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AVEN WOKE UP WHEN THE sun filtered down through the waters, and only then realized that he’d actually slept. He drifted up to the surface and rolled onto his back, floating like an otter and studying the sky. There were a few high clouds drifting across the clear blue expanse, looking more than a little like the white banding in the gem that Aria had offered to him.
He was going to do it. He was going to take the gem. He’d decided that at some point before he’d fallen asleep. He had no idea what it would mean for his future, but he already had no idea what his future held. This, at least, was a choice that he could make. By taking the gem, he was choosing his future, not merely accepting whatever happened. At least, that was what he was going to tell his parents.
He reached the top of the trail, and heard the raised voices coming from the beach. One he recognized as his mother, although he rarely heard her voice raised when it was just them. Usually, that was reserved for when they visited his grandmother, and heralded the immediate end to the visit. As his father once told him, when Aleia’s patience was frayed enough that she reached the point of yelling to get her point across, it was time to leave.
The other voice was Aria’s, and Aven quickly made his way down toward the beach. He saw his father first, and stopped next to him, looking down at the canoe, and at the two women facing each other. It was the first time that he’d seen Aria in full light, and the sight of her took his breath away. Her long hair was as dark as his own, and fell over her shoulders in rippling waves. Her skin was paler than his, and he already knew how soft it was. He still wasn’t certain of the color of her eyes, and found himself eager to find out. And finally, her wings— banded gray and white like those of a sea eagle, she had them spread wide. To intimidate, he guessed, having seen similar displays in sea birds. But his mother wasn’t going to be intimidated by a girl who could have been her daughter.
“What’s happened?” Aven asked his father. “Why are they yelling?”
“Aria can’t swim,” Jehan answered. “And she’s refusing to learn.”
As if she’d heard him, Aria raised her voice, her tone one of strident derision. “I am a bird!” she proclaimed. “Birds do not swim!”
Aven coughed, and spoke without thinking, “Cormorants swim.”
Aria’s head whipped around, and she stared at him. “What?”
“Cormorants swim,” Aven repeated, hearing his father chuckle. “And sea eagles. There are birds that swim.”
She looked almost betrayed. “You’re supposed to support me!”
“Not when you’re trying to do something stupid,” Aven answered, and saw his mother’s approving nod. “And since the only way off this island is by canoe, at least until your feathers grow back, you need to learn to swim. Because going on a long voyage on a canoe when you can’t swim is stupid. Doing it during storm season is suicidal. You need to learn.”
“He’s right,” Jehan added. “Your Companions aren’t going to just blindly support you. They’re supposed to argue with you, and make sure that you’re doing the best for your people. They’re supposed to tell you when you’re wrong. It’s their entire purpose.”
“So, one of us is going to teach you how to swim,” Aleia finished, her voice very firm. “Who?”
Aria gaped at them, then shrieked and stormed off. Aven watched her go, then turned to his father.
“What’s wrong with her?” he asked.
“There’s nothing wrong with her that having someone telling her no won’t fix,” Jehan answered. “Think of your cousin.”
“Oh, Neera?” Aven nodded. Neera was his next oldest cousin, the only daughter of his mother’s youngest sister. Aunt Jisa was heir to the family canoe, and eventually, she’d be Clan Mother, the head of their family, and Neera was her heir. So, her mother had indulged her outrageously, and it had left Neera with a definite opinion that if she wasn’t able to swim under the waves, she’d definitely be able to walk on them. She tried to lord her eventual position over Aven’s head once too many times. “Aria’s spoiled like that?”
“She appears to be. She was raised knowing that she was Milon’s daughter,” Aleia said as she joined them. “From the sounds of her, she was treated as if she was the Heir long before she went to the Temple.”
“I can see Liara doing that,” Jehan groaned. “So, how do we proceed?”
Aleia smiled slightly. “You compared her to Neera? Ven, remember how you took the wind out of Neera’s sails?”
Aven nodded. “Yes, but—”
“You’re not going to get in trouble for it now,” Jehan said. “It will drive the point home. And it won’t hurt her.”
“It’ll make her mad at me,” Aven said, looking off in the direction that Aria had gone. “Fa, she came down to the pool last night.”
Jehan looked momentarily shocked, then schooled his face to careful neutrality. “Did she?”
“We talked,” Aven said. ‘And... she kissed me. Then she ran off.”
Jehan and Aleia shared a glance, then Jehan asked, “And have you decided?”
“I’m taking the gem,” Aven answered. “And not because she kissed me. Because if I’m on Mannon’s better- off- dead list regardless, then I’m not going to drift toward my future. I’m setting my own course, and maybe changing the outcome.”
Jehan nodded, putting one arm around Aleia’s shoulders. “That makes sense. All right. Go teach the Heir to swim.”
***
THERE WEREN’T MANY places that Aria could have gone — Aven found her sitting on the rock that overlooked the pool where he slept. The rock where they’d been sitting when she kissed him. He was certain that she knew he was coming, but she didn’t turn to see who was coming. He sat down on the rock next to her, and listened to the wind and the water.
Finally, she spoke, “That was unkind. You called me stupid.”
“No, I said you were going to do something stupid. Stupid and suicidal,” Aven corrected. “You need to learn to swim.”
She sniffed. “I do not.”
“And if you fall in the sea?” Aven asked. She turned to him and smiled.
“I know you will save me.”
There was such faith, such trust in her answer that for a moment, Aven wasn’t sure that he wanted to go through with this. But her refusal endangered her life, and he couldn’t allow that. So he sighed, and shoved her off the rock and into the water. She screamed, the sound swallowed by the splash as she hit the water. Then she surfaced, and there was more splashing, more screaming and sputtering as she flailed wildly.
“Grab onto the rock,” he called.
She didn’t hear him. She didn’t stop fighting, and Aven realized that she was panicking. He swore softly and scrambled to his feet, diving off the rock, angling away from Aria to avoid her struggling. He twisted, using his arms to swim toward Aria as his gills opened and the change began. He broke the surface close to her — too close, and her flailing fist caught him across the cheek. He hissed, dove, and resurfaced behind her, only to be hit by one of her wings. He dove once more, surfacing in front of her, grabbing one of her wrists and pulling her close, pinning her arms to her sides with his own arms. He kicked as hard as he could, driving them across the pool toward the shallows and beaching himself on the sand, releasing Aria so she could crawl away. He rolled onto his back, already feeling the backlash of aborting his change in the middle. He couldn’t breathe, and his bones from the hips down felt as if they were splintering. He closed his eyes, waiting for it to pass. Perhaps it was a good thing that he couldn’t breathe. It meant he couldn’t scream.
He heard splashing, and Aria gasping his name. Before he could open his eyes, she was kneeling over him, beating against his chest with her fists, hard enough that he was certain it should hurt. It just didn’t hurt enough to drown out the pain he was already in.
“Why did you do that?” she wailed. “I thought I was going to die!”
He raised his arms to try and protect himself, only to let them fall back to his sides as the pain in his bones grew worse, far worse than the last time this had happened. Aria stopped hitting him, resting her hand on his chest.
“Aven?” her voice cracked. “What is it? What’s wrong?” She touched his face. “It... it wasn’t like this last night. I... this is something I did. I... Jehan! Aleia!” She got to her feet and ran, shouting for his parents. Then she came back. “I can’t leave you. I can’t leave you like this. What did I do?”
“Aria!” Aven heard his father’s voice. “Aria!” A moment later, there was splashing, and Jehan was dropping to his knees in the water. “Ven? Ven, can you talk yet?”
Aven shook his head, felt his father’s hand on his forehead, the warmth of his healing power. “Oh, Ven. Been a long time. I’m putting you out for the rest.”
Dimly, Aven heard his father saying something else. He didn’t hear what Jehan was saying, nor Aria’s answer, as the warmth grew deeper, darker, drowning out both pain and awareness.
***
JEHAN WATCHED AS AVEN’S eyes closed, then rested his hand on his son’s chest. He spoke without looking up. “What happened?”
“I don’t know!” Aria whimpered. “He pushed me into the water. I got frightened, and he jumped in after me. I... I think I hit him. And he pulled me out of the water. Then he was like this and I don’t know what I did to hurt him!”
Jehan looked at her, and saw the tears on her face. “It wasn’t anything you did to him. He did it to himself, getting you out of the water. It takes time for him to change.”
“I saw it happen last night, when he changed back. It didn’t hurt him last night. Why is it hurting him now?”
“It looks like he wasn’t fully changed from land to sea when he pulled you out of the water,” Jehan said. “Breaking the cycle of the change hurts.”
Aria looked distraught. “He pushed me into the water when I told him I would not learn to swim. I told him I knew that he would save me if I fell in. He pushed me in... and he saved me. I knew that he would. I didn’t know that doing it would hurt him.”
Jehan looked up, saw Aleia standing on the other side of the pool, near the top of the trail down to the beach. “Go down to the beach with Aleia. You can help her get things ready to leave. I’ll bring Aven back to the canoe once he wakes up.”
“I should stay. Help you. Watch him.” Aria twisted her hands in her lap. “I didn’t know it would hurt him!”
“It’s not something that Waterborn tell people, Aria,” Jehan said gently. “And there’s not much you can do here. He’ll be in a healing sleep for an hour or so. It’ll be long and boring. Go help Aleia. I promise you, he’ll be fine.”
“Can you lift him?” Aria asked. “I could help. He shouldn’t lie in the water... oh. Oh, that was stupid. He sleeps in the water—”
Jehan smiled. “Thank you, but it’ll be easier and more comfortable for him if he sleeps it off here,” Jehan answered. “Trust me, he’ll be fine.”
Aria nodded. She reached out and touched Aven’s shoulder, then got to her feet. She walked out of the water, skirted around the pool, then stopped by Aleia. Her wet wings drooped, and Jehan heard her clearly. “I’m sorry. If I hadn’t argued, Aven would not be hurting. I will learn to swim.”
“You can tell him when he wakes up,” Aleia said. “Come with me. We’ve got some work to do.” She put her arm around Aria and led her away. Once they were gone, Jehan looked down at his sleeping son.
“You’re going to have your hands full with her, Ven,” he murmured. “She’s not as bad as Neera, but she’s every bit as stubborn as Milon was.”
***
AVEN COULD ALWAYS TELL when he’d been in a healing sleep. His father told him all healers could tell. There was a definite feeling of having his head stuffed with sea-foam. The last time had been when he’d broken his arm diving into a rock. What had happened this time?
All at once, he remembered the pool, and Aria. He jerked, coming awake all at once and pushing himself up onto his elbows. He was lying on his back on the sand at the far side of his pool, his legs still mostly submerged. He sat up, rubbing his thighs.
“Feeling better?”
Aven turned and saw his father sitting on a rock. “I think so,” he answered. “Where’s Aria?”
“With your mother. She’s fine. You scared the pinfeathers off of her, but she’s fine now.”
Aven slowly got to his feet. “I scared me, and I don’t have pinfeathers. What happened? It wasn’t nearly that bad the last time I stopped the change.”
“You’re older. The last time you were, what? Twelve?” Jehan got to his feet. “The last time, it was before you came into your full growth. Your bones were more malleable. Now, you’re an adult. Adult bones aren’t as forgiving. And I should have told you that when we had that ‘what’s happening to me?’ conversation back then, but since I only had the theory class on being a Waterborn, and your mother is the one that had the practicum, I didn’t even think of it.”
Aven twisted from the waist. “I feel fine now.”
“Good. Come on. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, and we’re behind.” Jehan sighed and shook his head. “Maybe telling you to shove her into the deep water wasn’t the brightest thing I’ve ever done.”
“I think it was Ama’s idea, actually.” Aven said, falling in next to his father as they walked around the pool and started toward the beach.
“Still wasn’t the smartest idea either of us have ever had. Or, it might have been. I’m not sure. But Aria has already apologized to your mother, and promised that she’d learn to swim.” Jehan glanced over at his son. “I’m not sure she’ll ask you to teach her, though. I think she’s afraid she’ll break you.”
Aven chuckled. “She’s stronger than I thought she was. She punched me, when I was trying to get her to shore. And she tried to stove in my chest.”
“Is that where those bruises came from?” Jehan asked, and whistled. “I’d wondered. I thought you might have been wrestling with Melody. Speaking of, you’ll want to call her in. We’re leaving soon.”
“Leaving?” Aven asked. “To go where?”
“Your mother has a plan.” Jehan answered. They crested the last rise and started down toward the beach. There were piles and bundles all around the canoe, and Aven could see Aleia and Aria packing things into the canoe’s storage compartments.
“What about the decking?” Aven asked.
“We’re going to be very careful,” Jehan answered.
Aleia looked up from her packing, saw them and waved. Then she said something to Aria, who looked up and got to her feet, her wings flared out. Then, to Aven’s shock, she launched herself into the air, wings beating furiously as she flew toward him. She landed ahead of him on the path, and ran straight at him, throwing her arms around his neck and hitting him hard enough to drive him back several steps and almost knock him over. She was laughing and crying all at once, and it took a moment before Aven could understand what she was saying.
“...sorry, I’m sorry! I didn’t know it would hurt you! I didn’t mean for you to get hurt!” She clung to him, and the only thing he could think to do was put his arms around her.
“I’m fine,” he said. “I’m all right. And I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you in.” He closed his eyes, marveling at the smell of her. She smelled like the wind and the sea combined. “Are you all right?”
“I am fine. If I hadn’t panicked, I’d know how to swim by now!” She laughed and pulled back slightly, enough that they were nose to nose. Her eyes, he could see now, were a pale gold, a color that he’d never seen before. He couldn’t think — she was in his arms, body pressed against his, warm and smelling like fresh wind and sea-salt, and Aven didn’t think that he could put two words together if he tried.
“You flew,” Jehan said, breaking into Aven’s reverie and reminding him that there were others on the beach. “I didn’t think you could with your feathers clipped.”
Aria loosened her arms around Aven, a clear signal that he should let her go. He did, only then realizing that he’d been holding her off the ground. He set her on her feet, and felt ridiculously pleased when she took his hand. “I cannot fly high or far like this,” Aria said. “Short flights, close to the ground? That I can do. I cannot touch the sky until my feathers grow in.”
“Fa, what are we doing?” Aven asked.
“We’re leaving,” Aleia answered, coming up the slope. “As soon as we’re able.”
“What about the decking?” Aven asked. Aleia shook her head.
“We don’t have the time to wait,” she said. “I want us heading south as soon as we’re ready, to get ahead of the news from any survivors. We’re going to Forge.”
“We’re going where?” Aven gasped. “But, that’s where they were taking Aria. Isn’t Mannon there?”
“No, Mannon would be at the Palace,” Jehan said. “Forge is where we’ll find Memfis, and we’ll start finding the rest of Aria’s Companions.”
“I should give Aven the water gem,” Aria said.
“Not yet,” Jehan stopped Aria before she could run down the slope. “Not until we’re in Forge. We’ve a long way to go, and we’ll probably be challenged at least once. We don’t want it stolen, or worse, recognized.” He reached up and touched his own gem. “Which means I should take this off.”
“Jehan, if everything goes according to plan, they’ll never see you,” Aleia said. “Aven, go call Melody in. You’ll need to explain to her that she can’t come with us.”
Aven blinked, shaking his head. “You’re going too fast. Yesterday, you didn’t want to take me south. Now, we’re leaving immediately. And Melody can’t come with us?”
“The waters near Forge wouldn’t be good for her,” Jehan answered. “It’ll be easier if she stays behind now, and she’s less likely to get hurt if we run into trouble.” He squeezed Aven’s shoulder. “I know you’ll miss her, and I’m sorry.”
“Who is Melody?” Aria asked.
“I’ll introduce you,” Aven told her. “Fa, do you need me?”
“Not at the moment. I’ll help your mother. Go start teaching Aria to swim, and introduce her to Melody.”