Page 96

“Some of the queen’s supporters. But thankfully, it seems to be the exception and not the rule.”

“Any word from Nymara?”

“None,” I said, having received a report just the day before. The queen appeared to have peacefully transitioned into a new life, for as long as she would live. Neither Nerys nor I trusted the transition would continue to go so easily, and Caelum had placed men in Nymara to keep watch.

Mev was about to respond when a shout could be heard at the end of the docks. With Nerys in attendance, there were guards everywhere, but she insisted all remain otherwise normal. The activity worried Caelum, and with whatever was currently happening, I was inclined to agree. I was at her side before she could be surrounded, the shouts growing louder.

“You need to listen to him,” I said of Caelum, who had run toward the source of the ruckus.

“I will consider it,” she teased, clearly unconcerned. “Look, he’s speaking to the man in question, who doesn’t appear to be a threat.”

When the man, a Gyorian or human by the look of him, handed Caelum a missive, he did not move off. Instead, he watched as the missive was delivered to… Kael?

“How strange,” Nerys said, echoing my thoughts.

Even stranger was the expression on Kael’s face when he read the missive. He ran to Mev who, in turn, called for Nerys and me. All I knew, as we boarded Marek’s ship, was that a private discussion had been called for, his ship serving its purpose.

With all eyes on us, Nerys, Marek, Mev, Kael, and I huddled on the deck of the ship as it swayed from side to side, the sea rougher than usual this day.

“A message from Adren.” Kael tucked the missive into a leather pouch at his side. “It is a miracle he reached us in time, though was ordered to deliver it to you,” he said to Nerys, “if we’d left Thalassaria already.”

“We need to embed a Whisperer here,” Mev said to Nerys. “So that we might get messages to you more quickly.”

“A good idea.” Kael peered over to the dock, where all eyes were on us. It seemed all activity had come to a stop, the spectacle we made one I was certain would be a topic of conversation for days to come.

“What’s the message?” Mev asked.

“I don’t know how he did it. Or how Adren knows for certain, but…” He paused, his nostrils flaring. I couldn’t discern if the news was good or bad. “He found the Wind Crystal.”

Stares of shock followed his announcement.

“He said that? In a missive?” Mev asked.

“It was coded.”

“Obviously.”

Kael tried not to smile but he was unsuccessful. Looking at Mev like he was unsure what to do with her, a common expression of his but one that amused me, Kael cleared his throat and continued.

“By found, I mean he has discovered its whereabouts but does not have it in his possession.”

I assumed as much but dared to hope.

And that was where the hope ended. As if reminded of the precise contents of a missive that had been moments away from missing him, Kael looked as he had the day he’d been forced to send Mev to Aetheria while he stayed to stop his brother from following her. I understood now, and was grateful for the brief respite to my own separation from Nerys.

“Where is it?” Marek asked, apparently sensing Kael’s dread.

“Interesting you should ask.”

“Why?” Nerys squeezed my hand, clearly worried.

“Have you heard of the Maelstrom Depths?”

Marek winced. “Of course. I’ve avoided them on more than one journey.” He seemed to remember something. “There are rumors of a cavern deep within the Depths.”

Before he even finished, Kael was nodding. “Somehow, though I have no notion how he managed it, my father apparently hid the Wind Crystal in those caverns.”

“What now?” Mev asked. “Start from scratch.” Marek’s puzzled gaze had her amending, “From the beginning.”