I stare at the sky and think of the thinning golden wool. ‘Like our farm.’
‘There’s something wrong and I blame those in their high tower.’
‘The shoreline of the Spring Isle is closer than it was when I was a girl,’ I say, after a time. ‘Warmer waters, stranger things afloat. Nature is ill at ease.’
‘Those with power always try to control and exploit.’
I consider this for a moment, looking at my hands. ‘Is it like that everywhere?’
Finlyr looks at me, and I feel his breath on my face. He sits up, as if realising how close together we are. ‘Things have gotten worse.’
‘Why did you come back?’
‘Not much business in smuggling once the ports were open.’ He smiles, but his body stiffens, and I know this isn’t the full truth of it.
‘What did you smuggle?’
‘People.’
I stare at him.
‘We helped them leave Paranish. There are those desperate enough to risk everything for a new life, and they paid us for the privilege.’
‘And were they right?’ I ask, my voice soft. ‘Was it worth it?’
He takes my hand and squeezes it. ‘Things aren’t better in Orin or Lassair. Same problems, different people.’
‘Is that why you stopped smuggling? The guilt?’
‘The only ones profiting were the pirate smugglers. I couldn’t do that, not after—’
The moment stretches between us, dark thoughts clouding our minds.
‘There are those desperate enough to risk everything for a new life,’ Finlyr says solemnly. ‘And most of them pay for itwiththeir lives.’
‘You used his name,’ I say at last.
He sits up then, as if he were a puppet pulled by string. ‘I wondered if you knew him. You seemed so startled when we first met.’
‘Because you were using my husband’s name.’ I struggle to get the words out. ‘What happened to him?’
His expression is the most open and vulnerable I’ve ever seen on him. Eventually, he says, ‘Larkin was on my crew. One of the most loyal sailors I ever met.’
The memory of Larkin’s voice comes back to me.
This will change everything for us. It’s such a small dream, isn’t it? To choose for yourself. That’s freedom. But to have it, you need power. Now we’ll have something of value. Both feet on the shore.
‘Tell me what happened,’ I insist, grabbing at his shirt.
‘I fucked up, Ris,’ he confesses, his body crumpling into itself. ‘I should have gone in after him, but it all happened too quickly. He was overboard, and then he was gone. The Maelstrom took him.’
I hit him hard in the jaw and he staggers over, palming his bloody mouth. ‘Why the fuck did you do that?’
‘I don’t believe you.’
‘It’s the truth!’
He stares at me, eyes wild, face bloodied, and the only thing I can hear are my choking sobs.
