Page 5

She continued her stare, her head tipping slightly. “I understand why this is important to you?—”

“Then let it go.”

A silent argument ensued between them, my father’s dark eyes drilling holes into hers.

My mother finally conceded the loss. “Be safe—both of you.”

“Khazmuda is always close.”

“I know he is.”

They stared at each other again, the air changing around them.

My father walked up to her and cupped both of her cheeks before he gave her a quick kiss. “I love you.”

All her anger seemed to fade instantly. “I love you too.”

He stepped away so my mother could embrace me.

She gave me a hard hug and kissed my forehead. “Be safe and aware.”

“I know, Mom.”

“And listen to your father.”

I rolled my eyes. “Like you ever do…”

She smiled, her eyes beaming at the joke.

My father smirked too.

“I’ll see you soon.” She returned to the main door of the castle and walked inside. The guards closed it once she was through it.

My father came to my side and put his arm around my shoulders. “Let’s go,Zunieth.”

We took a small sailboat from the port and ventured out onto the sea. The fog was heavy on the waves, obscuring our sight. He’d taken me sailing many times, so I already knew how to raise the anchor and set the sails. He sat and observed me in silence, letting me do all the work for him to judge.

“Where are we going?” I opened my pack and pulled out the map. It showed the Southern Isles, the tropical lands to the east, and the Northern Isles across the Great Sea.

“Skull Island.” He lounged in his seat as he looked into the mist, even though there was nothing to see except the fog. “Take us there. And we need food and water.”

The food in our packs was reserves for emergencies. He taught me to live off the land. I could sail us to Skull Island without issue, but I’d never done it in the fog. I had a compass to guide my direction, but without being able to see in front of me, I didn’t know what I might hit.

He didn’t seem concerned about it.

I found east with my compass and changed the sails to take us in that direction. We started to glide through the water, the wind right in our sails, taking us across the calm waves at a quick speed.

My father stared at me.

I gripped the tiller so we continued in the right direction.

But my father gave me that hard stare, like something wasn’t right. “Is it wise to travel at this speed when we can’t see more than ten feet in front of us?”

His disapproval stung. Made my whole body go numb. But I let it pass and addressed his concern. I changed the direction of the sails to catch less of the wind, to bring the boat to a third of its original pace.

“Now you can have more time to react if we come across another boat or an outcropping of rocks.”

“Yeah.”