22

Kaylin

The water rushes over me, the sensations like fingers chilling my skin. Finally, I can breathe. The dawn sends light to the depths like curtains of gold. Schools of bait fish flee at my approach. There are hundreds of them, all changing direction in a snap—shift left, halt, sudden right, and left again. Their scales are mirrors reflecting the kelp and reefs, luminous under the rising suns. Herding the silver fish from behind are big-mouthed groupers and green sea bass. A vast landscape unfolds before me, and my heart swells. I am home. I am in my sanctuary.

This is the world I want nothing more than to share with Ash. And this is the world she cannot enter for more than a glimpse. She is a lander. Her allegiance belongs to the air she breathes, to feet on the ground, food on the table, and books in the libraries. To the people she loves. To hopes and dreams that do not exist under the waves. This home of mine is something Ash will never know and it breaks my heart to think of it.

I clear the emotion from my head with a shake. What I must do next cannot be clouded with sentiments. Sentiments? Who am I kidding? I am harboring a long-sight more than sentiments. I love her!

As I swim, my shadow falls over the reef fish and they disappear into the safety of the corals. I want to stop and imbibe the memories of this region but swim on, knowing Teern has tracked me since my head went under the waves. Mustn’t keep the Sea King waiting.

“Kaylin.” Teern’s voice booms around me.

I stop short, my hair fanning out as I search the seascape. He’s impossible to miss, even as a shadow rippling on the surface a hundred yards away. Here we go.

He streams toward me. “Father, I can explain everything.”

“Can you?” Teern circles me once, like a shark, and doesn’t say more.

His silence is a knife to my throat. I really may have miscalculated how much trouble I’m in.

“Follow,” he says and dives deeper.

I swim in the Sea King’s wake, entering a dark well that cuts through the currents. When we reach a cave thirty fathoms down, the water turns cold as the poles. I shiver, but not because of the temperature. Teern leads the way into the darkness, kicking past nurse sharks sleeping under the shoals. They line the entrance like guards. We glide over large slabs of granite, ruins from an ancient time when the continents were seven, the sea level much lower. The slabs are encrusted with anemones, sponges and urchins, and slow-moving herds of giant starfish. I feel my way more than see, until bioluminescent creatures light the cave walls like a cityscape. I must admit it. I have missed this these last few months.

We emerge into the air pocket of the underwater cave, climbing huge steps out of the water. Pocket is wrong. It’s more the size of a king’s hall. Probably was one, once. The light makes me blink, its shimmering glow like a thousand tiny suns. It is beautiful, under the right circumstances, but today Teern has called the bioluminescent creatures to this cave, so the density is unnatural and eerie to my eyes. Somehow, on land, with Ash by my side, this inevitable meeting with Teern seemed more manageable.

Now that I face him, I’m a child who lost his father’s favorite hunting dog and is about to be taught a lesson in responsibilities. A child that keeps a secret, one I can’t allow even into the edges of my thoughts.

Teern stands to his full height, seven feet tall. Unlike me and Salila, he would not pass on the streets of Baiseen, not as a lander, even if dressed in savant robes. There have not been giants on Amassia since long before the continents rejoined.

Teern chuckles, plucking that thought right out of my head as he crosses his arms over his massive chest. Water runs off his hair and beard, like he’s a statue in the rain. I know there is something important to divulge, for him to choose a cave insulated from the ears of other Mar. Here, when we speak aloud, no one on land or in the sea will hear. As if any lander has that skill. Which makes me acknowledge that Ash does. It’s not a morsel for the Sea King to chew on today, if I can help it. I shove the thought away.

“Feeling a little paranoid?” I ask Teern. My voice is chiding, arrogance to the fore. He expects nothing less from his favorite son.

But I might be pushing it. And it remains to be seen if I am still his favorite.

He moves fast, a blurred hand reaching for my throat. The Sea King slams me against the urchin encrusted wall, squeezing tight while my feet hang above the cave floor.

“You better have a mother-of-fine-pearl excuse for disobeying me.”

I gasp, unable to speak aloud. “I’m no good to you with a broken neck, Father.”

“I suppose.” The Sea King grudgingly loosens his grip. “But thus far you are not terribly useful without one.”

Released, I hit the wet rock floor. “I know Brogal’s plan,” I say, trying to clear my throat, and my mind.

Teern harrumphs. “That knowledge is not what I’m after.” He moves to the center of the cave and takes the ancient throne, a high back and wide seat carved from granite and covered with runes. He lounges in it, his considerable bulk laid out like a sculpture. He motions me to his feet. His eyes are blue-black orbs in the luminous light of the cave. His chiseled jaw clamps tight and then relaxes into a smile. “Salila,” he says without looking at the steps. “You’re late.”

I don’t have to turn around to know she’s coming out of the water behind me. I’d sensed her the moment I immersed. “Traitor,” I say, sending her the thought privately.

“You should talk,” she says back.

“Speak aloud,” Teern booms. “Why do you think I’ve brought you here?”

“To keep the little non-savant out?” Salila spits out a wad of fish bone she’s been rolling around with her tongue.

“Don’t call her that.” I bare my teeth.

Her canines flash right back at me.

“Come.” The Sea King motions Salila to sit to the side of the throne. “I want to clear a few things up before deciding your fates.”

Neither of us interrupts.

“Kaylin.” He taps his fingers on the throne.

I meet his eyes.

“You were to drown the Heir and his followers on the way back from Aku. But you rescued them instead. I asked especially that the orphan girl, Ash, not make it to shore, yet to shore she went, alive and well. Tell me one reason why I shouldn’t send you back to the Ma’ata and crush the landers myself.” His voice is calm, almost quizzical, but I don’t let that fool me. He’s dead serious.

“I understand you wanted the Heir and his companions drowned.”

“If that’s so, why do they live?”

“He fell for the girl,” Salila says before I can speak. “Quite hard. I think it knocked all sense out of him.” She takes great pleasure in delivering this bit of news.

“That’s not the reason they are still alive.” I keep my voice calm and deliberate, careful to speak true, but not too true, especially about Ash. “The reason they are alive is because I have a better idea.” Teern waits for me to say more. “I took a risk, assuming you would trust me.” I shrug my shoulders like it’s no big thing.

The Sea King’s face is like granite. “Elaborate?”

“You want the crown of bones, but did it occur to you that the Bone Gatherer might have a better time collecting the originals than you, or Tann for that matter?”

“Even if I wake the Dreaded?” he says in a quiet breath.

I stumble, nearly losing my calm. He can’t seriously be thinking of turning them loose on the world. They were cursed to the Ma’ata by his own hand. And for good reason. I take a breath. “Look how far from the sea the journey will take them. Even the Dreaded”—I flinch saying the name aloud—“are not equipped for inland roads.”

“What are you proposing, Kaylin?”

“That I continue with Marcus, keeping firsthand eyes on the Bone Gatherer and—”

“That doesn’t mean we can’t kill the girl, just to be safe,” he interrupts.

Just to be safe? What is he talking about? “We can’t kill Ash!” I blurt out the words, then collect myself. “You don’t understand. If Ash disappears, Marcus will think of nothing else. He would turn over the world to find her, or avenge her.”

“He’d abandon the quest?”

“I believe he would, but if you leave the party intact, when he has all the six from the remaining Sanctuaries, and then the six from Tann, or whoever else, I’ll return them to you.”

Teern laughs. “Now why in the demon-deep crags would I trust you to do that?”

“Because of what I want in return.”

“Your freedom isn’t enough?”

“It’s not.”

Teern rubs his bearded jaw. “What more then?”

“Ash,” I say softly. “You’ll leave us be and never threaten her life again. Ever.”

“Ha!” Salila says. “Told you.”

“Does it matter with the next Great Dying upon us?” I say, trying not to let my desperation show. “Admit it, this is a sound plan. The Bone Gatherer’s company has as strong a chance of gaining the twelve as any team of Mar, especially with the little caller from Aku.”

The Sea King’s eyes grow distant as he considers it.

“Do we have an agreement?” I press, hoping the perspiration on my forehead isn’t about to start dripping.

“All right, Kaylin.” Teern slowly nods. “You bring me the rest of Er’s bones and I’ll grant your wish, assuming you and the girl survive.”

“Excellent.” My shoulders lighten, until I catch his wording. “The rest of the whistle bones?”

Teern’s lip curls in a half smile. “You’ll not need Baiseen’s.”

So ours is a fake? I don’t ask how he got his hands on it. Nun, no doubt, when it should have been spirited away to the Bone Thrower’s cave.

Teern chuckles. “You surprise me, Kaylin, but know this, if you let Ash out of your sight, even for a moment, our deal is off.”

His interest in her makes the hairs at the back of my neck stand up, but I nod. “Done.”

It’ll be fine. I know her through and through. She is special, no doubt unique. But she can’t be who he suspects her to be.

“Done.” Teern answers back and then waves me away. “Go. Retrieve the bones and stick to your word or I’ll send you back to the Ma’ata for the next ten rounds of the dark sun.”

I temple my palms together and lift them to my forehead, giving him a formal bow. “Thank you, Teern.”

“Goodnight, Father.” Salila tries to slip away with me.

“Salila!” The walls of the cave quake from Teern’s voice.

“What? I’ve done as told,” Salila says, spinning around, her lower lip pushing out. “But I wouldn’t mind joining Marcus’s little party as well.” She runs her tongue over her teeth. “I could just eat him up. And his phantom? I could get used to—”

“This is not a game, Daughter!” Teern’s voice knocks us both off our feet. “You’ll shadow Tann’s ships, informing us of his actions and be ready when Kaylin calls.”

“I’m under his direction now?” She jerks her thumb toward me.

“You’re both under mine. If you don’t want to find yourselves forever sleeping in your tombs, you best remember it.” He stands abruptly, again his movements so fast they are only a blur. “Be away, both of you, and do not reveal yourselves. Yes, the rumors of Mar are good for the sacrifices. But better also they remain unconfirmed.” He shakes his bearded head. “Landers…”

“I’d rather follow Marcus and De’ral,” Salila grumbles, staying well out of Teern’s reach as she does. “Trade?’’ She looks at me.

I ignore her and dip my head once more to the Sea King. As I rush back to the Dugong, relief floods me. Still, I wonder how Teern will take it when he realizes that Salila and I have confirmed the secret of the Mar. It’s like the proverbial cat. No one on land or sea is going to stuff it back in the bag.