Page 88 of Scourge of the Shores
Slow and shaky, she sat up with Danna’s help. “I have hands,” the words flowed from Ma’s tongue in a whisper. “And feet,” she cried with a smile.
Danna let the tears flow as she pulled her mother into an embrace and stood. They laughed together and cried together, not letting each other go. Until finally, Ma pulled away and cradled Danna’s face. No words came, but Danna knew her mother would be alive again.
Ma turned and fell into Robert’s arms. He hoisted her up as she patted his cheek. “Thank you, my boy,” she whispered.
“I made a promise,” he said with a nod and glance to Danna.
Ma took shaky steps, using every wall, person, and furniture piece to balance her, but she made it to the doorway and stepped down from the porch into the dirt. Being balanced by the villagers, she raised her arms, letting the sea breeze float past her. The villagers erupted in delight. They sang and danced all day and all night long. The island hosted the pirates, but Danna noticed Rosa and Blackwood were not among them. Robert had sent them on another campaign while he came here. He didn’t want to risk an attack.
Ma wobbled to Danna and fell into her arms. She wrapped both arms around Danna’s shoulders, and all ten fingers stroked Danna’s long, black hair.
“I love you, my girl,” Ma whispered in her ear. She pulled back and glanced at Robert with a big smile before returning to Danna. “Lucas told me that you might be leaving with Robert, but you didn’t want to leave me.” She cradled Danna’s face and kissed the tip of her nose. “I’ll be fine. Especially now that I see the bright joy on your face. It’s more than I could ever ask for.”
Danna supported Ma by holding her waist. Tears streamed down Ma’s cheeks as she studied her daughter’s eyes and lips.
“Live your life, Danna,” she whispered. “Find what waits for you beyond the waves. It’s where you want to be.”
Danna held her mother for a long time, cherishing her every scent, movement, and the feeling of her hair wisps tickling her cheek. “I’ll miss ye, Ma.”
“Go with him, my girl,” she said again. “I have a new beginning here, thanks to him.” Ma stumbled into Robert’s arms and gave him a long, full kiss on his cheek. “I can never repay you for what you gave me,” she said.
“Fresh eggs in the morning,” he said with a smile. He glanced at Danna. “And it’s I who can never repay you for letting me love your daughter.”
Ma laughed and pointed at Robert’s chest while turning to Danna. “Oh, he’s good.” She wobbled away and shooed them. “Off you go. I’ll have your eggs ready at sunup.”
Robert slid his hand into Danna’s. They watched Ma’s legs get stronger with each step as she rejoined the islanders. And for the first time in nearly two decades, Ma danced.
Danna smiled, watching her mother. “She told us to go off,” she chuckled.
“I’ve got a place in mind,” he whispered, and led her by the shore to the Northern Boulder. The festival on the island’s south side lingered in the air like distant memories, but the soft crash of the lapping waters against the rock reigned supreme. He prepared a small fire and sat beside her. He wrapped his arm around her as they stared off at sea.
“No words can tell you how much I’ve missed you, Danna. I never want to have an empty pillow next to me again.” He peered at her.
“I’d lost hope ye’d return,” she said.
He smoothed the glisten from her cheek. “I went East after you killed Cain,” he began, his voice laced with exhaustion and triumph. “I raided every enchanter’s ship I could find, left behind fleets of furious men, searching for an enchantment that I almost lost hope existed—until one day, a royal ship flew a white flag of surrender.”
Danna listened, realizing he had never truly left her. He had not wasted a single day in three years. He was searching for her. Fighting for her. She had believed him gone, perhaps lost to the waves, or worse, by choice. But he had been searching—every day, raiding ships and defying death itself for what it would take for her to live with him on the sea.
“I thought it was a trap,” Robert continued. “But a man was waiting for me when I boarded. An enchanter named Hai. He looked at me like he’d been expecting me all along.”
Her pulse quickened. “What’d he say?”
“He said my name. And then he said yours.” Robert’s gaze darkened, making her breath hitch. “He told me that prophecy Ervin spoke of? It was his. He’d seen you before you were even born. He had seen me. And he had known, somehow, that I’d come for you.”
He came for her. The words echoed in her mind. Not for glory. Not for power. But for her. And now, there he was, saying the thing she hadn’t let herself believe.
An enchanter had seen them together—before they’d ever drawn breath.
Danna beamed at the story—patience and prophecy went hand-in-hand. But the smile wavered. This wasn’t just prophecy. It was a choice. His choice. Her choice.
“The enchanter gave me the vial and an enchantment to speed me here,” he pressed a small kiss to her lips. “Told me I should waste no more time.”
Her eyes searched his face, seeing the years carved into him—lines of burden, of storms weathered. He had suffered, too. For her. And she realized the ache she’d carried wasn’t just longing. It was recognition. As if some part of her had always known he would return. She had been waiting for something the sea had whispered to her since she was a child—a promise she couldn’t name until now.
She reached for him.
With every doubt finally silenced, she pressed her lips to his without hesitation. The world around them vanished—no more villagers, no more island, no more years lost to uncertainty. Only him. Only this promise of prophecy and choice. The taste of moonflowers and spice between them, the warmth of his hand on her cheek, and the steady thrum of his heartbeat echoing her own erased the years-long ache.
