me where I could sit so the mast wouldn’t hit me once the sail was unfurled.Then Taio climbed aboard, and Kintle and Yung pushed the boat into deeper water.I tried to calm my racing heart, tried to tell myself I’d made the right decision.
For a few moments, I thought the waves would push us back to shore or topple us over, but Yung climbed aboard, soaking wet, and took control.I wasn’t sure exactly what he did, but we stayed afloat and turned slightly to the side.Then the sail was open and taut from the wind, and he was steering us in the direction of Zleyval.
When I’d been on shore, the lake had looked calm and placid compared to the sea.Now that I was on the water and—I looked over my shoulder—quite far from shore, the lake seemed anything but calm.We rocked from side to side, the waves coming up high on the sides of the small boat.We were tiny in the middle of the great body of water.Surely this craft was too small for all five of us.Yung seemed unconcerned, though, and quite competent, taking us further out into the center of the lake.Omira patted my shoulder, which was probably supposed to reassure me.I occasionally looked over the edge of the boat, wondering if any fish lived in the lake.Hopefully we wouldn’t see any floating Hollows and have to fend those off.
“Mara.”Taio was at the front of the boat, and he motioned me that way.I shook my head, afraid I wouldn’t be able to reach him without falling into the water.Taio beckoned again, and I blew out a breath and squeezed past Kintle.I had to duck as the mast shifted, and then I was on the bow.The wind was harsher up here.It blew the loose tresses of my hair about my face and made it hard to keep my balance.Taio settled me in front of him, his own legs braced apart.He seemed a born sailor, steady and at ease.Holding me securely, he spoke in my ear.“There it is.”
I looked out across the water.The sun was setting in the west, a brilliant mixture of pinks and oranges.Just in front of it, rising as though from the water, were the golden buildings of the capital.Houses in every color of pink, blue, and yellow were built into the rocky shore.On the far left and the far right, the rivers flowed from steep mountains, feeding the lake.Between those rivers was the city.One golden building caught my eye.Having grown up with metallurgists, I saw immediately the gold was not metal but paint.Still, I’d never seen paint that so closely resembled gold, even down to the way it reflected the light.
“What is that?”I asked.
“Gold House,” he said.“That’s where I live.”
