After two hours on the Finnish navy’s grey boat, Joona finally sees Raphael Guidi’s luxury yacht smoothly gliding along on the horizon. In the sunlight, she appears to glimmer like a ship made of crystal.
Captain Pasi Rannikko comes over to stand next to Joona. He nods towards the huge yacht.
“How close do we need to get?” he asks intently.
Joona gives him an ice-grey look.
“As close as we can. We need to see what’s going on,” he says calmly. “I need—”
A huge throb of pain knifes through his temples. He falls silent and grabs on to the railing and tries to breathe slowly.
“What’s the matter?” Pasi Rannikko asks with a bit of laughter in his voice. “Are you getting seasick?”
“No.”
The pain shoots through his head again and he grips the rail tightly. His medicine is out of the question even if it would help. He cannot lose his focus. He cannot accept the exhaustion it would bring.
The wind of their passage cools the drops of sweat that appear on Joona’s forehead. He thinks about Disa’s gaze and her serious, open face. The sun strikes across the rolling surface of the sea, and in his mind he can see the bridal crown. It shines in its display case in the Nordic Museum. The braided tips gleam. He thinks of the scent of wildflowers and a church that has been decorated in leaves for a summer wedding. His heart is pounding so strongly in his ears that he doesn’t hear the captain speaking to him.
“What did you say?”
Joona looks in confusion at Pasi Rannikko beside him and then out towards the huge white yacht.