Lowri leans forward, gently taking her hand. ‘We’ll get there. We just have to—’
‘What’s that?’ Tanith says suddenly, eyes spearing a point on the horizon, through the windows looking outover the ocean. She rises quickly, gaze fixed on that point, stepping closer to the window, and Lowri follows, narrowing her eyes. There. Movement, a shimmer of dots moving then disappearing, then emerging again in the distance. Many of them, so many they’re scattered along the breadth of the window frame. Lowri’s heart leaps to her throat. Eli miscalculated. The ruling council haven’t divided the armada.
‘We’re out of time,’ Lowri whispers, horror sweeping through her. ‘They’re already here.’
Tanith stumbles back, then rushes from the library to raise the alarm. Lowri leans forward, pressing her hand against the window, focusing all her senses on the armada on the horizon. Ships, hundreds of them, and she realises with sinking dread what this means. The ruling council no longer intend to bring the Fortunate Isles under their absolute control. It’s not about securing a key location. They mean to wipe them out, every islander.
This has to be the full complement of ships Eli and Mira saw in Port Graine, readying to sail. The ships built for war.
Here to destroy Ennor.
the sound of the warningbell echoes across the Isle of Ennor. I freeze in the practice yard, scanning the faces around me as everyone else pauses. Silence envelops us as the clang of the bell rings on, the only noise discernible in the eerie absence of sound as gaze meets gaze, as confusion widens into understanding … then plummets into fear. Eli emerges from a pocket of shadow at my side, features grim, as Caden stalks over towards us.
‘It’s time,’ Eli says. ‘They’re here.’
My breath stutters. ‘How many?’ I ask urgently.
Eli’s gaze lands on me, full of flint and storms. ‘All of them. The entire armada.’
Caden swears under his breath, a momentary flash of terror gripping his features before he collects himself. As I watch, he squares his shoulders, raises his chin and settles his features into calm strength. Then he turns to the yard, surveying the women and girls who have kept returning every day, practising until the sun sits proudly in the sky. ‘Secure your young, your children and theelderly within the walls of the castle, then come to the armoury,’ he says. ‘Now is your moment. Now is the time to fight for your home, for your people. This is the moment you’ve all prepared for. The ruling council’s forces have arrived.’
A flurry of emotions pass over every face – sheer panic, terror, acceptance. Then determination. A woman, older than most in this courtyard, brings her practice sword to her chest and bows her head. In a wave, every person in the courtyard copies the gesture, a silent thanks for our training, for the hope Caden has sparked within all of us. Then, quietly, everyone places their practice swords back on the rack before they leave, streaming out through the doorway to secure their families. To prepare for what will come next. I place my own practice sword on the rack, fear and flame igniting in my chest. Eli’s words are like a blow. All of them. All those warships … all sent here.
‘Joby and Merryam are readying the crews,’ Eli says to us, ‘but the ruling council have sent every warship Mira and I saw in Port Graine. They’ve sent them all, and it appears that a few merchant ships have joined them too.’
My heart beats faster, the clattering bell still ringing in my ears. ‘Well, haven’t they been busy …’
‘How many?’ Caden asks.
‘At least two hundred. The warships and commandeered merchant vessels mainly. Some appear to be Renshaw’s. The watch are manning many of them,and some of the ruling council’s personal guard. It suggests …’
‘They’re united against us. The Rexilium brothers have rallied the merchants … They’ve come to secure their sea route,’ I say. Blood beats hot through my veins as the numbers, the sheer size of their forces, sinks in. There’s not a chance we can defeat them completely. Not on our own, not with our crews and islanders, who are scarcely trained in combat. And if I bring a storm, if I seek to sink them all, will I be able to turn it from the isles at the last moment? Or will the people of Ennor suffer? I think of my mother, what she did … no. I cannot think of that now. I take Eli’s hand. ‘I need to ask the sirens for help. You know that they will only see hearts, though, so if any of our own people should fall into the sea …’
Eli nods quickly. ‘I’ll warn Mer and Joby to spread the word among the crews and fisherfolk.’
‘I will begin assembling our people on land,’ Caden says, already moving to the doorway. ‘Eli?’
‘Yes?’
Caden hesitates, then strides to his cousin, clasping his arm. ‘Don’t die. I’d have no one to beat in the practice yard.’ He flashes us both a grin, masking his worry for Eli, for all of us, then disappears.
I take Eli’s hand and he dips his forehead to mine. ‘We haven’t had long enough.’
‘No,’ I agree, closing my eyes. ‘Not nearly long enough.’
‘Until the end, Mira?’
I tip back my head and kiss him, knowing what this kiss could mean. A goodbye. A final parting. When I draw back, his eyes are on mine. ‘I will love you until the end.’
He smiles. ‘I will love you too. Until I am nothing but pieces of starlight and sky.’
A single tear falls down my cheek as I whisper back. ‘And I will find you there, in that starlight. But not today,’ I add fiercely, gripping both his hands tightly in mine. ‘I have given up too much. I have lost too many. I cannot bear to lose anyone else I love, and I will not lose you now.’
Eli nods once, saying nothing, then releases my hands. ‘Go, seek the sirens. I love you.’
Then he’s gone and I’m left in the empty practice yard. I shape my hands into fists and turn, stalking through the doorway. Already, my senses are alight, seeking out the storms on the horizon, twining my will around cloud and sky. If the ruling council are bringing war to our shores, then they will get their wish. I will bring them a storm. I rush through the castle, push back the front doors and find the fickle sea, which only this morning was still and calm with slumber, now churning and watchful. Ready to roar.
I smile.
