Page 3
Clark continued to stumble after me as I wandered toward home, hatching plan after plan. I could catch up with Bjorn and ask for a spot on his team. I could trail his ship in hopes that he found the labyrinth. I could go searching myself. But none of those plans came close to the brilliance of using the one person who had good information about where the Quarter Labyrinth had moved.
“Stealing Aksel’s clue is the only way to find the entrance.”
I stopped walking to look back toward the village.
“You said he paid for a clue?”
Clark’s mouth slashed downward.
“I told you that in confidence.”
“And I greatly appreciate it.”
When his frown persisted, I sighed.
“Listen, I’ve got no hope of finding the labyrinth on my own. That clue is my best shot.”
Even with the clue, I only had two days to get inside. At midnight on the second day, the entrance would be sealed.
Clark shifted uneasily on the rocks, tugging at the hem of his shirt.
“Just go find your father and ask him about it.”
“Oh, is that all? I haven’t seen him in sixteen years, but all I need to do is find him, and all will be sorted.”
I spared Clark a glance, long enough to see his expression fall. I released my ire to let the chill of the night lick against my cheeks. Then I tucked my anger away.
“I’m sorry. You’re trying to help, and I’m being beastly. But if Callahan is about to accidentally give away my birthright, I haven’t the time to scour the seas for my—by the sounds of it, missing—father.”
I didn’t want to dwell on that part for too long. My father was missing. How long had he been gone? Who had taken him? The seas were too large of a place to hunt for one person, yet half of me wanted to board a skiff and search the endless shores for him.
I’d waited sixteen years to see him. Sixteen years of waiting for my life to begin, and hoping he’d be pleased with the woman I was growing into.
I didn’t want to imagine that day never coming.
The selfish part of me spoke up. If he remains missing, the islands will never know I’m the rightful heir. If I wasn’t Serenity Montclair, heir to the Silver Wings and Shallows and daughter of the famous Gerald Montclair, then I was just Ren.
Ren didn’t have a lot going on for her at the moment.
“What if he’s not a captain anymore and the Silver Wings aren’t his to give away,”
Clark asked.
“By the sounds of it, things have changed.”
Another possibility I didn’t wish to consider.
“All the more reason to enter the labyrinth to earn them back. I’d rather fight for my inheritance than go groveling to my father about how unfair this is.”
Clark quieted. Good, I’d convinced him. I checked the village again, where the clock ticked onward. Within an hour, the clue would arrive. I had to be there when it did.
Around us, thin leaves rattled like bones in a grave. Torches were dying, streets growing dark as islanders who weren’t setting off had found their way back home. All the excitement of five minutes ago, dying out now that the fun was done.
And the twelve ships were setting off. The sight of them ignited a restlessness within me. I was falling behind.
Clark shifted his weight, wringing lanky fingers against one another. He spoke tentatively, like he regretted the words as they passed his lips.
“What if he’s not your father?”
Blood drained from my head. The wind stilled. Waves paused lapping against the shore to witness the heresy.
Eighteen months. That’s how long he’d known my secret and never once questioned it, even when I had no proof. It seemed his blind faith had a line.
“My mother’s not a liar.”
“She’s a mother. They all tell lies to protect the innocence of their children.”
Blood came back to my head, and it burned white hot. The worst part was that I had nothing other than letters in a trunk signed with a fake name which Mother claimed were from Gerald. No proof. Nothing more than hope.
Hope, and a feeling deep in my gut that it was the truth.
“Three truths,”
I spoke, holding up three fingers, and folding one with each point.
“One, my coloring is darker than everyone from Haven. So we know my father can’t be here. Two, lying doesn’t match the rest of Mother’s personality. Three, we’ve watched a letter arrive in the post written in expensive ink you can’t buy from here—nor that we can afford. So if Mother’s not forging the notes, it’s not like her to lie, and I’m obviously not from here, it’s logical to believe the story.”
“One truth,”
Clark spoke, holding up three of his own fingers.
“Just because your father isn’t from Haven, doesn’t mean he’s Gerald Montclair. Two, just because you haven’t caught her in a lie doesn’t mean she doesn’t tell them. And three, the story has gone on for too long to tell you the truth. Best guess is she’d assumed he’d be dead by now and she could carry the lie forever.”
I frowned.
“That last one wasn’t a point. You’re not playing the game right.”
“I made the game. I play it however I want.”
His words didn’t sting. I wasn’t dumb—Mother might have concocted the whole thing so her daughter could feel special, when in reality we were abandoned. But then I’d think back to when she caught me cheating on my numbers in school, and she made me do the pages fifty times over so I learned to never cheat again. She always made me run harder than the other kids, swim further, hold my breath for longer. I could never cut corners or take the easy route. A woman like that didn’t sugarcoat a child’s parentage for fear of their feelings being hurt.
No, Clark’s words didn’t wound me. What hurt was how long he must have been thinking them while playing along with my story.
I gritted my teeth and said.
“One day, I’m going to prove you wrong.”
“It’s not worth dying out there trying to prove yourself to the world.”
“It’s worth it to me.”
“It’s not worth it to me!”
I flinched at his tone. He sighed, pulling his fingers through his red hair.
“You’re my best friend. Stay on this island with me, and if your father comes someday, he will set everything right. But on the chance that he doesn’t come, you won’t have thrown your life away for nothing.”
The clock struck half after midnight. I stepped back silently, wishing to put the whole island between us before having this conversation again. It’d broken me last time, and nearly shattered him. I couldn’t watch him pick up the pieces twice. Clark let me retreat with a fractured look in his green eyes. His shock of red hair and smattering of freckles gave him a boyish look and made me feel as if I were crushing someone so innocent every time I turned him down.
Yet it seemed we were doomed to repeat this moment of our life—him begging and me refusing—over and over again.
“Go home, Clark. I’m doing this alone.”
His tone came much softer than earlier.
“If you get caught stealing, you’ll lose a hand.”
“If you come with me, I’ll definitely get caught. Go home and forget about me.”
He straightened like a sailor who’d been asked to abandon ship. “Never.”
“I’m not asking. There can be no future here, because I don’t want it. And I’m tired of hurting you.”
Sharp words, but he needed to hear them.
His expression splintered, before he put himself back together with a full breath. Gods, he was so innocent. So fully good and perfect. And I was ruining him.
He licked his lips.
“Just promise me you’ll reconsider before leaving.”
If that was what it took to get him to leave.
“I’ll sleep on it, then decide what to do in the morning.”
His shoulders relaxed.
“Good. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“See you,” I said.
Then uncrossed my fingers as he left.
I faced the village once more. I’d lost precious minutes already. I’d waste no more.
As silently as morning fog rolling across the shore, I crept toward the village, taking the crooked path toward the cliffs where Aksel’s manor sat, then crouched to wait in the shadows.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3 (Reading here)
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
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- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
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- Page 39
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- Page 49
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- Page 51
- Page 52